I finally realized that every walk I've taken so far has been at night, for some reason. So, when I got around to going out in daylight, I was suddenly seeing things I'd never seen before. There is Clinton's Ditch, and historical sign-posts to tell about the Erie Canal (I had no idea, New York State History was a long time ago.) There are houses to cry for, they are so gorgeous. I slunk down to Remsen St on a Saturday afternoon to see if it might have more inhabitants than on my previous visits, and I was wrong. There were no more people on a fine Saturday afternoon that there are on a dark Thursday evening.
I stood in front of each business, trying to ascertain if life was imminent. Satchel, open in '09 on my first visit, (and where I picked up my own Global Girlfriend handbag) seems to be by appointment. Joe Yoga is on summer holiday. Bread & Jam is closed. There are any number of businesses that I so desperately want to be open, but simply aren't. It's frustrating because the city itself is incredibly beautiful. I did find Remsen Street Studios, which made me really happy, as I've admired the work of local artist Jon Gernon for years. (I interviewed Jon for a start-up indie zine in the early '90's. Puppets come to mind.)
There are gorgeous things that I dare not mention here, for fear of spoiling them.
Cohoes hides her secrets well.
