Fall Color

   I surveyed my kids in the ENL classes and the majority had never witnessed the fall colors.  In an effort to get them to pay attention, I gave them a rare homework assignment of taking pictures and sharing them with me for a future lesson.  The season started out subdued as we had little rain and no cold temps, but both happened enough to make a big difference.  I took all of these, but a couple kids got good ones too.

  Loic is a wonderful new student from Chad.  He was the first to send me a picture of a brilliant red oak tree.  When the leaves fell, he asked me what happened and if it is normal.  I asked him when he thought they would return and his answer was, "Tomorrow,  Mr. Joe."  I will tell that story the rest of my life. Here is a satellite photo of his neighborhood to give context to his bewilderment.

 

25th Annual Caroline Walkabout

 

  It was another beautiful day for a walk around Caroline.  I don't know if statistics have been kept, but I'd guess it was in the Top 5 weather-wise.  Thanks to Connie and Andy for hosting and working out the route.

Limited Comments

   This being my first post post-election, I think I'll just put some pictures out there with minimal comments.

 I guided a couple walks in Six Mile Creek for the Cayuga Trails club.  Both walks were well attended, appreciated, too warm and too dry.

  Four bucks will get you a cup of coffee at Ithaca College.

  Construction has begun on the apartments where the Ithaca Gun factory used to be.  Lots of money being spent to decide what to do with the chimney and to create another probably neglected city-owned overlook of Ithaca Falls.

  Gail and I went to Buffalo to see Hamilton with some of the family.  Great show, great venue.  I was last there in 1982 to see Annie.

  Don't tell anyone how nice we thought the whole day was.

    

  We stayed at Jim's in Dansville and then went to Stoney Brook State Park in the morning.  Peak foliage for much of the area we saw over two days.

   I'm not sure where Carl was born so I visited his burial site to commemorate his 90th birthday.

No Connection

   

  I'm not claiming there is any connection between these three photos, I just felt the urge to post them so they ended up together.

Not Abandoned

 

  A few years ago, there was a fire in this house and the elderly occupant was killed.  I don't know what kind of legal battle is going on to settle the estate, but no one is caring for any part of the property other than the driveway where neighbors park.  A local character who goes by Lopperman has cut the bushes back a few times, maybe even shoveled the rare snow off the walk.

  Since it's on his winter commute, he spent a Saturday morning recovering the sidewalk and cutting back the prickers and privet.

  Hopefully, it's in good enough shape that it will still be a full sidewalk through next summer, and maybe someone will get control of the property and start some regular maintenance.

  Ironically, while he was working, a neighbor got bent out of shape about a vehicle blocking a tiny portion of their driveway.  He still pulled out and back in five minutes later, announcing his departure and arrival with a 30-second blast of his horn.  He must have also called IPD because they showed up in minutes and ticketed the parked vehicle.  If only they could ticket people for blocked sidewalks.

  The Lopperman did his first community service many years ago when he cut back this massive arborvitae that had blocked the walk for so long there is still a patch next to the sidewalk where grass doesn't grow from people walking over it.  Last week, the property owners went all out and cut it down completely.  For the record: Lopperman is not anti-vegetation and isn't pleased by this.  He just wants it maintained.

Down at the Crick

 

Early in the summer, I saw from a distance a guy building this structure.  I never went to check it out to see what all he was up to.

 

  When I went down last week for a little gorge clean up, I found out he built that and much more.  The large rocks that get deposited on the floodplain were all collected into piles or used for walkways.  The invasive vegetation was all cut back, and the area turned into a sort of a park.  It's always been a hangout/living area for unhoused people, so I suspect someone spending their summer there might have done it but I don't know.  One thing I do know is that I collected the least amount of garbage ever, so that's good.

 

  They (he? she?) have also built and prepared to continue building stone walkways along the creek.  We'll see how long it takes the frequent high-water events to distribute the stones back into the stream.

Concert Venues

 

  

  Richie and Rosie played a gig at the pavilion in front of Greenstar.  It was built during GrassRoots set-up a few years ago.  This year we gussied up a tractor that is parked next to the pavilion and is popular for kids to play on while parents shop.  Many of us who were involved gathered after the concert.

