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!