Big chill

On Monday when I woke up, it was 54 degrees outside - freakishly warm for central New York in January. Yesterday morning, it was -8 degrees...a change of 62 degrees in just five days.

Appropriately, yesterday was the Big Chill Festival in B'ville. The main event was the polar bear plunge, where teams and individuals jump into the Seneca River, raising money for the Ronald McDonald House and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Central New York.

When we left the house to walk over to the river, it was 8 degrees outside. We were bundled up accordingly:


The Seneca River was quite icy:


Here is a team running into the river:


And here they are running out:


I can't even begin to imagine the shock as that cold water hit their bodies!

Local restaurants had samples of food available as well as food for sale. There was, of course, a beer cart and never in my life have I found beer ice as I finished a beer.

We gathered around the Christmas tree bonfire to warm up, then headed home. We lasted about an hour and a half in the cold but were definitely ready to get out of the big chill!

Hockey time

Today we watched the Syracuse University women's ice hockey team play Mercyhurst College at Tennity Ice Pavilion. It was our first Syracuse University athletics event as a family and we had a great time rooting for the Orange, despite their 4-3 loss. Mercyhurst was clearly the more experienced team and displayed their superior stick skills throughout the game, but we were thrilled and proud that the Orange only lost by one goal.





As we left the arena after the game, Aidan was thrilled when the head ref handed him a puck that was used in the game!

Heaven in a bakery box

Soon after moving to Syracuse, James was told about a bakery that sells the most wonderful bread, pastries and baklava. After only one visit, he was also extolling their virtues and once I tasted their wares during our October visit, I knew that he was not exaggerating.

I am madly in love with Geddes Bakery. Where to begin? They bake the most marvelous, crusty, chewy Italian bread that you can imagine. Their baklava is everything baklava should be: dense, moist and totally decadent. The almond horns are to die for and the canoli is fabulous. They make many other items but I have not tried them all. Yet.

This morning the cutest little old lady waited on me, patiently answered my questions, called me "hon", politely ignored my drooling, and wrapped everything up in a bakery box tied with string. What's not to love?

My only complaint about Geddes Bakery is that it is located in North Syracuse and not in my village. Then again, if Geddes were an easy walk instead of a 20 minute drive, I might go there too often...

Cathedral of trees

Yesterday we visited another Onondaga County park - Highland Forest, which is located in the southwestern portion of the county, near the town of Fabius. While not as warm or sunny as Saturday, it was still a nice day to be outside.

We spent most of the time hiking through the forest:



We entered one area of towering trees outlined in snow. It was stunningly beautiful and all I could think was that we were in a cathedral of trees. Here is my poor attempts at capturing the beauty:



We took a spin around the park in what was marketed as a "sleigh" ride, but was really a cart on skis. The two gorgeous Belgians who pulled the cart are named Fred and Blondie, but I can't tell you which was which:


The ride would have been much better had the other people in the cart not talked so much (and so loud) about their work - shut up and enjoy the ride, people - but it was still another fun day outside in central New York.

Snowshoeing

Today was a beautiful day - sunny and about 38 degrees. We went to Beaver Lake Nature Center, just a ten minute drive from our home, to try out snowshoeing. For our first snowshoe outing, we decided to go on a guided hike.

We had a marvelous time! Much to James' surprise, my overall lack of coordination did not hamper me a bit and I adored tramping around the woods on snowshoes.

Here is Aidan getting his snowshoe legs:


We soon got the feel of the snowshoes and started on the hike:


In an open meadow, we took some time to snowshoe off a packed-down trail. Here I am telling Aidan to be careful as he goofed around:


He, of course, did not heed my warning and ended up in a heap at my feet:


James was doing his best Jacques the Trapper impersonation:


After about an hour and about a mile, I still had a smile on my face:


We did a bit more hiking on foot, and saw animal tracks on the surface of Beaver Lake:


Soon we saw one of the creatures who might have made those tracks:

Big change

It still amazes me to see snow everywhere when I look out the window, and to see icicles that are taller than me hanging from houses. Moving from north central Georgia to central New York in the winter is a HUGE change, for sure.

The biggest change is that I can't go anywhere fast. I forgot that is the case when living in a northern climate; in Georgia, I just grabbed my keys, purse and a light jacket most of the time, and scooted out of the house. Now I don boots, hat, gloves and a winter coat before I go anywhere, and keeping Aidan outfitted in hats and mittens has already proved contentious.

But change is good. We have already enjoyed sledding and tromping through the snowy woods at Beaver Lake Nature Center. We marvel at lakes that are frozen and even the almost frozen Seneca River. We admire the glitter that sunlight makes of the snow. We laugh at the neighbors' dogs as they romp and roll in the snow. We see people cross-country ski and snow shoe, and we look forward to trying those sports out for ourselves.

And we especially like seeing people in our village get around on foot. Snow and cold temps don't deter them; they bundle up appropriately and head "downtown" to do their errands. One day last week I went to the library, the post office, the dry cleaners and a drugstore, all on foot. It felt good to leave the car at home, get some exercise and get my errands done. I even walked to a local church to give blood on Friday afternoon!

So far in 2010, this change is good.

Sledding at Long Branch Park

It snowed this past weekend in Central New York. It snowed quite a lot, thanks to the infamous Lake Effect. So in between getting our winter gear and unloading the long-awaited, much anticipated PODS container with our stuff, we took advantage of the fresh coasting of snow and went sledding at Long Branch Park:

How did I do?

I don't make resolutions for the new year; instead, I make lists of things I would like to do in the coming year. Last year, the following items were on my "to do" list, and here is how well I did at doing those things:

• Make bagels - yes, I did, back in March. They were delicious, but now I can buy really good bagels just about anywhere in Central New York!
• Organize my recipe stash - uh, no. It is still a disorganized mess of bits of paper, stuck into a notebook.
  
• Get active - uh, no.
• Stop worrying about making friends in Georgia - yes, I did. Once I decided that I just didn’t care if I made a friend or not, it was liberating. I no longer worried about how I seemed to other people and whether or not they liked me. And, no, I didn’t make any friends in GA last year, but at least it didn't bother me!
• Take more risks, live more spontaneously, and believe in myself more - I did so-so on this one.

My list of things I would like to do in 2010 are a mix of uncompleted items from the past year, plus a new one:

• Get those recipes organized!
• Get active - and I have already made a start by walking around my new hometown and doing Wii boxing.
• Get involved in my local community - I have already made a start by volunteering for the NY Special Olympics Winter Games. I also plan to volunteer in Aidan's new school, and find other ways to get to know my new area.
  
• Believe in myself more - another repeat from 2009, but I really want to regain the confidence, the moxie, the kick-butt-and-take-names attitude I once had. The last few years have been tough, but I let too much of life influence who I am and how I react.

Happy new year!