suns along the Mohawk

..  On February 28, 2009, I stopped writing f/k/a, a popular and multi-faceted weblog that had been a major part of my life for six years (with almost 2500 posts and a million visits).  As I write this About Page [on March 10, 2009], I haven’t yet missed writing about lawyer ethics and offering punditry on many other topics, or even felt the urge to present more “real haiku” poetry. However, I did immediately wonder how I could continue sharing the photos I’ve been taking along the Mohawk River and around the neighboring Stockade Historic District in Schenectady, New York, where I live.  “suns along the Mohawk” is my answer.  [An explanation of our Copyright Policy and Comment Policy can be found at the bottom of this page.]

I’m neither a professional photographer nor a rabid photography enthusiast fretting over exposures and shutter speeds.  I am a former lawyer (first antitrust, then family law) and mediator, in my 60th year, who writes haiku, plays lawn bocce [even in the snow], and lived in Washington, D.C. for two decades before moving to Schenectady in 1988.  Until obtaining my first digital camera in early 2008, I had never taken more than a few snapshots a year, and hadn’t picked up a camera in over a decade.  However, when I took my first photo of a sunset along the Mohawk on March 15, 2008, and saw the result, I thought “this is one very photogenic river” and “it looks like even a monkey can take a good shot.”   Soon, sunsets — with their many variations in the skies above the Mohawk and reflected on its waters — became a great motivator to get me out much more often for walks around the neighborhood.   (see my f/k/a post “what is it about sunsets?“)

Those strolls also reminded me how lovely, unique and neighborly the Stockade District is. My Canon Powershot S5 IS allowed me to capture its beauty, while the built-in forum and audience at f/k/a allowed me to share and memorialize it.  See, for example, coverage of our cherry blossoms and tulips, plus the mysterious annual Valentine pink flamingo visitation.

This weblog will permit me to continue the indulgence of sharing photographs that I find memorable, or commemorating noteworthy events, from along the Mohawk and around the Stockade neighborhood.  It will also permit me to present occasional “haiga” — which is an artistic genre from Japan that unites a picture with a linked haiku poem — using some of my photos.  (See examples of haiga with photos taken by my attorney brother Arthur Giacalone, or myself, here.)   Posting will be leisurely and occasional, rather than obsessive and daily, and you are urged to stop by for a window on a special piece of geography.  Please forgive my technical shortcomings, and enjoy the view along with me.

. . . . David Giacalone, Schenectady, NY, USA (March 10, 2009) 

COPYRIGHT POLICY: The content of this website is presented under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license.  That means you may share its content for noncommercial purposes, so long as you attribute it to David Giacalone and “suns along the Mohawk” and distribute any resulting adaptation of the work only under the same or similar license.  [details] No other use (beyond your limited Fair Use rights) may be made of the content of this weblog without permission from David Giacalone, the copyright holder.

COMMENT POLICY:  Comments are encouraged, including dissent (there are people who dislike sunsets and neighborliness, I hear), but Comments will be removed or edited if they contain vulgarities or personal attacks or are simply commercial messages or other forms of Spam.  Because our Comment feature is moderated, there may be a delay the first time you leave a Comment, or if the webserver does not recognize you as a prior Commentor.