Category: Irondequoit Melon

Matters of Importance to People North of the Ridge

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Gritty City Jukebox

Hotel Reverie at the Boulder Fest in Rochester, NY
Hotel Reverie at the Boulder Fest in Rochester, NY

I stopped in our bank last Friday to make a deposit and cash a few checks. I don’t know where the tellers go but they move through this branch pretty quickly. I was asked to show my id and then the same teller asked if our business would be interested in doing a display in the bank for a week. He pointed to a tabletop display in the corner that currently featured a popcorn machine with fresh popcorn and a sign for a concessions company. The teller said he had a cancellation for next week and he wondered if we would be interested. I committed to it and printed up a few 8 1/2 x 11 posters with a blowup of an ad and some stuff from our website. He told me the bank opens at eight on Monday and I said there was no way I would be there at that hour.

Sure enough the bank called this morning and wondered if we were still planning on setting up a display. Peggi told them we were on the way. When I got there I was the only customer in the bank and the tellers were discussing what satellite radio station to tune into. One of the tellers told another that she couldn’t stand it when customers sang along with the songs so she suggested they choose an instrumental station. I arranged the three posters on the backdrop and spread some business cards around on the table surface and I scattered some Margaret Explosion matches around for good measure.

The soundtrack for my trip down Titus Ave. to the bank was the Hotel Reverie cd that Jen gave us after their sensationally understated performance at the Boulder Fest on Sunday. Jen’s right-on rhythm guitar, dark, enchanting vocals and high heels complete the package while her brother, John, plays drums and carries the equipment. I say this as someone who walks in his shoes. Hotel Reverie has a pretty active calender.

Nod closed the show in style while a cowboy walked in circles in front of the stage. Maybe tomorrow I’ll post some video of that performance.

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Friday Fish Fry

Fish Fry sign on East Ridge Road in Rochester NY
Fish Fry sign on East Ridge Road in Rochester NY

I stopped in Wegmans this morning to pick up the Friday New York Times. I like their “Fine Arts Section” even though it’s getting combined with other weekend nonsense as they shrink the content and jack up the cost to stay afloat. My cashier’s name was “Heaven”. I told her I liked her name. I spotted this sign near Culver and Ridge for a place called Ricky’s diner. Never been inside but I plan to put their sign in the Funky Signs section as soon as I get around to updating it.

Are Friday fish fries more common in Rochester than other parts of the country? I looked up “origin of the fish fry” in Google for the low down. When I looked up something for someone we do work for she started complaining that the way history is being written today we won’t have anything to trust down the road. Unless I was reading her wrong she was insinuating that people are free to put whatever they like online. I didn’t want to push her because I’m liable to say something boneheaded and she pays the bills so I’m only guessing here. But she wrapped that subject up by saying, “An entire generation will be lost.”

When I was growing up Catholics weren’t allowed to eat meat on Fridays. They rewrote the rules in 1966 so that now the Friday meat abstinence only applies during Lent. We had some fish but I remember toasted cheese sandwiches and fried egg sandwiches that my father called “Mickey Mouse Sandwiches”. It seems every place around here has one on Fridays. Shamrock Jack’s has one of the best but they are too busy during the summer. When we lived in the city the bar at the corner didn’t serve food at all during the week but they had a big crowd for their Friday Fish Fry.

Sure enough Wikipedia’s entry on the “Friday Fish Fry” says “the fish fry is one of the trademarks of Upstate New York cuisine, especially Buffalo, as well as Rochester and Syracuse, New York. But can we trust this entry?

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Visionary Politition

Peggi riding bike in steam after the the rain
Peggi riding bike in steam after the the rain

Back when we were moving out this way we stopped in Vic & Irv’s for dinner and ran into the then town supervisor, David Schantz. Not that we would have recognized him or anything. He just came up to us, introduced himself and started talking like a politician. He looked out over Irondequoit Bay and described his dream of turning this funky little area called Point Pleasant or Sea Breeze into Niagara on the Lake complete with hotels and a boardwalk. It sounded like a nightmare to us.

