The Fallen Tree

After a rather hectic week, I took the first opportunity to wander through the Albany Rural Cemetery on an unseasonably warm day (there were butterflies and bees out and about in mid-December).  Research and the quest for an "ancient" white oak identified on a late 19th-century map were cut short by a nearly dead camera battery, but I did manage to find the lot owned by the old Church of the Holy Innocents just beyond this massive fallen tree.

To give an idea of how big that tree is, I could've walked beneath it without grazing the top of my green cap.

This is a fairly remote back corner of the Rural;  down a grassy path where, in the summer, you'll find milkweeds, monarch butterflies, and a bit of mid.  There are several church and charity plots back here, unmarked, but interesting.

P.S. If you'd like to support the Cemetery's Annual Fund, click here.

Autumn Twilight

Signs of Autumn

The first fall foliage I've seen this season (on Jefferson Street near the Bung Factory).

The Root Ladder

The roots embedded in a hillside along the Washington Park Lake give the appearance of a rustic ladder.  I won't try to climb it, though, one dislocated knee is enough!

Embedded

When I was very little, the city planted maple trees along my street and a number of others in the Center Square area.  The trees were surrounded by little iron fences like this.  As the trees grew, the fences were removed.  But they must have missed this one near the corner of Dove and Spring Streets.  As the trunk has expanded, the iron has become embedded in the bark.

Branches, Buds, and Blue

It might be a bit overcast today (and they're predicting rain tomorrow), but yesterday was just wonderful.  Warm with bright blue skies and soft, light clouds.  And buds on the trees in Washington Park.

Fuzzy

Furry gray buds on a tree along Madison Avenue in the aftermath of the blizzard.

Fallen Tree

Monuments in the shape of trees aren't uncommon in the Albany Rural Cemetery. The cut trunk represents the end of a life and the lack of branches often means there were no direct descendants. Carved ivy, a symbol of fidelity and faith, is often seen winding around the stone trunk.

This sandstone monument to Anna Armsby, which has sadly tipped over, is one of the more distinctive examples. Not only does it feature the usual symbols mentioned above, it also featured a hole cut into its flat top where real vines were to grow.

The Weather Report

It's snowing right now. It started early yesterday afternoon with some of largest, fluffiest flakes I've ever seen. Like feathers, really. By dinner last evening, my backyard was buried and my Pomeranian was loving it. It changed to a finer, steadier snowfall overnight...and it's still coming down. The skylight above my desk is completely covered and it's making my room quite dark this morning.

Of course, two days ago, I was sitting in the park behind City Hall and admiring those fuzzy white buds on the trees...