A Memorial Day Taste Of Americana, Part 2

This Memorial Day was like old times. I went to a Parade Party in historic Lansingburgh, New York (see yesterday's post). So this parade was particularly filled with Americana. Kevin, the young boy in blue who figures so prominently in many of these photos, was part of our group:

The large unidentified animal marching down the street is, I think, the mascot for the Troy Valley Cats, a baseball team. The red van is possibly an antique bread truck from a local bakery:

Aaargh! I'm so old that this convertible just looks like a regular car to me, not a classic:

Bagpipes. Now we're talking:


Troy Motor Boat Club. Who knew? I'm guessing that they mostly boat in the Hudson River, which is quite large from Troy south to New York City:

All drums and brass:

And there's Kevin again, this time waving to a float bearing a 9-11 memorial:

Towns on the Hudson River need speed boats on hand for water rescue:

A High School band, though I am not sure which school. And there's Kevin, still waving:



Police and fire departments. Kevin, still enthusiastic after so much parade has passed by, continued to wave:

When the parade was over, street sweepers roared up the street picking up debris and it was time for our barbecue to begin. Our group was meeting at a friend's restored old brick house:

And we picnicked on his shaded porch:

Burgers and hot dogs burned on the grill and everyone was happy. This to me was a bit of friendly, home town Americana to be savored, a memory to be stored and cherished:

A Memorial Day Taste Of Americana, Part 1

I'm not a big lover of parades, but I sure do have a special place in my heart for Memorial Day parades. To begin with, Memorial Day has always been my birthday, at least until they changed the holiday to Mondays. This year, with Memorial Day on the 30th, was like old times. I went to a Parade Party in historic Lansingburgh, New York, one time home of Herman Melville. Lansingburgh is also part of Troy, New York, home of Uncle Sam. So this parade was particularly filled with Americana like these marching sailors:

The little boy in the red white and blue Uncle Sam hat was Kevin, a youngster from our group who seemed to be experiencing the wonders of Memorial Day parades for the first time. Here, he's watching a fife and drum band:

A short bit of video of the fife and drum band, although I only managed to capture one final note of the fifes:



The sign on their float says "Don't Ever Forget 9-11-01." I don't quite get the concept of happy, flag waving euphoria as a means of celebrating such an event, but then I don't seem to understand a great deal of conservative thought. But they were happy and patriotic and everyone was having a joyful day:

There's Kevin again, though he took off his Uncle Sam hat because it was so darn hot. Kevin is watching what I think was the Troy High School band:

I didn't know what kind of organization the Troy Patriots was, but they sure had a big contingent at the parade. And they didn't have to march in that heat. And there's Kevin again, waving happily. He got a lot of candy thrown his way from the parade participants:

Lots of fire engines, both modern and antique:

The Lansingburgh VFW. These old guys knew better than to try to march. They rode in comfort:

The Red Caps, an adult marching band. And there's Kevin again, this time with hat back on:



The Miss Uncle Sam Pageant winners. The little girl on the front throne broke into tears just before I snapped this picture and had to be rescued by her mom. It was cute and sweet:

Little League members:

And more from a different Little League team:

Drums and bagpipes. Now we're talking! I'll post more of the parade tomorrow:

Hannacroix Preserve - Part 1

It was Memorial Day, Monday May 31st and I had the day off. I decided to take Daphne, Fergus and Seamus hiking somewhere (this was before Clover's arrival) but since we'd just hiked up a mountain, wanted something cooler, more level and less strenuous. I remembered a wooded preserve south of Albany which I'd hiked quite a few years ago and found directions to it on the internet. It's along the Hannacroix Creek and we arrived in only 15 minutes or so. I pulled into the parking area and was impressed with the beautiful if invasive Multiflora Roses in full bloom and climbing high up into many of the trees:

Here's a close-up of the rose blossoms. They were fragrant and perfumed the area:

Dame's Rocket, Phstegia virginiana, was also beautiful, also in full bloom and also an alien species

Also in bloom was the Purple-Flowering Raspberry, Rubus odoratus. This one is both beautiful and a native species:

When we arrived, I noticed a family just ahead of us with two dogs, one of them large and, I thought in my defensive mindset regarding little Daphne, a potential threat. A Papillon puppy is small, white and given to quick movements - easily mistaken for a rabbit and likely to awaken a predatory instinct in some dogs. The owners said their dog was fine but they kept him on a leash anyway. I let them go ahead of me and then followed cautiously. But when we caught up with them as they played in the river, I learned that all the dogs got along famously. Seamus especially liked the big dog. At last, a dog his own size!:

