15A Elm Ave
All Photos: Slideshow / Black Mountain / Dresden / Thatcher Park
The Second Admendment.
Trying to make sense of what the founding founders wrote.
All Fodder / Defining Ourselves / Dreams / Pickup Trucks / Water
Beautiful Spring-Like Weather.
Tuesday, March 9th 8:52 am
Nice Morning.
Good Morning! The past few days have had some truly spectacular weather out there. Walking down to work today, the weather was just so amazingly warm, so almost like spring feeling out there.
Realistically, I know it's only the 9th day of March and that things won't start to get really nice until May rolls around. Yet we will certainly start to feel some warmer days, between the late-winter/early-spring blizzards, and the sun bearing down onto the mud under the trees that lack leaves.
Some Music.
Youtube: Eric Andersen - Thirsty Boots.
TGIF; Politics is Disgusting; No Real Weekend Plans (Yet).
Friday, March 5th 8:57 am
Thank God It's Friday.
The bus driver might not be Colin on this Friday (he probably has it off), but it's a NABI bus, so it must be a Friday. That's a good thing. It's been a much too long of week, and while today promises to be a long one, then it will be the weekend.
It's bright and sunny out there. That somehow just gives me more energy then on cloudy out there. That and I had probably 4 cups of coffee and too much sugary danish, so I have a bit of a high going on. It might not be quite the same as yesterday, being out of town, but it still feels good to get back to the routine.
Politics Just Disgusts Me.
Like most New Yorkers, the past couple of weeks I've been watching with complete disgust as the governor's administration is falling apart and there is just one scandal after another. While I realize those Albany politicians don't really represent the goodness of the people of our state, they still all give us a big black eye.
All New Yorkers look like fools like when our leaders loot the treasury and act like they are above the same laws that they are sworn to uphold. They to often view their acts as only as effecting their political and the not reputation of the state as a whole.
Hell, I Still Don't Know What I Am Doing This Weekend.
I did a little bit of reading this past week about some of the various places I could go snowshoeing or skiing. I kind of don't want to go too far, but at the same time, I would like to go somewhere new. I'm kind of running out mountains that I can go to that I haven't been up nearby, particularly those without too many steep slopes. That pretty much rules out any of the peaks I've been up plus TriMount/Boroughs Range, the amazingly steep Southern Taconics, and all of the other peaks I've been up.
The weather promises to be so amazing tomorrow. So I just have to do something really cool. I just don't know exactly what I will do. Let me think about the possibilities.
Getting High in the Sunshine; Mixed Feelings About Being on the Road.
Thursday, March 4th 8:46 am
Sunshine Almost Always Makes Me High.
Good Morning! Today certainly feels like spring even if the calender says 16 more days until spring starts, and we know things won't green up for another 50 or 60 days. I got up early this morning, and drove down along the Susquehanna River. I then went for a walk down along the river, enjoying the first glances of sun. I have a lot on the plate for today, then I have to make the long haul back to Albany, because I have to back by 5 PM to drop off some papers.
Sunshine makes me high. Something about seeing that bright warm sunshine coming down through the truck's windows just give me such a feeling of hope and beautiful. I landscape all gray and salt covered, will soon melt away and green up. The river is full with all of the snow melt, as it flows through half a dozen states until it flows out to sea in the Chesapeake Bay. It will be so beautiful, and so amazing as we follow nature's own cycles into warmer weather.
Youtube: John Denver - Sunshine on My Shoulders.
Liking and Disliking Being on the Road.
I often have very complicated feelings about being out on the road.
I love seeing how vast the wild spaces are in our state, and how you can climb and drive over hilltops, and see nothing but farms and forest as far as the eye can see. I love meeting people across the state and learning how wonderful humanity is, and how communities struggle across the nation with the same problems we face in the Albany-area. It's fascinating to see different perspectives and outlooks people have on the world. Culture is quite varied even within our state, and even more different when you visit other states.
On the other hand, I miss much of what makes the Albany area so great. I miss seeing the views of Rennselearville and the rolling farm country. I miss seeing the Thatcher Park escarpment. I even miss some of the culture and politics of Albany. Not all that much, but something about all the beauty of these other parts of the state, just isn't like being home.
Wet Soggy Morning in Southern Tier.
Wednesday, March 3rd 6:54 am
Wet Soggy Morning.
A wet soggy morning along the Southern Tier Expressway. I always forget how "boring" the Southern Tier Expressway quickly becomes, once you get west of Binghamton and the beautiful Quickway section. It could be worst -- it could be snowing. The windshield wipers and the pickup are generally well behaved.
Last night was amazingly warm. It had to have been 45 degrees out, something I'm not particularly used to in this time of year. The warmness reminds me that spring will be upon us eventually, and it will start to warm up.
I see that people are starting to tap trees in the Southern Tier, and run the endless miles of sap lines. Making sap certainly is sticky, sweet business, involving an awful lot of syrup, boiled down to a sweet maple sugar. I got to get a couple of gallons this spring to keep for the next year, because I like making Maple Syrup bread. Good stuff.
Looking forward to spring, and some real warm weather, when I can spend endless nights camping out under the stars.
Some Music.
Youtube: Brooks and Dunn - Red Dirt Road
Exploring the Outdoors.
Adirondacks /
Catskills /
Finger Lakes
Schoharie County / Northern Tier / Taconics
Snowshoeing at Rensselaerville State Forest.
Exploring state reforested lands on the hilltops above Rensselearville.
The Weather.
Today's Sunrise is 6:17 am and Sunset at 5:56 pm for 11 hours and 39 minutes of daylight. It will be dark out 28 minutes after sunset. Tonight the Waning Crescent Moon (36%) will rise after sunset at 1:46 am and set the next day at 1:39 pm. Get out and enjoy it!
Next Tuesday the Waxing Crescent Moon (11%) will set around 8:23 pm. Get out and enjoy it! In One Month the Sunrise will happen at 6:23 am and Sunset at 7:32 pm for an increase of 90 minutes of daylight.
On the First Day of Spring the Sunrise will happen at 6:56 am and Sunset at 7:10 pm for an increase of 0 hours and 34 minutes of daylight. There are 11 days remaining until the calender says spring and we have a blizzard in Albany.
Tonight. 
Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 20s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph this evening...becoming light and variable.
Wednesday. 
Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 40s. East winds around 5 mph.
Wednesday Night. 
Partly cloudy in the evening...then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 30s. East winds around 5 mph in the evening...becoming light and variable.
Books I’m Reading.
