You may have seen tv news accounts about the massive ice floes and debris left behind by last week’s Mohawk River flood (see our posting on Jan. 26).  The sights are well worth a stroll down to Riverside Park (but step carefully and don’t forget your ice grips or YakTrax).

Pictures are far more eloquent than words, and I’m going to merely post some of my favorite shots, taken yesterday (Feb. 3, 2010) in the Park. [find more ice floe leftovers in this post from Cucumber Alley.]  As always, click on a photo for a larger version and scroll over it for a description.

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p.s. Don’t miss “eerie ice floes invade Cucumber Alley” . . .

- ice floes left behind by the Jan. 26 flood on the banks of the Mohawk at the rear yard of 1 Cucumber Alley –

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- scene at rear of 4 Cucumber Alley looking toward Gateway Landing -

- ice slabs cover the Gateway Landing near the riverbank at 4 Cucumber Alley -

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- ice chunk debris in the lower yard behind 1 Cucumber Alley, on a slope where Bob and Sylvie Briber stood last June –

A week after our January flood along the Mohawk, the ice slabs left behind by the receding river at the end of Cucumber Alley make for spooky-pretty scenes and speculation about their half-lives.

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- looking toward the Western Gateway Bridge across the flood debris ice floes in the yard of 1 Cucumber Alley -

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- the yard at 4 Cucumber Alley (with snowmen) seen before and after the flood and ice floe invasion -

They make for dramatic scenes, but the remarkably flat and large ice floes are an intimidating reminder of the power of nature and our humble inability to control it.

Finally, near sunset last night, I snapped the shot below at the end of my backyard, at 10-16 Washington Ave., which is right next door to 1 Cucumber Alley.  A mountain of ice has filled in the usual drop-off slope to the river and is higher than the river bank. [The photo at the head of this paragraph shows a more typical arrangement of river and riverbank at the rear of 10 - 16 Washington Ave.]

p.s. For lots of photos of the ice floes left by the flood in Riverside Park, go to this posting.

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Yesterday afternoon (February 1, 2010), a pair of banners featuring Lawrence the Indian (see above) were placed at the Stockade Gateway entry to our Historic District, at Erie Blvd. and Union St. The banners were sponsored by the Stockade Association, and fathered/midwived by Rob Gavel, with the assistance of Gloria Kishton. Jim Salengo of the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation managed the installation.  I was honored to have a photo that I took last Fall used for the banner.  [Click to see the original photo of Lawrence, which was taken on October 16, 2009]

Here are a few more images of the new Stockade Gateway banners [as always, click on the photos in this posting for a larger version and scroll over the image for a description] :

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p.s. Learn more about Lawrence in our post “looking for Lawrence“

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- views east and west from Riverside Park Esplanade just past sunrise, Jan. 26 -

Despite having posted at length yesterday about our ice floes and flooding, I’ve taken a number of photos along the Mohawk at Riverside Park since Sunday (January 24) that I’m unwilling to leave in my proverbial shoebox.  So, I’m posting some of my favorites here tonight. [As always, click on a photo for a larger version and scroll over it for a description.]

. . . In addition, at the end of this post, you’ll find a few great foggy-river shots taken by “a Stockade neighbor” who prefers to remain nameless.   They make my own fog photos (e.g., here) pale in comparison.

. . . pull up a chair and wait for the flood . .

