My annual visit to the lush stand of weeping cherry trees on the lawn of Congregation Gates of Heaven (at Ashmore Ave. and Eastern Parkway, at the Niskayuna town line), was rushed this afternoon (only a ten-minute stay). but you can get the taste of this heavenly treat from the slideshow below. For more from CGOH, see our 2011 post “peaceful cherry blossoms”.
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Posted in cherry blossoms, visits elsewhere | Tags: cherry blossoms, Congregation Gates of Heaven, tagging
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Our Washington Avenue cherry blossom array is not fully mature yet, but it is already lovely. Here’s a slideshow of shots taken about 8:30 this sunny morning. By this weekend, and especially with a blue sky, it will be gorgeous on Washington Avenue and many other blocks of the Stockade. We naturally plan to shoot and post images of our cherry and magnolia blossoms, plus tulips, forsythia and more, as we move into May, and hope you enjoy this foreplay.
– and, see “cherry blossoms Day 2” for more favorites of mine from 2014 –
– click here to see our 2013 cherry blossoms and find links to prior years –
– update: collage of photos taken 6 P.M.; click on it to englarge –
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Posted in cherry blossoms, Stockade Views | Tags: Stockade cherry blossoms
My weather predictions and river forecasts occasionally go awry, but it seems safe to say this Good Friday morning that there will be no Spring flooding this year in the Schenectady Stockade due to ice jams along the Mohawk River. Although I am glad that my neighbors won’t be suffering property damage, emotional distress, or general fear of flooding, it is difficult not to be a bit nostalgic for the stunning beauty and photographic opportunities that can come with ice floes and jams, or sunlight reflecting off water that has overflown its banks to transform familiar places and scenes.
If you are not sure why I would praise the strange beauty and quirky juxtaposition of ice floes, I suggest you take a look at the photo-book I just created at Shutterfly, called “Jamming on the Mohawk : ice floes and jams along the Mohawk River near the Schenectady Stockade.” It is 20 pages with over 60 shots taken along the Stockade stretch of the Mohawk River over the past five years.
You can click on this link, “Jamming on the Mohawk“, to “preview” the book at Shutterfly at no cost, with a Full Screen version available. Below, I’ve also inserted the pages of Jamming on the Mohawk in a Slideshow, and in a Gallery that is at the bottom of this posting.
front cover
Note: I have chosen not to make any profit from my Stockade photography hobby. Should you order a copy of one of my books from Shutterfly, I get none of the proceedings. If you decide to order from them, I hope you will be able to use various discounts and promotional codes that Shutterfly frequently offers to those who register with them. Whether you view a book online or in hardcopy, I hope you will enjoy the beauty and uniqueness of the Stockade neighborhood and riverfront.
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– back cover [L] and title page of “Jamming on the Mohawk” (by David Giacalone, 2014 ©)
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16 – 17
If you click on one of the Gallery thumbnail images below, you can see a larger version of the page.
Posted in flooding/ice floes-jams, Stockade Views
– a scene from “Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight” (HBO 2013) filmed at N. Church & Front Streets in the Stockade –
You may recall our post MAGF memories, which told about an HBO film crew coming to the Stockade on May 11, 2012 to film the movie “Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight” in and around 17 Front Street. That Stockade home, where Gov. Yates once lived, was used to depict the Georgetown home of U.S. Supreme Court Justice John M. Harlan II. The movie did not appear on HBO until late last year. Go here for its HBO homepage. It tells the story of Muhammad Ali’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court after he was indicted for refusing on religious grounds to fight in the Vietnam War (and was stripped of his Heavyweight Champion title).
The dvd of Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight has finally arrived at the Schenectady County Public Library, and I watched it this week. I think the movie was well worth my time, with the legal issues and the likely interactions in the Court chambers presented realistically. (Having lived a couple decades in both Washington, D.C. and the Schenectady Stockade, I can say without fear of contradiction that the most unrealistic part of the movie was making it look like it’s easy to find a parking space in Georgetown or the Stockade.) Naturally, I wanted to see how the Stockade scenes were presented in the movie. There were two scenes in and around 17 Front Street. One of them is shown at the top of this page, and appears at about 72 minutes into the movie, when Mrs. Harlan wanders out at night across the street from her “home”. The other comes at 34 minutes into the movie, and starts with a scene of characters coming to the house for Sunday dinner. Here’s one screen-shot from that scene:
– a scene from the movie showing the façades of 15 and 17 Front St. –
If you can, see the movie for its depiction of two issues (the Vietnam War and treatment of Blacks) that were an important part of that era and, of course, to learn more about two fascinating American heroes, Muhammad Ali and the second Justice Harlan. And, to see a little slice of the Stockade.
p.s. That red Chevy Impala parked on N. Church Street got star treatment in my webposting about the movie shoot in May 2012. It was humorous to see cars made during my youth referred to as “vintage” in a flyer about the movie shoot posted by the production crew. My friends and I now occasionally refer to ourselves as vintage.
