"another year over AND a new one just begun . . . " PART TWO-E (July 2012)

Today's entry here on Blogger is part two-E of a series of posts pertaining to a year-end review for special occurrences in my rooftop garden for the year 2012 (the schedule for this series is described in part one as well as part two-A of this topic) and in today's entry I will be reviewing the month of July for the year 2012.

Meanwhile, in my review for the "events" which occurred in my garden for the month of April 2012 , I brought up the fact that T.S. Eliot was known to have said, "April is the cruelest month . . . " 

And although April 2012 had been far from being the "cruelest month" in my garden this year, the month of July 2012, whilst it was exceptional because it marked the beginning of an array of birds (such as the one seen in the image atop today's blog entry) coming to visit my garden; was filled with weather related conditions that resulted in the death of some of the things as well as causing an extreme "sickness" in others, which I grow, and you will see that as I proceed with this review.

As for the image atop today's entry, it shows a mourning dove making him/herself at home in the container which houses my Acer shirasawanum's (Aka Autumn Moon tree).

In bygone years, I had heard the "voices" of mourning doves singing in my garden when alighting on this tree's container; hence I took the picture at a vantage point through the window of my door in an effort to not startle the bird.

Saturday In The Park (Central Park)

Today I spent some time in Central Park with a dear friend (CF) . She and I took a walk in The Rambles. On our way back we encountered a squirrel with a limp. But his/her injury did not deter the sweet creature from frolicking about or  playing peek-a-boo with us; as evident by the photographs atop this entry. Even though this critter seemed to be in a New York State of mind, the scene had a real Chicago feel about it; after all it was a Saturday in the park!

A Three Dog Night Moment Re-Visited

Last year I spent part of my Fourth of July with the three lovely girls seen in the image atop this entry and in a blog post (published on 7-6-2019) I mentioned that I had a "Three Dog Night" moment (as some of you know Three Dog Night is the name of a pop music group) in Central Park and that I thought of their 1972 song (Black & White) when I saw these three young children playing.

"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.

'Twas a most bittersweet Fourth of July... (Tuesday's Truths WK 187)

It was a bittersweet Fourth of July what with the coronavirus pandemic still in place, keeping everyone on their guard, but also it was a strained time because of the political unrest in the United States over how issues related to race were handled (or not handled) in bygone years.

Therefore, I was grateful to see that a neighbor who lives in the building across my courtyard (and who has participated in many #ClapBecauseWeCare sessions), did not allow any disparaging feelings about our history stand in her way of expressing appreciation, which she did by hanging up her American flag (as seen in the image atop this entry).

The Fourth of July in the Year 2018 (ETC)

In honor of the 2018 July 4th holiday, I've posted a copy of a comic strip (that I received in my In Box) atop this entry. As any reader of this blog must surely know, I am a big Mutts fan (the name of this strip). Over the years (nearly nine) that I've been on Blogger, I've included them within my entries. Additionally, I've written about the Fourth of July holiday on many occasions. However today, I cannot offer any new musings on the subject, I can only refer you those posts from bygone years, as I must put all my efforts into finishing volume three of my book series, Words In Our Beak.

VOLUMES ONE AND TWO

The deadline for me getting materials (images and text) to my editor, Chris Deatherage (who is also the book's formatter) is approaching, and as it does, I will be blogging less frequently until my third volume is complete (I have a heads-up re this matter in a previous entry, June 3rd 2018).

In any event, however you celebrate this holiday, dear reader, I hope it's safe, relaxing and happy.

FALL 2018 ADDENDUM: 

Hardcover versions of Volume One, Two and Three can be found wherever books are sold.

MY BOOK SERIES

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.

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 2021:

When the third volume of the hard-cover version of Words In Our Beak was released, I withdrew from promoting my former versions of Words In Our Beak. 

The very first one is an iBook and went into Apple's book store in 2015.

This was followed by an ePub version...

... that is available on Amazon and was also published in 2015.

Subsequently, Words In Our Beak's digital versions were published as a soft-cover book (with slight variations) by MagCloud in 2017.

Its press release can be read by clicking here.  

Now with the release of BIRD TALES....

... I've been advised to make mention of my early versions of volume one of Words In Our Beak, they do vary ever so slightly in content from the hard-cover version of volume one.

As of this addendum, I do not intend to create digital or soft-cover versions of Words In Our Beak Volume Two or Words In Our Beak Volume Three.

"Uncle Sam's a reminder of the great risks & personal sacrifices endured by generations of Americans in the quest for liberty." (Wednesday's Wisdom)

An exhibit at The New York Historical Society which paid homage to the history of iconic Uncle Sam ended ten days ago on September 3rd 2017. Banners announcing the exhibit, such as the one seen in the image atop this entry, are still flying from street lamps on NYC's Upper Westside.