There was a beautiful orange sky at sunrise on Sunday (Jan. 24).  Looking eastward from the end of Washington Avenue, I enjoyed this view of the CSX trestle bridge:

The next evening, Monday January 25, a gray sunset produced a lovely scene at the Gateway Landing, near the Binnekill, viewed from the end of Washington Avenue:

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As seen in our posting yesterday, I inspected the riverbank along Riverside Park twice in the morning of January 26, keeping a flood watch.  That allowed me to take the sunrise photos at the top of this post, and to snap shots of a school bus turning around near the Pumphouse at the end of N. Ferry St., and of a City of Schenectady Emergency Rescue truck ready for action as flood waters approach the end of Governor’s Lane:

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Near sunrise yesterday, I also photographed the confluence of both channels of the Mohawk, as they merged near the eastern tip of the Isle of the Cayugas, on their way to the ice-jam-prone CSX trestle bridge.  Here are two of those shots:

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Finally, on my way back home after photographing the ice jam around noon yesterday, I saw this scene in the backyard of 2 Washington Ave.   It sums up well the intrusive nature of those damn ice floes:

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Bonus: Guest photos by a Stockade neighbor, who prefers to remain anonymous, taken Monday afternoon, Jan. 25, 2010, along a foggy Mohawk River at Riverside Park:

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At 7:30 AM, there was no sign that the Mohawk River would be cresting anytime soon along the Stockade. [As always, click on a photo to get a larger version and scroll over it for a description.] Nonetheless, by 11:30 AM, the River had overflowed its banks.  For instance, compare this view at 11:30 AM looking east from the Washington Ave. Dead End toward the Riverside Park Esplanade with the 7:30 view at the top of this posting:

[many thanks to Channel 10's Steve Caporizzo for using the above photo at WTEN this evening]

. . . as you can see with our 3 PM update photographs, there was another big change by mid-afternoon:

. . . 3 PM Update:

Cucumber Alley had no flood water at all at 7:30 AM, and the backyard of 4 Cucumber Alley was dry:

But, things had changed a lot by 11:30 AM:

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3 PM update (waters receded):

This is what the western end of Riverside Park looked like at 11:30 AM today:

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3 PM Riverside Park update:

And here are two views from the rear of 16 Washington Ave., at 7:30 AM and then at 11:30 AM today:

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7:30 AM

11:30 AM

3 PM update:

The view at the old Burr Bridge Abutment was a lot less dramatic at 3 PM.

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- 11 AM & 3 PM at the Washington Ave. deadend Bridge Abutment –

We’ve seen it before, but the power of the river and the speed of the ice floes at 11 AM (the height of the ice jam) continued to humble and amaze us along the banks of the Mohawk. You can watch the Mohawk River ice floes in a Gazette video taken by Jeffrey Haff, who also has a nice photo gallery posted at the Gazette website.

after-words: Three weeks ago we featured the three snowmen in the backyard at 4 Cucumber Alley.  The Mama snowperson is gone, and here is all that is left of the “Arthur” and “Miles” snowmen, as seen at 3 PM today:

p.s. The very first postings at this weblog covered the giant ice jam of March 2009.  Refresh your recollection here.

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- “Gnoman” the Snow Gnome at Lawrence Circle – 18 Jan. 2010 -

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.

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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:

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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.”

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

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

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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.]

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- 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.

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

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

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

. . . 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:

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. . 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):

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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:

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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.

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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.

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.

Bonus: Slothful Sunrise Photoshoot: It’s been a fortnight since I’ve taken or posted any Stockade/Mohawk River sunrise or sunset photos.   When rising this morning, I saw a promising sunrise out my window.  Nonetheless, I stayed inside and cozy, deciding to merely snap a few shots from my bedroom window.  To go with the one at the head of this paragraph, here are two views of our Stockade sunrise, January 6, 2010, as seen through my bedroom window at Cucumber Alley and Washington Ave.:

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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):

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

Former Stockade residents Bill and Cyndi Miner (they lived at 212 Union St. in the late ’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.  Each of the photos in this posting is presented in its original color scheme, despite the prominence of gray, white and black (As always, you click on a photo to get a larger version and scroll over it for a brief description.)

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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.

Ice and fog make it possible for even an amateur to snap a few subtly dramatic shots, and they make mundane items seem special:

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

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- 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:

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. . 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:

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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.

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.

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- 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.

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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.

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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.

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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)“.