Well, a small part of that plan is taking shape this summer as construction crews are turning the 590 North expressway (that used to dead end at Marge’s) into a one lane in each direction street with bike/walking paths and wooden fences lining both sides. To slow the traffic down they are putting four traffic circles in between Titus and the lake. And when the road gets near the lake it will go straight right through the old drive-in on the west side of Bill Greys. When they fill in the old road there will be a small park overlooking the bay right where David Schantz was looking.

We decided to ride our bike over there yesterday to get a closer look. We were cutting through the park when it started raining so we ducked into the woods and waited it out. When we came out the sun was shining and the park road was steaming.

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Have A Heart

Groundhog in cage

Peggi bought some beautiful handmade glass earrings from Lucinda Storms last night. Lucinda was having a trunk sale in the gift shop at the Memorial Art Gallery. I have a hard time appreciating jewelry because I don’t wear it so I spent most of my time looking at two of her fascinating sketchbooks. She will be there on Saturday from 10AM til 4.

We have some of our garden on our neighbor’s property down the hill. We try to visit it once a day to water and combat weeds. Yesterday we sprinkled a little organic fertilizer around the pepper plants because the leaves were a little yellow instead of dark green indicating a lack of nitrogen. And we have surrounded each tomato plant with fencing in an effort to keep the ground hogs out. They already picked a row of lettuce clean.

Our neighbor tried a few smoke bombs in their holes but they survived. He spotted one sticking his head out of a hole so he backed his tractor up to the hole and ran parked his tractor up to the hole and connected a piece of hose to the tailpipe and shoved the hose down in the hole. But the next day the ground hog was back.

He set a Haveaheart trap for the guy but the bait wilted and was not much of a temptation. So the next time he spotted the groundhog go in one of the holes he placed a live, potted lettuce plant in the trap and positioned the trap next to the hole. It worked. The town came to pick up the trap and they said they would free the ground hog over by the bay and bring the empty trap back.

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Fairy Tale Phase

Meadow near Durand Eastman Park in Rochester, NY
Meadow near Durand Eastman Park in Rochester, NY

It’s raining today but impossible to complain. This has been a perfect Spring. The temperature has stayed cool unlike last year when we were vaulted into summer before we had time to take in the flowering. And there has been plenty of sunshine for the light starved. This marsh off Hoffman Road has its own ecosystem and is in a fairy tale phase right now.

We had a hard time picking which show to go for in day six of the Jazz Fest. We only had the first hour available so we started with Michael Occhipinti & The Sicilian Jazz Project at Max of Eastman Place. We sat with Sue Rogers and Scott Regan from WXXI and were wowed by the first song. The band entered from the back of the room chanting a call and response in Italian. It was led by the lead singer and had something to do with the band members judging by the broad smiles on their faces as they were each addressed. Maybe it was simply an introduction but it was effective. And then they launched into a fairly straight ahead jazz piece that was not at all like the exotic old world sound files we heard on their web page. The front line took turns with a solo while the others sat out. They had to sit out because it felt like there were too many guys in this band. They do get extra points for featuring an accordion player.

It was raining so Peggi and I ran over to the Little for our weekly Margaret Explosion gig. Maureen, Bill and Geri, Brian Peterson and Tom, and Sally and Roy were there with their jazz passes on. John Gilmore too. He told us Tessa Souter transformed Christ Church into her own world. He also made a point to say the sound sucked in the big tent where he had heard The Hot Club of Cowtown so I’m passing along some hearsay.

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Flag Pins & Fireballs

Flag pins and Fireballs on the counter at Aman's Market
Flag pins and Fireballs on the counter at Aman’s Market

We live fairly close to four farm markets. There probably was a farm attached to each of these markets years ago but not anymore. They do manage to get fresh produce from somewhere and each of them has their own speciality. These flag pins and fireballs were on the counter as impulse items over at Aman’s Farm & Market on East Ridge Road last time we were there. We were returning some butternut squash plants that I had picked up earlier in the day. I was looking for acorn squash but couldn’t find it. In desperation I asked the clerk if butternut was the same as acorn and he said yes. He fooled me but not Peggi.

