Composting Day

Today, May the 29th, Memorial Day is being celebrated in the U.S.A., because it's the last Monday in May. As you most likely know, the date for a given Memorial Day varies from year to year. I have written about this fact in a number of prior entries here on Blogger. But, there is another holiday occurring today that is always honored on this day.

The holiday I'm referring to is Learn About Composting Day. Holiday Insights (HI) created this special day in 2011. HI proclaims to be "strong advocates of the 'Go Green' environmental movement." And they state "Composting is easy. We believe everyone can practice composting, to leave a better world for our children." 

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.

Sightings in Theodore Roosevelt Park

"Adjacent to the American Museum of Natural History on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Theodore Roosevelt Park is rated one of the top five small parks in New York City," states a web-page.

Today I passed through there after dropping off my compost at the nearby greenmarket.

I came upon many lovely sights, including a squirrel.

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.

Monday's Memo: Facts re Daylilies

"Don't fence me in," certain daylilies growing within Theodore Roosevelt Park seemed to be saying (as evidenced in the photograph atop this entry) when I passed by them on my way home from the greenmarket.

I've seen this flora variety on countless occasions but I must confess I may not have noticed their expressive details (featured in the following sequence of pictures).

I was so intriged by my sighting that upon my return home I did some research to see what I could find out about them.

One of the things I learned (from a web-page named Florgeous where an article by someone who identifies herself as Rebekah P) and "shoulda" known is this: "each daylily flower remains open for just one day."

Wise Words Re the "Globe Master" (Wednesday's Wisdom)

The text in today's segment of Wednesday's Wisdom comes from a web-page (for American Meadows) that offers wise words re Allium flowers (the Globe Master variety).

They are the purple flora featured in the images atop this entry (which I took this past Sunday when I walked through Theodore Roosevelt Park and came upon the Irises I wrote about in a recent blog post. 

American Meadows page re Globe Masters states: 

".... The colossal round flower heads are up to a foot across... this Allium holds the petals on the flowers after blooming, so it makes a spectacular addition to dried arrangements. Some crafters even paint them--with various colors or with gold paint for the holidays....The word, Allium, means 'onion' in Latin. Many Allium species are native to Iran, where many tulips also originate, and the edible Alliums have been cultivated and a staple of diets for over 10,000 years.

The beauty of the small lavender flowerheads of chives have always been a decorative highlight in herb gardens. But in recent years, gardeners have become fascinated with the larger Alliums, particular the giants. As always, the Dutch hybridizers took them into their stocks... Most bloom in late spring so they bridge the gap nicely between the tulip season and early summer bloom of peonies and poppies.

Experienced gardeners plant these giant Alliums in groups of several bulbs, set very close together. The foliage is not attractive for long, so it's important to plant them next to other perennials whose foliage will more or less cover the Allium's base. This way, the wonderful flower stalks rise up and tower over the other flowers for a wonderful period of bloom."

American Meadows words,"This way, the wonderful flower stalks rise up and tower over the other flowers for a wonderful period of bloom," are proven in the next image which I also took this past Sunday.

Iris Day 2021

While cutting through The American Museum of Natural History's Theodore Roosevelt Park (on my way home from the greenmarket and compost drop off) I saw patches of Irises, the flower variety featured in the images atop this entry. 

My seeing them reminded me that Iris Day (celebrated one week and one day ago) was an event I've written about in bygone years here on Blogger. In case you didn't catch my 5-8-2017 post about this holiday, you may reference it by clicking here. 

Whenever I see Irsies I think of Vincent van Gough and today was no exception. 

However, in addition to recalling this artist's paintings of irises, I also thought of what Mary Oliver (the poet) had to say in relation to them:

"Praying

It doesn’t have to be

the blue iris, it could be

weeds in a vacant lot, or a few

small stones; just

pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try

to make them elaborate, this isn’t

a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which

another voice may speak.”

These words are something I constantly need to be reminded of when I sit down to write most anything.

Plush Animal Lovers Day 2018

IMAGE CREDIT

Today a number of folks are celebrating the fact that it is #PlushAnimalLoversDay!

As I've said before in an entry here on Blogger,  "According to daysoftheyear.com, 'Plush Animal Lovers Day is a day of celebration that is held every year to show your favorite stuffed toy some extra special love and appreciation. There’s an urban legend that says that the Teddy Bear, one of the worlds most popular plush animal pets, was invented when American President Theodore Roosevelt saw a baby bear on a hunting trip, and refused to shoot it...

"'...The original origins of the day’s creation are vague but there is an unconfirmed Urban Legend that the day first came about after a collectibles dealer named Royal Selangor came up with the idea of a Teddy Bears Picnic Day in the late eighties. Other stuffed toys became jealous that Teddy Bears were being singled out for their own celebration and demanded a special day all of their own! Not long after, Plush Animal Lovers Day quickly replaced Teddy Bears Picnic Day in popularity!"'

Another resource (cute-calendar.com) explains that when it comes to plush animals, "Textiles commonly used include plain cloth and pile bodys like oranges plush or terrycloth. Common stuffing materials are synthetic fiber batting, cotton, straw, wood wool, plastic pellets or beans. The first commercial concern to create stuffed toys was the German Steiff company in 1880. Steiff used new technology developed for upholstery to make their stuffed toys."

A plush animal who is rendered in the likeness of a male cardinal (seen below) is featured in the first volume of my Words In Our Beak book series, where Cam (the female cardinal who is the story teller states:  "... Folks often dismiss me and focus on the males in my 'breed;' even choosing their likeness to create figurines and stuffed animals.."

The one rendered in the likeness of a polar bear (seen in the next picture) represents a polar bear who lived at the Central Park Zoo.

Moreover, with Halloween just around the corner (this coming Wednesday, October thirty-first), I'm including another picture of a plush animal within this entry.