So I officially have got the go ahead from both the principal and Ken-Ton grounds department to do a tree replanting in the spring! Initially I just wanted to transfer a sugar maple I have growing at home, but then I realized why not do a full replanting?

I remember before the October storm and a million budget cuts (grounds was the first thing to go) there used to be so many trees all over the place. I've noticed as more have been taken down, the ground stays saturated much longer and it looks much worse.

I need to find some people who know some more about appropriate trees than me and maybe other people who would be interested in helping fundraise or solicit for trees from nurseries around here. The best would probably be some slow-growth and deep rooted shade trees that won't heave the ground.

I took some pictures - right now it's pretty much cleared or full of dying trees everywhere but the front. I remember the Crosby side looking much more like McKinley or Argonne when I went there - a full canopy of mature maples.







I think there definitely could be smaller shade trees on the tree lawn, and much larger ones on the actual on. The back field could use some along the fenceline and soccer fields, and near the playground. It definitely would cut down on the ponding that happens even with the new drain tile.

Not really a good idea of the placement or number but the general location until I can set up something in AutoCAD or the town GIS.


Hopefully I can get this off the ground in time for spring planting. It'd be to get it back to the way it looked.

Saturday, after doing a 7 am traffic count, and walking the dog while it poured, I came down to hang out with (e:Paul), (e:Terry) and (e:Xandra). We went out to Neo to get a wedding present, before Paul went bandana shopping at Hu's. I had never been inside Neo before but it had some pretty crazy stuff.


Whatchu know about rocking a fur vest? Woof!

Meow

Nips, available at Hu's

(e:YesThatCasey) came down (soaking wet from the rain) for music is art. We all got dressed up for the big birthday celebration.
Later we headed to go dance, which was absolutely awesome, with pretty decent music. Even though it was super muddy, it was a great night for dancing.



Paul and his boxed wine




Thug lyfe



Cuteee


Cop stuck in the mud


My new best fraaand from ETS


Selfies getting sloppy at this point



At the end of the night we were going to go out more, and even got (e:Mike) up to drive us back to Linwood. I guess getting up at 6 that day got to me because I passed out before we did anything. Oops, sorry Mike!

The next morning Paul and I had some more food truck worthy cereal. For real, the best breakfast cereal I've had. This time we added fancy peanut butter which made it all the better.

On the way home, Linwood was starting to look like fall.


I finished up the weekend by getting some work at home done, before going out to Saigon Bangkok with Paul and Terry. The tofu pad Thai was so good.

Yesterday I went to Inked at the Buffalo Museum of Science with (e:Paul), (e:Terry), (e:xandra) and (e:Heidi). Although I got there late and only for the second speaker, it had to have been the lamest $10 I have spent in a while.

The second speaker was a PA from Southgate Medical Group. Her whole talk went about 25 minutes, 20 of which were her emphasizing how many people want their partner's old name removed. The remainder could be summarized in a brochure as (e:Paul) said, or something you could have learned within 2 minutes on wikipedia.

The whole thing felt like an advertisement for her clinic, so I really hope they paid to sponsor the museum rather than the other way around.

It would have been awesome if they managed to have a dermatologist, researcher, laser engineer or someone who could have delivered a little more content. Definitely was disappointing.

The price of admission also included the Body Worlds exhibit. It was short and kind of weird, like an artsy anatomy lab. I wish I had been able to take pictures. Apparently (e:Paul) says the bodies are taken from Chinese prisoners, which makes me pretty uncomfortable. It's weird to think that these people died, were plasticized and filleted up, then posed up to be fencing or whatever.

The rest of the museum was the same as always. I don't remember anything changing in my lifetime besides the temporary exhibits - I wonder when most of these were set up?





FInished up the night right by trying out Dominion, and frying up vegetables and soup. Dominion was okay, I didn't have the attention span last night - I'll have to try again. The vegetables and soup/falafels were amazing though.

Last Saturday was the Tour de Farms for GO Bike Buffalo with (e:Paul), (e:Terry) and Clean Air. I hadn't been on it before but it was awesome. The ride wasn't too bad, about 30 miles and mostly flat with a few exceptions. I hadn't had the chance to see any of the farms we visited before, in or outside of the city.

The final celebration at the Oles farm was great. The food was amazing and very fresh, and the beer and wine were unlimited which meant day drunk. This lead to an incident with a Hummer, which thank god ended quickly.

By the time we got back, (including me riding home to Kenmore Kenilworth) I was definitely too wiped to do much else. A sleepy dinner at Madonna's was managed before absolutely crashing. It was good to relax and get some sleep.


Safety first - unless you wanted to pick a fight with GO guy


Local, fresh, organic candy


Chickens. Not sure if I'd like living in the house that overlooked their run


Sweet custom double bike - the owners were super weird about me asking about it for some reason




Keeping up with (e:terry) - we were able to book it up some of those hills




Oles Farm


Farmed Tilapia


Blumen für Terry

Yesterday was my dad's birthday. We celebrated day 1, before my sister got home today, with some ice cream cake and some small food gifts.


Midnight is an ice cream addict- when we bring out ice cream cake and start singing happy birthday, he goes insane and starts barking along until he gets some.

HBD dad! Both he and my mom have done so much for me and my siblings, it's hard to even comprehend. It's always nice to see him so happy.