Wambach’s over on Culver is run Abby‘s family and they have a great assortment of flowers. free flowers on the sidewalk at night. And unless they have a security camera the ones out on the sidewalk are free at night. Vercruysse Fruit & Vegetable on Titus near the great House of Guitars has some tremendous corn when the season comes. You get to breathe second hand smoke and listen to Rush Limbaugh if in there in the afternoon. Our clear favorite for vegetable plants and seeds is Case’s Nursery on Norton. It’s a family run place and they still have some green houses attached and a nearby field.

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6×6 On 6/6

There are only a few sunny spots on our property. We are surrounded by trees and deer and that’s the way we like it. But we also like to grow vegetables so we’ve carved out spots in our neighbor’s gardens to plant tomatoes, peppers, basil, eggplant and squash. We spent a few days fortifying our neighbor, Leo’s fence and then just to hedge our bets we put tomatoes and peppers in down at Jared’s. Leo has a few rows of things he planted but he can’t remember what the seeds were so we’ve been watering them and taking guesses as to what the little seedlings look like.

The 6×6 opening at RoCo was mobbed. There was a long line of buyers and lots of red dots. Everything is $20 and they are available on line as of Monday. Someone managed to get all three thousand pieces in this movie. Peggi and I found ours at around the 4 minute mark.

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Busy Beaver

Beaver dam on Eastman Lake in Durand Eastman Park
Beaver dam on Eastman Lake in Durand Eastman Park

We often take a path through the woods that dumps us out on the golf course. We cross one of the fairways and head back in to the woods on one of the trails in the park. The last few days we noticed a bunch of birders gathered around the south end of Durand Lake. We wouldn’t know a rare bird from a local one so we didn’t think much of it. Yesterday we walked down that way and saw a lot of bare wood glistening in the distance. When we got closer we realized that these people were watching a beaver build a dam. These guys can really chew some wood. It looks like a micro-burst has come through here with all the debris strew about. His dam tough is water tight. There is about a foot difference in water levels on the two sides.

We didn’t see the beaver though so we made a point of going back today to look for him but no sign of him. You would think he would right there gorging on the trapped fish. I’m wondering if maybe the park people arrested the guy and took him somewhere.

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King of Beers Lives Here

Budweiser can and golf ball
Budweiser can and golf ball

In a sure sign of Spring they have put the flags up on Durand’s golf course. Beer and golf are really made for each other. We came home with a ball that we picked up as we crossed the course and a can that we found along the road.

I did the math. These big cans of Budweiser are equivalent of two 12 ounce cans. And they are not the sort of thing that comes in six packs or cases. In fact the only way you can buy these giant cans is singularly (or in groups of single cans). Beer sold singularly in a 24 ounce can is marketed to people who are not taking it home for later. And once you open a can you pretty much have to drink the whole thing. So that leaves two types of beer buyers. Kids, who we first thought were responsible for tossing all these empties on one of our hiking routes, fit this profile but so does an alcoholic who doesn’t want to bring the beer home to his wife or get caught with it in his car. The later is our neighbor’s theory and he told us who he suspects.

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Peaceable Kingdom

Turkey crosses our path in the woods
Turkey crosses our path in the woods

Deer are perfectly camouflaged in this gray brown landscape but something got a hold of one in the woods last night. We came across clumps of deer hair still attached to hunks of skin. And further up the path we saw some shit that didn’t look like it came from a dog or a deer shit because that looks like chocolate covered coffee beans and it wasn’t from a turkey because that looks like little blobs of dark pudding. We watched a coyote slink across an opening the other day and we were wondering if they might bother the deer. Our cat is not camouflaged (unless it’s snowing) and I hope they stay away from her.

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Yeah, But It’s Cold

Hoffman Road work, Irondequiot, New York
Hoffman Road work, Irondequiot, New York

I met Monica this morning out by the mailboxes as I was grabbing the soon-to-be-extinct newspaper and she was heading off to work. She rolled down her window and said “Isn’t this a beautiful day?” Before I could say “yes” she continued, “I say that to people and they say, ‘Yeah, but it’s cold’ “.

I’ve talked before about the beautiful color of everything this time of year. Only a few early flowers are up and the buds have not popped on the trees and it has hardly rained in a while so there is very little green.

