Posted by: David Giacalone | July 2, 2016

Stockade Garden Tour preview (2016)

2016-graden-tour-logo The Stockade Association’s 2016 Garden Tour — “Art & Nature” — will take place on Friday and Saturday, July 15 & 16, with Stockade residents opening twelve gardens to the public. For more information, go to the Garden Tour webpage, which lists Ticket Outlets and allows online purchases. Tickets for entrance to all participating gardens, valid both days, are $20 in advance, and $25 on Tour day.

  • update (Sunday, July 17, 2016): You can see more than a hundred photos from the actual Garden Tour at “a garden tour for the ages.”

The following slideshow offers a preview of the twelve 2016 Art & Nature Garden Tour locations. The photos were taken between June 15 and June 24, 2016, so expect many refinements, plus the inevitable demands of Mother Nature and whimsical touches of many artistic muses. [To see a larger version of an image in the slideshow, pause on the image, then right-click on it and choose “open image in new tab”.]

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  • There is a lot to see. Please remember to have liquids available, and consider a parasol, and perhaps spreading your visit over both days.
  • Share this posting with the shorter URL: http://tinyurl.com/2016StockadeGardens
  • If you appreciate the shade trees remaining in the Stockade, and bemoan the shadeless stretches of sidewalk, please help save our street trees by promoting S.O.S. Trees. It is possible, and can often be less expensive, to improve sidewalks without removing our shade trees. S.O.S. Trees is the web portal for information and links.

Thanks, in advance, to the Tour Committee members, who have been working hard to create and coordinate the event, and to all those who purchase tickets and join the Tour. Extra special thanks to the Hosts for opening their gardens, and for all their planning, planting, and tending.

Here’s a list of the participating hosts and gardens:

  1. Gloria Kishton/Bob Lemmerman: 207 Union  

  2. Jorgé Alvarez:  224 Union Street   

  3. Diane DeMeo:  232 Union Street   

  4. Donna Thomas:  234 Union Street  

  5. Sean and Dan Philpott-Jones  127 College Street

  6. Lawrence James/Tina Caruso: 142 Front St. 

  7. Charles Gelarden/Jessica Johndrew: 112 Front Street  

  8. Werner Feibes:  17 N. Ferry  #8 

  9. Mabel Leon: 22 Front St.   372-1531 

  10. Franca DiCrescenzo  22 N. Church St. 

  11. Donna Smith – 20 N.Church St. 

  12. Rosemary Harrigan: 14 N. Church St. (Katy Kindl House)  

 

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. . a view of garden #11, 20 No. Church Street (click on it to enlarge) . .

p.s. They’re gracious in gray-tones, too:

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Posted by: David Giacalone | June 14, 2016

Flag Day 2016 (with Lawrence Pride updates)

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  •  It was a beautiful day in the Stockade for Flag Day 2016.

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update (June 15, 2016): Yesterday evening, a Pride Flag was hung at Lawrence Circle to show solidarity with the victims of the Orlando FL Pulse Massacre, June 12, 2016. Here are a few shots taken this morning, June 15.

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. . this collage shows Old Glory & the Pride Flag flying at Lawrence Circle and the Schenectady YWCA in the Stockade (click on it for a larger version):

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Bonus: Thanks to two vigilant photographers, I can share photos taken on the evening of Flag Day, shortly after the Pride Flag was installed at Lawrence Circle. Thank you Bob and Ray (and Mary):

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. . Photo on Left by Ray Legere, on Right by Bob Stern. Click for larger version.

Follow-Up (June 16, 2016): Today’s Schenectady Gazette had a photo of the flag and Lawrence on its front page.  I am not sure exactly when, but by mid-morning today the Pride Flag was gone. When I heard about the purloined rainbow flag, I sent an e-letter to the Historic Stockade Yahoo! email group making two major points: (1) the message sent by the Pride Flag resonates far beyond the LGBT community and I was proud to see it beside Lawrence; and (2) Lawrence Circle is a public park and free expression there is and should be protected.  For the text of that email message, see “did the haters visit Lawrence Circle?“.

