Author Archives: admin

I and the Bard: IATB #49 is up on Via Negativa

Posted on by
1

A carnival for the birds, I and the Bird #49 is up on Dave Bonta‘s Via Negativa. I submitted my recent bird sightings and Dave linked to my post about the Cedar Waxwings.

But not in an obvious way. Dave did something unusual with the contributions this time. I’ll let him explain:

Poems, like birds, are everywhere; it’s just a matter of training ourselves to recognize them — a metaphor here, an alliterative passage there, and something lovely dark and deep lurking just beyond. And with a little bit of editing, the English language naturally resolves into a rough iambic pentameter…

Each line in the “found poem” below is a link to the post I lifted it from. I’ve altered nothing but the punctuation, and I’ve included an audio version for those who may have trouble hearing the poetry at first.

It was hard to recognize my own words in this context:

Who knows how they knew they were there.

Out of its original context, it reads more like a Zen koan than a sentence from a blog post. I don’t want to spoil the accidental poetry of that line by explaining it.

Go check out IATB#49 for all the poetry. I recommend taking the time to listen to Dave’s audio recording. He has a poet’s voice.

Happy (?!) Endangered Species Day

Posted on by
Reply

On May 18th, America celebrates [sic] Endangered Species Day! The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed a resolution supporting Endangered Species Day, a national celebration of America’s commitment to protecting and recovering our nation’s endangered species. Americans young and old will learn about endangered species, including the American bald eagle, peregrine falcon, gray wolf, grizzly bear, humpback whale and many of our nation’s wildlife, fish and plants on the brink of extinction.

For the next week, millions of Americas [sic] will celebrate Endangered Species Day at parks, wildlife refuges, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, environmental agencies, conservation organizations, schools, museums, libraries, businesses, and community groups across the country. For a list of Endangered Species Day events and activities, visit the Endangered Species Day webpage.

Links:

Guest Post: The Man From B.R.O.O.K.L.Y.N.

Posted on by
2

I received the following from my Dad this afternoon. I asked him for permission to share it here.

APOLOGIA: YOU WILL FIND “I” AND “ME” IN HERE OFTEN. That’s because my wife, who is also from Brooklyn does not agree with my outlook. These are MY opinions and do not mean I am insulting my wife or son or other Brooklynites and THEIR opinions.

I AM FROM BROOKLYN AND PROUD AS PUNCH !

(Nope, that’s not right. How about)

I AM FROM BROOKLYN AND PLEASED AS PUNCH !

(I’m still not getting my point across. Lessee)

I AM FROM BROOKLYN AND HAPPY ABOUT THAT !

I’m gone, by-bye, far away, moved. It took 65 years but no more $500 annual parking ticket budget, sky rats, strange people sleeping in the streets, passersby arguing with themselves and losing. No more rush hour, subway, shoulder to shoulder bustle and bump, “cleaning” windshields, strange green gobs of mucous on the sidewalk.

I was a Great Depression baby, born at home near the intersection of Myrtle and Decatur in Ridgewood. We moved to Queens early in my life but, same thing. Brooklyn was The City, just like Manhattan.

If you were a baseball fan, you had died and gone to Heaven early. A ten cent subway ride took you to the Wonderlands of Yankee Stadium, Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds. I was not a fan.

No sense belaboring it: it was a nasty Era and life stunk. My Mom made me wear knickers and a beret !

Our electric was more off than on. Fridays were always cod fish cakes and spaghetti (Franco-American) night.

During WWII we also had Meatless Tuesdays. Not that we could afford meat anyway but it makes a good bitching point.

When I was married we managed to move out on “The Island”, first to Nassau county and then Suffolk.

From that point on I tried very hard to protect my kids from the Big Bad City. I didn’t want them to endure what

I had gone through. I was still too much a Dad to realize or even conceive that my kids could think for themselves and make decisions. Wrong again, and not for the first or last time.

My son moved first to Manhattan and eventually to Brooklyn where he has a 100 year old Victorian home.

