In the spring, becomes the geranium....

When I am in my garden on a cold January day and notice few geraniums who are poking their heads through the mulch (as that flower type is doing in the photo directly above) that was put there to protect them during a cold winter days, I think of some lines from a The Rose, a song written by Amanda McBroome. 

Her song was made popular by Bette Midler and the lyrics I'm thinking of go like this, "...just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snow, lies the seed that with the sun's love, in the spring becomes the rose."

In this instance, my geraniums weren't lying beneath the bitter snow (although they were doing that last month), they are lying beneath layers of mulch put in their container when iI did my annual garden winterizing ritual.

Tuesday's Truths WK 53: Mathilde is 101!

Hello, and welcome to the fifty-second week of my Tuesday's Truths series, which is being dedicated to Mathilde Freund who turns one hundred and one years old today. Mathilde can be seen in the image atop this entry and it is one you may recognize, dear reader, as I featured it in a prior entry here on Blogger.

I took the picture in July of 2016, when I saw her sitting on a bench in front of a store on NYC's UWS, near to the area where she lives.

In the aforementioned entry, I stated that Mathilde and I spoke about Elie Wiesel, the holocaust survivor who had died in his NYC home that past Saturday, July 2nd, 2016. I also mentioned that "Mathilde knew Mr. Wiesel because he was in the same camp (Buchenwald) that her husband had been in. She told me that she was in hiding at the time, but her husband was killed at Buchenwald two months before it was closed. She recalled that her husband was twenty-five years old at the time and that Elie Wiesel was much younger." 

In any event, this past Saturday, August twelfth, I saw Mathilde again. She was sitting on the same bench as the one in the image atop this entry. I sat and talked with her for quite some time. I had a camera around my neck, and could have easily taken a new photo of her, but the thought of doing so did not occur to me, as my attention was on listening to her as she told about spending the summer with her son who lives in a rural area of North Carolina.

Holidays that Honor the Treat of Ice Cream (And A Shout Out to Ice Cream Makers)

I learned of the holiday known as National Ice Cream Day when I went to my local flea market which is kiddy corner from The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).

According to Holiday Insights (HI), it is always celebrated on the third Sunday of the month.

HI writes "In 1984, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed July as National Ice Cream Month. He also established National Ice Cream Day as the third Sunday in the month."

The holiday could've easily come and gone without my knowing it, because I either had forgotten about this occasion, or, I didn't realize that yesterday was already the third Sunday of the month!

But because of my Sunday routine I was made aware of the holiday.

You see, quite often on Sunday I will bring my "materials" to a composting station at a nearby Greenmarket that is situated parallel to the grounds of The AMNH. On occasion, after doing so, I will check out my local flea market since it is in such close proximity.

Yesterday, there was an array of ice cream vendors at that flea market, which is not the norm, and the array of what each one offered was mind boggling, causing me to recall the Mutts strip which I've posted atop this entry.

Unfortunately I was not feeling very well and eating ice cream would not have been an option, but I still was able to check out the array of vendors, and since they are NYC based, there's a good chance that I can try their products when I'm feeling better.

I need not worry that I could not do so on the official day, for, as I just stated President Regan, ear-marked the entire month of July as National Ice Cream month. And if I'm not feeling better during the  fifteen days that remain in July, I can always celebrate on December 13th, which is Ice Cream Day!

In any event, for you New Yorkers who may have missed National Ice Cream Day, fear not, I have the scoop (excuse the pun) on the various vendors who participated at my local flea market and you can check them out at your leisure.

The first one that I came upon was Too Cool Chix Ice Cream sandwiches. Their web-site states:"The founders of Too Cool Chix are Michele Elmer and Sharon Monahan. Together they’ve elevated the humble ice cream sandwich because they think outside the pint."

I was drawn to their "station" because of their use of birds (chicks) in their logo and packaging as seen below:

I am hoping to feel well enough to try their "Beauty Bar," which is Lavender Ice Cream with a Soft Lemon Cookie.

