Haiku

A Haiku By Luke T. Bush


Up there on that ledge

Sits a stoned hippie pigeon

Enjoy his high coo

Tempus Fugetaboutit

These images – shots of both sides of an antique clock on Durkee Street – were taken at around 1:05 PM.






Does this post seem familiar? I wrote about this same problem back in January 2008. This clock still doesn't meet the basic function of a timepiece: to tell the correct time.

Taxpayer funds, well invested.

Art From Adversity

“Don't worry,” the Border Patrol officer reassured Kim Leclaire about her husband.

“We're doing you a favor,” the officer continued during the phone conversation. “We're sending him to the Buffalo detention center. He'll be processed even quicker in two or three days.”

Those few days turned out to be three long weeks for Kim's husband, Gharan Burton.

Gharan grew up in Dominica, a small Caribbean island. He attended college at Plattsburgh State with a student visa. After he graduated from PSUC, he had a one year work permit and when that ran out, he started the paperwork to become a citizen. Since the paperwork was being processed, Gharan thought that there would be no problem until his citizenship was finalized.

One day in July he was with his wife Kim, a passenger in her car. A state trooper pulled Kim over for a seatbelt violation. He also ran an ID check on Gharan.

This ended up with Gharan being taken into custody by the Border Patrol. He was transported to an immigration jail in Buffalo.

While incarcerated in the detention center, Gharan was worried about his future, whether or not he would be deported. He spent part of his time sketching, drawings of his environment that would become the basis of the exhibit, “Three Weeks Revisited,” now at the Plattsburgh Public Library. The exhibit also features works by his wife.

Some of the paintings based on the Gharan's sketches are stark, a large white sun in the background while detainees stand near a prison fence topped with razor wire. The images are drenched in red, an intense color to reflect his feelings at the time, anger and despair. The sun beyond the fence symbolizes his hope for a bright future, freedom.

Gharan is a quiet, soft-spoken man. Not the type one would associate with dangerous individuals.

He was finally released from the detention center after Kim hired a lawyer and the charge was dismissed. The problem was that Gharan hadn't notified the Department of Homeland Security about his status. He would have done this if he had known about it. Just a matter of communication.

Another example of bumbling bureaucracy. The story of red tape – and the red images it created.

Fabriccation

For artist Darlene Joy Virgin it starts with the fabric.

Her fascination with fabric started at an early age, making cloths for her little troll dolls. A piece of cloth cut to size with armholes so that the attire could easily slip on the doll.

That interest as a young girl has led to her as an adult creating intricate fabric designs. Her materials are sorted into bins by type: solids, plaids, Asian, etc. She looks at the various designs and colors, drawing inspiration. One design might suggest tall grasses by a lake during sunset. She places the strips down, seeing how they form an overall pattern, “auditioning” each component. When the pieces fall into place, the pattern is glued down.

Fabric is her palette. Darlene creates a variety of work from her choices, just like a painter who uses a range of colors and textures to create an image.

Darlene grew up in an Air Force family, traveling around the world. Some of her images have a tropical motif, memories of a young girl living in Guam.

Darlene and her husband moved to Plattsburgh in 2005. A new environment, new inspirations.

Her fabric artwork is now on display in the Textile Gallery at the Plattsburgh Public Library. Also her work can be seen at her website, http://www.2purejoy.com/ .

BOP Fireworks 2009

A plethora of pixels. I have too many images on file to sort and edit. Anyway, here are some shots of the Battle of Plattsburgh fireworks back in September. (Click on each image for larger view.)

Found On The Trail: Plattsburgh's Heritage?

No Notice: City Screws Up

Apparently the City of Plattsburgh failed Communications 101 in college.

Many people were caught off guard on Monday morning when a construction crew started to rip up the southern end of Oak Street.

Chris Dominianni, owner of the Adirondack Soup Company, didn't know about the street work until Sunday night after he saw a sign posted. He contacted the city and found out that notices went out a week ago to building owners who were in turn supposed to contact their tenants.

I did a quick survey of five shops in the area where the work is being done. No shop owner had been given advance notification.

June Defrane, owner of June's, didn't know about the construction work until Tuesday morning because her shop is closed on Monday. She tried to park in front of her business to unload some materials but was told by construction workers she had to park elsewhere. She was forced to park temporarily across the street in the Plattsburgh Public Library parking.

The PPL staff was also surprised by the lack of notification. When Brinkerhoff Street was being upgraded earlier in the year, the library had a week's warning. It put up signs to let patrons know about the upcoming work. Police officers had to enter the library on Monday morning to tell patrons who had parked on Oak Street to move their vehicles. Officers also went to the shops across the street, trying to locate car owners.

So what should the city learn from this stupid dust-up?

Communication is key. Contacting the building owner apparently doesn't work, especially if the owner is out of town. Efforts should be made to personally contact people who work in the area. If a shop owner isn't in, a sign could be posted on the front door.

Signs posted along the street shouldn't go up a day before. They should be up a few days before the roadwork is to begin, giving people enough notice.

Time To Haul It

June Defrane, owner of June's on Oak Street, doesn't want rodents to show up in the alleyway behind her shop. For too many days she has been trying to get garbage picked up, refuse left behind by other tenants in the neighborhood. The trashcans for her building are emptied but the rest of it from others just keeps accumulating.

What is it about Plattsburgh and trash? Sometimes you have to invoke the name of the gods to get it properly disposed.

Burton – LeClaire Exhibit

There's an intriguing art exhibit now on display at the Plattsburgh Public Library featuring the works of local artists Gharan Burton and Kim LeClaire. “Three Weeks Revisited” will run until January 4, 2010 in the Helen Wilcox Ianelli Gallery located on the second floor of the PPL. A reception will be held Saturday, October 10th, from 5 – 7 PM. For more information, call (518) 297-2616.

Hey, Man - What's In The Bag?

This plastic bag with unknown contents has been hanging around for over a month, three stories up on a Clinton Street building. I don't know how it got there. How it is attached to the wall is also a mystery.