The family was throwing balls into the river for their big dog to fetch. He loved that game but their terrier was not fooled. He would go in only to an ankle depth:

This family's big dog loved the water and Seamus learned from him some of the joy of splashing and swimming:

The two big dogs loved the water. Fergus was willing to go in but wasn't very comfortable with it. Daphne wanted no part of it, but did eventually swim a bit with encouragement:

Fergus liked the cooling effect of the water, but I think he wished that he didn't have to get wet to enjoy it:

As for me, I abandoned all hope of keeping my feet dry and just walked in, snapping pictures of the dogs and people at play:

But the time soon came to get back on the trail and head farther into the preserve, especially desiring to see the waterfall:

We passed by the stone ruins of the Croswell-Parsons Paper Mill which operated here on the banks of the Hannacroix Creek from 1826 to 1897:

And we soon arrived at the waterfall. There wasn't much water, given our hot, dry spring -but being a hot, sunny holiday, there were plenty of both people and dogs. Seamus likes water, people and dogs, so he ran right in to greet everybody:

Seamus is a happy, sociable dog who naturally assumes everyone loves him and will enjoy his company. Usually he's correct. I'll post the final photos from the Hannacroix Preserve tomorrow:

Hometown Memorial Day Parade - Part 3

This is part 3 and the last of the Memorial Day parade posts. The parade took place on Sunday, May 30th, in Rensselaer, New York, the traditional home of the song, "Yankee Doodle." The parade was a genuine piece of small town Americana and brought tears to many eyes:

Many, perhaps most of the floats, bands and marchers were unknown to me. But the traditions, the color, the enthusiasm, the patriotism, the heartfelt emotions were all a real part of Memorial Day parades all over the country:
This was apparently a drum corps from Rensselaer Middle High School with cheerleaders. I don't know why there were no brass instruments:


On and on the marchers and floats kept coming:

If you click to enlarge this, you'll see that one of these marchers is a man in a dog costume. I have no idea why but I liked it anyway:

This was a marching band which brought back lots of memories from my days as a trombonist in my high school band:



The firetrucks were at the end of the parade and represented the cities/towns of Rensselaer, East Greenbush, Clinton Heights and Defreetsville, New York:

They were apparently arranged by color - first the red ones, then the yellow ones:

As the last of the firetrucks passed by me, I turned and looked back up the street toward my house. That man in the red plaid shirt and baseball cap is my next-door neighbor who has had a heart transplant and was released from the hospital just yesterday. He was happier to be home and prouder of his country than just about anybody:

But the groups of friends, relatives and neighbors stayed around and, in some instances, turned the parade gathering into a party:

and this is Lexy, my neighbor's dog. She is so happy to finally have him home again that she was beside herself. Man and dog reunited, a happy day for both of them and a good day for a hometown Memorial Day parade:

Hometown Memorial Day Parade - Part 2

This is part 2 of the Rensselaer, NY Memorial Day parade which marched right past my front door. It was such a striking piece of Americana that I was moved by it and wanted to share it. This first photo is looking north from my house as a marching band passes in front of the Methodist Church:

That's my red car parked in front of my house:

The "Red Caps" marched by playing music:



This group stopped and halted all the paraders behind them while those in front of them marched on. This created a big gap in the parade and I found it irritating until I realized that this was the Girl's Softball League and all the moms were trying to get their little girls into place and to keep marching, a bit like herding cats, I'll wager:

When they finally started up again with moms walking along the sidelines, I realized why they were such a favorite. They had a "cute factor" of 10:

I had 3 photos of these kids but was unable to delete any of them. They were just too adorable:

And more red, white and blue. In this case, mostly red and white:

This fife and drum corps seemed perfectly appropriate for the historic town of Rensselaer, the traditional home of the song, "Yankee Doodle." That tile roof stone house behind them is, I've been told, quite historic and was once a major stop along the Underground Railroad:


A float with a sign reading "They Held Guns And Won Our Freedom:"

And as the float got closer, I saw the young lady in white adjusting her fake beard and mustache. This got me wondering who she was supposed to be. Jesus, maybe? I never did figure it out:

All the local ambulances passed by. If someone was going to have a heart attack or heat stroke, this parade would have been the place to do it:

I've got one more post of photos and videos from the Memorial Day parade and will post it tomorrow.