Merry Month of May

Some pictures from the month without a cohesive theme.  Gail has been cutting my hair since we met, that being 17 years ago and I get a haircut about every two months, I figure this may have been the 100th cut.  With Pet Smart closed we teamed up to cut Bean's hair, that's a first and hopefully the last, but we both look pretty sharp if I may say so.  It's my blog, I can say what I want.

I teamed up with Connie, Andy, Marilyn and Alan to do some grounds keeping at Hospicare.  You may remember we put together the new pavilion by the pond in 2018, and later gravel paths were added because the lawn was too soft and often wet for people to get to it easily.  As the grass tries to grow through the gravel we have started spraying it with a salt/vinegar solution to kill it.  Seems to be working.

I started another 3000-piece puzzle.  After four or five weeks it's coming along slowly.

A sculpture fitting of the times at Cornell.  With the sign positioned where it is I have titled it Nicotine Withdrawal.

Bean is slowing down but he still gets around town when it's not too hot.  His preferred position.

What work is like for me some days.  Sitting in the basement, using my laptop because the school supplied chromebook doesn't work for everything I have to do, and a student sending me a screen shot of their work on an assignment.

Merry Month of May

 To start the month of May and celebrate my birthday, I decided to hike from the lake at Stewart Park and go upstream of Fall Creek to near Varna, and then return via Cascadilla Creek.  I planned to cross all the bridges along the way with the exception of Rt. 13 which is a four-lane highway when it crosses each stream.  Little did I know when I made my plan that we would get near-record rainfall in the 12 hours before my walk.  There was some flooding, mostly along the lake, but it made for an interesting trip of roughly 13 miles.

I always say if I can't have snow on my birthday I hope there's at least some fog.  That would have been a snowstorm for the record books, but the fog was a nice touch.

Crossing the first bridge, a pedestrian bridge between the golf course and Stewart Park.

Ithaca Falls, almost obscured by fog and spray.

Triphammer Falls below Beebe Lake.

Gail was able to meet me for part of the walk.  She met me on the Suspension Bridge and went up to Thurston Ave. and around Beebe Lake before returning home.                                                                                                                                                                              

A flooded section of trail above Flat Rock.                                                                                                 

Historic one-lane bridge in Varna.  People don't want it replaced because it will increase traffic and add trucks to the flow, but if NY is going to pay for any of the new bridge (they are paying for almost all of it) they get to say how many lanes.                                                                                                                      

The long awaited FH Fox Bridge over Rt. 366.  I had to go out of my way to cross this one, but when I saw it was open I couldn't resist.  This is a crucial piece of a rail trail that will go from Ithaca to Dryden.  The tradition of spray painting by third-year vet students of Dr. Fox' age on the bridge began the same year I moved to the area.  He died a couple years ago so it now says FH Fox is Forever.  Can't wait to cross it to go all the way to Dryden without using the roads.                                                                    

One I wasn't able to cross due to the Cascadilla walkway being closed for the season.  There was a time when the walkway wouldn't withstand a storm like this without some section being damaged and a long stretch submerged, but Cornell Natural Areas spent a few million dollars to fix most of that.  Hope it opens soon.                                                                                                                                                                  

The route.  Over 30 bridges, 8 for bikes or pedestrians only.  One railroad.

Gail had been testing out new meals recently to have something special for my birthday.  We settled on arepas smothered with beans and vegetables.  We didn't adhere to the PAUSE NY and invited many friends and family to join us.  Thanks for being there.                                                                               

No need to test the dessert.  I'm a big fan of chocolate peanut butter cheesecake.                                    

Merry Month of May

It's been too long since I took a walk around the farm I lived on in Candor, so I set aside a day to get there and a few other places nearby.  It didn't seem like it was going to work out to visit my old friend, Howard, or Carol on the farm, but when Carol had a flat tire I gave her a ride to work and we got 20 minutes to talk on the ride.  By the time I went back to Candor Howard was up and we had a nice visit too.

On the farm I went over to the mature woodlot and said hi to some of my favorite trees.  A hemlock and an ash.  Both are doing OK despite the presence of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and the Emerald Ash Borer.

Here's a hemlock stump that I created when I felled the tree long ago for the lumber. 

Views of all the evergreens I planted around the barn and cabin.  I bought juniper seedlings from the DEC this spring and renewed my tree-planting efforts.  What else is there to do?

Merry Month of May

Snow in May is unusual, but this year it bordered on bizarre.  The middle of the month saw plenty, much of it sticking around for most of the day.  Carol sent me a picture from Candor that was a reminder of the Mother's Day snow when I lived there sometime in the 90's.  I recall we got 6''-8'' that day though official records say the maximum in NY was 5.4'' near Syracuse.  Maybe there's no official reporter up on Honeypot.

We didn't get any accumulation here in town, but it came down hard enough that we couldn't see East Hill from our house.  That's my gauge for whether it's snowing hard but it's normally employed November thru March.

Merry Month of May

Since the month was unusually cold, I found myself continuing to walk a few hours most mornings rather than freeze on my bike.  One day I took a stroll past several of my favorite spots in local gorges, starting with the First Dam area of Six Mile Creek.  The first picture is of a cherry tree I loved to see bloom every year because the road passed the top of it and the early white blooms contrasted nicely with the bare trees surrounding it.  It was a shock to see it had blown over sometime recently, but two branches still put out blossoms.

Collegetown should have been swarming with activity on this day before graduation weekend.  Instead, I strolled down the middle of Dryden Rd. and got any angle I wanted for my pictures.

Cascadilla Gorge is still closed, probably will be for the summer I think, but there are still views to be had of some of the waterfalls before the leaves come out.

Ithaca Falls always has nice views, no matter the time of year.

Merry Month of May

Made it to Shindagin Hollow a few times to witness the incredible blooming of the trillium there.  Gail and I went once and met Connie and Andy by design, and just happened to run into other friends who were out for a walk.

Merry Month of May

One of my ambitions in the past few years is to get to places I've never been.  One day this month I got to two such spots I've heard about for quite some time but never managed to find the time.  Cornell Botanic Gardens Edwards Lake Cliff Preserve and Emilie Jonas Falls Natural Area.

It's remarkable that I have any pictures of either place because when I got to the Edwards Cliffs I went to explore the stream where the waterfall is and dropped my phone in the water.  It was 10 minutes before I realized it but when I pulled it out of the water it worked the same as always.  Not bad for an $80 phone I bought three years ago.

I had actually been upstream from the waterfall at the cliffs preserve to Emilie Jonas Falls many times, but only to the top of the falls before the landowners allowed the public to use the trail to the bottom of the falls.  Sweet spot.

Merry Month of May

It's the time of year when Comstock Knoll at Cornell's Botanic Garden explodes with color.  The azaleas have bloomed and moved on, but the rhododendrons were out in full display when Gail and I visited.  I was fortunate to get there several times over the course of a couple weeks.  

This picture made me a little sad as I thought of all the people I wished were sitting on the bench.  Hopefully some will be there next year.