Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Rap-Shaw From Stillwater Landing

Low water level, ice not yet firm.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Historic Postcard: Syracuse University Hall of Languages (1873), Von Ranke Library and Crouse College (both 1893)

Dome of Hendricks Chapel (1929-1930) visible in modern view; Von Rank Library now Tolley Hall; Maxwell School built 1936-37



Friday, December 26, 2014

Historic Postcard: Junction of Erie and Oswego Canals, Syracuse, N.Y. and Modern Remnants

Facing west near the corner of Erie Blvd. and Warren St. The Oswego Canal diverged north along the present first two blocks of N. Warren St.

Also note the addition of a brick face to the back of the Syracuse Savings Bank, replacing the adjoining wall lost when the building next door was torn down.


Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Oh, Christmas Tree

Debby, Michael and Hayden's tree, a festival of lights!

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Hanover Square: Historic Row on the South Side

left to right: Granger Building, 1869 & 1894; Larned Building, 1869; Post-Standard Building, 1880;
(4) Franklin Buildings: 1870, unknown date, 1834, and 1839 resp.; Flagship Securities Building, 1896.

In the same order we see Renaissance Revival, Second Empire, Richardson Romanesque, Second Empire, Federal, Federal, Federal and Neo-Classical, resp., architectural styles.

Monday, December 22, 2014

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Christmas Tree in Clinton Square

I love 
that one 
can see 
the tree beneath the veil of wires and lights. The tree: a Norway spruce 
donated by the Deacons family of Cicero. It was cut down in a 
morning and reached Clinton Square that afternoon on a 
flatbed truck. It was 68 feet tall and weighed 
11,000 pounds cut, then trimmed to stand 
55 feet tall. This Syracuse news-

Monday, December 15, 2014

Bowling Green, NYC: International Mercantile Marine Company

Number One Broadway at the Battery, built 1882, housed steamship company offices and so was decorated with a nautical theme. These ten Venetian mosaic shields of the great port cities of the 1920s are placed between the windows on the second floor.

I'm not in NYC this week. I've been sorting photos and came across these from a trip in the fall.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Heart of the Neighborhood

 Community ceramic mural designed by Marisa Temple with the help of many Westcott neighbors, 
installed in 1999 on Harvard Place near the corner of Westcott St. 

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Friday, December 12, 2014

Onoñda’géga’ Ohnéganos; Onondaga Water, the Sacred Lake

The Creekwalk ends at Onondaga Lake, long a sacred place for the Onondagas, as it should have been for all of us. It ended up being the most heavily polluted lake in the United States. Efforts to return it to its natural state are slow coming, minuscule and half-hearted. Still, this sign is welcome, situated at the beginning of the lake where bald eagles have been seen during especially cold winters. Today it was raw and cold down there. Still, it is a wonderful place to be.

I could not find the true Onondaga word or words to put a name to the lake here. The best I could locate were the word for the Onondaga people, and the word for water.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Afternoons Begin to Lengthen After Today!


The rising sun inches southward. The mornings are shorter and shorter in the Northern Hemisphere until, sometime on January 3, the earth’s morning tilt stops and in an instant, as we move onward in our orbit, the sun begins to rise earlier again.

In the meantime, and this is the important thing I hang on to this week, by the clock the afternoon reaches it shortest on December 9, today! After today it’s all gravy, at least in the afternoons. By the middle of January the afternoons are perceptibly longer. Tomorrow the difference is just a few seconds, gradually becoming a minute and by the end of January, 2 minutes every afternoon.

All this is “by the clock”, of course. Check out the Farmer’s Almanac or an astronomical website to see what I mean. http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/syracuse?month=12&year=2014

A sundial gives no clue to this modern phenomenon. The true shortest day is still Winter Solstice, December 21, at exactly 6:03 PM in Syracuse, or something like that depending on where you are latitudinally.

Knowing that things start improving in the afternoons early in December always lifts my mood. Celebrate December 9!

Monday, December 8, 2014

Noah's Ark at Brandywine River Museum

 Critters are made from natural materials: dried flowers, seeds, pods and husks. They are sold as a fund raiser after the holiday season.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Sweet Chalk Cows

Chalk drawing by Stephen at Freedom of Espresso in Liverpool.


Saturday, December 6, 2014

Window Paintings!

These bright illustrations caught my eye on West Fayette across from Lipe Art Park.