SJ ROZAN

A squirrel's work is never done

sj@sjrozan.com — Sun, 12 Feb 12 22:44:00 UT

Yesterday morning was crummy -- wet snow/rain/snow again. Overnight, for some unaccountable reason, Squirrely's nest suffered a major collapse. There hadn't been much in the way of wind or soaking rain, but when I got up at sunrise the whole east side was drooping over the branch. Maybe he and Squeeze (and Stranger? How risque, if so) were rockin' it all night. Anyway, Squirrely himself got up about the same time I did. All yesterday morning, in the yuck, he ran up and down branches, chewing off supple twigs, bringing them back and weaving them in. He built up a sort of curving roof on the west side, maybe a kind of windbreak? The little guy worked really hard. It hadn't sunk in to me when I watched him build the first time, but of course he has to ferry all his new building material up one twig at a time. No collecting into bundles, no material lifts or backpacks. One twig in the mouth per trip, that's it. He must have made a hundred trips. The first time I watched him build, he brought back a number of twigs with leaves still on them, but there aren't any more of these. I thought he might re-use some from the collapsed side, but he doesn't seem to have. Now, of course, the weather's been cold but clear since midday yesterday. I wonder if he won't notice the joint isn't waterproof until it rains again and his windbreak-roof leaks. He slept in this morning -- didn't get up until a bluejay flew into the tree right above the squirrel nest and started singing. A minute into the song, up pops a groggy-looking squirrel head. Squeeze hadn't been seen up until the time I left -- wonder if she's pregnant and conserving her strength? Or just lazy? Or cuddling with Stranger while Squirrely works?

Sixth Saturday

sj@sjrozan.com — Sat, 11 Feb 12 09:18:00 UT

Bobbing on green swells,
Floating through drifting snowflakes:
Unambitious geese.

Flapping cormorants
Skim river, rise over pier,
Drop, hurrying on.

Pale, soft, unfocussed
Steel and concrete skyscrapers.
Water's frothy, sharp.

Squirrel action

sj@sjrozan.com — Wed, 8 Feb 12 08:09:00 UT

Not much, just someone boiling up out of the nest and down the tree just before sunrise. The problem is, as sunrise gets earlier, "just before sunrise" gets a touch problematic. For me to observe, I mean, not for Squirrely, Squeeze, and Stranger. Anyway, I'm glad I saw whoever it was (probably Squirrely, he's usually first). I hadn't seen a single sign of any of them in the yard in a week, and I was beginning to worry. Thought maybe Hawkface had scared our intrepid pair -- or trio, I'm still not sure -- into some other yard. Not so, apparently. For those of you who tuned in late, Hawkface is a young red-tailed hawk who sat on the back fence and ripped a pigeon to lunchmeat a few weeks ago. And Hawkface, it turns out, is probably Pip, the daughter of Bobby and the late Violet, whose nest outside the NYU president's office is the subject of a lot of Peeping-Tom camera work. Meanwhile, we also have three mourning doves back here now. We had them for years, then the last few years, not. Glad they're back. And a female cardinal, chipping like crazy, who may yet find a mate now that she's got territory; and more robins than anybody needs.

Alas, but it's not all bad

sj@sjrozan.com — Tue, 7 Feb 12 16:59:00 UT

I will not be teaching at Crime Fiction Academy this semester. Not enough students. That's the bad news. The good news is, I WILL be teaching in Assisi this summer. Two weeks of workshop, hotel, two meals a day... so if you were wondering what you were missing by not taking my CFA workshop, you can find out on a terrace in Umbria.

Big ol' goose

sj@sjrozan.com — Tue, 7 Feb 12 10:12:00 UT

Canada goose this morning on a piling, cleaning and organizing his feathers, then barking -- no other geese in sight, but maybe he was inviting everyone on this stretch of the river to join him, he was sure loud enough -- and promptly tucking his head into his wing for a nap. This isn't something the geese do very often. Mostly they stay either in the water or they come on land. Partly, I think, it's because they're big and not all that agile, so landing on a piling isn't easy for them. Still, this guy was very happy until a succession of waves rolled in, hit the wall, and rolled out again, washing over his feet. He stood up and barked some more. Then he went back to his nap. He was still snoozing when I left.

