A Year of Blogging: September 8, 2011

September 8 is 'Pardon Day'. You can either use this day to show the world that your Mom really did teach you manners (by saying 'Pardon me' or 'Excuse Me'), or as a day to seek forgiveness from others. Holiday Insights (www.holidayinsights.com) did not explain why today is Pardon Day. It seemed a little odd, since there is also a Forgiveness day in June. Hoping to find something else to write, I went to history.com to see what happened on this date. And what do you know? On September 8, 1974 President Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. Now it all makes sense! On this date in 1644, the city of New Amsterdam became New York. Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch governor of the colony of New Netherland, surrendered the capital of New Amsterdam to the English. It was renamed New York in honor of the Duke of York. Stuyvesant was an unpopular ruler. His subjects refused to rally around him. Yet today, the Stuyvesant name can be found in many places around Albany. Stuyvesant Plaza used to be one of the more upscale shopping centers (I'm not sure if it still is, since I haven't lived in the area for years). The dutch influence can still be seen throughout upstate New York. From the architecture to the names of places: our Dutch heritage is obvious. In fact, each year in the spring, Albany (the oldest Dutch settlement in America) hosts a tulip festival. The festival is Mother's Day weekend. It starts with young women dressed in period dutch colonial costumes scrubbing the street. Washington Park is transformed by thousands of tulips- each fall they plant the tulips. After the festival is over, the bulbs are dug up and given away free to the public. The displays change from year to year. I never went, but my sister and parents started going a few years ago. Their pictures are beautiful. I hope to get home for it sometime, even though I know I'll have to take a lot of kleenex with me for the allergies! Pardon me for getting off on a tangent about New York. You know I always love the opportunity to share stories about NY with others!