Vacation Memories

 The McMahon Boys gathered for a day, unintentionally spending it in a bar.  Really.  A planned trip to a Sabres game didn't work out, I'm placing the blame for that and most of our culture's problems on the ticket agencies that are buying all the tickets and holding them hostage.
  The last time I went to a Sabres game it was at the Aud.  The bar we went to had some of the Blue Seats from the lower level of the Aud, and the screen in front of us had the players life-size so we were OK.  The Sabres lost in a shoot out, don't know when that started or what can be done about it.  Las Vegas, yes, they have a hockey team, came out ahead in this shoot out.
  The female contingent met us after Jen's wedding shower, haven't been to one of those in a few years either.  Each of them, and a few nieces, had a camera so we did our best to look in each direction.

Vacation Memories

  Rather than use this vacation day for a spring ski, I'm strolling down memory lane of the past winter's skiing.  Took a trip to Highland Forest near Fabius with Armin one Sunday morning to get a taste of groomed trails and witness the dumping of clinging snow that transformed the forest.

  Closer to home I went out in Caroline with Connie and Andy to the Super Secret Pond and admire the new heron nests.  There used to be ten or more nests there but for some reason they have fallen and not replaced.  Steve put a brace and platform on one trunk and within a few days a nest was under construction.  One reason I always held for the abandonment of the rookery was that the tall trunks with sturdy branches to nest on had decayed and fallen.  A nest a few feet above waterline showed that wasn't it.  Glad they're back.
  A local ski club has installed a bench on the trails at Hammond Hill in memory of Tob, a skier who passed last year and is indirectly responsible for me skiing and living in Ithaca.  He and fellow family members would travel from Ithaca to Westfield to sweep their categories in the Chautauqua Overland Ski Marathon, my introduction to skiing.  Made me wonder what was in the snow in Ithaca.

Vacation Memories

  During my February break there wasn't any skiing to be had in the region, so my canceled trip to the Adirondacks turned into one to Niagara Falls and Buffalo.  The trip included a swing through Rochester and then along the Lake Ontario shore heading west for someplace new to me.  I've now circumnavigated the lake, mostly by bike and this section was nice enough to return on bike sometime.
  Stayed in the US at Niagara Falls, and even with the closest observation points closed due to ice I'm baffled why so many say you have to go to Canada for the best views.  Explored some of the area downriver from the falls and hoped to go down into Devil's Hole but the steps were too icy.  Still had a good view of the ice jam in the river from above.

  The Buffalo portion included a stop at Helene and Pat's new house, Will and Henry are also claiming ownership, at least on their individual rooms.  That I stayed at Janet's says nothing about the new place, it's sweet.  It was the first time back to Janet's since our mom died.

 

Vacation Memories

  Gail got in a last swim for a bit on a warm day, February 20.  Winter was setting in for real you know.
  Really, she had hip surgery the next day, just a clean-up, not a replacement this time.  But an incision is an incision, or in this case a cluster of small ones, so no swimming for a few weeks.  The Dog Therapy did its charm and I'm happy to say she's back in the pool and lake.  And she's happy to be there.
  It's spring you know.

  In the interim, Bean still needed to get out for his walks, as I do for a different purpose.  One day we stayed out long enough to see the bare ground covered with a couple inches of snow.  He was in need of a haircut at the time so his eyebrows got a quick coating of snow too.
  I often see where Bean will take me, it usually ends up being places he goes with Gail.  One day it was the Commons and he insisted Gail gives him a sharpie to "mark" his territory in a way other than the usual.  I gave him the sharpie.

Vacation Memories

  Skiing season is over in Six Mile Creek, but it was pretty good and I spent most of my skiing hours and trail work there.  The top picture is from a storm in March that didn't deliver the goods when it came to being able to ski, but it gave the woods a special look for a few days.
  Another storm came with a fog that shrouded the meadow and forest in secrecy.  A trail has passed a large Black Birch for all the years I've skied here, but I never realized it was a birch because it was too big for my conception of the species.  Red Oaks continue to fall in a particular spot, this lifetime trail-blocker is one of five or six that have come down in the past few years.
  On the bottom is a waterfall of a feeder stream where some fellas have decided they have building privileges.  I spent two days dismantling and sending the rocks and logs over the waterfalls.  This is from the second one when I marveled at how much had already been washed away from the first day.