Posted by: David Giacalone | January 18, 2010

a cool Snow Gnome visits Lawrence (updated)

. . .

– “Gnoman” the Snow Gnome at Lawrence Circle – 18 Jan. 2010 – Lawrence Circle with visiting "Gnoman" - Schenectady Stockade - 16 Jan 2010

.

gnome snowman at Lawrence Circle - Schenectady Stockade - 18Jan2010 This morning, I was lucky to drive past Lawrence Circle in time to catch a visiting Snow Gnome — who I’ve decided to call Gnoman — before the sun stole some of his many charms.  Given my attempts [like here and there] to encourage such snow sculpture in the Stockade, I detoured back home for my camera to memorialize the visit with a few photos.

. . . . . .

Lawrence surely saw it all, but wouldn’t reveal the Snow Gnome’s sculptor(s).  I’m hoping the identity of the person or persons who gave us this delightful snowman will soon be revealed, so that I can offer thanks and express my admiration for a job well done and a level of snowman artistry far beyond my own talents.

update (January 21, 2010):  No one has yet come forward to identify (or admit to being) the sculptor of the snow Gnome.  I stopped by the Circle today, to see how our Gnoman visitor was faring, three days after we first discovered him.  As expected, he’s lost most of his features and much of his mass.  Here’s how he looked on the blue-sky January day:

.

.

. . . see “A Stockade Snowman Retrospective” (Jan. 28, 2016) . .

 . . .

3 Comments

Posted in Stockade Views

Posted by: David Giacalone | January 18, 2010

my first visit to Five Rivers

..

Thanks to my Stockade friends Loraine and Devin, I was introduced on Saturday to the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center, in Delmar, New York (about 23 miles from the Stockade).  The Center is operated by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, and I can’t believe it took me twenty years before I discovered this Capital District gem.  As described at its website:

“Five Rivers Center is a living museum comprising over 450 acres of broad fields, towering forests, and tranquil wetlands. Five Rivers offers people of all ages a rich variety of guided and self-guided opportunities to encounter nature directly.”

. .

– Visitor Center at New York DEC’s Five Rivers Environmental Education Center in Delmar, NY –

. . click to read the site’s History . .

. .

We spent most of our time on the Beaver Tree Trail (.5 mile; click on the photo at the head of this paragraph for information on the trail).  Below, Devin helps document our adventure. [As always, click on a photo to see a larger version and scroll over it for a description.]

.

.

. . . . .

. . .

– Due to icy trail conditions, we all wished we had brought along our YakTrax or borrowed the ice grippers available at the Visitor Center. –


See the Five Rivers website to learn about the activities and services available at the Center.

. . . .  .

.. Aries the one-winged owl and an unidentified wild turkey at the Visitor Center . .

. . .

The Woodlot Trail(.15-mile) is wheelchair-accessible and gave Devin the opportunity to show off his number-identification skills.



. . .

. . Yes, Devin and I both worked up a nap .

2 Comments

Posted in visits elsewhere

Posted by: David Giacalone | January 9, 2010

while you were cozy (updated)

. . . I checked out Riverside Park late this afternoon at sunset.  With the temperature “real feel” at 1° F., I was the only person (silly enough to be) in the Park, but I stayed only long enough to snap a half dozen photos, between Washington Ave. and the esplanade.  Because there was nothing interesting happening in the western sky, I focused on the view along the snow-icy Mohawk River to the East/NE.  For example, the scene through the tree trunks clustered at the old Burr Bridge abutment:

. . . . . . . .

. . And, here are a couple of shots from the Park’s esplanade, taken while my fingers and shutter button were still able to function (as always, click on a photo to get a larger version and scroll over it for a description):

. . .

With my first sunset photo shoot of the New Year behind me, I’m waiting for something a little more dramatic before I next head out into a frigid evening.   Until then, I’m choosing cozy over crazy.

update (Jan. 15, 2010): Ever the optimist, and never quite learning my lessons, I tried again on Tuesday to weather another sunset along the Mohawk River.   The wind was brutal in Riverside Park, and sunset again rather subdued, as I snapped a few photos and hustled back home:

. . . 

. .

Leave a Comment

Posted in Mohawk sunrise or sunsets, river seasons

Posted by: David Giacalone | January 6, 2010

SnowMommy rules on Cucumber Alley

Snow Mommy and Snow Boys with Radio Flyer wagon behind 4 Cucumber Alley, Schenectady - 06Jan10

With their two active pre-schoolers and large backyard, I’ve been waiting for the Couture family to add to this winter’s Stockade Snowman Census (see our post “rare Stockade snowmen spied” from Dec. 10, 2009).   Daddy Aaron and the twins indeed did themselves proud last Sunday (Jan. 3), constructing a robust Snow-Mommy, flanked by an almost complete Snow-Miles and the beginnings of a fine snow version of Arthur. Below average temperatures have preserved them three days later.