Posted in Stockade Views
– flamingos arrived in two waves around 10 PM on the eve of Valentine’s Day –
. . . More photos were taken first thing in the morning, under gray skies, and then later in the day, under blue skies.
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After a two-year absence, pink (plastic) flamingos have again made a Valentine’s Day visit to Lawrence Circle in the Schenectady Stockade, arriving overnight, to renew a much-loved neighborhood mystery and tradition — despite a major snowstorm that has “buried the Capital Region“. Indeed, upon close scrutiny, flamingologists concur that two different flocks have arrived and romantically commingled at Lawrence Circle (Front St. at North Ferry and Green Streets) in the heart of the Stockade, across from the newly-revived Arthur’s Market.
To learn more about the Stockade’s flamboyant flamingos, see our coverage for 2010 Valentine’s Day and 2011 Valentine’s day, and read the history of this Stockade event, along with more pink flamingo lore at the editor’s retired weblog f/k/a. follow-up: see our flamingo 2015 coverage, too.
And, go to our follow-up to this post, “gracious in gray,” to see the photos that appear on the cover of the March 2014 Stockade Spy, and six other pictures that show flamingos don’t have to be pink to be pretty.
update (March 15, 2014): Click the following link to see my first photo book, called “Valentine Flamingos in the Schenectady Stockade: whimsy and mystery at Lawrence Circle (2009-2014)”. It was made at Shutterfly.com, which lets you preview the entire book without buying it. There are about 60 photos in the 20-page book, with a text that tells the story of our enjoyable, romantic Valentine tradition. [I receive no proceeds from any books purchased at Shutterfly, nor from click-throughs to the Shutterfly site. As noted on my Photobooks page, I will provide any of my photobooks at my price for printing them, if you contact me directly.]
More photos were taken with daylight, and as the day and sky progressed, and the results are found in the Slideshow and Gallery below.
– share this posting with the URL: http://tinyurl.com/2014StockadeFlamingos
The Slideshow has about 4 dozen photos. You can see each of the photos in the Gallery at the end of this posting. Just click on a Gallery photo for a larger version.
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Bonus for the Kids: A Craft Project for Flamingo Fans. The National Wildlife Foundation has directions for making Flamingo Valentines (get out your pink pipe cleaners).
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Why Flamingos and Valentine’s Day? Mistaking my taking photographs for having expertise in the subject matter, people have occasionally asked me why flamingos have become associated with Valentine’s Day here in the Schenectady Stockade. I don’t know the motivation or thought processes of the original mysterious-anonymous Stockade Flamingo Flockers. But, I searched the topic recently on Google and came up with a couple of reasons for connecting flamingos and Valentine’s Day.
- As you can see from the photo mock-up at the head of this paragraph, flamingos who “kiss” by touching their beaks and staring into each-other’s eyes form the shape of a heart. Pink-Flamingo.net uses the heart resemblance to help market flamingo decorations, jewelry and other items as Valentine Day gifts.
- Flamingos have mating rituals, breeding habits and child-rearing habits that are rather romantic. For details, see the discussion of the American/Greater Flamingo at Animal Diversity Web. According to ADW, the entire colony spends months doing mating rituals before breeding begins. “Males and females are generally monogamous, remaining together during incubation and nurturing of the young. Mates will often remain together for many years, only choosing a new mate after the death of another.” When mating is complete, both of the parents “provide significant resources for their young”, including building their nest, providing incubation, and feeding a reddish “crop milk”, which they both produce, to the chicks.
- “And, of course, flamingos are pink–a color associated with hearts and flowers and Valentine’s Day.” Per good neighbor Beverly.