A web-page for The New York Historical Society states that "since the 19th century, the familiar figure of “Uncle Sam,” with his beard and stovepipe hat, has represented the U.S. in recruitment posters, political cartoons, and advertisements. But long before he first appeared, artists drew upon a visual tradition stretching back centuries to depict America as an evocative woman."

Wednesday's Wisdom:Walk Just for Pleasure

The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir is known by New Yorkers as the Central Park Reservoir.

It is a decommissioned reservoir in Central Park. This reservoir stretches from 86th to 96th street. A partial view of it can be seen in the image atop this entry.

A number of years have passed since the last time that I walked around the reservoir, but, yesterday, which was The Fourth of July, I walked around it with a friend whose husband passed away a short time ago. I rarely take a walk for the sake of walking because I walk almost everywhere I need to go in the city, but I wanted to give the time to my friend, as it was her first Fourth of July holiday without her husband.

In my doing this, I was reminded that walking merely for the sake of walking releases endorphins; is relaxing; and, it causes one to take note of their surroundings as opposed to walking when you have to be somewhere at a certain time.

"Saturday in Park ..."

I've just returned home from taking a walk in Central Park, where it is currently twelve degrees, and the real feel is less than that. However, these cold temperatures did not deter a number of folks, who like yours truly, often heed the wisdom found in the lyric lines of the song, Saturday in the Park, by the band called Chicago.

The lines I'm thinking of go like this:

"...Funny days in the park

Every day's the Fourth of July

Funny days in the park

Every day's the Fourth of July..."

For indeed it was a very funny day in the park! Even a lone squirrel was attempting to make a snow angel, as evidenced in the image below.

And a couple of other squirrels proved they were New Yorkers because they were "wearing" black as seen in the next set of pictures.

A web-page for hercampus.com has this to say as to why us folks who live in NYC wear black: "Wearing black is our way of letting the world know that we are not guests of New York making our way through the city like any other transient visitor. We are the inhabitants of the infamously uninhabitable– survivalists in the place that reveals who has what it takes. New Yorkers wear black as a symbol of pride, a badge of honor, an indication that this is the city to which we belong."

Even though I mostly wear black, I'm not sure about this observation, I think it's a little precious sounding, but one thing that I am pretty sure about is this: If today were February second, (which is Ground Hog Day), NYC dwellers would probably be looking at six more weeks of winter, for as you can see (in the middle photo above), this little creature saw his/her shadow!

FOURTH OF JULY 2019

Today is The Fourth of July and the only fireworks that I plan to see are the ones (featured in the photo directly above) who are in in my indoor succulent garden. How about you, dear reader?

Do you plan to see any displays of them?

If so be safe and do remember this type of extravaganza can be very stressful on wildlife. I realize that I have published a number of blog entries re various displays of fireworks but this does not mean that I am not fully aware of their consequences on members our wildlife community, which is a topic I've addressed in the past.

For today, I'll leave you with photos of our avian community who happen to be red, white or blue and ask that you be mindful of them during this holiday and beyond.

OTHER CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

BLUE JAYS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

Today's the last Saturday of October 2011! Question: Will it be Halloween's Last Stand?

If you have been following my blog, then you are probably aware that some of the things which I grow in my urban (New York City) terrace garden have taken it upon themselves to express their thoughts and opinions by authoring blog entries and posting them within this blog.

This "hoopla" — which has caused one of the Halloween pumpkins that I currently have in my garden to be overcome with laughter as seen in the image to in the upper lefthand corner —  all started in April of 2010, when my blog was only a little over four months old, and one of the flowers from my Paeonia suffruiticosa (Tree Peony), posted a photograph of herself with a short narrative. (If you would like to refer to this, please click here.)

As time passed, word got out among the plants, vines, flowers, herbs, trees and shrubs — which totaled a little over eighty when I last took a census — that the flower from my Paeonia suffruiticosa had done this, and many of the things which I grow began authoring entries on my blog. (This fact has  caused another one of the Halloween pumpkins that I currently have in my garden to also be overcome with laughter as seen in the image at the right.)

Here's Tuesday's Truths WK 52: How the plant known as Tricyrtis, came to be referred to as a Toad Lily

Hello, and welcome to the fifty-first week of my Tuesday's Truths series, where I will shed light on how the plant known as Tricyrtis, came to be referred to as a Toad Lily. Details of the flowers from this exquisite plant (which was recently planted in my rooftop garden by Juan V) can be seen in the images atop this blog entry.

However, before I go into detail re this awesome flower, let me digress a bit, and apologize for not posting an entry for week fifty-three of my Tuesday's Truths series! Unfortunately, the truth for that day, which was August 1st, is that I did not feel well, due to an injury I sustained to my right foot.

