The COVID-19 pandemic may have slowed down in-person activity inside the Schenectady County Historical Society this year, but its garden tenders gave us the Society’s traditional display of lovely tulips in front of their headquarters at 32 Washington Avenue. These images were taken on a bright and sunny May Day. Click on any photo, including the square tiles below, for a larger version.
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follow-up (June 6, 2021): Recently, it was also beautiful without blossoms, at the rear of 32 Washington Avenue. The lush foliage in the lower part of the SCHS “backyard”, along the Binnekill, looked especially lovely in the hour before sunset, with the soft light and dark shadows. For example:
As always, my visit today (Tuesday, April 13) to Eastern Parkway and Ashmore Avenue, for the glorious array of weeping cherry blossom trees at Congregation Gates of Heaven was an inspiration.
When there, I enjoy looking at the individual trees and clusters from various perspectives, and the three dozen photos in the following Slideshow will let you do the same. [For a larger version of an image, pause the slideshow, right-click, and choose Open Image in New Tab.] The blossom scene at CGoH is so beautiful, it is worth seeing on a cloudy day, too, but I was glad for today’s blue sky and puffy white clouds.
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. . above: two extremely truncated trunks are fighting back with new branches and shoots . .
. . a lovely, comfy climbing tree
. . click here for a list of postings about CGoH cherry trees . .
This afternoon (Saturday, April 10), I took my first 2021 stroll to check out the blossoms of the Stockade. The blooms will surely mature with the nurturing sun and warmth over the next week. But, it already looks like a promising blossom season, especially after our pandemic year, and with the new optimism of being Fully Immunized. Check back for a look at more of our blossoms, nearby locations, as cherry blossom (and magnolia tree) week unfolds.
updates below have photos taken April 11, 12, and 13
Click on the square tiles below to see a full, larger version of the image.
We’ve got great magnolia trees in the Stockade. As seen in this collage.
. above: don’t forget the Scotia Library’s tree . .
.. and Collins Park forsythia.
. . more blossoms coming Wednesday . .
PART V: Wednesday, April 14, 2021
A lovely blue sky allowed our blossoms to shine yesterday. Here are some examples:
Washington Avenue Cherry Blossoms [after strenuous efforts to avoid those ugly utility wires] – click on a tile for a larger version.
at 10 – 16 Washington Ave. .
. . tulips are coming:
More Magnolia Tree images
PART VI: Sunday, April 18
20 N.Church St. – April 18
The “petal puddles” under and around our cherry trees made it clear by Sunday that peak beauty was behind us, while past-peak beauty could still charm. Here are a few examples of scenes with many blossoms down. Click on a square tile for a full, larger version of the image.
AStockade tradition is being renewed today, with 35 North Ferry Street (at Lawrence Circle) once again the location of a lively, lovely, and open market and cafe, to wit Arthur’s 1795, which uses the date of the first market at spot. [Facebook Page]. For many of us, the Stockade feels much more like a community when that corner of our neighborhood stands ready to welcome us. Many thanks to Haley Whalen (and her staff) for committing so much in effort and resources to bringing back Arthur’s. Scroll down the homepage at https://www.arthurs1795.com/ for some history and gratitude.
I showed up at about 11 AM on opening day (March 4) with a reservation to enter and enjoy. This being an important Stockade event, I naturally had my camera. I also had my Happy Bag carry-sack and brought the old Italian phrase used instead of wishing good luck: “In bocca al lupo!” with its reply: “Crepi!“, meant to keep the wolf (not the world) from the door. By the way: I enjoyed the ambiance, staff, coffee and savory little pie.
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On Saturday, March 6, I returned with a couple friends and took a few more photos.
Below you will find only a few of the scenes and items waiting for your visitation at Arthurs 1795. Click on a square tile for a full, larger version of the image.
the original – Arthur Polachek
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For a closer look at the large array of items available at Arthur’s 1795, with photos and prices, see their Online-Order Page.
. . Come and see what owner Haley, manager Rachel, baker Julia, and barista Megan have cooked, baked, brewed, and otherwise prepared for all of us.
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At the September 2019 Walkabout, Haley told visitors of her plans, from within the pre-re-habbed Arthur’s Market:
p.s. The last time we had an official (re)opening of Arthur’s Market was December 19, 2013, when Richard Genest was the proprietor. See our coverage here. The photo to the right was taken at 6 PM that evening.
Of course the Flamingos are back to visit Lawrence for Valentine’s Day 2021. They arrived after dark last night, February 13 and should be hanging out at Lawrence Circle until well after sunset. As you can see, Lawrence Circle has no fence this year, with a replacement for the damaged fence coming in the Spring.
I’m starting my coverage of the event with the nighttime image above, and will add many more when daylight brightens the scene, especially if we can see the sun or a little blue sky. Please stop by again for more.
The skies never brightened, but I hope this 2021 flock of flamingo photos will brighten your day anyway. I’m posting first a Slideshow with over 30 images [to see a larger version of a photo, pause the Slideshow at the image, right-click, and choose Show Image in New Tab.] Then, a selection of my favorites from the Slideshow.
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. . for more Stockade flamingos see our Flamingo Category of postings .. .
