161 Things Every Cornellian Should Do, #141 and [#57]

141. Ring the giant bell in the Plantations

57. Have a [it’s] midnight [in China] picnic in the Cornell Plantations*

As a stereotypically cheap college student with no car, my main mode of transportation is my own feet. That plus the summer college students and ten billion** construction projects going on around campus making things not as quiet as I would like them means that I've been out to the Plantations a few times already this summer. Usually I just go out to the Botanical Garden, where I remember that I don’t actually like the smell of flowers, but a couple weeks ago I went through the Wildflower Garden and to the start of the Arboretum (1st picture from my last post). The trees to people ratio was much higher and I didn’t hear any 1) screaming drunk people, 2) screeching tires, or 3) heavy machinery. It was just me, the flies, and my penguins.

I've been out further before, once with my hiking class and once when a friend and I decided to go have an adventure on the Plantations. When I went with my friend, we hunted down the giant bell, rang it, and enjoyed the view. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me. Enjoy this picture of the Botanical Garden instead.

There was another day this summer when I biked out to the Botanical Garden on my lunch break, where I proceeded to have my lunch at the Cornell Plantations. I’m not sure I’m ever going to have a “it’s midnight in Ithaca” picnic on the Plantations, but it was definitely midnight in China when I was eating, so that’s my stand-in for now. I prefer to be sleeping at midnight in Ithaca, though apparently my problem sets last semester didn't feel the same way.

*Words in parenthesis added by me.
**This is only a rough estimate. The real value may be several billion projects off.