Therefore I was preoccupied with the logistics of getting my boot cast to fit properly and other pesky details associated with recovery from my injury! But if truth be told, and it's about to, what I had planned to point out that day was the fact that the beginning of this month of August was a good time to point out that (according to a web-news page) "there are almost 4 million newborns delivered each year in the United States. Of that amount, 9.05% (or 353,000) babies are born in August alone, making it the biggest month for births. July comes in second with 349,000 births, followed by September."

A number of years ago, I was one of those 353,000 born in August. Moreover, I was born on a Tuesday, which, according to the aforementioned source, is "the most common day of the week for little bundles of joy to be delivered is Tuesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention find that on average there are 12,323 births on Tuesdays, with Wednesday and Thursday close behind."

Be that as it may, I admit that this news may not be particularly relevant to those of you who read urban related blogs; but, hey, you never know when the topic might come up in conversation; and you also never know when you might be selected to be on the game show Jeopardy, with details of birth months and days of births being a category worth mega bucks.

And, now that what I would've written on the fifty-third week for Tuesday's Truths is out of the way, I'll move on to my intention for the truth re this fifty-fourth week, and tell you a little bit about the back story of the Tricyrtis flowering plant being nicknamed "toad lily."

Saturday (Yesterday) In The Park

"Another day in the park... Everyday is the Fourth of July," are lyric lines from the song "Saturday in the Park," by the rock band, Chicago. I have quoted the song in prior posts here on Blogger when I've published an entry re my spending a Saturday in the Park, which is something I did yesterday.

I went to Central Park to see if turtles were coming out of hibernation on the third day after the official onset of spring in our hemisphere. There were only a couple of turtles swimming (such as the one seen in the image posted above) in Turtle Pond, which means many of them are still hibernating under the water; for usually that pond is oversubscribed with this type of creature.

Here's Tuesday's Truths WK 66: Facts re Benjamin Franklin and Turkeys

Hello and welcome to the sixth-fourth week of my Tuesday's Truths series, which is being posted on the Tuesday of  the week before Thanksgiving, a day when many Americans, unlike yours truly, who is a vegetarian (ninety-five percent of the time), will eat turkey. I happen to find it foul to eat fowl, and cannot eat turkey, but I can talk turkey about the myth that Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of The United States instead of the bald eagle being our avian rep.

"My September Baccalaureate": Journey Towards Elegant Lighting

Last week, at this very time, I was preparing for a hurricane who has ben named Hurricane Irene, which I discussed in this past Saturday's post, and in the conclusion of that entry, I reported that, in regards to Irene, I'd return to blogging with "hopefully little damage to report."

Thankfully, that was the case, as I've already indicated earlier this week. I am very grateful to God — though I don't express it nearly as much as I should. In fact, since I sleep on a foam pad — which is directly atop of my floor, I often don't kneel when I say prayers before going to sleep, although I did (as is the standard) kneel at mass yesterday, with thanksgiving that, in terms of Irene, I was unscathed; especially given the damage which Hurricane Irene did cause for many people, including those who live  on or near the Jersey Shore, a place, where I took the photograph (posted above) in late July, of a shore town's resident's garden fence with the affirmation, God Answers Knee-Mail. 

Since the place where I took this photograph is very near the ocean, I hope the folks who own the property as well as their surrounding neighbors did not sustain too much damage, but, whatever the case turned out to be, I am fairly certain they relied on their knee-mail to God to see them through the situation.

And speaking of God; are you, dear reader, familiar with the adage, If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans" ?

Well, what has happened, dear reader, is that I've recently discovered this very same  thing that happens with a muse. If you want to amuse your muse, tell him/her what you intend to write about. 

For as you may recall, dear reader, last Saturday I confessed that I had planed to write about my "journey towards elegant garden lighting", but my preparation for Irene took precedence. I did promise to return to my garden lighting epiphany today, but I admit that (because I have now been writing this entry in my head for over a week) my insights do not seem as poignant as they did last week, and I am tempted to renege on my promise; not out of an unwillingness to fulfill a task — but out of a bit of pride — that I may not sound as prolific in cyberspace as I do in my head, when it comes to the insights which I thought the new lighting system in my urban garden had taught me.

New Arrivals: The Coccinellidae novemnotatas aka THE LADYBUGS

Last week, at this very time, I was preparing for a hurricane who has ben named Hurricane Irene, which I discussed in this past Saturday's post, and in the conclusion of that entry, I reported that, in regards to Irene, I'd return to blogging with "hopefully little damage to report."