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Father’s Day 2016

. . . (June 19, 2016) More Pride: The Pride flag that had been taken on Thursday was left at Arthur’s Market, and has been returned to the neighbors who had flown it from Lawrence’s bow on Flag Day. They have not replaced it on Lawrence, because they discovered on Thursday that another Rainbow flag had been draped along the fence at Lawrence Circle. Here’s a photograph of the Circle with the rainbow flag, taken on a lovely, hot Father’s Day, June 19, 2016:

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Posted in Stockade Views

Posted by: David Giacalone | June 4, 2016

early June odds & ends

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The slideshow below has some of my favorite Stockade photo images from the first three days of June 2016 — from pollen puddles along our sidewalks, yoga in the Park, and pictures from the estate sale at 3 Front Street, Kathy Johnson’s home.

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Posted by: David Giacalone | May 11, 2016

remembering Kathy’s joyful banners

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. . . above: Welcome Pineapple [L] and autumn pumpkin banners flying over the front doorway of 3 Front Street in 2015 . . 

3Front25feb2011 Kathy Johnson gave much to the Stockade in her decades living on Front Street. Even if they didn’t know of her service on the Stockade Association board or years organizing the Walkabout, or didn’t in fact even know her name, Kathy touched her Stockade neighbors with her legendary, lush window boxes and the perennially colorful banners that playfully celebrated each season.

The empty flagpole and window boxes on her lovely little home at 3 Front Street are sad reminders that Kathy passed away on April 11, 2016.  So, I was very pleased to read in the May Spy that members of the Stockade Book Club will be striving mightily to recreate Kathy Johnson’s window box displays. And, although I won’t be climbing up to outfit her flagpole several times a year, I hope to recreate a bit of the joy her banners brought many of us by sharing a collage of photos taken by me over the past several years of the varied flags Kathy hung for us as the seasons changed. It’s a poor substitute for festive flags catching the wind and sun, but I hope it reminds all of us of Kathy’s contributions to the Stockade, and of the small joys we can give each other with just a little effort and a friendly gesture.

3FrontKJbanners . . click on the collage for a larger version.

.. share this posting with the short URL: http://tinyurl.com/KJbanners

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. . Kathy’s banners were created by the Master Flagmakers of  Bisgrove Designs, Newburyport, MA . .

follow-up (May 13, 2017): Great news about Kathy’s Banners, thanks to Michele McGovern of 27 North Street:

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DSCF1878  p.s. There are a few photos from an Estate Sale at Kathy’s 3 Front Street, in our posting of June 3, 2016.

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Posted by: David Giacalone | May 8, 2016

pretty pictures for Mother’s Day

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looking east up Front St. at N. Church

 

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2016’s disappointing cherry blossom peak at 16 Washington Ave.

 Mothers know something about disappointment, and so do photographers. It has been quite disappointing to see so few blossoms the past few weeks in the Stockade. On blocks that have regularly elicited choruses of oohs and aahs from residents and visitors over this past decade, I’ve almost had to squint to see the 2016 cherry blossoms, and the magnolia and forsythia blossoms, too.

With last year’s falloff in blossoms, and now this year’s Blossom Famine, I will definitely no longer take the Stockade Spring Fashion Show for granted.  If stretches of abnormally warm and abnormally cold weather become typical as our winters end and Spring arrives, Blossom Watch will become a craps shoot along the Mohawk.

CucumberSunset05May2016a Nevertheless, even if less showy and rather subtle, beauty was everywhere the past month along the streets of our neighborhood, and along the Mohawk (see the Cinco de Mayo sunset off Cucumber Alley to the left), and this Slideshow is proof. It is dedicated to my Mother (“Mama G”) and mothers everywhere, who deserve pretty pictures every day for all they do and give.

The photos in the Slideshow can also be found in a Gallery at the bottom of this post. You can click on a Gallery thumbprint image to see a larger version.

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bonus (May 19, 2016):

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. . while shooting Stockade trees on May 18, I saw this runner on almost every block . . 

 

If you’re nostalgic for Stockade blossoms, our 2013 posting “cherry blossoms are showing off again in the Stockade“, presented the usual spectacular blossom show. For example, the magnolia tree and forsythia bush in front of the YWCA are traditionally fully abloom, as here at the end of April 2013:

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And, the array in front of the old Boy Scouts headquarters at 2 Union Street looked like this in 2013:

Plus, right around the corner, the Mary Hill House had a similar display:

Indeed, even with gray skies, the 2013 cherry blossom crop on Washington Avenue was impressive:

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If you’re still hungry for Stockade early-spring beauty, click these links to see Stockade blossoms celebrated over the years here at suns along the Mohawk:

The photos in the Slideshow above are arrayed in the following Gallery. Click on a thumbprint image to see a larger version:

Read More…

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Posted in Mohawk sunrise or sunsets, river seasons, Stockade Views

Posted by: David Giacalone | April 27, 2016

8 A.M. down Cucumber Alley at the Erie Canal

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.. rear of 1 Cucumber Alley [click photo for larger version]..

