Sounds of Silence: Northern Mockingbirds in the Winter

The pictures posted above were not included with the question they were taken after I posed my question. If you'd like to see images that were included with the question, they can be found @ http://www.hometalk.com/diy/outdoor/pest-repeller/q-visit-from-a-mockingbird-6555547

In any event, I initially wondered if my newcomer was a Dumetella carolinensis (Catbird). One of the reasons I thought this was because my new visitor was silent.

At the time I did not know that Northern Mockingbirds did not sing during the time period of November through February. But after the bird was ID-ed by the HT community, I did some investigating. And through my research, I've discovered that "Northern Mockingbirds typically sing from February through August, and again from September to early November."*

* https://www.facebook.com/TheLastLeafGardener/posts/773024052746970

The arrival of a Northern Mockingbird in my garden was probably due to the fact that twelve suet feeders (some with a fruit suet, others had an insect suet) were hung in a Christmas tree in my garden a seen below.

Stories about my using suet feeders as Christmas trees ornaments can be found on TLLG's FB Page.*

* https://www.facebook.com/TheLastLeafGardener/posts/769346233114752

But today's HT posting is not about the suet feeders hanging in my Christmas tree, rather it is about the newcomer to my garden and his/her winter silence as well as the silence I am experiencing at this time.

For as some of you may recall, in 2014, I wrote an entry for HT titled, "Home is People Not a Place."**

** http://www.hometalk.com/diy/build/planters/backyard-ideas-garden-entertaining-people-4766865

In the aforementioned post, I stated that my dear friend "Victor lives in the high-rise building directly north of me" and I also stated that "Victor's apartment does not face mine, but it seems folks in his building (especially the ones who have windows which face me) know who I am as they have seen Victor with me in my garden.

"However, at this point it has been quite some time since Victor was here and upon my talking with him by phone last night, I wonder if he will ever be able to return to his home or visit mine . . . ".

The post I am referring to was written this past summer and Victor still has not returned to his home. He was in the hospital from August 24 2014 through the first week of September 2014, when he was transferred to a rehab facility. The location of the facility is quite far from e and not directly accessible by public transportation. But I've managed to see him on a weekly basis since that time.

His recovery is slow and he does not seem to have the confidence that he can pull out of his circumstances. This fact is the most worrisome of all the circumstances I am going through, for without a will, thee is little chance of a way.

In any event, because I used to see Victor on a daily basis, he would've shared in my news about the arrival of the Northern mockingbird. But now, like the mockingbird in winter, my communication with Victor has been silenced.

There are others I would've shared my news about the Northern Mockingbird's arrival and they include a vendor (Gifts by Helen) named Helen, my editor Peggy, and DD, our parish secretary who has been my friend for nearly thirty years.

Helen is someone I wrote about on TLLG's FB Page another times, including the recent past,* when I gave an update on her role as a vendor selling painted cat rocks and other artifacts, such as the wooden animal and journals.

This past November I received a message regarding Helen that stated this:

"Helen’s friend Gina called me this evening to let me know that Helen had a fall and was taken to St. Lukes hospital on Amsterdam Ave. I spoke with a doctor as well as my sister. Helen is currently in the emergency room. Evidently her apartment door was open when a neighbor found her and called the super, then Gina, then 911. Evidently, she may have been on the floor for 2 or 3 days and is hypothermic. She was non-responsive, her blood pressure is very low and her heart almost stopped. Currently she’s on several medications to keep up her blood pressure and she’s on warming fluids to keep up her temperature. She is critical and is going to be seen by ICU dr."

Soon after I received the word (via email above) about Helen's condition, I received a phone call from Helen's niece (Susan) who told me she had traveled in from Massachusetts and was at the ICU Unit with Helen.

Apparently Helen did not recognize Susan but the hospital held out hope that they could stabilize Helen.

Because Helen required urgent attention and because I was confined to my apartment, Susan and I agreed that I should wait until the following day to come to the hospital.

Later I received another phone call from Susan saying that Helen had died and I spent the evening making calls on their behalf.

