Ah Boy

     
      It's hard to believe I'm three-quarters of the way through my first year of college already. Being there with new friends and getting to experience all sorts of new and fun things really makes the time fly. Already I've gone skiing for the first two times and been out of the country - and that's just this semester! Sure, lately I've been staying up there for longer periods of time, but that doesn't ever mean that I don't absolutely love coming home to good food and great company. Home is still my comfort zone. I like school and I enjoy being on my own, but sometimes it's nice to fall back and take a break from looking after myself for a few days.
      Although I'll be getting some free time within a few months, it's only going to last the summer, and then I'll be back into the crazy, busy madness that is college. So this post, nearly two months apart from the last one, is to say that I'll be trying my best to port from here on out, but I don't think I can keep finding things to write about. Heck, I can't even keep a journal anymore, for lack of time and energy when I crawl into my bed at night.
     So, thank you all for reading- and I hope to be able to post again soon.

Hey Look, Nature!

It's good to be back home, but especially wonderful when I get to experience stuff like this!

Red-Tailed Hawk

 Piliated Woodpecker

Feeding Deer is Fun.

Or so I assume.
The weekend before finals, my aunt and uncle very graciously brought me back to their house to meet up with my parents for some down time before the big tests. Honestly I thought of it as something really fun to do with some of my favorite people so that my three boring days of studying didn't have to be five (hey, I was going nuts after studying even for only one day). I had a blast coming "home" to great food and good company.
Anyway.
Just before picking up my cousin from school and finally getting to the house, my aunt and I stopped at Panera Bread for some delicous chicken noodle soup in bread bowls. They were AMAZING, but we were on a little bit of a schedule so we had to take the empty bowls to go.
With my cousin in tow, we pulled into the driveway and went in the back door. Walking back out for another one of my bags, I noticed a few deer in the backyard. Since Ithaca has a rather large population of deer, I thought nothing of it until they came within twenty feet of me and my family.
Since we still had one bread bowl left, we tore it apart and took turns thowing the pieces onto the lawn. Well, seeing as they were so close, I decided (with a little encouragement from my aunt and uncle) to hold out a large piece of the bread bow land to try and get them to come even closer.  It was working for a little bit, until I crouched. Apparently my version of appearing as a smaller, harmless animal was viewed more like a predator ready to pounce. The deer flinched and then eventually trotted to a "safe" distance until we went back inside. Then, they went back to enjoy the little feast.

So, I didn't actually get to feed the deer by hand. My hopes weren't too high, and it was probably a good thing I didn't get too awful close to the whitetails, but the experience made for a nice break from college and some pretty cool pictures!



P.S. and my finals worked out fine :)

Nieva!

Syracuse has finally become a winter wonderland.

A big storm blew in on the third and began the lovely pile-up of snow. Giddy from the fact that break was only two weeks away, the ESF freshmen (the fun ones anyway) ran straight outside to have snowball fights and to sled down the hill on cafeteria trays at midnight. We were pretty excited, but that excitement only grew as we watched the snowflakes swirl without a single break, for FIVE DAYS. It was a winter miracle!

I can see three hidden cars in this picture, can you?

 Three more cars in this picture.

The bike rack.

Each morning we woke up to find the cars covered in 5-6 more inches of snow and the sidewalk paths nonexistent. The plows even had a hard time catching up with the 38 inches that had fallen. Snow drifts from the Syracuse wind piled up above my waist, and even the normally drab ride to school became an eerie world of white, with trees that had a good six inches of snow on their branches. It was absolutely beautiful!

Looking up the sidewalk next to the quad.

Picnic table

The bridge to get to Walter Hall, and the one little path that was carved out.

Honest Abe on his horse

Rain came on the following weekend, melting down the white stuff to only a couple inches. However, in only a few short days, the forecast went up again as the temperature dropped. Two feet plus is supposed to fall by tomorrow night! HOORAY!

Adirondack Weekend

     This last weekend was one of the BEST weekends I've experienced in quite some time. I went with the Bob Marshall Club of ESF for an overnight stay in the High Peaks in the Adirondacks.  
    
