Not Related Pictures

I finally got inside the Garage Mahal across the street from our house.  We've been on friendly terms with the neighbors since we moved in, but we never got to see the inside of the garage.  We've heard reports of million-dollar cars and a building with construction features that few garages have.  It's all true.  David last raced this car in the 80's and smacked it up a bit, but now it's almost fully restored and retired from racing.  I'm pictured next to an Alfa Romeo TZ (I think it's a TZ2 but I might be wrong, I can tell you it's red).

He's also got a Ferrari Lotus Elan

And there's an Alfa Romeo Duetto (1967).

I'm not sure which one he was talking about, but he said he's done more work on it since COVID than he had in the previous 30 years.

Look who got the fiddle out and remembered a few tunes!  We even sounded pretty good on a couple we played together.

I spent an afternoon with some of the college kids, then we all had take-out at our house.  Nice way to spend a day.

 I did another 2000-piece puzzle recently and learned the subject isn't what makes a good puzzle, it's the pattern and cut of the pieces.  I see no purpose for hardly any of these shoes, but I think it is my favorite puzzle I've done.

Happy Birthday, Connie

It was great to celebrate Connie's birthday- with other people not wearing masks, sitting together on a porch.  Some semblance of normal life is so welcome.
 

Other Developments

There has been an infrastructure project in progress along State St/MLK Boulevard/Route 79 at the bottom of East Hill since last fall.  A retaining wall along the sidewalk is being replaced before it collapsed into the parking lot below, always a good idea.

The parking lot is conveniently empty thanks in part to this small factory along Six Mile Creek being sold and closed down.

The crane is visible from the pedestrian bridge upstream.

 The factory was sold to make way for this: another monstrous building being squeezed in downtown.  The view from the bridge is going to look quite a bit different in a couple years.  This might even obstruct part of the view of the last two or three large buildings added to that small area.

Big Changes for Beck

 An old friend from downstate is heading for retirement and working on a move to become another Upstater.  Jim has lived north of NYC for several decades and commuted to Queens to teach at a BOCES, including summer school.  That's about to change, and perhaps by next summer he will be living in his new house in Ithaca.  I believe he's completed the land purchase in a new development just outside the city limit: Amabel should be a good match for him.

Warming Up

 

The lake is warming up, you can tell because it's raining instead of snowing and there's no ice.  I've been told actual swimming has taken place in the past couple weeks.

Winter Camping

  If it's March, it's time to camp in the Adirondacks, at least it has been for me for the last 20 years.  This being a COVID year, it was for Gail too.  She tested out her sleeping bags on our back porch and was satisfied she wouldn't freeze, then she got busy packing and unpacking several times, a ritual I take part in almost every year as the forecast changes in the last day or two.
 

  It poured during 210 miles of the 230-mile trip.  I silently contemplated spending Thursday night at Glenn's on Lake George with him and Roy to avoid getting soaked during the hike in, but it let up as we neared the exit for his house and/or Pharaoh Lake.  Gail couldn't mask her enthusiasm about joining us

  I tried the old trick of hooking my sled to Gail's as we set out on the four-mile-hike in, but she caught on right away and I had to pull it myself.  Conditions were good, a little soft from the rain and warm temps, but our spikes dug in enough to keep us moving along at a good pace.

  The ice was smooth and solid when we got to the lake.  We didn't let a few inches of standing water bother us since we'd packed expecting to face some rain and all our stuff stayed dry.

   The temps plummeted overnight, with wind gusts of 30 mph at regional airports.  We were in a sheltered lean-to and felt no discomfort.  The boys would later thank us for choosing the one we did.  Since we had our heads down and didn't admire the sights on the way in, we headed back towards the parking lot to meet the boys coming in.  

  Does this look more like a coffin, or an angel with wings?  It's obvious to me.

  Gail with her first good look at Pharaoh Mountain from the beaver pond.

