Travels in the 2nd half

  Upper Falls, Tremane Falls State Park If you love waterfalls, Ithaca NY is a great place to visit. Sitting at the northern edge of the Appalachian Plateau, the area around Ithaca is home to dozens of rivers and streams that cascade down to Lake Cayuga. In fact, there are three state parks dedicated to major falls within 12 miles of downtown Ithaca. Taughannock Falls In August of 2020, I visited the area to hike the falls. The walks were beautiful, and the weather was excellent. However, the amount of water in the rivers was low. The falls, while tall and extensive, were not particularly impressive, because the water fall was at a summer low. You can find my blogs about that trip here and here . Lick Brook When I returned in early May of 2021, I found very different sights. It had been a wet spring, and in fact it rained several times while I was there. This primed the waterfalls, and the cascades were extremely forceful, and very impressive. Here is a collection of the photograp...

  Seneca River In New York’s Finger Lakes region, Cayuga Lake offers a wide range of experiences. At its southern tipis Ithaca, with Cornell University and Ithaca College, it has a youthful vibrancy that serves as an economic and cultural engine in the area. On the northern end of the lake is Seneca Falls. It is a sleepy town, one whose “better days” may be behind it, but a town with a history that is worth exploring. The hamlet of Seneca Falls was settled in 1790 along the Seneca River. Which connected Lake Seneca, Lake Cayuga, and Lake Erie. In 1818, the river was partially canalized, especially near the series of rapids that the town was named after. This allowed for the passage of food and goods into and out of the area.  A good place to start your exploration of Seneca Falls is at the Museum of Waterways and Industry , which also serves as the town’s visitors center. This three story storefront museum offers a look at the history of the industries that were the driving f...

  In June, 2021, the COVID infection rate in New York City are at the lowest they have been since the March of 2020, and that has brought the crowds back, in force. This was in full evidence at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I went to see an exhibit of paintings by Alice Neel . But this exhibition was worthy of the crowds. Alice Neel (1900-1984) was an artist who’s work centered on portraits of people in her life. She started painting in her early 20’s in Philadelphia , and quickly adapted the expressionist style of the “Ashcan School.” The Ashcan painters sought to portray the gritty reality of the lives of working people in the large cities of the United States. Neel moved to New York City, where she lived in neighborhoods that were centers of working class and left-wing political cultures. Neel had many friendships, and a few relationships, with members of the Communist Party U.S.A., and produced illustrations for both New Masses magazine and The Daily Worker Newspaper. ...