I told the women working their that I had helped Cam write her book, Words In Our Beak Volume One,

and I boldly proposed they came up with a flavor in Cam's honor! Rather they do this or not, I intend to try their product and encourage you to do so also, dear reader.

Another vendor that I came upon was VICTORY GARDEN, featuring gelato made from goat's milk.

I will be eager to try this at some point, for my cyber-freindship with the goat-raising, Italy-based Michelle Fabio, has always been an impetus for me to try products made with goat's milk. Readers of my blog may recall that I've written about Fabio in by gone years.

Moreover, Fabio has reviewed the digital version of Words In Our Beak Volume One for Goodreads.

Be that as it may I'm intrigued by products made with goats milk because of the wonderful cheeses made by Ardith Mae, who sells them at the greenmarket that I go to on Sundays.

The folks at VICTORY GARDEN were very accommodating and if their product is anything like the goodness they showed, I'm in for a taste treat when I'm on the mend!

Monday's Musings: "NYC is the place to be if your'e a bird."

Yesterday, Sunday December the seventeenth, was a mostly overcast day in NYC. The temperatures remained in the thirty degree range, so I layered up before heading down to Pier Eleven (near to the Greenway by the Hudson River) to follow the wisdom of the Negro spiritual and "lay down my troubles down by the riverside."

There is nothing like a walk in the park to clear one's head and Riverside Park is one of the best places to do that in Manhattan. As I made my way across the pier, I came upon a lone Ring-billed seagull (seen in the image atop this entry) who also knew about this respite on the UWS.

Friday Follow-Up: News Re Words In Our Beak

SEE PRESS RELEASE

MY BOOK IS CARRIED BY THIS STORE

Ever since the hardcover version of Words In Our Beak Volume One, (seen in the first image atop this  entry) was published (this past November) by Ingram Spark, I've been sending out press releases to bookstores, nature centers, and speciality shops. I've also queried some stores in hopes of getting them to let me host an event re this book.

One of the places that I reached out to is book culture On Columbus (a bookstore that has a location on the UWS in NYC), near to The American Museum of Natural History. A partial view of this store can be seen in the second image atop this entry (that I found on the Internet).

I contacted them by email (with my a "copy" of press release) on 12-5-2017 and a request discuss the possibility of my doing event at their store. The other day, I heard back from the event coordinator.

Monday's (10-8-2018) Musings

MY GARDEN IS WHERE THE STORIES IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK" TAKE PLACE

MY GARDEN IS WHERE THE STORIES IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK" TAKE PLACE

The photographs atop this posting were taken by Joan Budilovsky who is visiting NYC for this Columbus Day holiday. She stopped by my rooftop garden (with her husband and their eleven year old son) yesterday to play a few games of Bird Bingo...*

... and so that I could autograph her copy of Words In Our Beak Volume Two.

Throwback Thursday: Sessions 68-79

GIUSEPPE AND TERESA PARTICIPATING ON 6/6/2020

BOB HUBER A #CLAPBECAUSEWECAREPARTICIPANT ON 6-6-2020

RJ, A #CLAPBECAUSEWECAREPARTICIPANT ON 6/6/2020

For this Throwback Thursday, I'm catching up on my #ClapBecauseWeCare coverage as the last one I blogged about was after session 67 (which took place on June 5th 2020), and even though I still participated in the sessions I have not included anything about them on my blog.

The photographs atop this entry are from session 68 which took place on June 6th 2020.

Tuesday's Truths WK 68: More Tree-Lined Streets in the UWS of NYC

Welcome to week sixty-fifth of my Tuesday's Truths series, dear reader! I wanted to let you know that this past Thursday, The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade had barely finished before NYC began to see more tree-lined streets, as evidenced in the images atop this blog post.

With the exception of the first image, the pictures feature Christmas trees that are brought down from by French-Canadians who dominate New York's Christmas tree market.

My event at NYSEC is 3 Wks from today! (Monday's Memo)

THIS MUSCOVY DUCK IS FEATURED IN VOL 3

You've surely heard of humans "swimming with dolphins...," dear reader! But I'm wondering if have you heard that there is a Muscovy duck who swims with Khaki Campbells?

