![Ithaca Falls. This is seriously a few blocks from my apartment. I know, right?](\"http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Ithaca_Falls.jpg\" "\\"Ithaca")
<\/a><\/p>\nBut then we also have this:<\/p>\n
This is the long-defunct Ithaca Gun Company factory<\/strong><\/a>. It was empty for years before being condemned in 2006, and after long discussions<\/strong><\/a> of how to deal with all the toxic chemicals it’s been leeching into the ground and river, demolition finally began last month.<\/p>\n My friend Justin Souza<\/strong><\/a>, one of the Poets Upstairs, has written a poem about the dual nature of our fair city. It’s called “Scenes from Other Summers,” and it was published this month in Oak Bend Review<\/em>. Here’s how it starts:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1 The hill is dotted with smokestacks Please click here<\/strong><\/a> to read the poem in its entirety (you’ll have to scroll down to the last poem on the page. Please ignore the javascript butterflies. Or if you can’t, I’ve found that clicking on one of them makes them disappear.)<\/p>\n I’m sure many of you are familiar with the old “Ithaca is Gorges”<\/strong><\/a> tourist t-shirts and bumper stickers. There are a few tongue-in-cheek variants to be spotted around town, such as “Ithaca is Cold” (true!) and “Ithaca is Gangsta” (so totally not true!). My favorite, though, is “Ithaca is Weird.” It’s SO true. I mean, Ithaca is a town that churns out Cornell-degreed lawyers and MBAs and Ithaca College-educated actors, dancers and designers alongside homegrown hippies and organic farmers. Indie craft stores thrive alongside Starbucks and Target. This sweet, flower-powered, funky little college town was built on guns. <\/p>\n I think Justin’s poem uses the symbol of the gun factory to great effect to illustrate a few of the dichotomies that keep Ithaca weird.<\/p>\n * A note on the photos: I didn’t take ’em. Click on them to see the source. The gun factory one is part of a great set of photos<\/strong><\/a> – I recommend it especially.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWhen snow slides away into summer
\nand the buds swell and pop, Ithaca
\nis every world in bloom. Nebulas
\nof cottonwood pollen in the breeze,
\nroofs specked
\nwith errant petals and lightning
\nbugs flaring.<\/p>\n
\nand sunlight. Gorges
\nof clear runoff, swimmers
\nin bright suits here and there in the curves.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n