At first it bugged me that the town left these cones and black plastic here all winter. But I’m realizing that I am attracted to these construction sites at the same time as I am repulsed by the need to constantly mess with nature. In this case a housing project that the town allowed to go forward not only leveled the woods but altered the drainage and overloaded this low lying area so that it is now a certified wetland. They spent most of last Fall raising the level of this road so it will stay above water in the Spring. Just a little further up Hoffman Road from here is where we find most of the big Bud cans.

Anyway the cones look great against our gray brown world and I’m savoring it. I’m starting to think that these people at the Town are more creative than I give them credit for being. I’ve also noticed that I’ve been looking at the stuff in Home Depot like it’s all art supplies. I think they even sell these cones.

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Reaping Corruption

House on the way to Shamrock Jack' in Irondequoit, NY
House on the way to Shamrock Jack’ in Irondequoit, NY

When we lived in the City we got in the habit of walking to the corner to Carrol’s bar for a corned beef sandwich and pint on Saint Patty’s Day. They had bag pipe players and the Pogues on the juke box. The closest Irish bar to our new local is Shamrock Jacks. To get there we walk through the woods and through a neighborhood of funky Bloomington style houses and then down Culver toward the lake. This was a sort of ominous message to read on the way to a bar.

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590 Infrastructure Installation

Route 590 infrastructure in Irondequoit, NY
Route 590 infrastructure in Irondequoit, NY

“Irondequoit ain’t just pretty. It’s my home.” Apologies to Bat McGrath and his “Naples” song. Bat was just in town for a house concert and we watched a few songs at the D&C’s website.

One of the prettiest sites in town these days is the town’s infrastructure installation over on 590. These things have been here all winter while construction on the four new traffic circles has been on halt. There are probably a hundred or so of these things over there of all shapes and sizes. I wonder if they are still going to call it 590.

There are a number of Irondequoit legends. One of them is about how the Kodak executives over in the Oakridge Drive area voted down the final leg of an expressway loop that would have crossed the northern edge of the town connecting the end of 590 with the northern end of 390 in Greece. I always thought it was pretty cool that 590, an expressway, dead ended at Marge’s. In fact we did a song about it on our Planetarium release.

I’ve been looking at these concrete structures all winter waiting for a sort of warm, hazy day to photograph them. They look particularly good with some snow around them but snow and sun make impossible to get the rich grays in these thing. I want to thank who ever is responsible for the installation. I’m not sure how long the show is running.

I was on my bike. In fact it’s visible in this photo. The only reason I am mentioning this is because of what happened on my way home. I came up behind three teenage girls who were walking home. One of them had bright red orange hair and it was course like Raggedy Ann’s. I didn’t want to get caught looking at them so I darted off the road down the embankment. Just as I did this I noticed the girls looking at me. My bike crumbled beneath me in the mud and I went over the handlebars. I tried to get up quickly but my handle bars were at an angle and my basket was all bent up. I hit my thigh on that post above the front wheel. It must have looked hilarious and I’m laughing as I type this even though my thigh hurts.

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One Too Many Polkas

Watkins and The Rapiers bootleg group photo at the Little Theater Cafe
Watkins and The Rapiers bootleg group photo at the Little Theater Cafe

We were in the house last night for “Hat Night” with Watkins and the Rapiers at the Little Theater. Sue was was taking the official band photo while I butted in to grab this shot. It was also Haiku night and band members were on a role with pieces based on the celebrity paintings that are currently on view.

I had an appointment at the Hair Zoo this morning to discuss their web site. Stan the Man recommended us and I hope it works out. I parked right next to a Cadillac Escalade near a big sign that said “Walk In”. I tried walking in the front door and it was locked so I went around back. There was a guy there cleaning the windows. When he left, he turned to the people in the waiting room and said “I have feeling someone in this room is going to win the lottery today”. I guess you would have to play it to win it and I don’t even know where to go to buy those things. And how do you know if you win. Is that stuff in the paper? I probably should have gone out and bought a ticket.

We had received a couple of calls urging us to vote “yes” on the proposal to move the senior living facility on Pinegrove to the empty plaza across from Bishop Kearney. Hard to believe they would hold a special election on this but I guess it is a hot button issue. We went over to vote as a hoot and were surprised at how crowded t was. There were Irondequoit cops directing traffic in and out of the Town Hall. In class tonight Peggi’s yoga teacher, Jefferey, said we should have voted “No”.