The daughter is very happy with her family in New Jersey.

The son writes a well received and popular “Blog” about life in Brooklyn, especially gardening.

They’re happy, I’m happy. I miss them but not Brooklyn.

Here is a partial list of things I do miss: American Museum of Natural History; Coney Island Aquarium; MOMA; the Bronx Zoo; hot chestnut vendors; Horn and Hardart’s Automat; Charlotte Russe; Loew’s Valencia Theatre; Tony the Ice Man; Macy’s Christmas windows; Rockefeller Center at Christmas; more. BUT, I could always visit. Oh my: swimming at the St. George hotel with its’ salt water pool and the mirrored ceiling; the Thanksgiving and St. Patrick’s Day parades; Times Square on New Year’s Eve (just once);……..

Had to stop, starting to choke up. Take a deep breath.

OK. I now live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, selected as my retirement spot after years of study. Been here 15 years. I do very well, thank you. We eat out several times a week. I love it. We have a backyard about 100 feet deep and two football fields long. A stream runs through it at the rear boundary.

We live at the foot of a mountain.

The backyard is visited by a variety of wildlife: squirrels, flying squirrels, several species of rabbit, red foxes, muskrat, wild turkeys, deer, gray fox, ducks, geese and an amazing variety of birds including several hawk species. (They tend to harvest the mourning doves.)

Just a couple of healthy stones throws away is a herd of elk and a pack of red wolves. The gray wolves have not yet been re-released to the wild. The cougars/panthers/mountain lions are gone but you can still find feral pigs, some mixed with European Boars. They hunt them on foot, with spears!

What about bears? They are all around us but have never been seen on our property. Sightings have been made within a half mile. Usually a daily incident in the local papers.

We gotcher streams, creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes and hundreds of waterfalls. Local fishing waters hold all species of trout; bass species include largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, peacock, striped, hybrid.

The North Carolina state record for Bluegill sunfish (2 ¾ pounds) was caught in our home county.

Culturally, we miss major league sports. However we have seen Itzaak Perlman, the Lippizaner Stallions, David Copperfield, many operas. We have musical and stage shows, lots of Celtic music and dancing and, as you might expect, tons of Blue Grass. The circus, pow-wows, gem mines. We’re not lacking.

Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina are within a half hour’s drive.

City lovers would miss the 24 hour lifestyle. We tend to roll up the sidewalks around 9:30 PM.

So, all-in-all, it was a great move. We still visit the son in Flatbush and the daughter in Brick, NJ. We absolutely avoid Long Island at all costs.

There are a few other ties to The City. I still have a plot in Calvary Cemetary. It will go unused.

So, my dear son: revel in your Brooklyn home with your partner. You have chosen, and wisely for you. My plan to protect you was a flop and thank goodness for that.

I am still happy to be FROM Brooklyn. But I have a friend there whom I can visit whenever possible. He opens my eyes to the things I overlooked and broadens my knowledge base and horizons, even at the age of 75.

I am blessed in all things.

A Gardener’s Nightmare: Replacing the roof

Posted on by
3

I just got off the phone with our roofer. On Monday they start replacing our roof.

[Cue horror movie music …]

I took this photo in January of 2006. It features the front of our house, which faces West. You can see the front garden area and most of the front gable. The South side of the house has one of the side gabled dormers and a wide, sunny border between the house and the driveway.
Front and South Side Gardens, January 2006

In our case, because of the multiple layers of shingles accumulated over the years, “replacing the roof” means tearing off the entire roof, including the original cedar shingles, circa 1900, down to the rafters and furring strips. It also means a big mess on all sides of the house, especially the north and south sides sloping down from the gables.

