Dog Days of Winter

Bean Sprint on South Hill Rec Way from Joe McMahon on Vimeo.

Due to a tendency to chase deer, Bean is forbidden to go off-leash. In our neighborhood that's over a hundred-foot cliff, after crossing the street. Out in the country his yapping pursuit call is a signal to coyotes to come and get a snack. Last winter he busted loose when clipped to my belt loops, then actually ripped my belt, so Gail rigged up what so far is a harness that's a Deerslayer Stopper. Check him out starting around 50 seconds as he looks right when we pass Killbuck Corners.

Dog Days of Winter

Van Atta Dam Ithaca from Joe McMahon on Vimeo.

The snow all went on one 50-degree day that came with over an inch of rain. Had it been two or three inches I think the remains of the building would be gone today. Here's a bit of what it made Six Mile Creek look like at Van Atta Falls near our house, and what Bean thinks of it as water instead of snow. Funny, the only other time he barks like this is if he's in a car and the windshield wipers are turned on. I'm pretty glad neither scenario happens very often.

Ithaca Gone

One of our local legacies is the Ithaca Gun Factory where they made shotguns starting back in the 1880's. One hundred years later, in 1987, they moved out of the old factory and it began its decay. At one point someone realized there was a lot of lead around and tests were done. The factory sits across the street from an apartment building, and above and elementary school. One of Ithaca's natural landmarks is right below as well, and back in the day the guns were tested by shooting into the cliffs. Since people spend a fair amount of time there the EPA came in with amazing vacuum cleaners and sucked up all the soil in the cliffs and ground, replaced it with clean stuff, and called the whole thing done. Except the building itself was full of lead, asbestos, barium, etc. Remember, guns don't kill people, hazardous materials kill people. So after a few years of haggling over condos planned for the site; how tall they'd be, would the developer give the city some land for a park, who would pay for the demolition, the go ahead was given and they delayed only a few more months before getting down to work. The following pictures show the removal of the buildings, and as of the end of 2009 all that remains a large pile of debris.

Ithaca Gone

After years of delay, the day finally came when I walked up the hill and saw pieces of the building being picked apart. Due to the contamination in the materials they had to spray water as they worked to protect those who parked below, live across the street, or walk by. Looks like enough water to keep the dust down.

Ithaca Gone

The building started receding from the road, and all the art on the walls was destroyed.

Ithaca Gone

Once an section of the building was knocked down, they crushed it and separated steel from concrete. Not sure why they weren't spraying water here, maybe there was a southern wind.

Ithaca Gone

I had a few days to both wonder why that small opening was left there, and to get a shot of the lake through it.

Ithaca Gone

Different stages. The rooms on the left have been collapsed.

Ithaca Gone

And the roof keeps coming down. I wondered, did they cut down the trees that were growing up there first?

Ithaca Gone

I like these pictures from the same day since they show the need to spray the demolition despite the storm that soaked everything so much the lake has brown areas from the feeder streams.

Ithaca Gone

Like me, this walking commuter observed the seasons change during the year. First the leaves fall, then the walls, water's always falling here, and when the wind is just right and strong enough, the fence falls.

Ithaca Gone

How many truckloads of rebar were hauled away? And what becomes of it?

Ithaca Gone

Down in The Flats there's another clean-up underway and under wraps. This one is right next to an elementary school and surely involves worse problems so it was completely covered for the process. It's known as Markle's Flats and the ground is contaminated with coal tar from an old coal gasification plant. Any picks on the next economy saving industry in the neighborhood that will need millions of dollars to "clean up?"

Ithaca Gone

Just a little of two buildings left. Once the demolition was complete tests were done on the materials and found to be more contaminated, with worse substances, than expected. This means a much higher cost to finish the job, and deciding who and what they'll spend is still unresolved.

Ithaca Gone

Several months in this state. Every so often the tarp blows off and the vile pile is left exposed until people in the white suits come and cover it again.

The Best Way to Blue Heron

For the last ten years I've ridden my bike 200 miles or so to the Great Blue Heron Music Festival in Sherman, NY ( Panama if you're mailing yourself there) where I've worked regularly since 1996, the past five as a "know it all" in Head Quarters. The festival is on property owned by Julie and Steve Rockcastle and Julie's dad, Warren Erickson. This year promised to be a treat as three of my favorite banjo players would be there and I knew I'd get a chance to play with some or all of them. The real treat came when a forth was there and I got to play quite a bit with him. I've taken my banjo along the last three times and this year I traded my binoculars for a camera and took some shots along the way. There are many routes and many places to start from, but I think I've finally got the flattest, shortest one. Start by getting a ride to the top of the hill west of Watkins Glen, hit 40.1 mph within minutes, and in a few hours you're cruising above the highest point on Rt. 86.

The Best Way to Blue Heron

It's been said if you want to be a banjo great, you have to own your own poultry shop like this one in Hornell, NY. No word on whether it's a joint venture with the neighbors.

The Best Way to Blue Heron

Forest management seemed to be the theme to this trip. When I got to Mt. Irenaeus, a Franciscan retreat in Allegany County that is run by friars associated with St. Bonaventure University, the forest had about 80% of the ash trees marked for cutting before the Emerald Ash Borer arrives. The borer has decimated ash trees in Michigan and Ohio and has been found in Randolf, NY which is less than 100 miles away. They also recently clear-cut a pine plantation that a farmer planted 50 years ago as a Christmas tree venture. It was a monoculture that cloaked two of the cabins, the pond and a screened hut in darkness.

The Best Way to Blue Heron

I built a banjo stand here a few years ago, never expecting it would stand so long. It has even survived the clear-cut and is no longer in darkness of the woods but out in the sun.

The Best Way to Blue Heron

Two of my favorite buildings are at Mt. Irenaeus, La Posada and the Peace Chapel. Going to mass or prayer services are a pleasure in this chapel, and the acoustics are as good as it gets for hearing live music. La Posada provides a nice break from a wired home whenever I stay there. Despite its name it wouldn't stay still for this picture so it's a little blurred.