  I also went to a house concert out in Caroline where the resident played with his band mates from Brooklyn.  The weather allowed them to play outside of a very cool house.

  Let's hear it for Porchfest!  It happened on a perfect Sunday afternoon this year and hundreds of musicians played from noon until 6 pm.  Some former and possibly future students sang at their church.

  Not just another Banjoe, that's one of Ithaca's most in-demand multi-instrumentalists, Joe Hayward.

    Susanna Lee and the Slizards are definitely a new-favorite band.  I hope to catch them around often.

  Gail gave me a heads-up about other favorite artists who have teamed up, Lydia Garrison and Nate Silas Richardson.  Thankfully, I was just a couple blocks away and made it for almost their whole set.  They both have great styles, Lydia on banjo and fiddle, Nate on guitar.  Here's a short clip of a fine tune Lydia wrote.

  Hang out with someone from Ithaca long enough, especially during Porchfest, and you'll hear about how it was conceived in this very neighborhood before it went viral around the world.  A bit of the origin story from one of the people who was there.

  The Fall Creek Brass Band has developed a tradition of closing out the day at Kurt's Porch in Thompson Park.

Lake Swim

 

 

  Gail met some friends for a lake swim at Salt Point in Lansing.  Roxy and I went along for the ride and to walk the tracks adjacent to the lake.  This area has a long history due to the presence of salt.  I wasn't aware of it until about 20-years-ago when it was an anarchy zone for lake access.  It's been spruced up by a dedicated group and is now a fine park with popular bird watching trails, picnic areas, and a small boat launch.

  

  The boat launch is also a popular entrance point for lots of swimmers.  Nice to see such a great crew about to head out.

    The abandoned tracks offer many excellent vantage points of the lake, swimmers, and the surrounding hills.  Might be an incredible rail trail someday.

Back to Work

 

 

  Near the end of the summer, I heard from HR at the school to let me know they wanted to interview me to teach again.  Though I taught in ENL last year, and that's what I expected for this year, the position listed on the interview invite led me to believe someone in HR has heard me play banjo.  Everything got straightened out, and I'm teaching ENL and co-teaching English 9 and 10 again.

  

  Construction on temporary classrooms for the tech classes isn't going quite to schedule.  They were supposed to be ready last spring, but it will be next winter before they are.  Wood Shop is now taught near the language rooms.  It will be fine.  I'm loving the teaching again, it's even better than last year so far.

Happy Wedding

 

 

Let's hear it for Nicole and Jason, who celebrated their wedding day over Labor Day Weekend.  It was a fine, outdoor ceremony that pushed the limits to how much time there was before a downpour arrived.  The procession, vows and Uncle Jim's officiating got everything done just as the rain started.  I'd like to also give a shout out for Michael Argento for taking great photos that I stole for this post.

 Great entrance by Joe with the rings.  The Pink Panther Theme was appropriate music to accompany him.

 Can we agree he's worth another look?

Hanging out during the reception.

New, old, and honorary McMahons

 The sun came back out for some photo ops on the lawn.

Un P'tit du Piseco

 

 

On the way home from our bike trip, Gail and I stopped to visit with Ann and Chips for a few days in Piseco.  I stopped in for lunch on my way to the High Peaks when Kristi, Geoff and the boys were visiting from California, but since Gail was in her final week at her job, she wasn't able to get there.  It was good to really catch up.  We helped Ann with a challenging jigsaw puzzle, and assisted Chips as he put away a few things before they head back to California for the winter.  We were especially relieved to hear that though we came home with COVID, we didn't pass it along to them.

 

We managed to do a nice hike on the Northville-Placid Trail that passes through Piseco.  We walked from their house to the Hamilton Lake Stream Lean-to and back.  This was pretty much the exact path of a tornado earlier in the summer so there was lots of scrambling over, under, and around blowdowns.  The lean-to dates back to the early 70's and is still in fine shape.