Wednesday, September 09, 2026

Razed Plant Life Means More Open Space For Dogshit

 


PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY --There would be no need for the sign if the shrubs and small trees weren't scraped away.  The area was packed in, no room for any crapping canines.   Before the scraping I would walk by and hear the birds within the greenery.  Apparently you can't be too close to nature when downtown. 

 

Tuesday, August 25, 2026

War On Plant Life Continues

 


 © 2026 Luke T. Bush

PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY  AUG. 25, 2026

I used to visit a large shrub by Macdonough Monument to do close-up and macro photography of insects.  Now it's been ripped up and removed.  Why?  More lawn for dogshit?

 

 

Saturday, August 01, 2026

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.

 

Monday, July 20, 2026

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.
 

Friday, July 10, 2026

Thanks, Wendell

 

 


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

All we need now is dogshit.

Saturday, June 27, 2026

Mitey Tiny

 

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

Thursday, June 11, 2026

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.


 

Monday, March 09, 2026

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.


Saturday, March 07, 2026

Don't Forget

 



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