Here’s an aerial view from the rear/East side of the house, courtesy of Microsoft Live Maps. This gives you a much better idea of the layout and size of the roof. The Flickr photo page has notes explaining the features visible in this photo.
House_RearView

We expect this project to last about a month, give or take. The roofer has promised to build sheds over the gardens to protect them. I hope so, yet I’m not counting on it to save everything and I can live with some damage. We knew when we had the house inspected 2-1/2 years ago before going into contract that we would have to do this. I’ve been holding off for two years on any big gardening plans which would be affected by this job.

The backyard won’t be affected much. I’ll setup a plant refugee camp there for anything which needs to move, including all the containers at the front of the house. I’ve already transplanted some plants from the ground into containers or to beds which are at lower risk of damage. They should be fine for a month.

We’ll see what happens! Watch for periodic updates.

Event, Brooklyn & Queens, 5/19 & 5/20: Compost Giveback

Posted on by
Reply

[Updated 18:15 EDT: Corrected dates!]

Compost This Way

The Brooklyn-Queens Compost Giveback continues this Saturday and Sunday, May 19&20 at the Spring Creek Composting site [Google Map]. Blog Widow John and I went last Saturday.

I was not allowed to take pictures at the event. Rumor on the ground was that the property is being examined for development. I took the one photo above before I was told photography was not allowed.

Fortunately, there’s Google and satellites. Check out the piles of compost!

Google Map of Spring Creek Composting Site

I armed us with two broad-faced shovels, a pitchfork, a plastic bushel-sized bin, and heavy-duty plastic contractor’s bags. We backed up to a rapidly dwindling yet still impressive long row of compost and had at it. The Queens Botanical Garden was on hand to provide advice and literature.

I also picked up two Garden Gourmet composters at $20 a pop. I put one of them together on Sunday. I’ve used Smith & Hawken BioStacks for many years. I’ll come back with a comparative review of the two designs later.

Garden Gourmet (left) and Biostack (right)
Comparison of Garden Gourmet (left) and Biostack (right)

Links:

Related posts:

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish: Jerry Falwell, 1933-2007

Posted on by
1

I just learned that Jerry Falwell is dead at last. And, hopefully, for good. The post title is from, of course, a John Waters film:

Well, good riddance to bad rubbish. – Divine (Harris Glenn Milstead), Female Trouble

All I can add is the last lines from the poem I posted during Blog Against Theocracy:

there isn’t room enough in hell for both of us

you go first

After you, Jer.

via Found in Brooklyn.

Event, Sunday, May 20: PLG = Plants, Leaves, Green!

Posted on by
1

Across the Park (ATP) announced today that residents and friends of Prospect Lefferts Gardens can get their green on next Sunday, May 20. The spruce up for Lincoln Road between Ocean and Flatbush Avenues is organized by Prospect Lefferts United for Services (PLUS). See their posting for details.

I was amused to see that the poster announces that the after party will be held at Meytex Lounge, whose facade was recently described as scary in New York Press. ATP goes on to note that it’s scheduled for an exterior sprucing up of its own.

Blogfest Coverage

Posted on by
Reply

Update 2010.01.03: Removed all links to the old Gowanus Lounge domain, which has since been appropriated by some parasitic commercial site.

To highlight coverage of last Thursday’s Blogfest, I’ve moved all the links from my original post to this one and organized it by media. I’ll continue to keep this up to date as I learn about more.

Video

  • Brooklyn Roundtable (Episode airing 9pm 5/18 will include a video montage from the Blogfest and interviews with OTBKB, BrownStoner, and No Land Grab. Update: I was in the montage!)
  • cruxy (I’m in this one, though not identified. They pan across me at the open mic before they move on to one-on-one interviews with attendees at the reception.)
  • NewsChannel4

Audio

(Watch this space)

Photos, mostly

You can also look at my Flickr set of photos from the evening.

Words, mostly

Ovenbird, Seiurus aurocapillus

Posted on by
3

At 4:30 this afternoon, I photographed another “life bird” for me, this time while I was sitting in the backyard garden: an Ovenbird, Seiurus aurocappilus.

