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Maybe not the coldest Martin Luther King Day ever … โ›„

I could of and probably should have spent another night in the woods last night, but I didn’t. I was put off by the promise of high-winds, heavy snow squalls and my still fairly new camp stove that wasn’t working really well. Going to order a backup regulator and filter so going forward to avoid future problems. I might go back out camping in two weeks, if it warms up for my 41st birthday or maybe I’ll wait until Presidents Day Weekend.

Good morning! Mostly sunny and 18 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a southwest breeze at 5 mph. ๐Ÿƒ.

Up at 5 AM ๐Ÿ˜€ making some pancakes with oatmeal, wheat flour and shredded carrots ๐Ÿฅ• to get that fiber-rich boost to my morning. Feeling good this morning, I thought I was starting to develop a cough yesterday, but I think I might have breathed into too much campfire smoke ๐Ÿ”ฅ in the cold on Saturday night. Blueberries, mango, honey and pure maple syrup to top the pancakes. ๐Ÿฅž Probably have a bit of a sugar high today, and if not that, I definately did do that second pot of coffee. โ˜• I’m up and going. Clear but cold this morning.

I do think it wouldn’t have been a bad day in woods, ๐Ÿ• but the forecast seemed so bad yesterday, plus I didn’t really pack enough food and I forgot to bring road salt to control the ice at camp. There will be future weekends, or so I tell myself. I do want to make sure I have that stove working well, at full output as I like my pipping hot coffee and eggs cooked quickly ๐Ÿฃ especially on a cold day today. But it’s easier to get up at 5 AM with a heated apartment and electric stove to quickly heat up coffee on such a winter’s morning. I do wish I could be watching the sun rise at camp again.

M. L. King Day will be mostly sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 28 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees below normal. Southwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Not terrible for mid-January. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 33 degrees. The record high of 65 was set in 1995. Seems like a good day to be listening to Dion’s Abraham, Martin and John on this cold winter day, though it’s expected to warm up as the day progresses. 13.4 inches of snow fell back in 1983.โ„ Maybe an inch or two of snow tomorrow. I could drive into my new office, but I think I’ll figure out a way to bus it was the transfers and or the shuttle as I don’t want to deal with snow or for that matter traffic.

Thinking about going for a bike ride this morning ๐Ÿšด‍โ™€๏ธ though the rail trail might be covered with snow. I could just ride the roads, maybe go out to Five Rivers or something. I also want to go to the library for a while, I’ve thought about making some Iowa caucus data from 2016 maps up to share on the blog. ๐Ÿ—บ Then later on this morning, going to head out to the folks house for a visit. ๐Ÿ‘ช Pork roast for dinner, should be yummy. ๐Ÿ˜‹ Last night, I made some chicken soup up, ๐Ÿ‘ฉ‍๐Ÿณ I was pretty good. I am guessing will be for lunch again too. Then I also want to make some bread up tonight, so I can put that in the oven for the morning. As I want to get in early tomorrow, as it’s the first day with the new position, I do need to be careful about cooking up soup or anything that takes too much time in the morning. Cold enough this morning I heard the heat kick on a few times, especially early on around 5 AM when I first got up to cook breakfast.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:05 pm with sun having an altitude of 26.2° from the due south horizon (-44.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 4:03 pm with the sun in the southwest (234°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (242°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:47 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 19 seconds with dusk around 5:17 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter ๐ŸŒ“ Moon in the south-southwest (206°) at an altitude of 40° from the horizon, 226,535 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:53 pm. At sunset, look for partly sunny skies ๐ŸŒƒ and temperatures around 28 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 28 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 40 seconds over today.

At some point I got to wash my truck and mountain bike, ๐Ÿšฟ both which have a lot of salt and mud on them. But right now with the cold that’s probably pointless as the roads are likely completely encrusted with road salt. There were a handful of things I didn’t get at Hannaford like peppers and more sweet potatoes I’ll probably want to get to get when I run out to Glenmont next time. I could drive in mid-week, and do all of those things on my way home after work. It really depends on how cold it is.

Tonight will have a slight chance of snow showers between 2am and 3am, then a chance of snow after 3am. Mostly cloudy ๐ŸŒจ, with a low of 20 degrees at 3am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 23rd. Maximum wind chill around 18 at 7pm; Northeast wind around 5 mph becoming light and variable. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 19 degrees. The record low of -16 occurred back in 1971.

