This Particular Friday's "FANTASTICK" Fact: "Deep in December it's nice to remember The fire of September that made you mellow."

Before the official onset of summer 2017, which was Wednesday, June 21, 2017, I told myself that I would make sure that I went to the beach once a week. There are many beaches near Manhattan and all of them are normally accessible by public transportation.

However, this summer getting to any beach via public transportation was impossible due to major construction on all railroad and subway stations. I wrote about the scenario in a previous post here on Blogger which you may refer to by clicking here.

I had also hoped to work around that transportation problem by tandem cycling to The Rockaways (a beach off the Atlantic Ocean) in the borough of Queens, but our plans were cancelled due to heavy rain.

And now September is here and I have not been to the beach. This fact brings the Dr. Seuss quote seen in the image atop this entry to my mind.

I do realize that one can still go to the beach in the fall. In fact, in bygone years, I cycled with my captain to the beach at Coney Island (in Brooklyn) during the month of October.

"September morning still can make me feel this way . . . "

Well, here it is September . . .  a month in which thirty days shall pass, a month whose very name and implications (due to its timing in the calendar) has inspired song lyrics such as, "Try to remember, the kind of September . . . ", "Oh, let us make a pledge to meet in September . . .",  "September morning  still can make me feel this way . . . " and "By order, summer lingers through September, In Camelot . . . ".

As a gardener, I am in cahoots with the things which I grow in my urban terrace garden (including herbs, vines, flowers, plants, shrubs, and trees) in that I am not a fan of the heat of summer; however, we (the things I grow in my garden and myself) do like the longer hours of sunlight that summer brings, and we are always a bit sad with the shorter amount of daylight hours which is brought on by the fall season.

It's May! It's May! (Tuesday's Truths Week 82)

OTHER TULIPS ARE  FEATURED IN VOLUME 1

OTHER TULIPS ARE  FEATURED IN VOLUME 1

Welcome to the eighty-second week of my Tuesday's Truths series, which this week is coinciding with the beginning of the month of May, and as has been the case in bygone years, a song (It's May! It's May!) from Camelot is on my mind.

Is Spring of 2013 FINALLY, FINALLY springing? (PART FOUR of FIVE) ASK THE VINES!

Happy May Day, dear reader, and, as you might recall, I've blogged about this "special holiday" of May Day here on Blogger in bygone years, including a post which you may refer to by clicking here. 

And, with my opening salutation, I offer you a few "scenes" (posted above) from my garden on this first day of what Guinevere (from Camelot) called a "merry merry month." 

There were a number of "scenes" on this bright May Day and the ones above show a bud from my Paeonia suffruiticosa (Tree Peony), which is about to give birth, my sweet Cam enjoying a spring snack, and two mourning doves soaking up the sun whilst nibbling from a feeder near my Actinida kolomikta and Actimida (Kiwi Vines), two vines that are scheduled to be featured in today's post: part four of my series (which I introduced this past Friday on Blogger) where the things I grow are assisting me in answering the question: Is Spring of 2013 FINALLY, FINLLY springing?

Blessed are those who mourn . . .

"It's May! It's May!"  

My peony opened today!

"It's here! It's here!" 

I am still thinking of the lyrics posted above this blog entry that are from a well-known song in Camelot.  (I posted the lyrics to it on May 1st.) Consequently, what a nice surprise to go out on my urban terrace garden this morning and find this little guy, my first peony flower of this season, from my Paeonia suffruitcosa (Tree Peony) as seen in the photograph at the top of this post.

The peony flowers are appearing much later this year than last, but it appears that they will be just as lovely. 

As you may recall, last spring my Paeonia suffruitcosa (Tree Peony) flowered in April, and provided the inspiration for many posts including, The Peonies Are in Bloom Again, posted on April 24th, 2010, as well as earning the bragging rights for being featured on the back page of my downloadable brochure, where I feature selections from my line of invitations that preserve moments in time, event program covers that enhance any occasion and greeting cards that are about more than communication in both venues.

