Happy 2012!
01 Jan 2012 2 Comments
Happy 2012!
In case you don’t believe that Syracuse, New York is devoid of snow, here’s a couple of pics I just took on Montgomery Street, outside of work (Onondaga Historical Association), a few minutes ago:
Unbelievable. It’s supposed to go up to 53 degrees F today. Enjoy your day!
Happy Ending!
31 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
I still take quite a few photos when the mood strikes, and I upload them to Flickr, but that’s about it. So I figured it’s about time to write a post, before the end of 2011, so I can start with a clean slate. Let’s see, since Letchworth with Mom, I’ve captured photos of the old John Deere / Case Supply building in Syracuse, now being converted to our local PBS station, WCNY.
(I didn’t take this photo, I would have centered it better, hee hee)
A couple of months later, I was told to get my hiney back there, because they tore out the middle section of the complex:
And on the northwest side, they found an interesting structure in the middle of another portion they tore down. Safes are inside of this little structure. The safe on the top floor will be opened and displayed.
I documented via photos and web (not done with the web yet) the Octagon Schoolhouse Cemetery, and filed for an historic marker, since this cemetery has NO marker or sign, at all.
I’ll find out next year if the marker is approved.
My apartment was full of ghoulish things for Halloween (not mine), but I do like the lights in the window.
I try to capture the full moon on December 10 over Irondequoit Bay.
There are some funky clouds in this one:
I try to go for a ride in the snow at the New York Museum of Transportation, but alas, no snow:
This was our engineer:
After the snowless trolley ride, I checked out the museum, and the buses outside. How about this old greyhound bus?
Next I learned that East Rochester used to be called Despatch, and yes, it was a big railroad town. I have rare film footage of a factory there that built railroad cars. Cool beans! This is the railroad side of Despatch Junction:
Here’s part of the old factory where they built the RR cars:
I think the side of this building says “Merchants Despatch”
And we had a great time at Aunt Avie’s and Uncle Jerry’s home for Thanksgiving this year. Here I am holding my cousin’s new baby girl. Don’t you love the way my cousin looks at his daughter?
And then there’s Christmas. I haven’t downloaded the photos yet, but the old apartment windows are highly decorated with icicle and other lights and dripping with fake snow, since there’s no real snow. Yet!
Too Precious
06 Sep 2011 1 Comment
Not for anything, I know we have way too many deer here in upstate New York. Way, way, way, too many. But when I just went to the bathroom and looked out and saw five deer lounging in my backyard, and a couple of them still have their spots, I just have to stare in wonder, and grab my camera and sneak photos through the glass without scaring them away. I have a regular deer sanctuary back here, because it is so quiet, and there’s lots for them to chew on. Here’s what I saw. One older one to the left:
“I see you, woman”
Three little ones in the middle:
And one older one to the right, in back of the Rose of Sharon:
And here are close-ups of the middle ones, left to right:
See the bend in the neck. . . he was ready to plop his head down:
Sleep good, baby.
The middle one is already sound asleep:
And the right one is close behind:
I can barely stand all of this deer cuteness. But these guys are why I can’t walk around my own backyard with bare feet.
Letchworth State Park
06 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
On Labor Day my Mom and I went to Letchworth State Park. It was cloudy and rainy all day, but we still had a great time. I didn’t get photos of everything we saw, but that’s okay. The middle falls was beautiful:
We went into the museum, hoping the rain would stop. It didn’t, but we saw some cool things in the museum.
I saw a copy of this amazing painting by Thomas Cole, of the Portage Falls and Hornby Lodge, 1841:
And a pencil sketch by Thomas Cole of Hornby Lodge, 1841:
I love Thomas Cole’s work, so I was happy!
Back outside, the mist was beautiful. Mind, we went from very hot temperatures over the weekend to in the 60′s F.
For this next photo, my camera was flashing it’s red box as if to say “what is it you want me to focus on here?”
I love this rock face:
We needed to go back to Inspiration Point to see the falls from up high. We had a heard a train horn, but I didn’t know we would see the train on the Portage Bridge – one very scary bridge for a railroad engineer! You can see a previous post here on a train crossing over the bridge.
Here’s a close-up from far away:
Not so close now:
We stopped at the Gardeau overlook and tried to find the old sycamore, and talked about Mary Jemison:
If I ever think I’m having a bad day, I’ll imagine being Mary Jemison, on the day she lost her entire family. Suddenly the day won’t be so brutal.
Even though it was raining, it was still relaxing and refreshing to be at Letchworth.