Winter Camping

   Just as in 2019, I got a perfect day to climb Pharaoh Mountain.  When I compare the pictures of the Green Mountains from the two days, I see this year was actually clearer.  The perspective was also different this year due to the wind direction, I don't think I spent any time at this clearing last time, instead taking in the western view and a less direct perspective of the High Peaks.

 

  Gail decided not to put her healing elbow to the test of coming down some of the scrambles on this route so turned back near the top.  I got a pleasant surprise when Glenn decided to go all the way up instead of turning back when he got cell reception part way.  

   

Yes, I'm taking this opportunity to brag a bit as I reflect on my hike from last summer.  I went much of the way to Marcy, near treeline on the other side, then turned to go up and over Haystack on the right, down below Marcy on this side and up Skylight on the left.  The last summit of that day was Gray, between Skylight and Marcy.  Had I added Colden, the snowy peak partially hidden on the far left, it would have been over a 20-mile day, or just too much to look back upon fondly.

Winter Camping

  A new diversion this year was hitting golf balls on the lake, a brilliant idea by Roy.  He brought a seven-iron and a club similar to a driver from back in the day when each of us played regularly, and we picked out a bush on the other edge of the lake 135 yards away.  Over the course of three days Roy and I both had shots within a yard of the target, but Glenn thought I made a better target and hit one within a few inches of me on his first swing in 20 years.  I hit a few down the lake with the driver and way overestimated how far they went.  It was only 600' not the 1000' I thought.  No balls were lost.

   Gail sat in the sun and read, until the shade ruined that.

  The skating was quite good, some cracks and a few areas of punky ice that my skates sunk into.  I had several excursions to the far end of the lake and back.  And Gail took a spin in the sled while I towed her.

 

  I tried to take advantage of some strong winds and make a sail, but I didn't go as fast in the sled or on skates as I expected.

Winter Camping

  All packed up, we sat for the group photo and headed out just after the sun came over the hilltop across the lake.
 

  On a whim, Gail and I decided to stop to visit Chips and Ann in Piseco.  Luckily, they were there and have both been vaccinated so we actually ate lunch inside a house other than ours, a first since last March.  We stopped to see them in August on our way to Lake Placid and ate outside on the porch.  Even though the weather was pleasant enough on this March day, the porch really took a hit from all the snow they got this winter, and the snow was still taking up a bit of space. 

My Green Soapbox

   Here's a city street that I've asked traffic engineers and elected officials to consider adding bike lanes to, as I'm sure many others have.  It is a major north/south corridor and a couple hills and sharp turns necessitate measures to make it safer for the many bicyclists who use it.  I've been told it's a priority, but the city has failed to secure federal grants to rebuild it thus far.  

  This winter it was made considerably narrower by ice/snow for almost three months, yet traffic didn't come to a standstill or result in dozens of collisions.  Seems to me that space could be used as bike lanes for nine months of the year, and drivers would survive if they went 20 mph for 12 months.  Driving time would change about a minute for over a mile, probably less since only a few drivers actually go 30 mph for the entire stretch.  Now that we have a Green New Deal Tsar, I think I've got someone who might get it done.

  Maybe this stop sign will even get moved so drivers don't pull up to it while pedestrians are in the crosswalk.  Considering it's between two schools, I think that's reasonable.

    Reasonable to not plow snow into crosswalks and curb cuts?  I ask for a lot.

Biker

 

  A student wasn't using her bike anymore so I repurposed it by getting it to Salome`.  Now she's got a bike and a banjo, what an American experience she's getting. 

Ay Caramba

   I'm still going in to work at the high school.  We've done quite well keeping the COVID infections at bay.  As the number of students in person increases, I keep getting displaced from rooms I've been using.  No respect.  The current room is normally used by a Spanish teacher and one morning I found a couple sombreros in a closet: perfect attire for Maria, who is with us from Guadalajara, Mexico.