     To start off our trip, we got going from the nearby student center at 5:30 am. I was jittery from excitment and just a little from being nervous. Heck as excited as I was, I'd never done a trip like this before and I just didn't know what to expect.
     Well, about 3 hours later ,and north of Newcomb, we were starting our 5-6 mile hike to the lean-to. The trail was absolutely gorgeous, even if it was covered in icy snow. It was alot of uphill to get to where we wanted to be, but finally made it around lunchtime. A friend and I stayed behind at the lean-to while the other six group members decided to summit Mount Marshall, a nearby high peak. Don't get me wrong, I really wated to join them, but since I was already a little tired and had learned that they were going to climb 2000 ft. in elevation in 5 miles, I thought better of it. I needed legs that actually worked for the next day's hike out!

     My friend and I decided first to go down by the shore of the "Flowed Lands" in which we were camping next to. We stepped out from behind the trees and met a breathtaking sight. Straight in front of us was Mt. Colden. The pond/lake was iced over and the top of the mountain was dusted with snow. We sat on some rocks and listened to the silence. The veiw was absolutely incredible!

     We next decided to explore down the trail a little bit to keep our blood moving (after all, it was only 40-50 degrees out!). We met a man who worked for the DEC on our short hike, and he suggested a "secret" spot off to the left of the next lean-to down the trail. We walked about a quarter mile more and came out to a beautiful spot. The lean-to had direct sun and a great view. We wandered off to the left and found ourselves next to a pretty little rocky stream.

     After about fifteen minutes, we decided to head back to our lean-to. The rest of the group said they'd be back when the sun set and we figured we'd want to be back in time for that.
     We got there early enough to rest out on the rocks again and to lay out our sleeping bags in the lean-to in our desired spot- the middle. There was going to be eight people in that lean-to that night, and we wanted to be warm!
     Eventually the rest of the group joined us and we took a couple pictures. We worked together to make a delicious spaghetti and sausage dinner and then headed to our sleeping bags, snuggled in nice and tight.
     The next morning called for oatmeal and hot drinks. The thermometer read 25 degrees. We sat out by the pond/lake as the sun rose, enjoying the warmth while pumping more water.

     Soon, it was time to head back out. The trail was just as wonderful as the day before and hiking it went too fast. We soon arrived at the parking spot and enjoyed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before driving back to Syracuse.

     Everyone was sad to leave, but were thankful for the glorious weekend, away from the stresses of college life.

Just Something I Wanted to Share with the World

On Central NY's Failure at Producing Frozen Precipitation.

My friends, I now live in the snow belt of New York.

Today is November 1st (Yes, this post was scheduled).

YESTERDAY was the first "snow."

     Ok, there's nothing wrong with that (all of you snow-haters are probably huffing and puffing about those flurries) but I think that it's about time for a couple feet of the white stuff. Even if it is November
    
     I love the snow. I think it's fun to throw snowballs I love to make snow sculptures (or just snowmen). I love to rush inside for delicious hot cocoa. That being said, when my college choice happened to be in Syracuse, I wasn't too bummed. I mean, I hear the word Syracuse and immediately think: SNOW.
     When I got here, I expected it to be a whole lot colder than down south a.) because it's at a higher latitude and b.) because it's in the snow belt. Doesn't that automatically make it a colder city?
    
Apparently not.    

     In the last month or so I've realized the city certainly isn't colder than my hometown a couple hours south. Up here, while leaves were still in the opening act of their colorful performance, they were completely shed from the trees at home. I would hear about frosts and freezing cold weather (once, even snow) that happened at home while I was enjoying the low fifty-degree weather.
     Of course, this is all attributed to the Great Lakes and the whole concept that the air upwind from Syracuse is extra-moist. This gives us lots of precipitation, which, combined with the slightly more temperate climate here rather than in the surrounding areas, means there's more lake-effect rain than lake-effect snow.
     Don't get me wrong, I'm in love with the warm weather too. I love being able to wear my shorts and sandals just a little bit longer. However, when it gets to be this time of the year, when the weather can't decide whether it wants to be snow or rain, I don't enjoy it so much. Especially when faced with making difficult decisions every morning (umbrella or parka?).

Well, overall, it IS Syracuse, it WILL get cold and I'm sure that, if I give it a couple weeks, the weather will finally stick to one form of precipitation and it'll snow like the devil.