This Sunday's (and beyond) Sermon to Self: "Let all the voodoos of ambition sleep."

OTHER BEES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

OTHER BEES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

OTHER BEES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

OTHER BEES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

I came across these images atop this entry (that I took this past April) of a bee taking refreshment from crocus flowers in Central Park. Upon viewing them, I thought of a few lines from a poem ("Today") by Mary Oliver. Here they are:

"...The world goes on as it must,

the bees in the garden rumbling a little..."

In my case, the bees were not rumbling in my rooftop garden,* rather, they were "rumbling" (as I just said) in Central Park. I had gone to the park that day in an effort to take the day off from my busy mind, which at times (many times) is hard to silence.

It's National Pink Day!

Here's a piece of trivia for this next to the last Saturday in June:

"National Pink Day is observed annually on June 23rd. This day is set aside for the color pink and all it represents."*

As for my rooftop garden, the pink trimmed leaves on my Smoke Bush represent protection for my Mouse Ears! AND The Mouse Ears (mini hostas) are in bloom again!

Friday Follow-Up

A SLIDE FROM MY PRESENTATION

A SLIDE FROM MY PRESENTATION

At the presentation that I made at Iona Prep (Lower) School this past Tuesday, I included a total of two hundred and three slides. These slides featured a number of views of nineteen different bird types who have visited my rooftop garden, as well as a few slides that showed a Red-Tailed Hawk.

She is one who kept her eyes on the comings and goings of creatures visiting my place from either the vantage point of an Ailanthus Tree in a nearby courtyard or from atop an air-conditioner that is in the window of a building which is across that courtyard (as seen in the images of my slides that are posted atop this entry).

As you can see in the first slide above, I included the common and scientific name of the hawk, which is something I did for each bird type (along with giving the students interesting facts re a given bird variety within the featured birds).

There was a student in the audience who was very good at pronouncing the Latin (scientific) names of the birds and there was also a staff member who had an interesting point upon seeing the image (below) on my slide,

A SLIDE FROM MY PRESENTATION

of a lone Northern mockingbird in my garden.

Summer Solstice in the Western Hemisphere (For the Year 2018)

The 2018 Summer Solstice began in this hemisphere a few hours ago (EST). It is the longest day of daylight, as many of you realize.

I know professional gardeners who do not like this day because going forward, every subsequent day it will turn darker and darker at an earlier hour.

Therefore, they prefer the Winter Solstice, which is the darkest day of the year and every subsequent day it turns lighter and lighter at an earlier hour.

What are your thoughts on the Summer and Winter Solstice, dear reader?

Yesterday's Presentation at Iona Prep

Sorry to have missed my Tuesday's Truths series yesterday (that I provide here on Blogger), dear reader, but as I stated a few weeks ago, the regularity of my publishing posts is being reduced until further notice.

Yesterday, as opposed to being in cyber-space, I was in the space of an auditorium on the campus of Iona Prep making a presentation. The following is a copy of a tweet I sent (earlier today) regarding the experience:

"@IonaPrep What an honor it was to make a presentation yesterday (re birds that spend time in NYC + the areas near your campus). The boys in attendance made a terrific audience (thoughtful, respectful, inquisitive) and I'm sure each of them will be offering much value to society."

As I subsequently explained on both of my Facebook pages (author and personal) and am reiterating here: My tweet only included the "Who am I?" chart seen in the first atop this blog posting. The photograph of some of the audience (about 45 boys from grades first-fifth who were in attendance) was taken by a woman who was working at the school. I'm waiting for the principal to send me her name so I can update this entry with a photo credit.

Now, I can only pray that all the groups that might hear my presentation in the future are as respectful and intelligent as these boys...

WEATHER ALERT with a way to keep cool! (Monday's Memo)

According to a number of reports (including one that you can reference here), New York City "will be under an air quality advisory for much of today (Monday, June 18th) as temperatures approach a record high. The mercury will reach near 92 degrees with a heat index temperature that feels as hot as 95, according to the National Weather Service. The state Department of Environmental Conservation issued an air quality advisory for 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday as the temperature gets up near the 1929 record of 95 degrees...High ozone levels in the air will come with the hot weather, meaning young kids and people with medical issues such as asthma or heart disease should be careful in the heat, state officials warn."

Upon learning this, I immediately thought of a scene that I came upon this past Saturday, when I was on a pier located near the Boat Basin at the Hudson River.

On that day, I discovered a female Mallard duck being very attentive to her newborn ducklings, as evidenced in the images atop this entry.