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Maybe it’s our lack of front lawns, or the relative scarcity of children living among us, but I’ve long believed that we don’t see enough snowmen here in the Schenectady Stockade.  That’s ironic, because snowmen entered into Stockade lore at the time of our infamous Massacre of 1690, when the French and Indian raiders entered through a Stockade gate allegedly guarded only by snowmen made that day by the children of Fort Schenectady.   Indeed, Bob Eckstein, the author of The History of the Snowman has asked:

“Was the first snowman in America made in Schenectady, New York, on the eve of one of the bloodiest days in early American history?” He concludes: “We may never know whether this was the first American snowman, but the Schenectady Snowman is definitely the earliest reference to one.” [The Gang here at Suns Along the Mohawk believe that Native Americans almost certainly made snow figures long before the Europeans arrived, but the Dutch or English or "Americans" were the first to write about North American snowmen.]

Eckstein displays the above drawing of the feckless Stockade Snow Guards in a posting at his site, Today’s Snowman.  He retells the tale in Chapter 12 of The History of the Snowman, at pp. 110 – 112 (which can be read in full by scrolling down this preview of the book). I’ve also discussed the Massacre Snowmen and Bob’s book (as well as  his visit to Schenectady a year ago this week) at my weblog f/k/a.

“The History of the Snowman: From the Ice Age to the Flea Market,” by Bob Eckstein (Simon & Schuster, 2007); The Open Door has a few remaining autographed copies.  If you need more encouragement to seek out Bob’s book for yourself or as a holiday present, see a sneek peek and a chapter-by-chapter pictorial YouTube Preview.

That lengthy preface was inspired by my delightful Stockade Snowmen encounters today in Riverside Park.  The trio at the head of this paragraph were constructed by the Petta Family last Saturday night (December 5, 2009) after our first snowfall of the season.  You can find them at the west end of Riverside Park, near the flower garden and alongside 1 Washington Avenue.  I wish I had seen the charming threesome earlier this week to capture them in their full glory.   In fact, I obliviously walked right by them early on Sunday, when I was out taking pictures of our first snowy morning, after my camera and brain both froze up in the frigid air.

Here are two more shots of the Petta snowmen taken this afternoon (as always, click on a photo for a larger version):

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The little snowman at the very top of this posting may look like he’s guarding a modern Stockade fence again marauders, but he’s really taking a well-earned nap after a long, windy morning being constructed in Riverside Park, west of the Pump House.   Thanks to an invitation from Loraine and Devin, I even had a small role in making the natty little snowmanoid.

Here are some shots I took during and shortly after his construction.  The shots need no explanation, you can find a brief description by scrolling over each photo and a larger version of the image by clicking on the photo.

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Finally, Devin proudly displaying his very first snowman:

p.s.  The snowman’s posse forms a canine fence patrol ……..

update (Dec. 13, 2009):  As you can see at the head of this update report, the three Petta snowpersons are doing fine three days after our first visit.  I can’t say the same for the snowman made by Devin, Loraine and myself on Thursday (see below).  He’s still standing on guard, but has lost a couple accessories. I bet he’ll soon be back to his original dapper self (as always, click on a photo for a larger version).

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follow-up (Dec. 14, 2009):  Devin and Loraine headed out to do some touch-up on their snowman early this afternoon.  With the temperature around 40 degrees F., we found soggy snow on the ground and a shrunken, terminally ill snowman.  I don’t know if a cute snow-woman was to blame, but our guy had lost his head.  Here’s what we found this afternoon:

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As I left the Park,  I passed the three Petta snowmen, which I am happy to say had held their shapes and were only a little bit smaller than yesterday.

follow-up photos – more Stockade snow-person sculpture:

[Dec. 28, 2009] This lovely switch-grass blonde appeared in a Union St. backyard on Sunday, Dec. 27th, and a Stockade neighbor passed along a photo of the shapely snowlady: