Man, What Doggone Shades!

 

War On Plant Life?

 

(C) 2026 Luke T. Bush

PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY -  08/01/26

Gone.  Small trees and shrubbery.  Stubs left behind for someone to trip over when taking a short cut at night to the parking lot on the corner of Court Street and City Hall Place.

Birds used to hang out in the trees and shrubbery, places to hide, places for observation.  All gone.

Just down the street at Macdonough Monument park there was a spot where goldenrod grew, a food source for Monarch butterflies. Stripped away.

And at Champlain Monument milkweed grew in a small garden.  Ripped up and trashed for more lawn.  Monarch butterflies screwed again.

Decades ago there was a Plattsburgh City mayor who didn't like trees.  Chop, chop.  He was getting reading to cut down a large tree that still stands in front of the old federal building, now the Strand Center for the Arts.  He didn't like the way it blocked the view of Brinkerhoff and Margaret Streets.  Citizens came to the rescue and every year the tree is decorated with lights for Xmas.

Maybe the city should cut away all plants and pave everything with tarmac for a ubiquitous ugly parking lot.

 

Eye For Detail

 

Spotlighted

 

Sun-Spiked

 

Permanent Erasure

 

PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY

Two guys were tired of the weeds and trash in a downtown open hole so they cleaned it up and decorated it with all sorts of stuff like a small US flag and a Minnie Mouse stuffed doll.  Somewhat outre but it did spruce up the spot.  The mayor -- apparently not a fan of outside art -- had all the items removed.  So the artistic duo returned and added more items but the mayor removed them.

 

 The mayor decided to cement the hole to permanently fix his problem.  Couldn't a tree been planted there?  It appears the opening was to make space for plant life. The spot is now just plain and ugly but it's available for any dog owners to leave their pet's shit behind like the rest of downtown.

 

Erased Again

 

Take Back

 

Thanks, Wendell

 

 

 

Thanks, Wendell.  The cigarette butts are so much better.

All we need now is dogshit.

Beatification

 

 

 

 

The Lookout

 

Mitey Tiny

 

 So how tiny are these mites?  Take a pencil and tap it on a sheet of paper.  That dot is their size.

Made In The Shade

 

Signs Like This Are Popping Up All Over

 

Gee, does Plattsburgh City have a dogshit problem?

Gardener & Guitarist

 

Gardener & Guitarist

© 2026 Luke T. Bush

PLATTSBURGH CITY  06/11/26

Ryan Casey takes a break from maintaining the plants in the parking lot garden at the end of Court Street.  He sits on the stone wall where behind him plants are springing to life.  The two stone wall gardens had been left unattended, litter thrown on the bare soil until he planted flowers and tomato plants.  He's made a bit of downtown a spot for color instead of beer cans and cigarette butts.

 

Flow

 

Ready To Roll

 

Headless Horseman's Wife

 

Budding Spring

 

Fuzzy Thinking

 

Daffodil Heart

 

Daffodil Details

 

Bloom On Black

 

It's A Wrap

 

Bagged Dogshit: So Close Yet So Far

 

Bright Blades

 

Chroma Stacked

 

Corner Surge

 

Microwave Sculpture

 

Weatherworn

 

Reeelaxed

 

Quasimojo @ Old Soul

 

Surge

 

Bright Eyes

 

Irish Spirit

 

 

 

 PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY -- March 7, 2026

© 2026 Luke T. Bush

Way back in the day Plattsburgh City was a mecca for partygoers on St. Patrick's Day.  Revelers thronged the streets.  People visited from  all over.  They believed the story Plattsburgh City was mentioned in Playboy magazine as the best place to celebrate the day when everyone is Irish.  One time I spotted the Plattsburgh State University president standing in line to enter a popular establishment to grab a beer.  (Maybe it was green.)  

With such a massive gathering problems arose. Stories about a bonfire in the street, a concentrated crowd in a bar buckling the floor, and a driver who didn't see a stop sign thus letting his car trailblaze through the college campus.

To deal with the problems many years ago the college vacation was moved up a week so that the students wouldn't be around to celebrate.  Now St. Pat's is observed locally by students just before their break.

Despite the earlier celebration students still enjoy themselves.  No need for throngs to have fun.

Don't Forget

 

Actual front page -- 3/10/12.  Daylight Savings Time begins.

Winter Moon Ascending

 

Beauty Nap

 

Red Alert

 

Pay Attention

 

Half-Ass

 

Step 1: Bag dogshit.  Step 2: Properly dispose bagged dogshit.

But for some people step 1 is enough for them.  Just toss the bag on the ground and let someone else pick it up.  The same kind of person who uses a public toilet but doesn't flush after they're done.  Let someone else take care of it.  There's a scientific term for this individual: pig.

 

Eyefull

 

Deliberate spelling: Eyefull. To catch your attention to a particular detail in this image.

Warm Rally On A Cold Day

 

 © 2026 Luke T. Bush

PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY  01-31-26

Puff-puff-puff-puff-puff...

Thick winter gloves and mittens soften the applause after each speaker.  People have rallied today to show their opposition to the brutal actions by some ICE goons, including two murders of innocent civilians in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  And also their opposition to the bully who pushed them on, President Trump.

Over one hundred protesters form a deep circle at the city parking lot.  10° F.  The cold air blocks any warmth from the bright sun.  Despite the harsh conditions the demonstrators still showed up in numbers to express concern and anger.  Arctic air doesn't chill their spirits.  The crowd shares a feeling of mutual understanding, keeping them warm.

Each speaker describes present actions and the plans to keep exercising democratic rights.  One orator urges listeners to show up at the next Plattsburgh Town board meeting.  They must tell the council they're upset with its approval to allow ICE to set up an operational center in an empty building on the decommissioned Plattsburgh Air Force Base.  POV: ICE out.

Today was part of nationwide rallies across the nation, cities seeing massive crowds in the streets.  Autocracy faces hard resistance in America.