Today's peony, which appears to be playfully peeking out on to my garden, is especially precious: a nice sign of life and hope for me, after having attended a funeral Mass yesterday for Ms. MH, a sister of a dear friend (KM) of mine who has very advanced multiple sclerosis, is legally blind, and was recently moved (not her choice) from her apartment — which she loved — to a nursing home on the Upper Eastside of New York City.

"It's May! It's May!"

"It's May! It's May," are a couple of lyric lines from "The Lusty Month of May," a song featured in Camelot. May is also known as National Bike Month.  Moreover it is the month associated with raising awareness re a number of serious health conditions including Osteoporosis, Lupus and ALS.

Both my dear childhood friend, Ellen McConnell Blakeman, for volume two of my Words In Our Beak book series is dedicated (seen in the next picture) and her father died from ALS.

Her younger brother Douglas McConnell is very active in raising awareness re this disease through a foundation named A Long Swim, which is referenced in my aforementioned book.

Even though I've self-published my three volume book series about birds, I don't want to go the self-publishing route again as it proved to not be a good means to getting much recognition in book stores or in securing interviews. 

On another note, the month of May is also dedicated to raising awareness to the nerve disorder known as NF or Neurofibromatosis.

"It's May! It's May! The lusty month of May!" (AND The Month for The Lily of The Valley)

"It's May! It's May!," as Ms. Guinevere proclaimed in Camelot. This is something I discussed in 2011 here on Blogger, and if you'd like to refer to my entry, please click here. However, on this May 1st, I'd like to share with you some cool facts that I just learned about the flowers that are known as lily of the valley, which is the flower associated with this month. These flowers are featured in the image atop this entry in a photo I took of them springing up in front of a brownstone on the UWS of NYC.

Friday's Fact: It's May! It's May! BUT The "Merry Month of May" is less merry due to COVID-19! (Maybe my masks can help?)

THIS PHOTO IS FEATURED IN A NOVEMBER 2O19 FB POST

Today is May first causing me to think of a song from Camelot, where some of the lyrics say,:

"...Tra la, it's May, the lusty Month of May
That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray
Tra la, it's here, that shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear
It's May, It's May, that gorgeous holiday..."

But this year the onset of May does not seem so merry due to the world wide-spread  COVID-19 pandemic causing people to be required to wear face-masks to prevent its spread.

And to  think it was a little under eight months ago (on October 31 2019, which was Halloween), that I encountered a woman on the UES of NYC wearing an adorable Panda bear mask (she can be seen in the first image atop this entry).

Her face-mask certainly lifted my spirits and from what I observed, caused others to smile too.

Tra La! It's Here! It's May! It's May!

I'm welcoming May 2019 with a song from Camelot, which I did back in 2011 with an entry here on Blogger, where I included photographs of my rooftop garden. As you might suspect, dear reader, the garden has changed so much over these eight years.

It's here! It's here! You are so right, Ms. Guinevere

Happy May Day, dear reader, Happy May to you! Today is the beginning of a new month, May, a month where Catholics honor the Blessed Mother Mary, and also a month where, nationwide, May is known as Bike Month. That being said, I'm sure you realize that the so-called greatest city in the world, New York City, where I live, certainly honors the "merry, merry month of May" — when it comes to bikes —  starting with the first Sunday of the month of May, when they host the spectacular Five Boro Bike Tour. 

In describing the Five Boro Bike Tour,  Bike New York recently stated that, "If you are lucky enough to snag a spot in the Five Boro Bike Tour . . . on Sunday (May 1st 2011), you'll pedal 42  miles of New York streets that are closed to motorized traffic . . .  riding car-free with 32,000 fellow cyclists . . . " And once again, yours truly "is lucky enough" to "snag a spot" in the Five Boro Bike Tour via the courtesy of Achilles, and the grace of cyclists (who through the Achille's division known as the Twin Tandem Program) volunteer their time as bike captains for the blind, as well as the visually challenged who is legally blind like yours truly.