This is evidenced by the pictures within this blog post featuring Jewel, a Muscovy who is spending her time swimming with the Campbells in the NYC's Hudson River, which she has been doing for many years!

THIS MUSCOVY DUCK IS FEATURED IN VOL 3

THIS MUSCOVY DUCK IS FEATURED IN VOL 3

THIS MUSCOVY DUCK IS FEATURED IN VOL 3

This Muscovy has taught me a thing or two about myself which is part of what I will be discussing at my lecture for November 2018's Speaking of Science series at the New York Society for Ethical Culture (NYSEC) that is scheduled for three weeks from today (11-26-2018).

NYC Marathon's Fireworks 2016

I JUST went to Twitter to share a link to yesterday's blog post re an adorable squirrel that I encountered in NYC's Riverside Park. He/she can be seen in the first picture accompanying this Blogger entry. If you saw the aforementioned blog post, then you may recall seeing this exact image, as it was included there, along with a few other images of this sweet looking creature. I'm including the picture again today because I thought of squirrels (and other living creatures who might happen to be in the tree tops) during last night's display of fireworks (seen in photos two-three) that were featured in the pre-NYC Marathon extravaganza in Central Park.

WW* Get Cam's book for your sweetheart! (*Wednesday's Wisdom)

YES, another reminder to all lovebirds,

MOURNING DOVES HAVE A STORY IN "WIOB" VOL 1

who love birds,

soon it will be Valentines Day!

An Injured But Resilient Pigeon

SAINT FRANCIS IS FEATURED IN MANY OF MY BLOG POSTS

I need Saint Francis's (whose image is imprinted on a copy of a prayer card which is posted atop this entry) intercession on a situation with a pigeon who visited my garden this past weekend. He is known to be the patron saint of animals (especially birds, which is something I referenced in a recent FB post).

In any event, this past Saturday (10-10-2020) in the early evening, I noticed a pigeon in my outdoor space who did not seem to be doing very well. I had hoped to "capture" him in order to transport the creature to The Wild Bird Fund  (WBF) but since they were closed for the evening, my next best option was to "capture" him and make him comfortable for the night so I could take him to The WBF the next morning (which would be Sunday, 10-11-2020).

Years ago I learned about transporting injured or sick birds to The WBF so I knew this could be done but I was a little unsure of how I might keep this unfortunate pigeon comfortable over night so I phoned the Brooklyn based pigeon advocate (and artist extraordinaire), Tina Pina AKA Mother Pigeon (who graciously called me back with helpful tips) to seek her advice as I could not reach bird rehabber Amanda Remsberg  (AR) whom I usually contact when I have questions re birds in need.

But it turned dark outside very quickly and so it was impossible to see anything but I prepared my rescue and transport supplies to ensure I'd be ready for Sunday's mission.

I did not see my visitor in the morning but he was there in the afternoon and I was able to determine he could fly but was injured. Plus I could hear a thumping sound when he limped across my terrace.

However, in spite of my past successes with swooping up a bird in order to take him/her to The WBF, I could not grab this guy, but I could take pictures of him (seen in the next sequence of photos)...

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOK SERIES

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOK SERIES

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOK SERIES

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOK SERIES

... and contact AR about this for a form of "tele-med" (via Facebook Messenger). The following is a copy of our correspondence that was based on the images posted above.

ME: Here is what my limping visitor looks like. I thought from the face he/she is a youngster BUT from what you said about the feet, I may be way off. I'm not confident I'll be able to "grab" te bird in order to transport him/her /to the WBF, but I can hear "thumping" (from a limp) when the bird moves  about. Thanks again for your time.

AR: Yea, he does look young with that knobby pale beak.  Such pretty colors.  I hope he will be ok.  The placement of his feet doesn’t look like a broken leg, maybe just soft tissue damage.  Tis a hard life for a pigeon in the city. 💕

ME: He's out there right now and I guess I should just let him alone because I can't capture him and he may be safer here?

AR: Hopefully.

ME: Hopefully indeed. It's hard to her him thumping about and not be able to provide relief.

