The March Forest of Upstate New York

I love living in the woods. 

I have begun to find tiny buds dotting the end of each twig. Spring is almost here after such a mild winter. Don't get me wrong though, it's in the low 20's or high 10's in the morning, but it is in the mid 50's today. The lake still has a thick piece of ice coving half of it with paper thin ice that almost pulses out of it and recedes daily.

Yup, we're making maple syrup at Pine Lake.

If you big up this picture you will see the canadian geese who may have decided to nest right in the middle of the swamp. They start yelling if we get within a hundred feet or so.

Housing Rights and Responsibility Form

Now don't get confused. The four of us in Bailey are trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. Wait, that is the boyscout laws. Well, take out the last two and we form some sort of brotherhood anyways -but nothing like a fraternity- maybe the opposite. 

In other words, we highly value community, respect our community, and rely on it. It simply cannot be written down on four pages. We are all capable of confronting each other about problems (and we certainly do,) so we decided to have a little fun. Plus this thing has spelling errors and the most bizarre categories.

Geese and Glass

We have had some Canadian geese move into Pine Lake. They are very loud and we hear them call late at night. I think they might be mean.

I have been playing with my different lenses. This photo was taken from the fourth floor of Smith Hall about a quarter to a half mile away.

Also now I can do super low light photos for the first time ever! This is Cob House in the evening.

Vat of molten glass.

My Miyazaki inspired lantern sculpture. It has windows on the side, two smokestacks, doors, and three legs.

I've gone pro! And there's Snow.

As a super early birthday present I got a new very nice Cannon T3i from my dad. 

 I was really hoping for a snow-day.

 This is Yager Hall (also our library,) in the mist of our heated steps melting away the snow.

The Lack of Snow, Ice, and Winter.

These photos I took with Anthony's camera last weekend. I was attempting to capture a very bizarre February. Now I am not from this area but I could definitely tell it was strange. It is very warm hovering in the mid thirties or higher with random dips into the twenties. We get small powdering's of snow which barely stick. On colder days the lake doesn't freeze (even when it's snowing!) because the water is still warm from earlier in the week.

Random, but you won't believe how good this wood smells.

Footprints

Dog, human, car, coyote.

Makin' Art

I drew these guys on the inside of the pellet stove window in the ash. Just practicing some relief artwork. Anyways, the one on the left is Lord Voldemort calling for Potter and the one on the right is just an owl. Voldemort is pretty terrifying with the fire lit face. 

Below is a photo of some Native American pottery I like. I have to recreate a historic piece (pre-1900's, although these are much older,) with the only requirement that it has to be 18 inches tall. What I find fascinating is how much cross over between my classes of hand-building ceramics I, cultual ecology, religion and nature, and philosophy 100. The all share the same exact question: why?

Well if you are wonder why these pots have no flat bottoms to sit on it is because when you live a nomadic life you don't haul a table around, therefore getting rid of the need to set a pot straight up. I will have to make a stand of some sort since one requirement is it stands...

As I experiment with clay I am still shocked at how much I use and how much it shrinks as it dries out and again when fired. Clay is a very bizarre material from the standpoint that it has so many different levels of textures and strengths. It is literally a different material every hour you work it. First it starts out as mushy as mashed potatoes if you start with the really soft stuff, then to dough, stiff dough, cheese, and then leather which is the point when you no longer have to worry about gravity much. I tired working it a little beyond the leather stage but it really cracks after that point. It is then dried out until it is very hard, fired once, glazed, and fired again. Easy right?

☕

I also pledged to Delta Delta G today, a.k.a. the geology club. It was pretty awesome. The two professors running it dress up in robes. Also, half dozen students dress up in some "interesting" costumes of protective geology equipment for playing with lava or something and more mystic style as well. The older professor handed me a 40 onze beer known as "The Holy Beer" which has roamed the halls of the school for several decades now, it must be pretty disgusting at this point. I then placed my hand on a massive piece of petrified tree and pledge: "I will never kick a rock."

Delta Denta G Mascot

(Notice volcano in background)

The geology club mostly makes pet rocks and organizes trips to Death Valley, some Mid-West locations, Hawaii, New Zealand... and a couple other places, but basically one big trip per year. Too bad I am not a geology student, although I am happy to be part of their ironic club.

The rock versions of the people of Bailey Cabin made by Sierra