Puzzling

 

I did my first jigsaw puzzle of the season.  It had a bicycle theme and included this picture.  I thought maybe they stole it from the internet, as I remembered seeing a similar one there.

It turns out it's not quite the same picture, but I stole it from here for comparison, and think the puzzle maker should have too.

On the Trails

 

 As long as I'm not skiing, I might as well devote time to mapping the trails.  I put this together for the local ski club with the caveat some lines are far off.

Alwaz chek speling.

Heavier rains have been washing out the paved section of the South Hill Rec Way so the town parks did some remediation.  No more falling off to the side when there's thin snow cover and ice on the track.

Ithaca Developments

 

  Looks like Jim will be moving to Ithaca within a few months.  Hope he can tolerate the winter.  His house arrived in the worst of it (so far).

The Wayback Machine Revisited

 

  Gail, maybe legally drinking a cocktail.

  This group of from Westfield were certainly old enough, and clearly had a few cocktails at a gathering in our house.  Wonder if I was home?  We'd sometimes get banished to the playroom for such events.

It's possible I was writing this letter that Sue shared with me.  I wrote it while she was in Chile in the 70's.  She's there again now (January '23) visiting her host family.  My writing has improved, my humor hasn't changed.

Wasn't That a Storm!

 

How intense was the wind in the recent Buffalo blizzard?  This is what it did to Lake Erie.  The storm taught me there is a bit of confusion about what is actually a seiche.  If you click the links, you'll see the NWS and NOAA are not in complete agreement.  A seiche is a standing wave, which can be caused by strong winds, but in this case, the winds didn't stop, they just blew the water to one end of the lake.  The standing wave may have happened eventually, but the wind kept up for three days.  Whatever you call it, it was historic.  And once again, tragedy was only made bearable by the good people chose to do.  Some more rewarded than others.  Pat and Helene bought a snowblower.

We didn't have anything too serious here.  In fact, the wind didn't even blow this tree over that I thought was ready to go last summer.  The city had a sign on it declaring its upcoming removal, and I'm glad they got the chance a couple weeks later instead of having to buy the homeowners a new roof.

Ending 2022

 I didn't get notified that a New Year's Eve Eve party was called off.  It was obvious when I arrived, but I rang the bell anyway and got to hang out with the Hess/Kraskows for a nice quiet evening.

 The last day of 2022 included a trip to East Shore Park to watch the well-dressed ladies take a dip in the lake. 

  They melt my heart.

  Several of them went back the next day to start the year the same way except for the get-ups.

  I decided to meander to return home on the 31st and took a route that included what I thought would be the last-new place for me of the year.  It's a hillside I've been looking at for almost 20 years on my commute and walks around town. 

  Might not look like much, but I enjoyed it immensely.

  What do you know?  That led to checking out an apartment building along Cascadilla Creek and a stairway I'd never seen.  It's good to take advantage of the students being away.

  Never saw this view of the upper gorge before.

I figured I needed to share the experience of getting to a new place right in front of us.  I persuaded Siyu to leave her restaurant for ten minutes and see what she could of Cascadilla from above (the gorge trail is closed for "winter").  When we crossed the street outside the De Tasty Hot Pot, she said, "I've never been here before."  She agreed to walk the whole gorge with me in the spring when it reopens.  If you haven't been to De Tasty Hot Pot, get there in 2023, it's the best Chinese food in Ithaca.

 Later that day, I went to the real last-new place of the year and explored a section of the city's natural area along Six Mile Creek that I'd never been to.  There are still more right out the door...