Snow Mommy and Snow Boys behind 4 Cucumber Alley, Schenectady - 06Jan2010 . . .

. . . .

a view of the Mommy and Miles snowmen off Cucumber Alley in the Schenectady Stockade - 06Jan2010 When I saw that round mound to the right of Snow-Mommy, I feared there would a sad tale to tell.  Mommy Samantha, however, reassured me that her guys just got tired on Sunday and are planning to finish Snow Miles (he needs a face and arms) and complete construction of Snow Arthur when the next batch of good snow arrives.

Couture snowmen glance to the right to see the famous Schenectady GE Sign - 06Jan10

I set out this afternoon at sunset, hoping to capture spectacular sunset skies behind the Couture snowmen.  A thick blanket of clouds thwarted that plan.  However, it you click on the photo above this paragraph, you will see the lighted GE Sign in the upper left corner, giving our snowmen an ersatz heavenly glow.

Finally, if you missed the third update to our earlier snowman posting, click here (or on the thumbnail to the left) to see a lovely snowlady constructed in a Union St. backyard on December 27, 2009.

followup (January 26, 2010): This is all that is left of the 4 Cucumber snowfamily during the little flood of Jan. 26, 2010 (monitored in this flood watch posting):

3PM view of the backyard at 4 Cucumber Alley in the Stockade with the waning snowmen - 26Jan2010

. . . see “A Stockade Snowman Retrospective” (Jan. 28, 2016) . .

6 Comments

Posted in Stockade Views

Posted by: David Giacalone | December 26, 2009

a foggy white Christmas in Duanesburg

foggy scene from rear of the home of Bill & Cyndi Miner in Duanesburg NY- 25Dec09

– Christmas scene at Miner’s Farm in Duanesburg NY –

icy plants on a foggy Christmas afternoon at Miner's Farm in Duanesburg NY - 25Dec09 Former Stockade residents Bill and Cyndi Miner (they lived at 212 Union St. in the mid- ’80s and early ’90s, when I lived at 214 Union St., and we  shared a driveway and a lot of good times) invited me to their spread along Rt. 20 in Duanesburg for a Christmas brunch.  Approaching the Duanesburg hill, I was surprised to see a fairly thick fog, along with ice-frosted trees.  The temperatures were mild enough to allow my camera’s shutter button to operate smoothly, so I left a cozy wood stove to try to capture a marvelous Christmas Day “backyard” scene in pixels.  Despite the prominence of gray, white and black, each of the photos in this posting is presented in its original color scheme. (As always, you click on a photo to get a larger version and scroll over it for a brief description.)

detail of iced tree limbs - Miner's Farm - Duanesburg NY - 25Dec09 . . .large evergreens at the rear of the home of Bill and Cyndi Miner in Duanesburg NY - 25Dec09

ice coating on tree near the Miner's Farm swimming pond - 25Dec09

As you can see, the Miners did not give up nature’s beauty when they moved a dozen miles from the Mohawk River and Stockade neighborhood.

northward view of Miner's Farm in Duanesburg NY on Christmas Day 2009 Ice and fog make it possible for even an amateur to snap a few subtly dramatic shots, and they make mundane items seem special:

a plant whose name I've forgotten on a foggy Christmas day in Duanesburg NY - 25Dec09 . . . wind chime on patio trellis at Miner's home in Duanesburg NY - 25Dec09

– finally, their swimming pond has turned into an ice-skating rink that beckons even creaky old knees:

the Miner's swimming pond iced over on Christmas Day in Duanesburg NY - 25Dec09

update (July 2011): Reckless planning and zoning decisions by the Town of Duanesburg have threatened the beauty and tranquility at the Miners’ home.  See “Duanesburg needs a dictionary” (July 14, 2011) at my Preserve Our Stockade Trees weblog.

4 Comments

Posted in visits elsewhere

Posted by: David Giacalone | December 22, 2009

soaring into winter

. . .