I haven't been running in a week or two, and decided to force myself to go for an easy one last night. The temperature was near perfect and it was a great way to end the day. Running in Kenmore at (and Kenilworth, my true hood (e:mike)) at night is weird. There are thousands of people in such a small area and yet I have the street to myself.




Sometimes I feel like I'm using every free second I have outside of work. Don't get me wrong, I love it - but it's nice to be going nowhere at all.

Beer Club at Goodbar was awesome, thanks to (e:terry) for the invite! Definitely some interesting beers to try. Getting there late and catching so fast was dangerous though because I was pretty hammered for a work night! Maybe I shouldn't go up for extras next time?





Beer inspired selfies

Camping this weekend down in Landrus, PA was absolutely awesome. Great time all around with (e:YesThatCasey), (e:paul), (e:terry), (e:heidi), (e:dianne), and some scroty Pennsylvanians.

Went to Marco's deli in Kenmore with my brother, and got to the campsite Friday night. Heidi and Dianne were super awesome since the tents and camp were already set up, so all that was left to do was drink around the fire.



Winoooo

The next day we went on a hike to try and find a trail to some ruins. Apparently it was a company coal town way back when, but all that is left now is some foundation ruins and some unmaintained roads.


Some sort of masonry


Snakes hiding out


Das Wasser ist scrotzig! - it smelled so sulfury



It was a pretty beautiful place.


Casey lumberjacking out



Selfieees

Saturday night was great, even though I was an early victim to day drinking. Huge fire, drunk German lessons, and a freezing late night swim. Definitely slept well that night.

Before heading out, we hiked to go swim in Sand Run Falls. We got lost-ish and almost fell victim to the mountain people (saved by 4G), it was a pretty nice hike. I thought it was crazy enough to go in the water the night before, but Paul, Terry and I forced ourselves to go in again.

On the way home, we stopped at Yorkholo Brewing Company in Mansfield, which was kind of reminded me of Geneseo. Paul and I found a creepy decrepit phone booth.



The goat cheese pierogi and black bean burger were pretty good, despite some mishaps (I may have accidentally eaten bacon, oops).



It's sad that this is one of the last few weekends of the summer. I really wish there was a time to go camping longer - can't wait until next summer.

Windy day on the beach today. I saw these guys parasail surfing (what google called it). It looked pretty awesome, although the water was pretty awful smelling and looking today.

Yesterday I began my first day of bike commuting to work. I've been biking and taking public transportation everywhere since the beginning of high school, so this summer when I had to get a car for work was the first time I've really been driving in my life.

Less than two months in of driving to work, I realized more than ever how much I hate driving. It's so wasteful for me to push my 170lb self around with a 3000lb car at 28mpg for an hour a day. I hate the aggression everyone gets in with each other, how isolated you are from other people and how easy it is to speed by and not even see what's going on around you. I hate how much space they take up and how much noise and pollution they generate. I wish Buffalo had a real 24x7 transit system, and hope that the bike culture keeps growing like it is.

Since I dislike it so much, I figured why not do something about it? It seemed hypocritical not to try just because the ride seemed long. So now that I can shower at work, I rode down. It was really nice to get out when few other people were. It took about 1hr for 16 miles and was without incident, besides yelling at a lady to pick up her dog's poop.


Love/hate.

On the way home was a little bit different. It took 1hr 03min for 16 miles, but felt so much tougher. There was a headwind off the lake, a lot more traffic downtown, and even a minor road rage incident. This woman was upset after she tried to left turn at a stop sign while texting her lap, where apparently I surprised her coming from the opposite direction with the right of way. She caught up to me at a light, and I started yelling back at her for texting and not paying attention to the road. Of course while she is doing this, she has the nerve to look down in her lap to text and tell me it's not illegal while she's stopped. We parted with a few choice words before it escalated. I seriously need to watch my road rage but she deserved it.

I was pretty wiped after all that, but I am going to try to bike at least every other day. I can probably drop the hammer a little more as I get used to it so it'll get better. Finished the day with some 90 cent cones from Anderson's with Emily and Carrie. (4 of them to be exact)

Day one: 32 miles, 1080 calories, 2 hr ride time

Lessons learned:
Eat more, I felt so sluggish on the ride home
Watch out for crazy middle aged ladies
Leave earlier for home


Getting into work


Poorly tagged inspirational quote on the Rt. 5 overpass


Riding through Larkinville

Saturday, Sunday and Monday most of my family got some work done clearing out my grandparents old house. It's hard to capture the extent even with pictures, but this is what you were met with just walking into the basement. I can't say I know for sure why/how it got this way, but it does frustrate me about how much is wasted.



All of it makes me just remember this video .
Thankfully we made tons of progress on clearing it this weekend.

Later Saturday, I headed down to (e:Paul) and (e:Terry)'s, to find Paul working on (e:Mike)'s unicorn bike. I have to say, that's one of the most awesome birthday presents I've ever seen. I took some pics with my newish lens that I'll have to put up later.

We ended up going out to Zoar Valley. I can't remember the last time, if ever, I was there. It ended up being a great day for a hike, and quick swim in the creek before we headed back for Mike's party. Can't wait to go back sometime!


Chillaxin' after climbing a bit.