All Over Albany

A view of the great Cohoes Falls

For no other reason than we saw this today and liked it...

Check out this 18th century illustration of the Cohoes Falls. The scene look so wild and alive in the image.

From the description at the Library of Congress:

A view of the great Cohoes Falls, on the Mohawk River, the fall about seventy feet, the river near a quarter mile ... // sketch'd on the spot by his excellency Governor Pownal ; painted by Paul Sandby ; engraved by Wm. Elliot.

"His excellency Governor Pownal" was Thomas Pownall, a British colonial official who served as governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1757-1760. Pownall first arrived in North America in 1753 as the private secretary to Sir Danvers Osborne, who who had just been appointed governor -- and then committed suicide. Pownall stuck around and decided to travel around studying the colonies. He ended up becoming friends with Benjamin Franklin and attended the Albany Congress of 1754, an event that helped plant some of the seeds that later grew into the revolution.

Another random bit: Pownall in Vermont's Bennington County is named after him.

Paul Sandby was a British military mapmaker and landscape artist. He was also one of the founders of the Royal Academy of Arts.

A view of where the Mohawk meets the Hudson

For an afternoon zone-out break: Check out this nice aerial tour of the Cohoes Falls, Waterford locks, and Peebles Island area by Youtube user Tom Hoffman Jr.

The video includes some beautiful scenes. But we were also struck by how it helps put all those pieces of land where the Mohawk meets the Hudson into context -- differently even than by looking at a satellite map.

Today's moment of winter

A different class of icicle.

From the how-cold-is-it file: It's been cold enough to freeze (part of) the Cohoes Falls.

We took a minute Friday afternoon to gawk at the partially frozen falls.

Here are a few more pics.