– autumn’s last sunset and winter’s first sunrise of 2009 –

After an inspiring sunset Sunday evening to end autumn, the first day of winter (December 21) started with a clear, crisp morning and a lovely sunrise yesterday.   I snapped a few sunset pictures on Sunday, but the wind chill was too low for me to hang around outdoors waiting for sunset to go through its various phases and changes of palette. Of course, it was also much too cold for a reasonable man (who had not yet had his first mug of coffee) to head out with a camera to record the solstice sunrise.  I did just that, however, around 7 A.M. yesterday, because of the unique sight I saw above the Stockade from my bedroom window:  There seemed to be a giant, perfectly-formed pink feather floating over our neighborhood.

As often happens with clouds, however, the image in my viewscope was quite a bit different by the time I was in position to take a picture.  Instead of a pink feather, I found a large hawk-shaped cloud soaring over the Stockade.  For example (click for a larger version of a photo, and scroll over it for a description):

. . . rising behind the Pumphouse:

– flying over Lawrence and his Circle:

. . .

. . lurking behind 26 Front St.:

. . . and taking off in the sky between Mabel’s place at 22 Front St. and Franca’s at 22 N. Church St.

The solstice sunrise sky held many interesting pink and orange clouds yesterday, but I was unable to find a spot elevated enough to capture the scene, which was hidden behind buildings and trees.  I’ll leave you instead with a few more shots from the last autumn sunset of 2009, taken from Cucumber Alley:

. . .

You surely don’t need to be a pagan to celebrate the solstice, winter’s beauty, and the graceful limbs of leafless trees, along the Mohawk River in the Schenectady Stockade.

2 Comments

Posted in Mohawk sunrise or sunsets, Stockade Views

Posted by: David Giacalone | December 19, 2009

looking for some holiday spirit

The Mohawk River started icing-up this week, preventing the reflections that make such lovely and interesting scenes and photographs.  If you were outside the past few days along the Mohawk or around our windy Stockade neighborhood, you know it felt as cold as it looks.

Sunset brought only the most subtle coloring in the sky and on the River yesterday:

If, like myself, you’re having a hard time getting into the Holiday spirit (despite the recent arrival of snow), I hope this will help:

– the 2009 Stockade Christmas Tree –

The rousing concert given by a flock of black-capped chickadees on Monday, drew me to the western entrance of Riverside Park, and the side-yard fence of 2 Washington Ave.  Even their enthusiasm failed to ignite my holiday flame.

. . .

– black-capped chickadees give a Stockade holiday concert – 14Dec.09 –

Whether you are already in the holiday spirit or are just warming up to it, you might enjoy the “stocking stuffer” I put together two years ago called “Holiday Haiku from Schenectady” (pdf.), which has two dozen poems by three well-known haiku poets who live or work in Schenectady (Union College professors Hilary Tann and Yu Chang, and – humbly – myself).  It is formatted to be printed on two sides of a letter-size sheet and made into a tri-fold brochure. [here’s a short web address for the printable brochure:  http://tinyurl.com/SchdyXmasHaikuPDF ]  Copies were distributed around the Stockade at Christmas the past two years, with some favorable reviews.

You can find the same poems in a posting at my weblog f/k/a, by clicking here.  If you enjoy the selection from our  Schenectady haijin, there are many more holiday haiku by some of the finest English-language haiku poets at the f/k/a posting “Christmas Season Haiku.”   I’m already feeling a little more of the yuletide glow, and hope you are, too.

p.s. If you’re wondering why Yu, Hilary and I, along with the Haiku Society of America and most published English-language haiku poets, have abandoned the notion that haiku must have three lines of 5, 7 & 5 syllables, you’ll find an explanation by clicking here.

Leave a Comment

Posted in river seasons

Posted by: David Giacalone | December 12, 2009

a year ago today: 2008 Stockade Ice Storm

. .

One year ago today, on Friday December 12, 2008, Stockadians and hundreds of thousands of people in the Capital Region of New York and across New England woke to find an ice storm that prevented travel and commuting and left whole communities without electrical power.  This website did not exist at the time, but I was still writing daily commentary on law, politics, and culture — intermixed with haiku poetry — at my weblog f/k/a.   In a posting there titled “ice storm interruptus” (Dec. 13, 2008), I wrote of my icy adventures and included a few photographs from the Stockade.

. . .

My block of Washington Ave. never lost power, but I did lose internet connectivity and had to post my weblog from the Central Library.  Arthur’s Market and surrounding blocks of the Stockade were blacked out that day.

. . .

Lawrence oversees the Stockade ice storm and blackout – December 12, 2008 –

Here are a few more photos from that day of the ice storm from around the Stockade.  You can find more if you scroll to the last half of the posting “winter’s greatest hits (part 1)“.

. . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 Comments

Posted in river seasons, Stockade Views

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »

Categories