Thankfully, that was the case, as I've already indicated earlier this week. I am very grateful to God — though I don't express it nearly as much as I should. In fact, since I sleep on a foam pad — which is directly atop of my floor, I often don't kneel when I say prayers before going to sleep, although I did (as is the standard) kneel at mass yesterday, with thanksgiving that, in terms of Irene, I was unscathed; especially given the damage which Hurricane Irene did cause for many people, including those who live  on or near the Jersey Shore, a place, where I took the photograph (posted above) in late July, of a shore town's resident's garden fence with the affirmation, God Answers Knee-Mail. 

Since the place where I took this photograph is very near the ocean, I hope the folks who own the property as well as their surrounding neighbors did not sustain too much damage, but, whatever the case turned out to be, I am fairly certain they relied on their knee-mail to God to see them through the situation.

And speaking of God; are you, dear reader, familiar with the adage, If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans" ?

Well, what has happened, dear reader, is that I've recently discovered this very same  thing that happens with a muse. If you want to amuse your muse, tell him/her what you intend to write about. 

For as you may recall, dear reader, last Saturday I confessed that I had planed to write about my "journey towards elegant garden lighting", but my preparation for Irene took precedence. I did promise to return to my garden lighting epiphany today, but I admit that (because I have now been writing this entry in my head for over a week) my insights do not seem as poignant as they did last week, and I am tempted to renege on my promise; not out of an unwillingness to fulfill a task — but out of a bit of pride — that I may not sound as prolific in cyberspace as I do in my head, when it comes to the insights which I thought the new lighting system in my urban garden had taught me.

"another year over AND a new one just begun . . . " PART TWO-H-1 (Oct 1st — Oct 10th 2012)

Today's entry here on Blogger is part two-H-1 of a series of posts pertaining to a year-end review for special occurrences in my urban garden for the year 2012 (the schedule for this series is described in part one as well as part two-A of this topic) and, because October 2012 was the month Hurricane Sandy hit the area near to where I live, my garden went through another upheaval, so I will be posting the review for October in three parts.

Parents Day is for the birds!

IMAGE CREDIT

This is the fourth Sunday for the month of July 2019 which means it is Parents Day. A number of web-sources (including National Day AKA ND) ) concur, "National Parents’ Day honors all parents on the fourth Sunday in July. No matter where our parents may be, this day serves to celebrate their important role in our lives. 

ND (and other web-pages) also claim "President Bill Clinton established National Parents’ Day in 1994 when he signed Congressional Resolution (36 U.S.C. § 135) into law. The recognized the '…uplifting, and supporting the role of parents in the rearing of children.' Republican Senator Trent Lott introduced the bill. "

I am honoring the holiday by posting a copy (atop this entry) of a Peanuts Comic Strip which was published long before (8-1-1978) Clinton created a holiday for parents. The strip paints a picture of how a relationship between a parent and child can be.

But Parents Day is also for the birds, for when it comes to the avian community, both parents play a significant role in rearing their young.

HAPPY 1/2 YEAR FROM UNCLE SAM & ME!

HAPPY 1/2 YEAR, DEAR READER!

Today, July 1st 2013, marks the beginning of the 1/2 year mark for this year! And in bygone years, I have honored the occasion on Blogger with posts that reference the first six months of a given year in entries which you may refer to by clicking here for my 2010 posting, as well as here, here, and here for 2011 posts; and here for my 2012 post.

This year Uncle Sam (pictured above) has come to my succulent garden to celebrate this occasion, as well as to join the cast of characters that are here to perform on Independence Day, which is this coming Thursday, July the Fourth!

And, dear reader, you may be familiar with some of the characters as I referred to them the last time I posted here on Blogger as well as on hometalk.com and on in two entries on tumblr which you can refer to by clicking here and here.

But getting back to my newest succulent garden's guest, Uncle Sam, he has asked me to clarify a matter regarding his identity as he feel misunderstood! He wants to make it clear that he is not just an icon for the ready to eat Uncle Sam Cereal, which according to WIKI is a "breakfast cereal, first introduced in 1908 by U.S. Mills of Omaha, Nebraska. The company relocated to Needham, Massachusetts sometime after the 1970s. Attune Foods out of San Francisco acquired Uncle Sam Cereal in 2009."

Cam's Unnamed Beau

Anyone who follows TLLG's venues either here on Blogger, tumblr, Pinterest, or Facebook knows without a doubt, Cam (the female cardinal in the image atop today's entry which was taken in my urban rooftop garden) is very dear to my heart.

Moreover, Cam had a "one woman show," in that she was the sole character in one of my Virtual Stories (mini movies) titled Words in my Beak , which may be viewed via my Vimeo Library.

I named her Cam for my dearly departed grandparents, Clara and Albert Melahn. Cam first arrived in my garden in July of 2012 and up until that time I had never seen a female cardinal, nor did – I must confess — I realize that female cardinals had brown coloring!