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We waited until it snowed to pick these Brussels sprouts. We planted them very late in the season, so it was a bonus to get anything at all. The biggest is about the size of my thumbnail, which I neglected to put in the frame for a sense of scale...
We had our first 'real' snow this weekend. Not that much, the National Weather Service says 3 inches. The first snow is often magical - it clings to everything, turning the world into a faery's dreamland!
It stuck! That's how we say that the snow didn't melt. All the tree branches are covered with snow and it looks beautiful. Of course that means the sidewalks are icy, which is less wonderful, but it's kind of Zen when you think of it.
It's Friday, when many photo bloggers post photos of their skies. Visit Skywatch Friday to see what other people saw in their skies!
My wife likes to let a few milkweed plants grow for the butterflies to eat. At the end of their growing season, the seed pods burst open revealing scores of seeds. Each one has its own fluffy sail, ready to go out into the world and make a mark. And maybe feed some butterflies.
The weather has been so mild this year that the hydrangea has started budding. Again. I'm seriously thinking of cutting it back because I fear this growth will draw strength from the plant - strength it needs to survive the coming winter.
Each month, on the first, the City Daily Photo blogs simultaneously post a photograph that expresses a common theme. This month, the theme is waiting.
The traffic lights at State St and Brandywine Ave need some attention. These fellows work in the middle of traffic but what alternative is there? Believe me, they are working as fast as they can so they can get out of there - this is a busy intersection.
I'm not the only one taking photos in Schenectady. These street cameras are becoming more ubiquitous every day. I don't think cameras like this reduce crime, and I don't think there is any particularly good evidence that they help solve crime either.
A short walk from where I took yesterday's photo. I looked up and liked the pattern of branches and sky. In the summer no sky at all was visible from here.
In Vale cemetery, one maple tree insists that it will keep its leaves thank you very much!
State Street seen from Clinton. The whole area has new facades on renovated buildings. It's very nice. Bomber's Burrito Bar just moved in, which has attracted attention. Maybe we'll see businesses moving back to the downtown area after all.
Some years we've already had snow, but not this year. This year, the garden is still producing all the way into November, which seems incredible to me, but my wife planned it, not me. I'm more of a tomato and basil sort of guy; they don't like the cold at all. She planted a second crop of cold hardy veggies like this delightfully coloured turnip.
It's the time of the year we tend to stop and reflect on what's happened during the year, to be thankful for what we have and to resolve to do better next year.
Taken this afternoon - I was stuck for inspiration when it found me! I was trying to get a photo of the little one and he shut the van door. This was way better than what I would have taken by myself!
We have a few weeds growing in the hedge. I call them weeds only because that's what everyone calls them. We always called this stuff goldenrod; I think that's right but I'm no botanist!
Traces of travellers on a clear day.
Down in the bottom of Vale Cemetery, where Cowhorn Creek is crossed by the westernmost path. Down by the Revolutionary War monument, if you're a local.
Not a political statement. But with a son, a son-in-law and two brothers-in-law on active duty, I can't help but remember their service.For The Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.--Laurence Binyon
So we're cleaning up the garden plot at the community garden and among the leaves and weeds (oops!) we find the flowers we planted in the spring in order to attract the pollinators to the garden.
Someone told me that each tree has its own distinctive colour scheme; colours that are always there but only become visible in the autumn, after the chlorophyll dies off. Most of the maple trees in this area are generally a blend of yellow and red. This tree is a surprisingly uniform yellow. I don't see many of these.
My youngest has a deep and abiding interest in insects; actually, he's fascinated by pretty much any creature he can touch. This grasshopper was captured, lovingly admired, carefully carried around on a finger and then released back into the wild.
Chilly nights mean frost on car windows. Someone (and I'm not saying who) put his hand in the frost and made a handprint. Then someone else thought it'd be a cool idea to be a copycat and take a photo...
It's Friday, which means that there are people round the world posting photos of their skies! Click on the Skywatch Friday link to see many more!
More than anything this reminds me of my childhood. Scuffing my feet through the leaves on the ground on my way to school in the rain.
In an attempt to actually make a photo as opposed to simply snapping something that catches my eye, I thought I'd try this pine tree on a cloudy day in black & white.
Enjoying an autumn day out in the air. These sorts of warm, sunny days are ever more precious with the turning of the leaves.
Before their Saturday game, the kids and coach / instructor get together to discuss strategy. At this age, I imagine it sounds a lot like this:
On the first day of the month, many of the City Daily Photo blogs post a photo based on a common theme. This months theme is doorways.
Halloween is one of the holidays we associate with pumpkins. We often hollow them out and carve faces into them, then on Halloween night, put a candle inside to illuminate them from within. I say 'we' but I don't know if the younger generation still do this or not. Maybe they get theirs pre-made and injection moulded.
Somehow I had a complete brain lapse this morning and neglected my daily photo. Remembering that it's Friday and thus, Skywatch Friday, I took a photo on the way home. This is shot from the car as I was driving so the composition isn't the best, but I think the clouds are interesting enough that I'll post it anyway.
The leaves have already fallen off of some of the trees and the colours are fading to the pale honey of the grasses. Until the snow comes, when the gentle colours will be replaced by the stark white of winter.
We let some of the mustard green go to seed (bolt) thinking we'd make home made mustard. Imagine my surprise when we tried to harvest the seeds from the seed pods. There are only 4 or 5 mustard seeds in each pod and there are hundreds and hundreds of pods on a single plant. It is a lot more work than I imagined and these seeds are really, really tiny. That's my thumb and forefinger holding one seed pod.
This pile of sticks is in the middle of a pond at Grafton Lakes State Park. It is a beaver's house which for some reason is called a lodge. The beaver cuts down all those branches and carries them out there where he builds his house, plastering it together with mud. The entrance is under water, making it very safe to raise a family!
Yesterday was the last outdoor Greenmarket (farmer's market) downtown. Next week, the Greenmarket moves indoors. We had two special guests - George and Grace, a pair of emus from Cooper's Ark Farm were here. And they were quite popular, too as you can see from the smile reflected in the cell phone...
We've had several frosty nights and the trees are showing their colours now. This maple tree is in a neighbour's yard - it's amazing how different it can look depending on the way the sun hits it.
This is a fairly common plant in the forests here. Wintergreen has a minty, spicy flavour and is quite distinctive when you bruise a leaf. I've never made tea from it although I've heard it's good. If I find a large enough patch of it perhaps I'l give it a whirl. I don't really want to strip all the leaves off of a single plant.
A rare, perfectly cloudless day. And the geese are flying south for the winter...
Sometimes,
In our climate, there are many deciduous trees - the sort that lose their leaves in the autumn. The leaves go somewhere, and some days it seems as if they all fall on my sidewalk! Normally, they're not still green when they drop off the tree, but this one decided to be different.
A close-up of the vines at the Hudson-Chatham winery, south of here. There's something about the contrast between the metal and the vine that caught my eye.
Although I live in the city, nature isn't very far away. This is Grafton Lake, a very beautiful State Park set aside for all New Yorkers to enjoy. It was a chilly day, but we met several people walking through the woods along the lake.
This is the front of the MVP Healthcare Building. It's somewhat more interesting than the back.
Day or night, police, fire and ambulance services are on the job. Thanks to all who serve!
Taken while we were picking raspberries at Yonder Farms in Kinderhook, NY. For wonderful photos of other people's skies, visit Skywatch Friday!
Believe it or not, there's a local farm still picking raspberries! Until the frost kills the plants, raspberries will still grow on certain varieties, and they may taste better now than in June. Not because they're really any sweeter, but because finding even one raspberry in October seems like such a treat!