I am excited about tomorrow with the new position. ๐Ÿ‘จ‍๐Ÿซ I have so much to learn in my coming months, though everybody seems to think I will be a good fit for the position, with my knowledge of data science and public datasets. In other words, I am good at typing a lot of %>%, though I probably should brush up on Python and certainly COBOL in the coming months. But a lot of things it’s best to leave up to the actual programmers. It’s a big change, but it’s good to embrace change, and I look forward to doing good work and improving my own life. I’ll need to update my investments and tax deductions, but I first want to to slowly bring up the level in my checking account ๐Ÿ’ธ which has been so depleted in recent months, mostly due to inflation eating away at everything. I worry a lot, probably way too much, though I’ve had fewer and fewer problems with actual anxiety attacks since I’ve been eating healthier. ๐Ÿฅฆ But as I note in one of today’s blog post, there are so many problems and risks in the world, ๐Ÿ“‰ that most important thing to do is to protect yourself against all the evils of the world today. They really are out to get you.

Cold and blustery weekend on tap. ๐Ÿงค๐Ÿงฃ โ›„ It’s winter, what I can say. But it’s not expected to last with a warm up expected the following week. Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 17. Blustery. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 23. Probably filming my little part of Reszin documentary that week. Oh, really, as Reszin once said about my bullshitting. Probably too cold to ride over to the filming location, ๐ŸŽฌ which I am not actually sure where it is but it can be combined with a run to the store or Walmart. Always seem to need more food. ๐Ÿ Typical average high for the weekend is 32 degrees.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until my 41st Birthday ๐ŸŽ‰ when the sun will be setting at 5:05 pm with dusk at 5:34 pm. That year of being forty went by like a flash. But it was good day, I mean year especially in the markets. How fast the days come and gone. On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 44 and 22 degrees. I had a lot of fun camping that weekend, doing a bunch of cross country skiing. Maybe I should do again. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 54 back in 2002.

Grey House

The Bethlehem Mountain Bike Trail System was a Big Pile of Slop this Morning ๐Ÿšตโ€โ™€๏ธ ๐Ÿท

It was fun but I couldn’t get any traction at all climbing the hills. Granted I don’t have studded tires, but the hills were so slick with that mixture of sand and organic matter that is common on the hills around Delmar. After riding a short amount of trail I tossed my hands up and headed back for the road, and then rode out to Voorheesville. Road 15 miles today before coming home and having lunch — sweet potatoes fried up with peas and left rice-lentils from last week. Little bit of salt and turmeric, and some olive oil and pure delicious nature.

Good morning! Happy 7:15 AM Sunrise โŒ›๏ธ ! Not that you could tell this morning, it was cloudy. A few minutes ago the rain started — caught a few showers riding back from Voorheesville — with temperatures around 51 degrees. โ˜” There is a south breeze at 13 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. Felt that wind really pushing in my face. The dew point is 49 degrees. It’s going to be a wet and windy next 24 hours, but maybe not too snowy locally — as temperatures aren’t expected to drop below freezing until Monday around 9 pm. โ˜ƒ๏ธ

Breakfast started out closer to 6 am with coffee, fried kidney beans, onions, corn and spinach and eggs. ๐ŸณA good protein rich breakfast. Lunch was fried sweet potato ๐Ÿ  with leftover brown rice-lentils. A good ride before the rain picked up. It will be nice this afternoon seeing the folks. ๐Ÿ‘ช Italian riggies for dinner.

Going to work on improving my bread ๐Ÿž this coming week. With the whole wheat ๐ŸŒพ flour I’ve been cooking healthy but the bread is often dense and crumbly after a few days. Buying some wheat gluten and xanthan gum to experiment with better bread including rye bread this week. 15 bean soup tomorrow then chicken ๐Ÿ” soup later in the week I plan to cook.

Today will rain, mainly after noon. ๐ŸŒง High of 52 degrees at 1pm. 14 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 5th. Maximum dew point of 52 at 2pm. ๐Ÿ–๏ธ South wind 7 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 31 degrees. The record high of 64 was set in 1966. 6.1 inches of snow fell back in 2014.โ„

Doesn’t look like the worse weather really gets underway until relatively late. ๐ŸŒง ๐ŸŒจ It looks like if anything a lot of heavy rain and snow. I am going to try not to stay out at my parents house too late into the evening, lest I get caught driving home in really soaking wet weather. I do

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:49 am with sun having an altitude of 24.5ยฐ from the due south horizon (-46.3ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:38 pm with the sun in the southwest (231ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (239ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:23 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 24 seconds with dusk around 4:53 pm, which is one second later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:30 pm. At sunset, look for rain ๐ŸŒง and temperatures around 51 degrees. The dew point will be 51 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 10 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 51 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will rain before 3am, then rain and snow. ๐ŸŒง Low of 34 degrees at 4am. Nine degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 12th. Northwest wind 9 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible. I guess but it’s really going to be too warm to accumulate a lot on the road. In 2022, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became light snow by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 25 degrees. The record low of -8 occurred back in 1988.

