The Church of the Holy Cross
The Church of the Holy Cross in Troy, NY was built in two stages in the 1840s. The nave was built in 1844 from a design by Alexander Jackson Davis. It is a very beautiful building which sadly is no longer a church. When the congregation dropped below twenty, the writing was on the proverbial wall. It was decommissioned (if that is the correct word) about a year ago. RPI is in the process of purchasing the building, which I suppose is good. I have such mixed feelings about buildings being used for something other than their original purpose. I am sure RPI will treat it with respect, and I hear that there are covenants in the sale agreement to protect the integrity of the building (it is on the National Register of Historic Places). / After Craig Williams and the Museum crew left, Fred Cawley was kind enough to give me a bit of a tour. Craig had encouraged me to go up the bell tower, and after shooting the nave and chancel, Fred and I went through a very narrow door and made the climb.
Lots of dead pigeons on the way up, and there seemed to be lots of live ones up by the bells.
And those ones flew around like crazy when I pulled on the yellow ropes. I really had no idea that they were connected anymore, and it was quite a surprise to hear the sound of bells above me. / I am not sure what the purpose of this box is, but it might be part of the clock mechanism. Quite a magical morning.
Looking South
We are shooting at a house on a part of the island called Bar Neck. This is the view out the back window. The platform in the water usually has ospreys nesting on it. Mary Kellogg says that the male usually shows up around St Patrick’s Day to establish territorial rights, and the female follows shortly thereafter.
Beach
Yesterday was cold. Freezing rain and very windy. We still went to the beach, but our walk was brief. Today was just grey and cold, so walking was no problem. We saw zero people but lots of bird action. Pelicans, gulls, ducks, sandpipers, and piping plovers. These starfish must not taste very good to the gulls, as there were lots of them laying around un-eaten. Cris noticed the guy above.
There is something about the subtlety of the colors of the shells that attracts my attention. How beautiful is this one?
Jellyfish
The only thing I thought I knew about jellyfish turns out to be wrong. They are not arthropods. (I guess I do know something else, and that is that there is no way I will ever intentionally touch one.) This guy was about the size of half a cantalope. It looks out of focus but isn’t. People eat a lot of weird stuff from the sea, but I have never heard of anyone eating jellyfish.
Chicken
My brother and I drove to South Carolina yesterday. It was a great drive and beautiful weather the whole time. / I knew we had crossed the IHOP/Waffle House line when I saw this sign in Virginia. Too bad it wasn’t Tuesday; I could have had an extra crispy gizzard for lunch.
Albanese Detail
There were lots of nice little details at Albanese’s. These meat hooks aren’t used anymore, but the design is both beautiful and functional.
Pearl
The weather has been perfect for sitting on the deck and having a nice cup of tea in the afternoon. Pearl has become much less likely to slink off and get into trouble in the neighborhood, so all in all it is very relaxing. I love Autumn.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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