COVID Entertainment

   We just had to visit with people, even if it meant shoveling off the patio and paths around it so we could safely distance.  A nice fire topped it off and had Gail smiling warmly.

Lovely

 My favorite conditions at the 30' Dam:  Mist from the falls, sunlight behind it just after sunrise, and lots of snow and ice.  Too bad I was so shaky from a treacherous ski down into the gorge and the cold.

A Month of Local Skiing

   Nina isn't the skijoring partner Bean was, and Gail hasn't been skiing much for the past three winters for various reasons, but we all did get out together for a test trip on the lower Rec Way.  As long as Gail stayed out front, Nina would stay in front of me.  Unfortunately, Gail is still nursing an injury so hasn't been on her skis since, and Nina is too nervous to join me solo.

  Gail and I did get out on snowshoes one day when we ventured all the way to Jenksville State Forest in Berkshire.  We left the county!  Nice trails there amidst the almost 900,000 trees planted by the WPA.  And really deep snow.

A Month of Local Skiing

  The storm was preceded by a few days of snow that provided just enough cover to ski in Six Mile Creek, and when that's possible that's my go-to location.  I managed to ski locally from the end of January to almost the end of February.  I prefer to get up early and go for a couple hours before work rather than count on having enough gumption to go after work.  I got to see several colorful sunrises but few people.

  Weekends and during the February break, I had enough time to get further out and was pretty consistently gone for over four hours.

  I got ambitious and turned some deer trails into skiing trails.  This little thicket of roses, privet, honeysuckle and grape vines took 45 minutes to clear.  It was worth it as there's now a nice loop added to the mix of trails.

  Roadkill on the Rec Way?  If this squirrel was run down by a skier it wasn't me.

  Lots of firsts thanks to the snow depth:  I'd never skied down to the 30' dam from the west side before, which led to a chance to ski upstream to Potter's Falls.  Had to take the skis off and climb up out of the gorge to get back to the trail from here.

  One day I decided to go for the trifecta and skied to all three dams.  This is First Dam.

  On the reservoir of the 30' dam.

  Skiing in the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve is rare, it's really the domain of walkers so skiing usually isn't very good, but I got a couple chances with excellent conditions.  This is Bridal Falls, where Gail and I got married on a warmer day.

  Same spot- wedding day.

 

Games of Skill

  Before the storm arrived, I had to find ways to occupy myself without just sticking exclusively to complaining about a lack of snow.  There was decent ice to skate on in the creek, and after refreshing my Claude Lemouix skills one day, I saw an opportunity to try something at the 30' dam.  I tossed a stick with the intention of having it do something other than just bouncing on solid ice or splashing in the water.  First try- stuck it in the ice.

  Another day, on a walk to school for work, there was a little snow suitable for making snowballs.  After learning a while ago how high they set bail for throwing them at speeding cars I needed a new target.  The abandoned hawk nest on the gorge wall of Fall Creek worked.  The first throw was so bad I missed the gorge.  The second throw hit high and left, that the white spot in the top left corner of the picture.  The third try hit within the width of the nest just to the left side (large white spot next to the nest).  I considered it a success and made it to work on time.

Another Snowstorm

 Whew!  If that wasn't a storm for the record books, I don't know what it was.  The county airport recorded snowfall 63 of 65 consecutive hours.  Much of that time was a light, almost misty snow so the totals were limited to about 20''.  A few times I wrote it off and thought we were missing out on it but then it would pick up and dump several inches in a few hours.  Not much wind here in town so drifting wasn't an issue for us.

The tree I put up after Christmas was decorated nicely.

Got lots of opportunities to chat with the neighbors while shoveling.  Jerry and Mike in front of Andrew's house.

I saw it as an rare chance to ski down some of the steeper, longer hills in the gorge.  On one such run the sledders had been there before me and I couldn't maintain a reasonable speed and did a face-plant in the deep powder at the bottom.  It was tempting to go back up and give it another try, but I'm getting older.