2011 New York State Fair
05 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
Okay, we went to the NY State Fair this year. I was exhausted, so I didn’t really enjoy myself like I could have, but we went through the carriage museum and saw lots of cool, old carriages:
and milk delivery vehicles:
and of course, sleighs, for winter:
There was a corner in this building dedicated to Deacon Doubleday, a radio personality, from when I was really young and before (I remember my Mom listening to him while making our breakfast every morning):
The annual butter sculpture is never a disappointment:
A Strates Shows trailer at the midway:
A steam engine:
And a tractor somewhat like the first one my Dad had, I think:
Here’s my Dad and my younger brother on the tractor in 1967. I’m digging the glacier carved hills in the background. This was our view while I was growing up. I wish I still had this view!
Wait, here’s another photo I just found. I think it is the same tractor. This photo is from 1966. My Dad talking to his sister, with my Grandpa. I’m in the background running on the porch.
Back to the fair. I didn’t see anything more. Well, I did, but I didn’t take photos. Here’s a fuzzy end to the day:
I didn’t get to do half of what I wanted to do because there were just so many people there! There is always next year.
A Great Lake Sunset
29 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Lake, New York State
I love one of the Great Lakes that we have here in NY State. When I get to missing it, I drive to it, no matter where I am. The other nite I had the chance to drive to Oswego for dinner at Rudy’s (yummy fish); then visit a great book store called The River’s End bookstore, and then up to Fort Ontario to view the lake.
View from Rudy’s looking towards the nuclear power plant at The Port of Oswego.
It was a beautiful evening, not humid, just right.
Soon I won’t be able to watch the sunset over the lake, but for now, I’ll take it.
Once at Fort Ontario, we had to walk down a set of old, unused railroad tracks to get to our final destination to watch the sun set.
The water was beautiful.
The sun on the rock and the water splashing on the rock was pleasant.
Wave action from a boat passing by. I took video of this so I can listen to it in the middle of winter.
The sun shining on the shore is beautiful.
People were out enjoying the evening.
Even though I don’t like the sun to go down, I love watching it, especially when it hits the horizon, then you really can tell how fast it is moving.
The dude sets real fast.
The last little bit of it.
The boats start heading in.
The lighthouse starts flashing, even though I didn’t capture it flashing here.
And we head home, too.
Onondaga Park
23 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
When I first saw this bathhouse on a postcard, I thought how really interesting it is.
People used to be able to swim in this lake – called Hiawatha Lake.
In fact, they used to dive off the upper part of the bath house. I have the post cards showing people diving and swimming.
There is a pool on the other side of this bath house, which used to be part of the lake.
But not anymore. Now it’s just the pool on the other side that people are allowed to swim in. But that’s okay, because this is still a very cool park. Another structure I love is the band stand.
I have an old picture where, instead of this walkway, they had a structure on a rail that would take the band members back and forth to the island.
Why is this photo crooked? I was sitting on the grass waiting for the Stan Colella Orchestra to start. And then came along some talkers, who talked throughout the entire concert. I don’t know why people who want to talk just don’t stay home.
Ah yes, what I could hear of it, the orchestra was excellent!
Oh, I love the sax!
And the trombone! What is with the pictures? I need to work on this crooked thing!
The evening was wearing on, and the lights came on.
A storm was brewing.
The concert was over with, and the sun was setting, and I was just enjoying the peace and quiet and coolness of the evening.
Another feature I love about Onondaga Park is this stone bridge.
Here it is with the flash turned on.
I found a better photo of it.
I have photos showing a small lake on this side of the bridge, too. Now it’s just a grassy area.
There was a fountain and Japanese pergola here, too, and a waterfall.
There still is a nice picnic grove.
Here’s a bit of history:
When the Woodland Reservoir opened on South Geddes Street in 1894, the old Wilkinson Reservoir was no longer needed to supply Syracuse’s drinking needs. In 1898 the 71 acres around the Wilkinson Reservoir was bought by the city to form Onondaga Park. In 1903 more wooded land (the Olmstead Grove) was acquired and became a popular picnic area near the old reservoir that is still in use today. In 1911 Wilkinson Reservoir was renovated and renamed Hiawatha Lake. Today it is the central focus of Onondaga Park on the southwest side of Syracuse.
Octagon Schoolhouse Cemetery aka Otisco Southern Cemetery
09 Aug 2011 1 Comment
I was processing a photographic collection a couple of weeks ago – photos taken by Charles A. Billings, who was a member of the Syracuse Camera Club. Some photos were taken in Onondaga County, and some outside Onondaga County (the Camera Club traveled around the state). When I came to the end of the collection, I found two photos of a tombstone and war marker belonging to Leavitt A. Billings, buried in Octagon Cemetery. To myself, I thought, he’s not in Onondaga County, so I moved on. But then it bugged me. In the back of my brain, I knew I had seen Octagon Cemetery before, so I went to my extensive cemetery list at rootsweb, and saw Southern / Octagon Cemetery located in Otisco, and the website didn’t have anything on the cemetery, except it’s location on Octagon Rd. I went to Google Maps to see if I could find the exact location of the cemetery, and I didn’t. So I took note that Octagon Rd. was off of Route 80.