I have no pictures of Helen, for like yours truly, she hated having her picture taken, so I will introduce you to her by sharing some photos (posted below) related to her business, Gifts by Helen.

This is an image of Helen's "store" located in NYC's UWS. A version of the picture was featured in a blog post, "Nothing Small Minded About Small Business."*

* http://www.thelastleafgardener.com/2010/11/nothing-small-minded-about-small.html

Helen's wares mostly included picture frames and journals made of natural materials and I created a board for her on Pinterest as well as a movie on Vimeo in an effort to promote her stock.**

** http://www.pinterest.com/thellgardener/journals-etc-unique-any-occasion-gifts/

AND

** http://vimeo.com/27671255

I also used Helen's journals as sign-in books at a place that gave me a one woman art exhibit.***

The journals can be seen on the table in the picture below.

*** The exhibit featured art work found on Patricia Youngquist Photo-Art. http://www.patriciayoungquist.com

I supported Helen's endeavors by using her journals, creating Pinterest Boards as well as creating mini-movies on Vimeo and writing blog posts.*

* http://www.thelastleafgardener.com/search/label/Gifts%20by%20Helen

And she supported mine by including my greeting cards n her 'store" during the various holidays as seen below.

In addition to including my cards in her "store," Helen included painted rocks made by Phyllis Aldren including ones seen in the pictures below.

I also created a Pinterest Board* for the painted rocks and wrote about them on Blogger as well as tumblr.**

* http://www.pinterest.com/thellgardener/painted-rocks-unique-all-occasion-gifts/

** http://www.thelastleafgardener.com/search/label/Gifts%20by%20Helen

AND

** http://thelastleafgardener.tumblr.com/search/Painted+Rocks

Helen and I were close and with her death on December 1, 2014, I've experienced a big loss. But I know what she would've said, "FANTASTIC," upon hearing that a Northern Mockingbird had arrived in my garden.

As you can surmise, with the absence of Victor, my loss of Helen was a sad way for me to begin December of 2014.

The month ended on a sad note too, for on December 31 2014, during the morning of New Year's Eve day, my longtime friend and editor, PW, died.

PW can be seen in the photo below, which os a picture I've shared in entries here on HT, including my last post here, "Keeping Christmas," which I posted on 12-27-14.

The loss of a friend is great and even greater when it is someone who reads your prose. Details of PW's death were included in entries on TLLG's FB Page.*

* https://www.facebook.com/TheLastLeafGardener/posts/767473926635316

AND

* https://www.facebook.com/TheLastLeafGardener/photos/a.355589574490422.73015.247917655257615/760727463976629/?type=1

I'm not sure what PW would say about the presence of a Northern Mockingbird in my garden, but she would make sure I spelled his/her ID correctly, but I certainly miss the physical silence I have in the aftermath of her passing.

Going forward, I hope to dedicate my book series, "WORDS IN OUR BEAK,"** to PW.

** http://www.hometalk.com/diy/outdoor/garden/the-writing-of-words-in-our-beak-3708453

And there is another friend of mine who may not be able to enjoy seeing the Northern Mockingbird or even visiting my garden anymore. That friend is DD, who I mentioned towards the beginning of this post, "has been my friend for nearly thirty years."

She is the woman who has the short red-blonde hair in the pictures below.

Neither image includes yours truly as both of the pictures were taken by yours truly during a celebration of my birthday by the Hudson River.

In any event DD is a regular visitor to my garden but she has just been diagnosed with lung cancer that ha spread to her spine and brain. She is hospitalized and undergoing treatment. I am confident he can beat thus cancer as Valerie Harper has also been dong, but I'm saddled by the temporarily silence as a result of her being away, and I'm saddened by her struggle.

I am certainly looking forward to February the Northern Mockingbird may break his/her sounds of silence and return to singing. And hopefully the mockingbird will be singing songs of thanksgiving for the recovery of my friends, DD as well as Victor, and that my friends PW and Helen are resting in peace.