Brooklyn Boids, I Mean Birds

Although I actually have even more pics from the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens I thought I would show you some pictures of some birds I captured in Brooklyn. Now when you think of Brooklyn birds you're probably thinking, "dirty stinking boids" like the rats with wings, pigeons. At our Brooklyn house we have a huge pine tree in the back yard that the neighbors have been bugging me to cut down since my father died. I refuse to cut that one and the other pine that I have in the front of the house. Both trees house some songbirds including one that wakes me every morning singing, "Sweet Marie, Sweet Marie." I imagine that's my dad saying good morning to his granddaughter.

For the most part the birds are the usual ones that you would see here in Roanoke -- cardinals, bluejays, bluebirds, sparrows, wrens, pigeons along with many seagulls. This trip I saw two more types of birds I had never seen before in Brooklyn.

On our way back from the Botanic Gardens we stopped at Greenwood Cemetery to see my folks...



The place is huge and even though they issue maps it's easy to get lost. We know we finally found the gravesite when we stumble upon this gargoyle-filled monument.



My parents are located near one of the two huge ponds. We usually get lost trying to leave as well even though we follow the pond. This time we saw a beautiful bird that we've never seen there before.







Later on I took my daughter to Shore Parkway to go shopping. As usual we walked to the shore to take pictures of my favorite bridge, the Verrazano...



I had to look twice after taking the picture because I thought I saw some birds in the ocean which were too large to be ducks or geese...



We walked closer to the shore and saw that there were two swans diving for fish in the ocean...







My daughter said she didn't know swans swam in the ocean. Neither did I! You never know what you're going to find in Brooklyn.



Wouldn't this shot make a nice postcard? "Greetings from Brooklyn!"

Message Received

I was awoken this morning to a sound of something hitting the bedroom floor. When I got up to check I saw a picture frame was in the middle of the room, face up. The picture was still on the shelf. This frame was a hand-made colored glass frame that once had a picture of my mother when she was a child in it. It stood for years on her fireplace mantle. During one visit to NY a couple of years ago, I found it in a box that was destined to go in the trash with her picture torn from it. My father didn't do it and I know who did. I took the frame and picture back home with me. The picture ended up in a Memory Box that I made for my mom.



Since then the frame rested against a photo of my mother and my two kids taken the year before she died. They all look so happy in that shot. I don't know why or how it was flung across the room, and am just glad that the frame did not shatter. I'm still scratching my head wondering how it landed face up.

Last night when I was cleaning out my dresser drawer I found an envelope addressed to my daughter from my father dated January 19, 2004. The note inside was brief..."Here is the present I promised you to get your computer. I hope you have a beautiful time with it. Love and kisses, Grandpa"

When I read the letter to my daughter she said, "Grandpa never lied to me. I miss him so much." The irony is not lost on me after yesterday's post. I feel like my mother and father have stopped by to let us know they're still with us even though they're no longer here. Maybe my mother was annoyed that my daughter said she missed Grandpa and didn't mention her and that's why she flung the picture frame to remind us she's still here too. Message received!

This morning when I went downstairs to work out on my bike I noticed my legs suddenly were too short to reach the pedals. When I looked at the number position I noticed it was now at the number 5. Yesterday it was at the number 3. I tried to unscrew the knob to loosen it so I could make the re-adjustment back to 3 but I can't budge it. When my husband first set it up he had to use a wrench to release it and when he tightened it, it's like he tightened the pickle jar so that I can't open it without him. I called him at work and asked him if he screwed with the bike last night or this morning. Of course, he didn't go near it. So I woke up the kids and asked them if they had ridden or changed anything on it. My son said the last place he would be found would be working out on a stationary bike and my daughter reminded me she doesn't even go downstairs. Strange. Who or what moved it? I don't know, and I don't get the feeling it's either of my parents, but they actually did me a favor because I find it more comfortable now to scoot down in the chair while pedaling. This gives me more room to place a book on my lap so now I can read while working out. Ten miles went like that! So thanks!

One more thing...could whoever hid them please return my Chromium Picolate pills? It's been two days since they're missing and now I'm beginning to wonder if someone is trying to tell me they're not good for me or something...

Back to Black

Something strange is happening to my hair and it's not the cut and style my daughter gave me, nor the blue-black dye she put underneath in the back of my head. Some of my roots are morphing through the dyed "natural blond" which is covering the white/grey and heading back to black!

I thought I noticed something odd yesterday when I was straightening my bangs. I lifted them up and saw at my scalp about 1/2 to 1" long in some places, black hair. I frantically began pushing my hair all around looking closely at the scalp and noticed it wasn't just in the front but everywhere. I ran to my daughter's room and had her look in he back of my head, on top of my head, underneath my head. Yup, there are little black roots sprouting. It's not on every strand, but they're there. How and why is this happening?

Can it be due to my recent lifestyle changes? According to WikiAnswers it can be and Lord knows if it's written there it must be true. Can this be another added benefit from my dieting, exercising, stopping smoking and drinking? I don't know. I started turning grey very young, and I always blamed it on all the video monitors and radiation I was surrounded by during my career in television. I also didn't have very good "lifestyle habits" then either, and sort of abused myself throughout the years, not worrying about what I was putting into my body. Since I've been very cognizant of every morsel lately, eliminating and/or cutting down on sugars and fats, and piling up on the protein, I wonder if my body is now rejuvenating. I don't know, but if my brown eyes start to turn blue I'm going to be doing cartwheels...