The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBYBC) coincided with my realization that the world is going to the birds (who will no doubt do a better job than we are as stewards) and with my own annual mid-February migration to Washington, DC and upstate NY. Though my actual feathered bird count proved to be inauspicious, I was fortunate to see many of my favorite un-feathered friends on this trip.
Had I been in DC during the bird count, I would have done much better than I did in upstate NY, as the observation from the breakfast room affords daily views of well-fed house finches, cardinals (both sexes), titmice, and many many sparrows, as well as mourning doves, and the occasional influx of rowdy and boisterous grackles. Here’s a view from the backyard with the feeders full of birds. If I were clever enough to share the video with you here, you would also see the snow coming down and the birds scampering around desperately to feed. This was on February 13th, and I was training for the back yard bird count which happened over the past four days, ending on President’s Day.
My migration was easy; I took the redeye to Washington, DC landing on 2/10, and heading directly to see my Dad and his wife in their home adjacent to Rock Creek Park, another beautiful spot (in non-inclement weather) to walk. We had a delightful few days, puzzling, and chatting and exercising on the athletic field of the adjacent school. We dined out at Clydes, one of their favorite haunts. Sunday, we had planned to attend a brunch with our cousins, Julie and Mark, at the home of Julie’s sister Sara and her husband, David; however, our plans were interrupted by a 24-hour bug. Sara and David nevertheless brought the food by and we had a festive brunch. We will have to connect next time I’m in town!
My next jaunt was by train up to NYC, where I met Susan at the Moynihan Train Station, and we cabbed our way over to the Algonquin where she’d stayed the night before fresh from Capetown. The Algonquin has a truly nostalgic place in my heart, as we’d stayed there for Jimmie’s 80th Birthday years ago (December of 2006) and spent several lovely evenings there with close friends like Lynn and Ron Cohen. It was while I was looking back at some pictures from some of these events, that I realized the repetition of my friending patterns. My flock hasn’t changed largely, and I saw many of the same folks on this most recent trip. Many have flown to other climes or to the ethereal heavens, but these photos prove that they all intersected at one point and made my life list.
My last trip to the Algonquin (Gonk) was in June 26, 2016, when a group of us including my talented artist aunt, Irene Neal, made our way to Manhattan. We were hardly the Vicious Circle depicted in Kevin C. Fitzpatrick’s The Algonquin Round Table New York: A historical guide (thoughtfully given to me for my birthday by flock friend Mary Joan) but we fancied ourselves wits. We took the requisite photo at the then-round table. Terrible lighting of us and terrific lighting of the painting resulted in this photo which only documents the participants and certainly doesn’t win any photography awards. But we did have fun on that trip, walking a lot and laughing as much.
This recent trip found the Algonquin remodeled, the fabulous New Yorker Cartoon wallpaper gone from the hallways upstairs, replaced with creamy silk wallpaper, the round table itself diminished to cafe sized circles scattered around the once majestic dining room. Nevertheless, here are some details of the lobby that never disappoints. Including the resident lobby cat who of late is a ginger but always a bit aloof, as cats are.
Susan and I met there on Valentines Day and she eschewed dinner due to jet lag but graciously allowed me to go dine with my friends Frank and Jackie at Joe Allen’s. This, too, I would consider a haunt for my flock. It was a terrific meal on a very chilly evening. First, though, I passed through the Imperial Theatre to witness a few minutes of tech for the upcoming musical Water for Elephants, which my colleague Takeshi Kata is the scenic designer. He guided me through the tech table jungle and we sat at his scenic post as some of the acrobats worked a moment on stage. I took this picture of him in his element and here’s a shot of the marquee. Go see it! Starts previews today, I believe! It was exciting to be in the midst of that creative swirl of activity. I made Tak point out who every one was and explain their role in the process.
On to dinner with Frank and Jackie at Joe Allen’s. Valentine’s Day takes on a different meaning when you are not in a romantic relationship. Everywhere there is love, and this trip emphasized for me my love of friends and family.
After frolicking in NY for two days, Susan and I took the train to upstate NY to see Bob, where we spent four days practicing gratitude for our friendship and good health and life adventures. We visited Dia: Beacon, and The Magazzino, two art galleries in former warehouse/factory spaces in the area. In both spaces we saw the work of Mario Merz, who utilizes the fibbonnaci sequence in his work. At Dia: Beacon, this exhibit has been in place for four years and our visit was timely, as it closes on Monday, February 26, 2024.
