Not All Snow Is Equal

  While I always want more snow to ski on, I also want property owners to clear it off their sidewalks.  And after they clear it, and the city plows more back on so there's parking for all the precious cars, I want it cleared again.  This is one of the several properties along my commute that were ticketed when I submitted pictures to the Building Department.  The Streets and Facilities Department didn't get ticketed for our uncleared sidewalks, nor did they clear private properties and bill the owners as it says in the city code they will do.  But at least the streets are clear and there's plenty of parking.

  I bet when Carl Sagan lived here, he shoveled diligently.  The Upstate scrap metal tycoon can't be bothered now that he owns it.  I've started throwing all the scrap metal I find on my commute over his wall.

  City sidewalk.  Free parking, difficult walking.

  

City sidewalk.  At least you can drive 30 mph before hitting a pedestrian on the sharp curves at both ends of the stretch.

  There used to be a day when hanging shoes on power lines meant something.  Now, the students take it as their right to discard worn out footwear.  The utility companies don't take them away with the lines when they put a new one up.

    

Did this tire look like this before the car was embedded in a snowbank, or did they try the Long Island School of Driving technique to get your car unstuck by burning the tire until all the snow is melted.

    

Stewart Avenue was passable.

  

More salt in five feet of sidewalk than I've used this winter on the two properties I clear.
 

Great Skiing

   The best December of skiing I can recall in town had to come to an end.  It happened in a classic fashion when it got warm enough to soften the snow, followed by a deep freeze to give us two weeks of frozen footprints.  It was a good opportunity to get out and do some trail work that didn't get done before the early snow.

   I don't think I've ever waited until January before I had to drive out to Caroline to find skiable snow.  Gail and I went out a couple times.

  

  After a brief spell of bare ground, this crazy storm put us back in good shape with enough fluffy snow to get back to the local trails.  

  The day before the storm, we had some crazy lake-effect where Ithaca actually got snow for a few hours, but just five miles east and west got none.  I couldn't help but take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime event to gloat to the Caroline crowd.

 

  Wipe out on the pond.  Hurt my elbow by falling from a standstill.  Nice conditions though.

   The cold has persisted, and Fall Creek backed up behind the ice.  I alerted the authorities and they put up the chain alerting visitors to dangerous conditions.  A couple days later I stepped over the chain and stepped through snow that had filled a chasm and got a wet foot.

   But I got a good picture.  And I have a spare set of shoes at work so didn't have to wear a wet shoe and sock the whole day.

   At last, I got to Treman State Park and skied the Rim Trail (and a little creek skiing).  It's as sweet as I'd hoped it would be, but I lost the fob to the car so it's costing me almost $400.

   Keep in mind, as an out-and-back ski, it's up hill both ways.  And down hill both ways...

   All the way from Buffalo, Amy spent a night with us and I got to show off the forest of Six Mile Creek to a professional land assessor, and someone with a couple more years of skiing experience than me.  She questioned the sensibility of the trail to see this white oak and another on the just out of the picture.  It's the turnaround spot.  I like to go to make sure they are still somewhat vertical; a couple big red oaks came down recently and obliterated a trail.

   One more post about lake-effect.  While Lake Erie might be frozen and not producing any more this season, to the great relief of those from Cleveland to Buffalo, Lake Huron is still open and produced this band one morning.  Pittsburgh is not known for its lake-effect storms.

Out With '25, In With '26

   I continued my pirate radio gig and combined it with a New Year's Party.  CJ consisted of the entire in-person party by walking up the hill from his place downtown.  Several others joined and put in requests from afar.  I didn't make it to midnight, but I thought 10 was a good effort.

   Gail and Becca continued their New Year tradition by doing a 10,000 yard swim.  It wasn't linear in the lake (you can see the frozen Inlet behind them).  They went to the pool at Island Fitness and some of their swimming buddies joined them for part of the morning.

   After leaving the WVBR studio on the first, I found a fire escape on East Hill that has a decent view of the towers at Ithaca College.  Maybe next year I'll remember there's a clear view from the apartment complex on State/ MLK Blvd.

  One of my first projects of the new year was to finally try out widening the treads on the basement steps.  Vastly improved and I no longer need to turn my feet at an angle.  It's a big deal.

 

  The Bills played their final game in Rich Stadium, though I'm told it wasn't called that anymore, I don't care.  I went to many games there in the 80's, and a few in the 70's and 90's.  Pat went to the final game and got some swag.  Our family and the neighbor's rode together for decades to the games, and Scott and I exchanged texts the day of the last game to compare most memorable events.  He picked the one where the van we used got stolen.  I picked these this one, particularly the moment one of the goalposts was carried through the parking lot, and this one (read the comments to find one of two I've ever posted to youtube).