UPSHOT: It is now Monday(10-12-2020) and a cold rain is falling heavily but I am keeping my eye out for the pigeon and ready to continue to take action in order to transport him to The WBF. I truly care about this pigeon's well being. 

As some of you may know, pigeons are featured within my three volume hardcover book series, Words In Our Beak which are available wherever book are sold get your copies now and please stay tuned for updates on the pigeon featured in today's post.

MY BOOK SERIES

Tuesday's Truths WK 36-B: An Exhibit Based on Mo Williams's Books is in NYC!

Here's another truth for the thirty-fourth episode of my Tuesday's Truths series. It has to do with the author, Mo Williams and pigeons. I’m familiar with Mo Williams’s book series re pigeons because of my sister.

This past summer when visiting me in NYC, she took me to see an exhibit based on Mo Williams’s works. The exhibition was featured at The NY Historical Society from March 18th, 2016 until September 25th, 2016.

And the image atop this entry is from a review of Williams’s book, The Pigeon Needs a Bath.

Mo Williams, the exhibition, and my sister’s visit, all came to my mind today when I witnessed a pigeon enjoying a bath in my rooftop garden; as evidenced in the following pictures.

This bird type classified as a pigeon is introduced in the book, Words In Our Beak Volume One, which I helped Cam (a female cardinal) write). The book is available in digital (iBooks and ePub) as well as soft-cover format.

In any event, during our story, we introduced the pigeon when discussing how blessed it is to be a bird in NYC for many reasons; one of them being a bird rehab facility known as The Wild Bird Fund (WBF).

The WBF happens to be near to where I live and I have brought birds to be treated there, beginning with a pigeon that Richard K Bloom helped me rescue a few years ago.

Rest assured, Cam and I will go into more detail re this bird type in subsequent volumes of Words In Our Beak, in the interim, we are continually entertained by the antics of pigeons.

FALL 2018 ADDENDUM: 

I no longer actively produce event program covers, invitations and the types of greeting cards described here or on my website but arrangements might be able to be made under certain circumstances. My focus is on the Words In Our Beak book series, pictured below...

WORDS IN OUR BEAK BOOK SERIES

...whose stories are told from the point of view of Cam, a female cardinal, whose photo is on the cover of each book. Words In Our Beak’s goal is to open readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and their environment. Set in my rooftop urban garden in New York City. Words In Our Beak is directed to children and adults who are curious about birds, and want to learn about them from a unique perspective. The books include hundreds of images of flora and fauna, links to movies, as well as to informative narratives that have been created by the author. 

Please click here to go to my blog post that provides details as to where you can get these books.

Additionally,  I have rendered some images from these books into other formats and they are available via Fine Art America (FAA). Some of my other photographs (Black & White Collection, Kaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.

Throwback Thursday: Thanksgiving 2019's Circumstances Compared to Now (April 2020)

THE MACYS PARADE SINCLAIR DINOSAUR 

What a difference a day or evening makes! Just a little over six months (on the 11-27-2020 which was the Eve of Thanksgiving) ago on the UWS in NYC, a number of folks were looking out their windows to cheer and applaud the balloons being blown up for the 2020 Macys Thanksgiving  Parade (an example can be seen in the image atop this post.

Thousands of people crowded the area to get an up close view of the annual Thanksgiving Eve event. At that time the biggest concern NYC seemed to have was whether or not the balloons would be able to fly because of the prevailing high winds.

Last night many NYC residents (like myself) looked out their windows or stood on their terraces (some can be seen in the next series of pictures) to participate in the nightly #ClapBecauseWeCare tribute.

A #ClapBecauseWeCare Participant

JULIE, THE WOMAN WHO TOOK PHOTO-OP S OF MY GARDEN
SEE THEM BY CLICKING HERE AND HERE 

A #ClapBecauseWeCare Participant

A #ClapBecauseWeCare Participant

GIUSEPPE AND TERESA
(He has taken a video of a session from his window.)

In doing so our concerns were much greater than that of would or wouldn't a Macy's ballon be allowed to "fly"?