  Ole`.

Escaping Town

   We were fortunate to spend a night at Connie and Andy's house when they went to Florida for a few days.  It's always a pleasure to visit them, and their house is one of the finest.  We're looking forward to going when they are there after all of us have been vaccinated, but just being in a different space for roughly 24 hours was wonderful.  

  The sunrise was worth getting out to see.  It was quite cold and we just walked on top of the snow without sinking in.

  Nina wondered what the elevated tracks in the snow were all about.

  It was a great day for watching geese and swans migrate.  Along with thousands of Canada Geese, there were hundreds of Snow Geese.  I was able to pick out some swans, but I couldn't tell if they were Tundra or Trumpets.

   I got to ski both after dinner and twice in the morning before it warmed up into the 40's and we put on snowshoes to visit the neighbors.  Even though it got warm and the sap was running, nobody was boiling yet so we missed out on a trip to the sugar shack.  

  Nice to ski though, especially on the down hills.

Winter's End

As the snow melted, activity everywhere increased.  The Town of Ithaca got to their project of adding and additional water line passing underneath Six Mile Creek.  They brought in some big equipment to drill a hole under the creek.

Feeder streams increased in volume for some lovely scenery, and Six Mile Creek really got flowing, but the melt-off was gradual enough that flooding was never a concern despite how much snow and ice there was.  We were fortunate to not get much rain, just warm, sunny days over the course of a couple weeks.

 Gail finished her activity of walking every block of every street in the city and is now trying to get to all the public murals around the city.  This is quite daunting considering there are several dozen painted electrical boxes in addition to some large-scale wall murals.

COVID Entertainment

   We just had to visit with people, even if it meant shoveling off the patio and paths around it so we could safely distance.  A nice fire topped it off and had Gail smiling warmly.

Lovely

 My favorite conditions at the 30' Dam:  Mist from the falls, sunlight behind it just after sunrise, and lots of snow and ice.  Too bad I was so shaky from a treacherous ski down into the gorge and the cold.

A Month of Local Skiing

   Nina isn't the skijoring partner Bean was, and Gail hasn't been skiing much for the past three winters for various reasons, but we all did get out together for a test trip on the lower Rec Way.  As long as Gail stayed out front, Nina would stay in front of me.  Unfortunately, Gail is still nursing an injury so hasn't been on her skis since, and Nina is too nervous to join me solo.

  Gail and I did get out on snowshoes one day when we ventured all the way to Jenksville State Forest in Berkshire.  We left the county!  Nice trails there amidst the almost 900,000 trees planted by the WPA.  And really deep snow.

A Month of Local Skiing

  The storm was preceded by a few days of snow that provided just enough cover to ski in Six Mile Creek, and when that's possible that's my go-to location.  I managed to ski locally from the end of January to almost the end of February.  I prefer to get up early and go for a couple hours before work rather than count on having enough gumption to go after work.  I got to see several colorful sunrises but few people.

  Weekends and during the February break, I had enough time to get further out and was pretty consistently gone for over four hours.

  I got ambitious and turned some deer trails into skiing trails.  This little thicket of roses, privet, honeysuckle and grape vines took 45 minutes to clear.  It was worth it as there's now a nice loop added to the mix of trails.

  Roadkill on the Rec Way?  If this squirrel was run down by a skier it wasn't me.

  Lots of firsts thanks to the snow depth:  I'd never skied down to the 30' dam from the west side before, which led to a chance to ski upstream to Potter's Falls.  Had to take the skis off and climb up out of the gorge to get back to the trail from here.

  One day I decided to go for the trifecta and skied to all three dams.  This is First Dam.

  On the reservoir of the 30' dam.

  Skiing in the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve is rare, it's really the domain of walkers so skiing usually isn't very good, but I got a couple chances with excellent conditions.  This is Bridal Falls, where Gail and I got married on a warmer day.

  Same spot- wedding day.