We got lucky on my block yesterday. Lots of my neighbors in the Schenectady Stockade have no power due to the ice storm we had on Thursday and Friday, and 160,000 homes still have no power across the Capital Region of New York State. Giant, healthy century-old trees, plus a lot of limbs, were brought down by the ice, disrupting power lines and causing lots of mischief. See “Storm leaves region in the dark” (Schenectady Gazette, Dec. 13, 2008)
Besides keeping me off the road yesterday, it has kept me offline. Roadrunner is out of commission (including the modem that lets you use their dial-up services). So, I am here at the Schenectady County Public Library’s central branch, using their WiFi. This is going to be a quick, punditry-less post, as weblogging from the Library has far too many drawbacks (for cranky, spoiled curmudgeons) — like no coffee or food, no futon for naps, and a really smelly Men’s Room.
My stroll yesterday morning taking ice-storm photos was not very successful — possibly due to a lack of sunlight to make the branches and fences, etc., glisten. I did have to step lightly around a couple of sparking, downed power lines. When I got back home, a little bit of blue sky was opening, and I caught this sight from my backyard along the Mohawk:
– backyard on the Mohawk (across from Scotia), Dec. 12, 2008, by David Giacalone –
No telling when I will post again. I hope all my friends out there in the blogiverse are safe and warm and having a lovely mid-December weekend. If I weren’t so lazy, and it wasn’t so cold today, I’d be looking for a strong, artistic woman to help make a snowman or a snow buddha, or two.
afterwords: Here’s another photo from the December 12th snowstorm:
.. 
.. Riverside Park esplanade . .
a sparrow chirping
in his lap…
snow Buddha
he’s holding one
snowball…
the Buddha
…. by Kobayashi Issa – translated by David G. Lanoue
..
– click here for two dozen snow/buddha haiku by Issa
wintry mix
the minister’s kids make
a snow buddha
surprisingly warm out
a puppy laps up
our snow buddha
snow turns to rain –
our Buddha’s visit
cut short
………………….. by dagosan
D:
As a librarian and regular reader, I know you are a library advocate. Though the futon and food might be out (come to Pittsburgh, we’ve got the food/coffee in the library), you should mention the men’s room ambiance. That should be fixable.
Don
Comment by Don — December 16, 2008 @ 5:17 pm
Hi, Don. I forgot to mention that my attention span is too feeble for me to work at a busy Library. I can scarcely stay on task alone at home with my laptop, much less with all sorts of folks milling, talking, and sometimes luring me away from work.
Our County Legislature recently voted to reject a plan that add a cafe to our Library. No Nap Rooms (for adults), either. So, I have to insist the public library is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to have to Blog there.
Comment by David Giacalone — December 16, 2008 @ 5:32 pm
David:
Ah, yes, well I do understand that … though I do sneak the occasional post in during lunch, not the ideal conditions, even for employees.
You do such a great job … whatever you’re doing, keep doing it!
Don
Comment by Don — December 18, 2008 @ 7:09 pm