Created in the 1960s by Cornell undergraduate architecture students, these sculptures enabled students to learn first-hand about sculpture, design, engineering, and carpentry.

The Cornell Botanic Gardens is one of the many great gems in our area.  We joined a few other folks for a splendid walk through parts of the F. R. Newman Arboretum led by “Garden Guide” Dr. Peter Davies, a retired Cornell professor (46 1/2 years!) and expert on plant physiology.

We learned about fall colors, the dominance of green chlorophyll pigment which breaks down in the fall to reveal the yellow and orange carotenoids, and the anthocyanins generated by some species to create the vivid reds and bronzes, notably red maples here in the northeast.

We also learned of the effects of, and losing battle against, invasive species and the homogenization of the biosphere throughout the world.  We also learned of Ithaca’s four seasons: pre-Winter, Winter, post-Winter, and Construction season.

It was a comprehensively entertaining and interesting stroll on a beautiful Fall day. The Arboretum is a wonderful and ever-changing place to visit any time of year–highly recommended.

We spent a week in Maine, mostly in Acadia National Park, and mostly canoeing and hiking when we weren’t relaxing in a very comfy, quiet, and roomy rental home. Our friend Stella joined us. We all had a great time in an extraordinary part of the country with ideal weather most of the time. We avoided the worst of the summer crowds jamming the place by visiting after Labor Day.

This is the home we lived in for a week while in Maine.

At 215 feet high, Taughannock Falls is the highest single-drop plunge waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains.

We hiked the rim trail circuit around Taughannock Falls State Park yesterday. It’s a reminder of how fortunate we are on several fronts:

• We’re retired and can do things like this during the week on short notice. We usually only see a few other geezers and geezettes (if any) unlike on the weekends and holidays.
• We’re healthy and fit enough to enjoy things like this. (Although this hike is easy, it’s daunting or out of the question for some of our friends and neighbors.)
• We live within a few minutes drive of a wealth of parks, preserves, and trails here in this part of the Finger Lakes.

Looking at Taughannock Falls, it’s mind-boggling to know the walls are carved from deposits made over 300+ million years.  The carving itself started with the retreat of the last ice age glacier around 10,000 years ago and continues to this day as each year the waterfall retreats a few more inches, extending the gorge away from Cayuga Lake. Water, freezing, and thawing continue their inexorable excavation. I look forward to seeing what the place looks like in another 10,000 years.

In what has become an annual tradition for us, we canoed on Owasco Inlet on a flawless Spring day. An easy 5-mile round-trip paddle amidst dense lush woods provided a welcome diversion.

Lori canoeing along Owasco Inlet.

Majestic mature woods line the northern portion of Owasco Inlet.

Flowering trees and shrubs accented the Spring ambience.

Lori pilots her Hornbeck canoe along a fern-covered bank of the inlet.

Groups of wild geranium thrive on the banks of the inlet.

Lori and I took advantage of a beautiful spring weekday to take a walk in Robert H. Treman State Park, one of the gems within a few minutes drive from home. The wet cool spring has been very good for lush vegetation and robust waterfalls.

View of upper Lucifer Falls from the rim trail

Lower end of Lucifer Falls

Lori pauses in the woods

Lori relaxes on the Cliff Staircase with Enfield Glen receding in the distance and turkey vultures circling overhead

Lush carpet of Vinca, ferns, and other vegetation on the forest floor

We had a little snow last night.  Catch my drift?

Jeepers, what’s the big hurry?

A young piebald deer is a frequent visitor to our rural area.

Deer, including a piebald deer on the left, graze in our backyard.

A young piebald deer is a frequent diner in our local rural area.

Already blessed with an abundance of nearby trails to enjoy, Lori and I have been exploring some of the other options in the Finger Lakes area. We’ve had a very wet summer and fall making some trails muddy messes. (At least our rainfall was uniformly distributed unlike our unfortunate neighbors in the south getting clobbered with torrential storm destruction.)

We checked out Birdseye Hollow State Forest and found the main northeast-to-southwest trail was too swampy to enjoy.  The Finger Lakes Trail part going through the State Forest looked like it may have parts at higher elevations that could have drained a bit better. Sanford Lake looked promising for a short relaxing paddle and an easy launch at a nice boat launch on the south end. We ended up walking about 4+ miles along a trail section from Sanford Lake and up a dirt road through some nice woods.

Finger Lakes National Forest looks much more promising for hiking.  It’s along the ridge separating Cayuga and Seneca Lakes.  It’s an interesting mix of hardwood forest and open pasture lands in active use by local farmers.  We sampled a few miles of the No-Tan-Takto and Interloken trails and thoroughly enjoyed them–we will be back for some more serious exploration of the extensive possibilities.

Lori waits for straggling hike-buddy on dirt road in Birdseye Hollow State Forest.

Lily pads on Sanford Lake in Birdseye Hollow State Forest.

An unusually wet summer and fall left many trails wet and muddy.

Lori is on the Interloken Trail in Finger Lakes National Forest.

Lori in an open pasture at the north end of the Finger Lakes National Forest.