suns along the Mohawk

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A cherry tree is down this evening behind 18 – 24 Washington Ave, here in the Stockade.  But, we can’t blame our mythically-honest, hatchet-wielding President.  The culprit was a line of powerful thunderstorms that swept through the region this afternoon, dropping a lot of hailstones, and leaving thousands without electrical power in Schenectady County (see Daily Gazette, “storm brings wind, hail,” June 15, 2009).  Just two weeks ago, we showed the same tree in front of 1 Cucumber Alley, in our posting about colorful houses here and in Takoma Park.  Compare then and now:

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– front view of 2 Cucumber Alley, May 29, 2009 (l) and June 15, 2009 (r) –

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That tree will be missed by many of us who live (or park or stroll) along Cucumber Alley — for its grace, its blossoms and cherries, and its shade.

Tonight, it is lying peacefully in front of several garage stalls, and I bet quite a few of my neighbors got a surprise when they returned home today and had to scramble to find the Elusive Stockade Parking Space.

While gazing at and bemoaning the loss of the cherry tree, early this evening, we failed to notice the demise of a lovely linden tree in the sideyard of 1 Cucumber Alley.  Around sunset, I was viewing the downed cherry tree with Sylvie Briber, when we turned toward her little riverside cottage and she noticed a strangely diagonal tree trunk.  This afternoon’s wind apparently pushed over the linden tree, which can be seen here, leaning against the side of 1 Cucumber Alley:

– Sylvie and Lollipop survey the damage –

No damage was obvious to either of the affected structures on Cucumber Alley.  I’ve lost far too many of my favorite trees in the years that I’ve lived along the Mohawk.  I guess I need to practice Buddha-like detachment, and simply enjoy and appreciate the trees (and the neighbors and neighborhood) a day at a time.

update (June 21, 2009):  Six days later, the remains of both toppled trees have been removed.  The cherry tree at 2 Cucumber Alley disappeared on Saturday, while Tom Killeen’s crew did a quick job with the triple-trunk linden at 1 Cucumber Alley on Wednesday.  Here are the resulting scenes:

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– the large cherry tree is gone from Cucumber alley –

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– the magical spiral staircase at the rear of 1 Cucumber Alley is revealed, with the loss of the linden cluster this week –

p.s. Although distracted by toppled trees, I did remember to spend a little time enjoying tonight’s sunset (Monday, June 15) at the rear of 1 Cucumber Alley, along the Mohawk River.  Actually, it was even lovelier from that same spot, yesterday evening, June 14, 2009:

– more shots from sunset on June 14, 2009 (some rather strange), here –