Competing Invitations

(Click on image for larger view.)

Ants

Guess the location. I reported it a couple of times. Maybe it will be fixed soon. (I don’t want them in my pants.)

Flower Vandals

Lying in the middle of a sidewalk or lawn. Another uprooted and destroyed flower.

I’m impressed. It takes real skill and courage to hunt down and defeat a flower.

One person adds some color and life to a property. Another one ruins it.

Years ago. A muggy summer night. A beefy, sweaty troglodyte swaggers towards me. He grabs a carnation from a downtown bank’s flowerbox and throws it on the concrete. After making his point, he walks by me without a word or even a grunt.

He’s a man, not a pansy.

I’m impressed.

School Pride

A while ago I received an email from someone upset with the lack of attention given to the appearance of Plattsburgh High School. He wrote:

“Despite all the taxes, committees, faculty, and students, our city school entranceways look like hell. Check out the PHS. Weeds and overgrowth. Bare patches. Worse than a ghetto high rise.” (Quote edited for clarity.)

He had contacted someone about the problem and was waiting for action to be taken.

I didn’t have a chance until yesterday to check out the PHS entrance. Anyway, I wanted to give the school and the city the opportunity to fix the problem.




As you can see from my photos, the PHS entrance is indeed a bit weedy. I wouldn’t compare it to a ghetto high rise but it could use a decent trimming, especially with the milkweeds growing around the entrance sign.

Yes, we’ve had a rainy summer so far. But there have been some sunny periods. If weeds aren’t nipped in the bud, they take over. In another month monster milkweeds will obscure the front sign. In the fall the students can use the entrance to film a jungle movie. (How about a remake of Tarzan?)

Weedy Downtown Out Of Whack

Anyone got a weed-whacker? It’s time to cut down unsightly plant growth. One would think the city - or at least business or property owners - would fight off the jungle.

Plattsburgh Pride: It’s All In The Details. So don’t whack off: whack weeds.

What’s Eating The Library?

So far the renovated front entrance to the public library has held up. No more crumbling steps. But now each post of the center railing is corroding away around the base. Maybe it’s from all the salt put down in the winter to keep the stairway clear of ice. According to one theory an ingredient in the new concrete (lime) is doing the damage. Either way, it’s time to think about fixing the rail posts.

Or just let the rail fall over. Then it will cost more to repair.

In Mr. B's Hood

Bugging Me

I’m trying to ID these flylike critters. They act like bees, tapping flowers for nectar, flying from bud to bud. Any entomologists or bored reference librarians out there who could help me?

You Can Hedge Your Bet…

…by expecting the city to do squat for another year regarding shrubbery blocking the sidewalks. And to those property owners who do trim back their hedges – Thanks!

Natural Juxtaposition

County sign. City dogshit.