. . the scene at Lawrence Circle about 9 PM, February 14, just before the flamingo flamboyance told Lawrence “arrivedercci”. .
In the meantime, if you are wondering about the Legend of the Stockade Valentine Flamingos, click the following link for a full look (no purchase necessary) at the 4th edition of my very first photo-book: “Valentine Flamingos in the Schenectady Stockade: whimsy and mystery at Lawrence Circle” (2020). The book has been expanded to 24 pages and follows a dozen years of the pink flamingo Valentine tradition at Lawrence Circle in the Stockade, with 60 photos. [If you would like a copy, contact me and I will get one for you at my cost, rather than the full Shutterfly price.]
Warm temperatures and rain caused concern on Christmas Day that the Mohawk River might reach flood stage overnight along the Schenectady Stockade. Flood Stage is considered to be 220 feet at the Schenectady/Freeman’s Bridge gauge; but is about 222 feet as measured at the Riverside Park Overlook. According to the National Weather Service Hydrograph of the Mohawk River at Schenectady, the Mohawk rose to about 219.6 feet at about 3 AM December 26, and has continued to drop since then. At 1 PM, the water level was about 217.5 ft.
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above: [L] rear of 4 Cucumber Alley; [R] rear of 28 Washington Ave.
The photos in this posting were taken between 9:30 AM and 10 Am on Boxing Day, December 26, when the Overlook gauge read 222 ft. No structures had flood water. The only place that the water was encroaching any Stockade property was at the end of Cucumber Alley and the east side of Washington Avenue, where the Binnekill (creek) enters the Mohawk. The lower yards at 1 Cucumber Alley and 4 Cucumber Alley were flooded at that time, as well as the lower rear yards at 28 and 32 Washington Avenue.
At Riverside Park, the water was just at or below the top of the riverbank, and did not appear to have overflown onto the Park lawns.
For a larger and full version of the images in this mosaic, click on the image. Scroll over an image to see if it has a caption.
We awoke Thursday (Dec. 17) to a lot of snow in the New York Capital District. The Albany Times Union reported that Schenectady received just under 31 inches of snow; Albany about 23 inches, and Saratoga Springs almost 36 inches. A lot. It was also rather cold, with windchills in the teens all day. [see reporting and forecasts by NewsChannel 10’s chief meteorologist Steve Caporizzo.]
Nonetheless, I got out twice to snap photos in the Schenectady Stockade neighborhood, first about 9 AM, when the snow was basically untouched and still falling lightly, and later in the late afternoon, when we could tell that much of the Stockade had not been plowed. My morning shoot focused on the two blocks of Washington Avenue that straddle Cucumber Alley on the west and Front Street on the East. When I first looked out the window, I was pleased to see that no one had yet cleared the snow off the parked vehicles, creating one of my favorite snow effects. See the image above this paragraph, and this one:
One measure of the amount of snow that needed to be removed from our streets is the fate of Lawrence the Indian:
. . Lawrence Circle at 4 PM Thursday . .
. . Lawrence Circle 5 PM Friday:
The following Slideshow presents images from my morning and evening photoshoots on December 17 and my late afternoon Stockade stroll on Friday, December 18. (For a larger version of a Slideshow photo, pause on the image and right-click; then choose Show Image in a Separate Window.)
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above: view of N. Ferry from Union St., 4:30 PM, Dec. 17 . .
2020 Stockade Holiday Tree at Lawrence Circle: Above: after Tree Lighting Ceremony (Dec. 6, 2020); Below: with Arthur’s 1795 in the background (Dec. 7, 2020)
A Norwegian Spruce evergreen tree grown at the Saratoga Tree Nursery was brought to Lawrence Circle in the Stockade by a crew from the Parks Department of the City of Schenectady on Dec. 2, 2020. The crew erected the tree, secured it to its stand (with some effort), placed a star on top, and strung lights on the upper part of the tree. Colleen Macaulay and Susannah Hand finished stringing lights and decorated the fence around the Circle.
On Sunday evening, December 6, 2020, a Tree Lighting ceremony was held to officially designate the 2020 Stockade Holiday Tree. [see the front page of the December Stockade Spy for a description of the event and the tree sponsors.] The Slideshow below contains images from Sunday’s Tree Lighting ceremony.
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. . Dec. 7, 2020, twilight
. . joyful Holiday wishes friends and residents of the Schenectady Stockade Historic District from “suns along the Mohawk”. Please download one or both of these 2021 Calendars, formatted for 5″ x 7″ prints.
The Mohawk River and Riverside Park form the northern boundary of the Stockade Historic District, in Schenectady, NY. In photos taken from his block near Cucumber Alley, and on short strolls around the neighborhood, David Giacalone presents views of and from the Mohawk, Riverside Park, and the Stockade (and Downtown Schenectady, too) — with sunsets, special events, seasonal sights, and surprises.
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to ENLARGE a PHOTO – just click on it
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COPYRIGHT POLICY – our Creative Commons “Attribution-Non- Commercial-ShareAlike” policy is described on the About page.
In the meantime, if you are wondering about the Legend of the Stockade Valentine Flamingos, click the following link for a full 
suns along the Mohawk 
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