Chilly Scenes of Winter

Growing up in upstate New York in the 50s and 60s, I have very clear memories of snow. Lots of snow. Most winters, we would get at least one big blizzard which would dump several feel of snow on us in a very short time. We would have to dig our way out.

These pictures were taken by my father. According to my brother Brian, who scanned these shots from slides, they are of the Blizzard of 1966, which shut down most activities in Rochester for nearly a week - one report I saw online stated that around 100" of snow fell on the Oswego area, east of us.

The big red house is the house I grew up in. At the time it was 100 or so years old, though my parents made a number of improvements and built a large addition in the back. When my parents bought it in 1945, it was a working farm with some 72 acres. They sold it in the early 80s. The one remaining visible vestige of the farm is the old chicken coop, the small building in the left center. We used to climb on up to its roof and jump down into the snowdrifts.

Looking down Slocum Road - Ontario, NY.

Mush of this snow we had to dig by hand, though my father had a small Farmall Cub tractor to plow the driveway. If you like snow, this is a great place for you.

This last photo is much earlier - probably around 1954-55. My sister Liz, brother Tom, Dots the Wonder Dalmatian, and me.

Talk to Me of Mendocino

I bid farewell to the state of old New York
My home away from home
In the state of New York I came of age
When first I started roaming
And the trees grow high in New York State
And they shine like gold in autumn
Never had the blues whence I came
But in New York State I caught 'em

- Kate McGarrigle (Talk to Me of Mendocino)

The photo above is of the Kodak Park complex on the north end of Rochester. My father worked here for nearly 40 years until he retired around 1975. Winter can be a cruel time in upstate New York, as I well can attest. It's a good place with fine people for sure - but it takes a certain heartiness to outlast the winters and a lively mind to ward off the depression that months of clouds can bring.

But I love this song; it's another I've listened to for years, and I finally now have it on my IPod. It took me a long time - about 30 years - to make the same journey as in the song, from New York to California. But what an interesting trip is was. I want to say it was a long, strange trip...and parts of it were. I didn't make it to Mendocino, but I'm close enough.

Rochester - June, 1945

In June, 1945, the War In Europe had finished a few weeks earlier with the surrender of Germany. In the Pacific, fighting against Japan continued unabated. President Franklin Roosevelt had died two months earlier; the untested Harry S. Truman was President. In two months, Truman would order the use of the newly-developed atomic bomb against Japan.

In late May, my parents celebrated the birth of their first child, Elisabeth. They lived in the city of Rochester, NY at the time but would soon move out to the countryside some 25 east of the city. My father was 33 and worked as a chemist at the Eastman Kodak Company. My mother was 29.

I was some six years away....a vague twinkle in my father's eye, as they say.

These pictures were scanned from two relatively well-preserved 35 mm color slides from my parents collection. God bless Kodachrome!

Sodus Bay, Fall 2008

Pictures from our Fall trip back to Rochester.....

Around the carousel at Sodus Point

Pumpkins and gourds and more gourds at a farmers market

Sodus Point was for teenagers like me in the 1960s our little beach town, perhaps even our little slice of California - or as close as we could come. Bands would play on the little strip at the Point, and it was a place we aspired to get to somehow, underage as we were, though the drinking age in New York then was 18. Somehow I got there in 1967 at age 16 and got in to a bar where The Outsiders (Time Won't Let me - reached #6 on the charts in 1966) performed chunks of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band live in our little corner of the Summer of Love. I thought it was great, but what did I know? I can't remember if I was served alcohol or not. Probably.

Snow is forecast in upstate New York today (surprise) - there is an excellent webcam from the old Sodus Point Lighthouse and Museum looking towards the modern lighthouse. Looks chilly.

Palm Springs is expecting a high of 76 today, with sunny skies.