Birds & Baseball

According to the FB Home Page for the Charles M. Schulz Museum, where the PEANUTS comic strip atop this entry is from, Spring Training (for baseball) began yesterday. I confess I don't follow the sport now since Julia V has died in 2002 (seven years before my first post here on Blogger) Julia was a homebound woman who lived on the UWS and I visited her on a regular basis through a program sponsored by The Church of the Blessed Sacrament.

Julia was a baseball fan (understatement), therefore, in order to have something to talk about a topic she would enjoy I listened to coverage of the sport on the radio, followed the newspaper headlines and watch a few games with her. I didn't keep with the the sport after she passed, but, I do know that a few teams have a bird as their mascot.

This Thursday's Tale is FROM the birds! (Sparrows Speak out about Spring Training)

THESE BIRD TYPES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

THESE BIRD TYPES ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

While walking in Central Park, this past Tuesday, January the thirtieth, I came upon a lone blue jay who was leaning a sympathetic ear to a couple of house house sparrows (as evidenced in the photograph atop this entry).

For my Ajuga & Her "unacknowledged" Friends

The other day, these two mourning doves, sitting atop the container that "houses" my Actinida kolomikta and Actimida (Kiwi Vines), were having a heart to heart convo. They were discussing how they felt about the fact that unlike "some birds" that visit my garden, they do not have a baseball team named for them!

Play ball or play blueberry? (Robins might make a good maccot for baseball.)

The media is reporting baseball season will soon be upon us and that with the enforcement of social distancing (a precaution still taking place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus), those who enjoy the sport will be able to attend games (you won’t see me there). 

From the looks of the picture (atop this entry), a certain American robin visiting my garden might make a good mascot as he appears to know how to  catch "fly blueberries,”  and that skill could be an inspiration to players to catch fly balls. 

In any event, American robins enjoy eating blueberries as well as indulging in other behaviors.

Waiting for Spring

MALE HOUSE FINCH

This is the last "official" weekend of shorter daylight hours! Next Sunday, March the tenth, those of us who are living in the majority of the states in the U.S.A. will set our clocks forward one hour; and from that period on, we will experience longer hours of daylight until November the third of 2013, at which time we will set our clocks back by an hour: in either case proving Kermit to be right for "time is fun when you are having flies."

FOLLOW UP FRIDAY: 2017's T'GIVING PARADE

The Peanuts comic strip atop this entry was something I saw in my Twitter feed the other day. It came to my mind as I pondered what to share re yesterday's Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, which I attended as its route is less than half a block from my apartment.

"If it's Tuesday, it must be . . ." tumblr. Week Six

Tuesday is here again, and you know what that means, dear reader — if it's Tuesday, it must be tumblr. However,  before I send you there, I would like to share a few thoughts about November, since today is also November First.

This past Thursday, when I was walking home to my studio apartment in the Upper Westside of Manhattan, the rain was falling heavily, and even though it was only somewhere between five-thirty and six in the evening, it was quite dark, prompting me to think that soon we'd be changing the clocks  (fyi, the date to do this is the second Sunday in November to leave daylight savings time), and that it would be getting darker much earlier in the evening.

Friday Follow-Up: Fredia, another PEANUTS's character, celebrates her debut!

IMAGE CREDIT

This past Tuesday, March 3, 2020, for my 165th segment in my Tuesday's Truths series, I offered my congratulations to Lucy van Pelt who is still going strong after making a debut 68 years ago!

Today as a Friday follow-up, I'm giving a shout on to another one of  Charles Schultz's characters, Frieda, who made her debut 59 years ago today.

Friday Feeling: I've been thankful for a NEW association re cardinals.

Here's a female cardinal about to indulge in one of many grapes which I've placed on a saucer in my rooftop garden for the dining pleasure of the birds who visit me.

She may be related to Cam, the female cardinal who authored the book, Words In Our Beak.

As many who follow my cyber-venues, Cam is very near and dear to my heart.

Moreover, she has taught me a number of things re the many members of the avian community, especially her bird type. Prior to my meeting Cam, I was not too familiar with female cardinals.

I knew about the male cardinal as he is the state bird of Illinois where I spent my childhood through early adulthood years.

I'm bacccccccccck . . .

Today is the eve of August the Eleventh, and I'm bacccccccck, as promised (on 7.30.12), from my mini "hiatus" from blogger, after spending time to be with my sister during her much welcomed annual visit.

Prior to my sister's arrival — as I was composing my entry on 7.30.12 (which discussed the loss I was feeling over my absent cardinal) — my intent was to have today's post be a return to another loss in my urban garden. This loss being the death of my very sweet mini Japanese Larch (Larix Kaempferi) who lived in a lovely bowl (pictured above) before succumbing to the awful heat wave and periods of drought we've had in NYC this summer.

Hat Trivia

One may carry a pot of gold. One may carry a pumpkin. But this leprechaun (first image top) and pilgrim (second image top) have similarities: They both enjoy spending time in my succulent garden, albeit during different times of the year!

However, no matter the season, they both wear nearly the same head gear! So… my question to them has been: Why a buckle on a hat?

They each had the same answer which is this: “Simple. Our hats are based on the one-size-fits-all pattern. The buckle is for a ‘belt’ which you use to adjust the crown to the head size!" (And I thought baseball caps were the first adjustable headwear….)