#500 Where's my bike???

Bikes outside Olin Library on Cornell Campus.

#499 The Slopestorm

Snowpocalypse in Ithaca. This picture was taken Friday morning on Cornell's slope (the building in the background is Willard Straight Hall). Only a few of the paths were cleared and some decent winter boots were essential for keeping your feet warm and dry. Since we moved to Ithaca 1&3/4 years ago this is the first day where winter lives up to the expectations that people's stories had created in my mind. 

#498 Snowy trees

 

Lovely snowy trees outside the defunct movie theatre. 

#497 Ithaca Falls Under Snow

We've had a lot of snow today. This was taken by Ithaca Falls.

#496 Colour Palette

 

I love the combination of all these colours and I'm looking forward to more colour in the spring!

#495 Newark Valley Thrift Store

Okay, so not quite Ithaca, but still in the area. This is the stairway at the Newark Valley thrift store, complete with electric chair to carry the old folks up to the second floor. And no, sadly, it doesn't work.

#494 The fun starts here...

Where does the fun start? Here...

#493 Physical effects of bouncy castle's

So at that Chilifest you could ride a mechanical bull (just like every year I guess). The bull is in the middle of an inflated bouncy castel style thing. And here are the safety rules. I think they are wrong. You may experience a spongy surface? Wrong. You will. I also like the part where they say: "If you are disabled, go bugger off."

#492 Ithaca Chilifest 2010

So today was the day of the annual Chilifest in Ithaca. The posters said the fest was on till 4pm. When we arrived at 3pm most stalls were already gone. At Broetchen we were the first in line to see the empty pot (just like last year by the way). The few stalls that were still there had the usual long lines. And the picture shows the bouncy castle in it's non-bouncy state.

#491 Nuclear Fallout Shelter

Do you know where your next Fallout Shelter is? Well, I didn't until today. In case you are not in the know: A fallout shelter is the place where you go when the Russians attack or when your local nuclear power plant blows up. Our local shelter is the Women's Community Building (conveniently just around the corner from our apartment) which the city considers replacing with cheap (or "affordable") flats.

Wikipedia says: "Effective public shelters can be the middle floors of some tall buildings or parking structures, or below ground level in most buildings with more than 10 floors. The thickness of the upper floors must form an effective shield, and the windows of the sheltered area must not view fallout-covered ground that is closer than 1.5 km (1 mi)."

#490 Gorge Trail Impassable - still

Yeah, the gorge trail is still impassable. They never really fixed it after last winter. Instead they spent a lot of money on putting big fences up. I walked the trail a few times last year and it was fine (while being closed). Seems like Health & Safety is killing the gorge :(

#489 Railing

I noticed this beautiful hand rail while walking around downtown Ithaca today. While the stairs are crumpling away this old (?) beauty is holding up strong.

#488 Frozen Falls

These are the little falls of Fall Creek at the bottom of the george trail. They look beautiful in the frozen state. Unfortunately, it started thawing over the last few days (and freezing again at night) so the beauty might vanish soon.

#487 Dude? Wear pants. It's winter.

What's wrong with these people who walk around in shorts and T-shirt in winter? I mean, yeah, it was a warm day, just above freezing (I am talking about the freezing at 0C or 32F). But not even an Inuit would wear a T-Shirt in that weather. Yet, there are a few undergrads who don't seem to own appropriate clothes. Is it a money issue? Or a matter of pride? I don't get it.

#486 Angry Electricity

 

This was on the building on the jetty that sticks sticks out of the golf course, right where Cascadilla Creek and Fall Creek join and spill out into the lake. I especially like the person's tongue sticking out.

#485 Where is it?

Hah. Now I got you! The last "Where is it?" quizzes where way to easy for you guys. But this one is not. In fact I am so sure that no one figures out where this is that I offer a drink to anyone who does. The rules: Exact location within 50m please. The drink is only redeemable in Ithaca. If you are somewhere else you either have to wait until I am coming to your town or you are in bad luck.

#484 Segway Spotting

This blurry picture documents the first spotting of a Segway in Ithaca. I wonder if a Segway would make it up Buffalo St though...

#483 Puddle depth as a function of wheel diameter

Seeing this triggered the question in my brain: Is there a puddle deep enough so that when you park in it and it freezes you cannot get out? What's the limit there. Puddle depth = 0.5 * wheel diameter?

#482 The Storm

 

N. Tioga Street during the "big winter storm" we are apparently getting. Granted that Ithaca has more snow than my previous home (just outside of San Francisco), but it's nowhere near as snowy as the people whom I told that I was moving there would have liked me to believe. Still, it's very pretty. 

#481 Northstar

An evening out at Northstar. Great beer selection and far more pleasant than its predecessor.

#480 Green

 

Taken while walking the dog. It's nice to see a bit of green this time of year. 

#479 Frozen Fall Creek

Taken from the Cayuga Street crossing over Fall Creek. My husband took this photo while on a walk with the dog. It's worth clicking on the image and looking at the larger version: you'll see all the pretty snowflakes.

#478 Ant Bar

 

Pancho Villa's Mexican Restaurant and Bar is slowly taking down its sign. I thought this was an amusing way to leave it. 

#477 Young Stock

Feeding time at Hunter Vale Farm, just outside of Ithaca. This is a field of 2 and 3 year olds, waiting for their morning hay.

#476 Halsey Creek Shelves

One of my favourite things about having people come to visit you in Ithaca is taking them to all the gorges and waterfalls, because there's a fairly good guarantee they are getting to see things that they haven't seen before. So the trip to Taughannock Falls was in order when my friend Jessie came to town. This is a picture of one of the many "shelves" you encounter as you walk along Halsey Creek towards the falls.

#475 Snow crystal landscape What do you see?

That's what we found last saturday on our window. So pretty. Could be a a field of grass, what do you see?

#474 Got it

Yammy!

#473 Fly!

That's how we got them all to fly up. One throws food high up and the other takes picture. Voila!