I was skiing every morning, after shoveling, and after making a pass over many of the trails with snowshoes to break trail.  Here is a spot I had skied just the day before and the tracks were barely discernible.

Bill Murry had one of those Ground Hog Days they make movies about.

The changing beauty of the woods was such a treat.  One morning in particular was breathtaking, I hope I don't have to wait too many years to experience it again.

Ambidextrous Haircut

 The pandemic has pushed Gail over the edge:  she let me cut her hair.  I did a rudimentary job with the clippers, then she fixed it with lots of mirrors, the clippers, duct tape and band-aides.

Inauguration

 

Somehow, I have witnessed five presidential inaugurations at IHS.  I've always gone around the building and taken pictures of how various teachers and students experienced them.  I only took one picture this year, it was a struggle to balance maintaining normalcy amidst such ab-normalcy.  Sarah had the event on the big screen for students to witness.  It was a huge relief to see it happen and be somewhat normal.

Thankfully, even if he wasn't the President, Bernie showed up to provide us a warm, cozy feeling we could have some non-violent, non-partisan humor from the Capitol.

If he'd have turned around on Ground Hog Day he might have seen his shadow.  I'm not sure what this means as far as winter continuing.

He got a nice haircut from kids in the International Club.

Proud papas.  They'll raise him right.

He was thankful we built the snow wall on a winter camping trip.  He should have brought a hat though.

For his 65th birthday, Tommy Thunder did 65 clean and jerks with Bernie.

Fred stopped by Jerry Garcia's house in SF once while visiting.  Bernie was on the stoop yelling at the dirty hippies to keep moving along.

Poor Yardana, she wanted to go to Cancun to celebrate her birthday but due to some passport delays had to put the trip off.  She eventually made it, and ran into Bernie.  With a little longer delay she might have seen a certain senator from Texas there too.

Americanized

 I've had the pleasure of teaching Salome` some banjo skills.  She grasped the How to Look Cool look right off the bat, she's picking up the basics in between skiing, going to Starbucks, visiting DC, making friends and learning English.  Pretty sure she'll have a lock on coolest banjo player in France when she goes back.

This is a new painting to me.  It was shown briefly in a video kids had to watch for a US History lesson.  I don't know who it is by.

Just a Quick Dip

 

Staying healthy, or something, with regular cold-water immersions.  I found a hole in the ice of the creek near the house for a plunge one sunny day, and a new friend invited the Sunday swimmers to her lake house on the West side of the lake.  It was much nicer than East Shore Park.

One day at East Shore when we were expecting calm water, we arrived to find this mass of ice chunks riding large swells.  It was tough to get in without having a 50 lb. chunk of ice crash into your shins.

Frontenac Falls

 Gail and I had a nice adventure one Sunday afternoon.  We first went to a new Land Trust preserve on the west side of Cayuga Lake and then stopped at Frontenac Falls in Trumansburg.  Neither of us had been there since before we met, and speaking for myself, I know I'd never been along the rim trail looking down into the gorge.  Beautiful place and the Boy Scout Camp is interesting.  For a few minutes it looked like a perfect spot for Friends Weekend, but then we got to the part where they don't allow alcohol on the grounds.  Maybe we'll make a visit next fall if we stay nearby.

Around Town in January, February

30' Dam with more normal water levels than the last photo I posted back in December.

Bridal Falls froze over, ready to be buried in snow.

Can't believe I'd never been behind the Nines before.  What a disaster, but not so bad that people fought to have it protected as historical.  Pretty hard to see through the windows (the ones that aren't boarded up), though you could see through some gaps in the walls.

Baily Hall at Cornell never had a reason to put up a new season's schedule of events, but leaving last year's up was a gut-punch when I saw it in December.

Not sure what's happening to Catherine St. on East Hill, but maybe they need to put up a sign about the limited winter maintenance.

Ithaca Falls started looking a bit more seasonal, building up plenty of snow and ice.