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Big Bird

Turkey up in a tree out back
Turkey up in a tree out back

We were eatting dinner kind of early so Peggi could get to her yoga class and a big bird flew by our back window. It was a turkey and it landed in one of the trees down back. I grabbed my camera. When we come across them in the woods they are usually waddling along in groups of eight or so. They stand about four feet high. It seems like a miracle that these things can fly.

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New Economy

Budweiser 20 ounce cans found near side of the road
Budweiser 20 ounce cans found near side of the road

Keeping busy in the new economy is pretty easy. We spent most of the day yesterday trying to access our wireless access point at its default address. Our network just disappeared. Our Netgear MR814 wireless router lost its ability to broadcast a year ago but the Ethernet connections still worked so we bought a NetgearWG602 v3 Wireless Access Point and hooked it up to the MR814. That worked for about a year and now it has disappeared. Can’t even connect to it to re-set it up. I’m headed out to buy a new router and I’m hoping my purchase will stimulate the economy.

We took a walk up in the woods and came out on Hoffman Road where the town has just finished its infrastructure improvements to manage the wetlands that they inadvertently created when they allowed a housing project to go in off Titus. The Budweiser guy has been busy down here. He can drink and drive. I’m keeping his deposit.

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The Fish Aren’t Jumpin

Ice Fishing on Irondequoit Bay
Ice Fishing on Irondequoit Bay

Irondequoit Bay is winter playground once it freezes over. We got out on the ice and talked to a few of the fisherman. They were pulling fish out of their holes but they were all pretty small. We watched a group of kids play hockey on a rink they had cleared for themselves. I remember doing that in that same spot when I was a kid. And at the other end of the bay we saw motorcycles were racing around in circles. There’s plenty of funky places to eat down here too. I would recomend Vic & Irv’s, Shamrock Jack’s or Nick’s Seabeeze Inn.

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Nine Degrees Of Separation

View of frozen Eastman Lake in Durand Eastman Park
View of frozen over Eastman Lake in Durand Eastman Park

When it is only nine degrees outside it’s warmer in the woods than it is out in the open. This cold view is looking north across Eastman Lake in Durand Eastman Park. There is a little spit of land on the horizon running east/west and beyond that is Lake Ontario and then Canada. At this point we turned around and went back home. Who knows, we might have discovered another country if we kept going.

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Everything Is Right With The World

Paul Dodd Crime Faces on the front wall of the Little Theater Cafe
Five Paul Dodd Crime Faces on the front wall of the Little Theatr Cafe

I found a Hawaii quarter in my pocket today. That completes my little green book. And it made me think of our brand new funky president.

We were going to drive down to New York this evening but we chickened out and called our host, Duane, to tell him we would not be making it. Martin Edic told us last night that Jet Blue had $49 dollar flights so we booked some for an upcoming weekend.

We skied up to the lake and around the ponds. We saw the Mayor of Durand and his posse. The mayor was drinking LaBatts from a can this time and he had a gun for measuring speed. He and his buddies were clocking each other on their sleds and listening to mellow instrumental music. It was eight degrees and sunny.

We checked online to see they had put anything in the Irondequoit Post about my painting show. They had and Peggi read it aloud. She got down to the end and read that I have a second opening on February 6. Only then did we realize we would be in New York City for my opening in Rochester. Jet Blue was very nice about switching the dates.

The first opening went well. I almost forgot that the walls are a burnt orange. Jaffe sat in with the band on piano. He told me, “I’ve seen some piddily ass artwork in here. This stuff is real”. I thought that was kind of funny.

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Perfect Serving Of Perfect Snow

Perfect serving of perfect snow on the flower pot
Perfect serving of perfect snow on the flower pot

We use the flower pot out front to gauge the fresh snow. Of course you would have to know how deep the pot is before you could make any meaningful calculation. We have about ten inches of fresh snow and the temperature to support it. Break time today will call for a ski in the woods.

“Sun is shining and the weather is sweet, yeah” – Bob Marley

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