Today in 1978, Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work ending the Arab-Isreali conflict. ๐Ÿค Seems so quaint now, and insignificant with Isreal and Hamas back at war. Not the same characters but in many ways still kind of the same conflict. Also, in 1817 Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state, and was the last one to have the rebel flag on it’s state flag until a few years ago, when it became too embarassing with Black Lives Matters. ๐Ÿด๓ ต๓ ณ๓ ญ๓ ณ๓ ฟ I always thought the rebel flag controversy was stupid, why can’t boys still watch the Dukes of Hazard? Being a rebel or proud of southern heritage is different form being a racist.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Christmas Eve ๐ŸŽ… when the sun will be setting at 4:28 pm with dusk at 4:58 pm. On that day in 2022, we had cold, partly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 15 and 7 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 36 degrees. We hit a record high of 72 back in 2015.

Gods Rays Reach Into Reservior

Fifty days remain in 2023 ๐Ÿ—“

Day by day. The fact that Thanksgiving Day Week is basically the week after next week shows how fast the year is coming to a close. While maybe it would have been nice to get out of town this weekend, I’m thinking today I’ll ride to Peebles Island and have some fun closer to home while trying to hold the line on expenses, though I’ll probably end up taking the 18 bus back home and will probably need to get to the grocery store and or Walmart this evening as I’m eating myself out of house and home again.

Good morning! Partly clear ๐ŸŒ… and 41 degrees in Delmar, NY on this Veteran’s Day. ๐Ÿต There is a northwest breeze at 6 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 10 pm. โ˜ƒ๏ธ Not so cold for a mid-November morning, though it won’t warm up that much and it will be breezy.

Up a bit before six o’clock โฐ though I was awake before then. Decided to do oatmeal-banana pancakes with chia seeds today, ๐Ÿฅž topped with shredded apples ๐ŸŽ mixed with boiled apple cider, cinnamon, ginger and heated in the microwave. It was good. I have to admit I also had a bit more of that soup I made up last night — chicken soup I guess — ๐Ÿฒ though it was more of a stew with rich earthy overtones with lots of cumin and ground chili spice. Also finally getting around to cooking some chickpeas, ๐Ÿ‘ฉ‍๐Ÿณ might make hummus or just have them with various meals. Mom was suggesting putting them in soups. I also like them with fresh fruit, kind of like a trail mix without as much as fat as nuts, though they can certainly be good mixed in a handful of almonds, blueberries, and raspberries. ๐Ÿฅœ

Today is Veterans Day, which will will be mostly sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 46 degrees at 1pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 23rd. Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became rain by afternoon. It became somewhat humid as the day progressed. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2002. 3.0 inches of snow fell back in 1906.โ„

I am thinking about riding out to Peebles Island State Park in Cohoes. ๐Ÿšฒ It’s about 17 miles or an hour and a half ride each way. I am thinking I would likely ride up to the park, bring a lunch, walk around Peebles Island and maybe a little bit in Cohoes along the Canal. ๐Ÿ“ท Going to be a nice sunny day with blue skies for pictures. Then ride back to Albany via the Empire Trail, and catch the 18 bus back home. ๐ŸšŒ as I expect by then I’ll probably be running low on daylight and pretty tired as it’s a big trip. ๐ŸŒ† Days are so short come mid-November. I am thinking my next out of town adventure will be in a little under two weeks — the day after Thanksgiving through the following Monday, probably Route 8 on East Branch. Some quiet time off the internet.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 11:40 am with sun having an altitude of 30° from the due south horizon (-40.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 3:57 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (240°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-southwest (247°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:38 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 10 seconds with dusk around 5:07 pm, which is one minute and 3 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:42 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies ๐ŸŒ„ and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 10 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 56 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 16 seconds over today.

Money is just kind of tight ๐Ÿ’ณ after vacation and renewing my blog contract and all the trips I’ve been taking. โ›ฝ I ended up transferring in $750 from savings to ensure I had enough money to pay my credit card bill and maintain adequate balance in my bank account through the money. It’s not a pay week but come Wednesday, $1,300 goes out to the credit card. Already earned $135 from blog advertising, though I won’t get paid until mid-December under the Google Ad Sense rules that require a $100 minimum unpaid balance at end of the month to get paid, and then they hold your check for three weeks to verify it and collect interest on it. ๐Ÿจ I know, it’s kind of obnoxious but I’ll probably earn at least another $30 or $40 bucks before the month is done to tack on the $135. Web advertising is a bit of a mystery, based on bidding — one day I earned like $11 in ad revenue which is crazy compared to a buck or two most days and when you multiply it out over the months, especially for a small little blog like this. It’s good I’m staying home this weekend.