Ovenbird, Seiurus aurocapillus

These are the best from about 35 shots I took in rapid succession. I tried to adjust the color for a truer representation, or at least consistency. I need some better software tools for that, I think. Exposure in the backyard ranges from full shade, to dappled leafy shade, to full sun. And my little visitor ranged through all of it. Most of the shots were ruined due to camera shake, ie: photographer shake. Others were blurred by the motion of the bird itself; in the shade, the shutter speed was too slow to freeze its motion.

In the mixed native plant border, that’s a cinnamon fern behind, and the stem of a Turk’s Cap Lily in front. You can see the orange patch on the crown, a key for this species.
Ovenbird, Seiurus aurocapillus

Here’s the original, full-frame shot showing more of the border. The blurry thing on the right is a wooden planter I’d just finished planting with a female Winterberry, Ilex verticillata.
Ovenbird, Seiurus aurocapillus

Rear view, also showing the orange patch on the crown.
Ovenbird, rear view

The ovenbird visited me for less than five minutes. It started out in our back neighbor’s cherry tree, where I couldn’t get a good shot and lost sight of it. I thought it flew off.

I was surprised to then see the bird on the ground, beneath one of our Adirondack chairs, about six feet from me. It wandered around the backyard. You can see much of the in-progress gardening clutter around the bird: a bin holding compost, a bag of leaves, and so on. It didn’t seem to be probing the ground. Maybe it was just checking out the neighborhood.

I take this as a good sign. My plan for the backyard is to recreate a woodland opening. I’ve been building up a collection of native shrubs, wildflowers and ferns. The past two weekends I’ve been reorganizing the space, clearing beds, and planting things which have been sitting in containers all this time. I’m starting to recreate the layered foliage structure of a clearing in an Eastern woodland. I feel like the ovenbird showed up as if to say: Getting warmer.

Event, June 10: 2007 Victorian Flatbush House Tour

Posted on by
6

Update 2007.06.11: See my photos from the tour.

210 Rugby Road, Prospect Park South Historic District, Victorian Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York
210 Rugby Road

I just learned from Living in Victorian Flatbush, the blog of real estate broker Mary Kay Gallagher and company, that you can now buy tickets for the Flatbush Development Corporation‘s 2007 Victorian Flatbush House Tour.

The house featured in the photograph on FDC’s House Tour page is 210 Rugby Road. I hope this means it’s on the tour this year. This is in the Prospect Park South Historic District, and it’s one of my favorites. At the top of this post is one of my photographs of this house. It’s a perfect Queen Anne Victorian, with a turret and wrap-around porch. It’s also visible from Beverly Road, so I pass it nearly twice every weekday going to and from the subway.

One change this year is that the tour starts out at Temple Beth Emeth at the corner of Church Avenue and Marlborough Road. This is on the north edge of the Prospect Park South Historic District. The past two years, the starting point has been the Flatbush-Tompkins Congregational Church in the Ditmas Park Historic District.

I’m disappointed in two more changes for this year’s tour:

  1. There are only 12 houses on the tour this year. This is fewer than last year, which was fewer still than the year before. I don’t know if this is a trend, or what this signifies for the long-term viability of the tours.
  2. The past two years have been House & Garden Tours. This year, apparently, no gardens are on the tour. Surely there are gardeners willing to open their spaces to visitors. Maybe the audiences for garden and house tours are simply too incompatible.

Corrected subway directions: As of 5/16, the subway directions on FDC’s Web site are still incorrect. I contacted them by email and they’re in the process of updating their materials.

Take the Q train to CHURCH AVENUE, not Beverley Road (or Beverly, both spellings are used). Exit at the Church Avenue (south) end of the station. The start of the tour, Temple Beth Emeth, is on Church Avenue at the corner of Marlborough Road, just three streets West of the station. (Marlborough Road is the same as East 15th Street.)

You can walk 2-1/2 blocks North to Church Avenue from Beverley Road to get there. It’s just a longer walk. On the other hand, it’s also a prettier walk, since you walk through the Prospect Park Historic District. Take your pick!