An additional interesting fact that might help explain their domestic tranquility: “A few days before hatching, the chick will begin to produce vocalizations. Imprinting to the parents initially starts through this vocalization while still in the egg. Once newly hatched, a chick recognizes its parents and the parents recognize the chick.” That’s right, their chicks actually come when they’re called.
below: flamingo finale – a quick hug and huddle before heading back to warmer climes
The Slideshow photos can be found in the Gallery below. Click on a photo for a larger version.
Posted in Stockade Views, Valentine Flamingos | Tags: Schenectady Stockade, Valentine Flamingos
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– Jumpin’ Jack’s fireworks seen from Cucumber Alley –
The Chinese, or Lunar, New Year is celebrated around the world. The celebration may be a bit more subdued here in the Stockade, but the wishes for fortune and productivity are hardy and warm. This posting has a few photos that put a Stockade neighborhood gloss on the lunar Year of the Wood Horse. (As always, click on a photo for a larger version and scroll over it for a description.)
– Bob Lemmerman and friend on Front St. at the Lawrence Circle, 2010 Walkabout –
– a fire truck turned into a dragon for the 2012 Schenectady Holiday Parade –
– a 2010 Walkabout carriage horse stops at Arthur’s Market, which has been refurbished and reopened in time for this Year of the Horse –
Posted in Stockade Views
– view westward from Riverside Park playlot – 15Jan2014
An article in today’s Schenectady Gazette about backed-up ice from North St. in the Stockade to Rexford, tells us that “The sun glistening on the ice-packed river was a stunning sight.” (“Residents along riverfront keep wary eye on ice,” by Kathleen Moore, B1, Jan. 16, 2014, posted online Wed. morning, Jan. 15). Unfortunately, the article comes with only one photo, and it was taken at Freeman’s Bridge. Kathleen was definitely right about the beauty on the River, and I think you’ll agree after viewing our Slideshow below, which naturally focused on the Stockade portion of the Mohawk River. [Click on the free-standing (outside the Slideshow) photos for larger versions, which help demonstrate the beauty.] There’s much more ice-jam beauty in our posting from Monday January 13.
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. . a pair of ducks could not resist the sunshine
Mystery? But, before the beauty, I want to mention a mystery playing out along our stretch of the Mohawk the past few days, as depicted in the following following photos and collages:
immediately below: photos taken [L] Jan. 13; [R] Jan. 14
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. . . Jan. 15, 2014
– above: For three days (Jan. 13, 14, 15), a mass of ice was “stuck” between North St. and the Western Gateway Bridge (and perhaps as far upstream as Rexford), although there appeared to be nothing but clear, flowing water for its trip downstream. Even the often-culpable piers of the CSX trestle were clear. The downstream edge of the ice mass was in the shape of an arch and spanned both banks of the River.
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– collages showing: [R] the ice mass, arch-shaped edge, and flowing water at the CSX trestle, each day Jan. 13 -15; [L] the mass largely broken up this morning, January 16. Click on the images for a much larger version.
Is there a riparian hydrologist in the house? Can you explain how this wedged-in ice phenomenon happened? The multi-talented Mark Fisher, strolling the Park near his North St. home yesterday, pointed out that the strength of the arch structurally might offer an architectural explanation for the refusal to budge. Any facts or theories resolving the mystery would be appreciated. [see update at foot of this posting]
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. share this post with the short URL: http://tinyurl.com/IceJamBeauty2
Finally, one more mystery (at least for me of limited scientific expertise): How did the “ice ditch”, with perfectly perpendicular sides get formed alongside the shoreline, near Governor’s Lane? Despite the fog, I’m certainly no machinery was secretly used to carve the formation. Mark Fisher helpfully suggested that the Binnekill, which empties in the Mohawk closeby (between Cucumber Alley and Gateway Landing), has its own current, running at a different speed and depth than the Mohawk. That difference might have brought about the separation from the mass of ice. I’ve often wondered why there would so often be unfrozen water near the shoreline behind Washington Ave. and Cucumber Alley, and around the old Burr Abutment. The Binnekill current — which was surely bursting with snow and ice-melt — might indeed be the answer. Please feel free to comment. The following collage shows pictures related to the “ice ditch” issue.
update re “Mysteries” (Jan. 17, 2014): At the brand new Mohawk Ice Jam Camera (reported in today’s Gazette, here), I found an email address for Gary Wall, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, based in Troy. I wrote Mr. Wall last night asking if he could explain the Stuck Ice Floe and the Ice Trench mysteries. He wrote back this morning:
suns along the Mohawk 
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