Last Friday night I had to take a photo at Onondaga Community College for OHA’s upcoming newsmagazine (which is going to be another great magazine) and at the intersection of something and Route 80, I turned my car south onto Route 80. I drove through the beautiful hills of the southern part of Onondaga County (where I grew up, and those hills are in my very being) and eventually came to Otisco, and kept going until I saw Octagon Rd. Immediately I saw a cemetery on the southwest corner of Route 80 and Octagon Rd. This had to be it. But why was it so far back away from the road? And was it Octagon Cemetery? There is no sign.
Looking west. Photo from the Archives of Onondaga Historical Association
View looking south towards cemetery from Octagon Road.
There was an Octagon Schoolhouse located on the same lot 4 north of the cemetery:
Deed from the Archives of Onondaga Historical Association
Octagon Schoolhouse, Photo from the Archives of Onondaga Historical Association
I took photos of the tombstones located on the east end close to the road, where there is a World War II veteran buried:
And then headed back towards the original cemetery. I started taking photos of all of the tombstones on the east side and completed four rows. I found Revolutionary War soldier Christopher Mott. Then I found Leavitt A. Billings and Anna his wife, and his Revolutionary War marker, the reason why I was there:
I skipped ahead some more and found Revolutionary War soldier Ebenezer French:
And Revolutionary War soldier Ira Pomeroy:
It was humid so I stopped photographing tombstones after finding not just one, but now four Revolutionary War soldiers and one WWII soldier. And what really irked me, besides the fact the cemetery is unmarked, is there are no American flags next to these soldiers.
Saturday I had to work in the Research Center for Sarah (who is on vacation) and one of our patrons came in (Lee) and mentioned she had to do some research on Otisco. I started asking questions about Otisco, their historian, etc. and after she answered my questions, I told her that I had investigated the Octagon Cemetery and there is no sign and no American flags next to the soldiers, etc. Interestingly enough, SHE had just been to the SAME cemetery and noted the same things, while she was looking for one of the Pomeroys. And her director, Nancy, had been to the cemetery previous to this. So, since there are Pomeroys buried in this cemetery, Lee suggested I write to Nancy about how to go about getting a roadside marker put up for this cemetery. Which I will do, but first I need to finish photographing the cemetery.
I dug into some files at OHA and found there are seven Revolutionary War soldiers, two War of 1812 soldiers, three Civil War soldiers, one WWII soldier, and Militia Colonel Stephen Pomeroy. Where are the rest of the markers? And why no American flags?
Beauchamp in his “Revolutionary War Soldiers Resident or Dying in Onondaga County, NY,” calls this cemetery Octagon Schoolhouse Cemetery. On the deed above the association is called Otisco Southern Cemetery Association.
I have started adding my photos to the rootsweb website here, but I still have a way to go. Next time it isn’t raining, I’ll be driving there again to take more photos and updating the website.
Port of Oswego – Harborfest and Fireworks!
01 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Blog
Went up to the Port of Oswego last Saturday night. Made a stop at Rudy’s Lakeside Drive-In first, because they have some of the best fish around, mmm, nice and moist on the inside like fish should be. Sat at a picnic table right on the shore of Lake Ontario and took this pic into the hot sunshine.
I wanted to climb into the lake like I did last year, even though the rocks are moss covered:
After dinner headed up to Fort Ontario and got in by saying one of my co-worker’s names, which helped on the wallet. Sat up high on the wall for a good view, with tons of other people, and waited there, since there weren’t any tall ships to see in the harbor. Saw a helicopter:
and the barge with some of the fireworks move out to the break-wall:
And watched the fireball in the sky slowly set:
Almost:
And waiting for complete darkness:
Finally! Recorded the fireworks in small segments. Here’s one with hearts:
I’m In Love, or Now I See What the Big Deal is About a BT
25 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in Blog
I’m in love. With something that I’ve only seen once. And now I understand Mary’s and Julie’s love of Boston Terriers. I saw my cousin Kevin on Saturday (that’s another story for another day) and met his dog Woof (so named by Kevin’s young son). I fell completely and madly in love. This dog is the epitome of sweetness all wrapped up in the cutest package, down to the spots on his chest, tummy and legs. He loves to get so close to everyone he meets. And he gives lots of kisses.
How can you refuse this precious face?
I couldn’t get a complete pic of all his spots, but trust me, they go down his chest and tummy and onto his legs. Too cute!
And he’s not only cute, but he’s a guard dog, too! NOTE: He is only allowed up on the dashboard when the motor home is not moving! Actually, he’s not supposed to up there at all, but he does it when they’re not there.
Recent Comments