suns along the Mohawk

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– a lovely sunset and a family of geese got me out with my camera to the Riverside Park esplanade along the Mohawk River –

–  click on a photo for a larger version, scroll on it for a description –

Although I did not expect the sunset on the first day of summer 2010 to match last year’s “stunning solstice sunset,” the light breeze and temperate temperatures yesterday evening lured me out to witness this summer’s solstice sunset, on the longest day of the year. The modestly lovely sunset easily made my stroll worth the effort — and a small flock of geese floating off the Esplanade prolonged my stay in Riverside Park.

As you can see in the shot below, the geese were ignoring the sunset when I first spied them yesterday evening:

They could not, however, ignore another harbinger of summer: a motor boat pulling a skier:

Unlike the flock that was spooked into flight last week by a jetski (see our post for pictures), these geese held their “ground.”  They were rewarded for their valor, when the boat’s wake turned them around toward the view west and the sunset:

On my way back home, I took a few more photos, including a couple including the flatbottom boat that is often anchored at the eastern end of the Isle of the Cayugas.

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When I walked the block back from Riverside Park to Cucumber Alley and checked out the tailend of the sunset from my backyard, I couldn’t get any good angles for shooting pictures.

So, I hoped to find Bob and Sylvie Briber perched on their balcony at the rear of 1 Cucumber Alley.  They were apparently back home on Washington Avenue, so I sneaked up the spiral staircase to show you the view you’d be having while sipping ice tea and enjoying some of Sylvie’s great cookies from the table on their riverview balcony:

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It was a rather nice solstice sunset along the Mohawk yesterday, but I confess to be jaded by the memory of the sunset on June 21, 2009.  Here’s a view eastward that evening from Riverside Park near the esplanade:

See many more shots of the 2009 solstice sunset by clicking here.