Using recycled organic and industrial materials, the artist developed a highly imaginative iconography and recast timeless forms, such as the igloo and table, in installations that envision the interdependency of individuals, society, and the natural environment. Spanning the late 1950s through the mid-1980s, the exhibition revisits Merz’s key forms and motifs, distinctive use of neon, and deployment of the Fibonacci sequence—where each number equals the sum of the two that precede it—for the structure of his installations. This will be his first solo institutional presentation in the United States in years.
Fifty Years of Dia Catalogue
Both galleries were spectacular, and after each day’s adventures we returned to the bucolic lakeside home that is the seed of my fantasies for lakeside dwelling. There we ate healthy food we prepared together and ate bagels the likes of which Susan can’t get in Capetown nor I in LA.
And this bucolic snowy scene was where I finally attempted to do the Annual Great Backyard Bird Count. I had attended a webinar while I was in DC, and I was all prepared to count the birds. I put my chair by Bob’s glass paned back kitchen door, and set my sights on the ground and tree tops, my Merlin Bird App open, and my ebird App poised to rack up a lot of birds. Bob’s dog, Layla, was ready to help me. She sat patiently by the back door (by patiently I mean about three seconds) after which time, she butted her webbed paw (she’s a water dog) against the glass and rapped for my attention.
In the fifteen minutes I was there looking for the birds (who never came), I let Layla in and out 15 times. You can see the gratitude in her eyes? Finally, after my disappointing fifteen minutes of the GBBC, I wrote down the dark-eyed junco I’d seen the day before. It was there, okay? Just not in the right timeframe. Please don’t report my cheating. It would be a terrible scar on my reputation. There’s always next year’s GBBC.
Our weekend also included a jaunt on Saturday to Connecticut for lunch with my friends David and Ando. They prepared a beautiful luncheon and this was particularly gratifying to have my college friends and early theatrical playmates meet each other. David and Ando and I have a star-studded theatrical production bibliography. I was delighted to have so many of my clever friends meet. It was sometime during that lunch that I realized what type of “bird” I like best – the mocking bird. Nothing is more attractive to me than good-hearted teasing from someone I love. And David was in fine form. I’ll spare the spars but the lunch was spectacular. We stayed about four hours before heading back to the lake to let Layla out.
After one final night chez Bob, we left early on Monday, driving Susan to the airport and then Bob very kindly dropped me back at the Gonk for one final night. I’d received an invitation to attend the memorial for my dear friends Lynn and Ron Cohen, which was held Monday afternoon (coincidentally adjacent to my trip). I arrived at the hotel by 10AM but hung out in the splendid lobby sipping tea until the arrival of some of my dearest friends arrived to have breakfast in the lobby. Bob and Sally and Ouida (all the way from Civitella, Umbria) arrived and we had a yummy breakfast before taking a walk over to Bryant Park. They gamely supported my secondary attempts to count the ubiquitous pigeons in Bryant Park, but I couldn’t get my birding apps to connect, and besides, pigeon foliage wasn’t the foliage I wanted to see at that moment.
All in all, I’d say my migratory “bird” count was extravagantly successful. After all, I saw a rare bird from Capetown, South Africa and a warbler from Civitello.
Finally, later that day, to sit in a midtown theatre in Manhattan and listen to the expansive flock of friends and former students extol dear Lynn and Ron Cohen was life affirming and a special reminder of how we mustn’t ever take our friends for granted. I learned so much more depth and breadth about them as individuals, and what made them endearing to all of us. While you could rarely catch her by phone, Lynn had a propensity for leaving long voice mail messages (several speakers played them from their cell phones). Lynn’s rambling voice messages were both appreciative and supportive of them in their theatrical pursuits, funny and irreverent, all delivered in her gravelly voice that brought those gathered to smiles through our tears. Their love of each other was legendary and though Ron was always so supportive of Lynn’s career, he was majestic in his own career as a writer and actor and director. It underlined to me how briefly we are here and how you must make the moments to see your friends and celebrate their presence in your life because if you are fortunate to have a wealth of colorful plumage in your life list, you should revel in it.
lifeinthethe8tre 