suns along the Mohawk

looking east up Front St. at N. Church

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.

 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):

. . 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:

• 2015 cherry blossoms
• 2014 cherry blossoms
• 2013 cherry blossoms;
• 2012 cherry blossoms;
• 2011 cherry blossoms;
• 2010 cherry blossoms;
• 2009 cherry blossoms;
• 2008 cherry blossoms

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

Read More…

    On February 8, 1690, according to a very believable legend and historical commentary, a 220-man war party of French Canadian soldiers and Sault and Algonquin Indians from Montreal arrived in deep snow and a blizzard to find the north gate of the Stockade open, with no “sentinels” other than a pair of snowmen. [click on the detail image to the right to see a well-known Massacre woodcut; and here for a new depiction by H. Van Voast.] The 400 good people of the tiny village of Schenectady were asleep in their beds or raising tankards at Douwe Aukes Tavern (or perhaps the unlicensed Van Slyck establishment on Cucumber Alley). The invaders naturally accepted the Dutch hospitality, waltzed right in, and perpetrated the great Schenectady Massacre, killing 60 and burning down almost the entire village. [For a fuller account, see the posting at our sister weblog, “have we learned the lessons of the 1690 Schenectady Massacre?“; and see The History of the Snowman by Bob Eckstein (Simon & Schuster, NY, 2007, at 210-212).]

Schneiderman Sentinel

If a Canadian and Indian delegation had arrived at the Stockade yesterday (Saturday, February 6, 2016), for the first-ever event Celebrate the Snowman – Commemorating the 1690 Massacre – they would have found no snow (and no gate), and a somewhat miraculous, tiny “real” snowman near North Ferry Street on Union Street [see L]. If they headed past Lawrence the Indian, to the Mohawk River, they would have encountered a small “party” of hardy Stockadians alongside the silent Riverside Park canon, with their ragtag army of artificial snowmen. Although nature provided no snow, it did offer a beautiful glow from the setting sun. [See the Slideshow below.] The 2016 militia was led by Carol DeLaMater, Susan DuFour, and Susan Brink. Where they imbibed after their parkside event is unknown.

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

The predicted lack of snow did not prevent, and actually stimulated, a stalwart effort over the past week to whip up some excitement for the Celebration of the Stockade Snowman. [E.g., see the February 2016 Stockade Spy; and coverage at Today’s Snowman (Feb. 3, 2016). And, at several Facebook pages, such as here and there.] Here’s a collage showing various snowless snowmen stationed around the Stockade to highlight the Celebration:

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. . above: [L] real, fake and shadow snowmen in front of 203 Union Street. [R] a Celebration scene at the Esplanade

. . above: couple celebrating Mardi Gras, too . .

This Slideshow has a couple dozen photos from the February 6 Snowman Celebration event, with most shots taken at Riverside Park. Special thanks goes to Sarah, Charlie and Sam Schneiderwind, who scouted out a cache of snow, brought it back to their home on Union Street, and provided the event with its sole “real” snowman.

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.  [L] This sentinel snowman carries on the great Stockade-Tavern-Tradition, losing his head and forgetting to guard the gates. (Thanks to C. Gelarden for the photo)

The following collage is pretty much self-explanatory; thanks to the guest photographers for capturing Stuffy, whose smile belies the name I’ve given him.

Finally, here’s a second Slideshow, featuring the “fake/artificial/special/longer-lasting” snowmen scouting the neighborhood prior to Saturday’s event.

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p.s.  Speaking of Stockade tradition, artifice and fun, later this week, it will be Valentine’s Day (Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016). If you would like to give your beloved a lasting symbol of Stockade whimsy and romance, consider a copy of my photobook “Valentine Flamingos in the Schenectady Stockade” (2016, 2nd Ed.) The 2nd edition has photos taken from 2009 to 2015, with a page covering the 2015 visitation of pink flamingos at Lawrence Circle. I recently acquired a few softcover versions of the popular 8″x8″, 20-page book, and will make them available (as always) at my actual printing cost of only $13.00 each (thanks to major discounts at Shutterfly).

 Also, just in case we never have Stockade snow and ice floes again, you might want to give yourself or your loved ones my book “Jamming on the Mohawk: ice floes and jams along the Mohawk River near the Schenectady Stockade,” also at $13 for a softcover version. See our Photobooks page for links allowing you to preview other photobooks, too.

Please contact me, if you are interested.  Supplies really are limited.