Chinese New Year

sj@sjrozan.com — Sun, 5 Feb 12 21:15:00 UT

For when the Super Bowl is over and youse are back on line. These are from the Chinatown New Year's Parade. It's the Year of the Dragon. Lots more up on Flickr -- just click on any of these.

fortifying before the action starts

throwing firecrackers while you wait

opera hero

two-part lion

manhole cover (what did you expect?)

lion wants to eat the camera

escapee wants to join the parade

gods of wealth

old friends

Fifth Saturday

sj@sjrozan.com — Sat, 4 Feb 12 09:22:00 UT

Red steel crane, tall, still,
Silhouetted in sunlight
Against gray towers.

Seven geese fly by,
Slip around green storage shed,
Into breakfast cove.

Distant train whistle
Reaches across calm river.
Tracks cannot be seen.

This is a little bit cheating

sj@sjrozan.com — Tue, 31 Jan 12 11:48:00 UT

Same time, same day, one week later. Same subway station.

Same accordionist.

And...

sj@sjrozan.com — Sun, 29 Jan 12 20:43:00 UT

...if you still want a LYDIA CHIN'S NEW YORK calendar, Lulu.com, no doubt recognizing that the shelf life of a calendar doesn't extend too much past January, is offering a discount until Jan. 31. Totally their idea; I had nothing to do with it. Go to the website and enter this code: SHELFSTOCK305. You folks who bought at full price, sorry; but you got January...

A cable TV interview...

sj@sjrozan.com — Sun, 29 Jan 12 20:34:00 UT

...in which I don't just flap my lip, I apparently can't stop flapping my hands. I should learn ASL, so at least my hands, since they won't shut up, could be articulate.

This is Part One and Part Two of my recent segments on Jane Cleland's cable TV show.

Fourth Saturday

sj@sjrozan.com — Sat, 28 Jan 12 09:24:00 UT

Sharp-edged skyscrapers,
Sharp-edge splintered reflections.
Shivering water.

Gray wool overhead,
Orange line on horizon.
Out-of-focus sky.

Unseen rotors drone,
Change pitch, speed. Bursting from cloud,
Copter swings through sky.

Hey, check this out

sj@sjrozan.com — Fri, 27 Jan 12 22:45:00 UT

The Daily News throws me a nice nod! Thanks, guys!

Dark sky

sj@sjrozan.com — Fri, 27 Jan 12 10:56:00 UT

And I mean, charcoal, for a few minutes there; now it's pouring and the sky's white. Hope the squirrel nest waterproofing holds. Rain's been coming down in various ways since last night -- pounding, misty, drizzle, in sheets. River olive-colored and very high. Two mallards and two Gadwalls hanging around together, munching on whatever it is near the top of the wall they can't usually reach. A small group of Brant geese flew north, to see what was in the cove. These guys stayed behind; whatever was on the grass, she liked it, and he was guarding her. Assiduously: when a jogger came along, the male goose bobbed his head, a goose challenge, until the guy ran by. Got rid of him!

Dilys Award Nomination!

sj@sjrozan.com — Thu, 26 Jan 12 09:08:00 UT

Just got this. This is very cool, because check out what the award is about. Woo-hoo!

2012 DILYS WINN AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

2012 Nominees

Faithful Place, Tana French (Penguin)
Wicked Autumn, G.M. Malliet (Minotaur)
Tag Man, Archer Mayor (Minotaur)
A Trick of the Light, Louise Penny (Minotaur)
Ghost Hero, S.J. Rozan (Minotaur)

The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association (IMBA) is pleased to announce this yearâs nominees for the Dilys Winn award, given annually to the mystery titles of the year which the member booksellers most enjoyed selling. The Dilys Award is named in honor of Dilys Winn, the founder of the first specialty bookstore of mystery books in the United States. The award will be presented at Left Coast Crime in March.

The IMBA is comprised of a network of individually owned retail bookstores across North America, devoted to the sale of mystery books. The IMBA has won several awards for THE 100 FAVORITE MYSTERIES OF THE CENTURY and THEY DIED IN VAIN, published by Crum Creek Press/Drood Review Books. For more information on the IMBA and the Dilys awards, including past nominees and winners, visit www.mysterybooksellers.com.

Small backyard report

sj@sjrozan.com — Tue, 24 Jan 12 13:45:00 UT

Well, it's a small backyard. The number of squirrels in residence is right now something of a mystery, but I can report that a pair of robins have been perched above the squirrel nest all morning. The birds are about 15 feet apart and just sitting there. I think it's a male and a female, though the sun's at a bad angle for figuring that out. That tree had a few more branches before Irene, and the bigger tree had significantly more -- it lost a whole limb. I wonder if these guys used to nest here and, now that we have a warm sunny day, are trying out the squirrel tree to see if it's worth staking a territorial claim to?