Ithaca out and about

Remember how I said it "ithacated" (see previous post) during Samuel's graduation? Well the rest of the weekend was nice, even a little too hot. So we packed in a lot of walking and sightseeing. Samuel gave us a 15,000 step tour of the campus, taking us, student access card in hand, to every interesting building on campus, and playing tour guide. All the gossipy details of Cornell's past were laid bare. Here you see Samuel and Benjamin taking pictures of the view near Ezra Cornell's statue, West campus, and "the slope" (which builds stamina as you work your way up it to class) and the Finger Lakes.

Because hotel rooms are hard to come by during graduation week, many homeowners in the area rent out their homes, and we snagged one in Dryden, a village 20 minutes from Ithaca. Our rental home had no flaws and has become the new standard by which we will judge all homes. It was the Not So Big House that was replete with thoughtful and delightful details, down to the bamboo tongs for fishing out your toast. The views from the floor to ceiling windows in the living room were beyond zen. The back yard was several acres, with trails and a deck hovering above the cattailed-filled pond. Here my sister Alyce and I relax on that deck.

Cornell Ornithology Lab and Botanical Garden

Cornell has made a birdwatcher out of me. Who knows, I might even become a Citizen Scientist. The university operates the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and established the country's first graduate program in ornithology in 1915. The lab is now in a modern building in the nicely named Sapsucker Woods, after the lab's founders discovered the first breeding yellow-bellied sapsucker ever reported in the Cayuga Lake Basin. This woodpecker is now common in the area and is part of the Cornell Lab's logo.

The lab is a great place to visit on a rainy or snowy day. Come with a hot beverage and sit in a rocker or chair, all adorned with donor plaques, and gaze out at the marsh and birdfeeder stations through immense floor to ceiling windows. Here you see Benjamin and Samuel taking in the view.

A world map of birds, living and extinct, wraps the back wall, and upstairs is an unique collection of stuffed hummingbirds. There's also a bird library (not open to the public) and private offices for the 200+ staff that study birds.

Of course, you can also get out in the elements and walk through Sapsucker Woods, which we did.

And if you still haven't gotten your fill of nature, Cornell has a long stretch of botanic gardens right on campus. We visited the rhodendron and herb gardens, near an old elementary school turned into offices.

Cornell commencement

Samuel has officially graduated from Cornell University (assuming he doesn't have an outstanding library fine), as of May 27, 2022. We have been assured his diploma will be mailed in the very near future. After receiving his transfer option (in very fine print) in 2018, Samuel arrived on campus in 2019 as a sophmore after a year at Kenyon College to enjoy a year of academic normalcy and calf building as he conquered "the slope" daily, trudging from his West side dorm to classes uphill in the CALS quad in bad and very bad weather.

In the Fall of 2019, he moved into the oldest fraternity on campus, Zeta Psi, with no slope, and many new friends (aka brothers). Then this mysterious virus from Wuhan made its way to America, and in March 2020, he was packing up and heading home to learn virtually. When Cornell did resume in person it was with masking, social distancing, and thrice weekly testing. His "pod" was his fraternity, where he was free to move about maskless. He also took long walks on Cornell's extensive and beautiful campus, maskless. He made do, as we all did.

By the time he graduated, masks were only encouraged, and we were able to enjoy a basically normal graduation. Of course, in Ithaca, it "ithacates" in unexpected bursts of pelting rain. We got a taste of that, huddled under umbrellas, while Samuel got soaked during his processional. President Martha Pollack encouraged the graduates to avoid becoming social media influencers, and become influencers of long lasting value. I appreciated her point.