When I heard this morning that the Erie Canal opened for 2016 at 7 AM today, I put on waterproof shoes to deal with dewy lawns, and grabbed my camera and monopod. Even though I hadn’t had my first mug of coffee yet, I pointed sleepy eyes and clumsy feet toward the rear of  Washington Avenue and Cucumber Alley, back to the Mohawk riverbank, hoping to see an interesting boat or two out on our stretch of the Canal.
IMG_0435 Although no watercraft came along after twenty minutes, I definitely can’t complain: I got another beautiful, quiet morning visit to the Mohawk without leaving my backyard, and got to see a little of the sparkling street-side of the Alley, too.

This slideshow presents my lazy morning photoshoot in the order the pictures were taken. (Yes, I did start back for that mug of coffee, but turned around before climbing up the front steps, for a second try at spying a tug or barge, or maybe a yellow school bus on the bridge.) If you weren’t able to idle away some of your morning under the lovely Spring sunshine, I hope this show lets you pretend that you did.

To see a larger version of a photo in the slideshow, pause on the photo, right click on it, and choose Show Image in Other Window . .

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yard between 10 and 16 Washington Ave.

yard between 10 and 16 Washington Ave.

During, the decade I lived on Union Street across from 1st Presbyterian, the mornings had there own special feel. But, I regret not making it down to the River before heading to court or sitting at my old Apple computer. So, I’m glad that when I downsized, I found Cucumber Alley and Mohawk mornings. My carbon footprint got smaller, but my horizons clearly broadened.

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. . I’m already missing Kathy Johnson’s bright seasonal banners at 3 Front St. . . 

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Posted in river seasons, Stockade Views

Posted by: David Giacalone | March 27, 2016

an Easter Eve sunset

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IMG_0321 Why would anyone drive to find a sunset waterfront vista, when there’s one at his backyard? Beats me. I enjoyed a lazy sunset photoshoot yesterday evening, March 26, the day before Easter 2016, along the Mohawk riverbank at Cucumber Alley here in the Schenectady Stockade. Although I didn’t see the Easter Bunny hiding eggs, I did spy dinosauruscucumbus lumbering across the yard, with plenty of capacity for lugging vast quantities of chocolate. The purple and orange shades of sunset filled the sky and reflected on the River. And, two young men were enjoying the tranquil scene from the riparian strand that has been carved at the once lushly foliated backyard of 1 Cucumber Alley.

IMG_0303 This Slideshow captures the views from several perspectives, including sunset hues in Stockade windows facing south toward the River. Enjoy.

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The following collage has a sampler of images from our Easter Eve Sunset. Click on it for a larger version.

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Posted by: David Giacalone | February 14, 2016

2016 flamingos warm up Lawrence Circle

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  •  [right]: 9 PM Feb. 13; and [above] 9 AM Feb. 14, at Lawrence Circle, in the Schenectady NY Stockade. Click on each for a larger version.


The Stockade tradition of a Valentine’s Day flamingo visitation at Lawrence Circle could not be stymied by record low windchills last night and this morning.  As you can see in the photos above, and slideshow below, they are back in 2016, and don’t even need snowdrifts to be both lovely and cuddly.

Screen shot 2016-02-14 at 8.21.34 AM A Weather.com image to the left shows the morning warm-up.

You can find our prior Flamingo Visit coverage by clicking on the Valentine Flamingos link in our in our Sidebar’s Categories Box; and, can see the past 9 years of Stockade Flamingo History by browsing through our Valentine Flamingo photobook at Shutterfly.*

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HAPPY VALENTINE’s DAY to all our Visitors!

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  • you can download our Stockade Valentine Greeting above, to send your own Valentine sweetheart(s). Click on it to go to the original jpg. file.

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. . a charming snowman couple from last week’s Celebration of the Snowman stayed for Valentine’s day and got hugged a lot . . 

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* As always, you may contact me directly to purchase a copy of a Stockade photobook at my cost to print the book, rather than Shutterfly’s higher prices.

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Posted in Stockade Views, Valentine Flamingos | Tags:

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