Truth is I have a lot of money coming in, ๐Ÿ”€ but the thing is as soon as it comes in a lot goes out. I am continuing to invest heavily into my retirement accounts ๐Ÿ‘ด as now is the time to do it while I’m relatively young and making good money, ๐Ÿ’ต and also into my investment accounts so they can continue to grow and own my own land eventually. While interest rates are up on my savings account — close to 5%, with inflation I figure it’s better to be going into the stock and bond market, especially over the long term. There will be a recession ๐Ÿ“‰ but eventually we’ll come out of it and things will grow. I am hopeful I can pay back my savings account in the next few months, especially as some of those short term expenses like vacation come and go, though soon I’ll have heating bills, though so far I’ve avoided using the heat, though yesterday โ™จ๏ธ I finally put the screens in my window and patched the air leaks around the door, ๐ŸชŸ as I know I’ll need the heat before long. I have the heated blanket ready to go but I haven’t put that on the bed yet, though I will be ready when those days come.

Tonight will be mostly clear ๐ŸŒƒ, with a low of 26 degrees at 6am. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 3rd. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2022, we had light rain in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 49 degrees. The record low of 15 occurred back in 1976.

Yesterday, I rode out to Voorheesville ๐Ÿšฒ and spent a lot of time reading and watching video and reading material for yet another Udemy class that I get free from the library. ๐Ÿ“ฑ Last week I finished a class called the Fundamentals of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis, now I am a few hours into a class on Remote Sensing and QGIS. Basically it’s all about using data collected from satellites ๐Ÿ“ก to learn about what is happening on the earth’s surface. ๐Ÿ“š I was going to go down to the library last night but I was tired and comfortable in my bed, after enjoying that soup that I made earlier int he day. ๐Ÿ›Œ I figure this is the time of year to learn more, and Remote Sensing is only going to improve my GIS skills, especially combined with the use of raster math both in QGIS and R programming language.

As previously noted, next Saturday is Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone ๐ŸฆŒ when the sun will be setting at 4:32 pm with dusk at 5:01 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy skies, snow showers and temperatures between 43 and 28 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 48 degrees. Opened this morning in Vermont. We hit a record high of 71 back in 1928.

Old Railbed Follows the Creek

And then the weather improves ๐ŸŒค

But maybe not my breakfast. I decided to try baking apple bread, but I didn’t use enough salt and maybe oil and I ended up with a carb loaded mess that tasted like crap. Dipping in it maple syrup and salt helped but I still ended up cooking complete junk. It happens when you experiment, at least it’s whole wheat.

Good morning! Partly cloudy and 51 degrees in Delmar, NY. โ›… There is a southwest breeze at 7 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. The dew point is 44 degrees. The skies will clear around 10 am.

So yeah, breakfast was kind of a mess with the loaf I decided to cook. ๐Ÿž Sometimes you just got to experiment I guess. Maybe it would have been better if I added some olive oil, stevia or salt. All those apples I thought would give it enough sweetness I really made a mistake leaving out all salt from the mix. ๐Ÿคฎ Kind of like dinner — I decided to make brown rice with chicken, with soy sauce but that meal needed some sugar to sweeten it up and MSG to tickle the uamani side of things. ๐Ÿš I’m so used to cooking with loads of spices that when I first tasted that rice with no spices I was shocked how bland it was. And to think ๐Ÿค” that’s how I started my healthy eating journey.

Today will have isolated showers after 10am. Partly sunny ๐ŸŒฆ, with a high of 59 degrees at 2pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 22nd. Southwest wind 7 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 54 degrees. The record high of 80 was set in 2017.

Not sure what today’s plans are going to look like. โ›บ Seems like it would be nice enough to camp but cold. I wonder how many campsites would be taken at this point during the holiday weekend though yesterday would have been a complete soaker for camping. โ˜” I’m thinking about going to the Green Mountains โ›ฐ though that’s an awful long trip for one night ๐ŸŒƒ that might be super cold. ๐ŸŒฌ๏ธ The forecast has improved but it’s going to be still quite windy and cold. But then again it’s Columbus Day Weekend. โ›ต That said, who knows how much longer there will be much color after the heavy rain and now the wind.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:44 pm with sun having an altitude of 41.6ยฐ from the due south horizon (-29.2ยฐ vs. V6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.8 footl shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 5:49 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (256ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west (263ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:27 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 56 seconds with dusk around 6:53 pm, which is one minute and 42 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 7:28 pm. At sunset, look for rain ๐ŸŒง and temperatures around 56 degrees. There will be a southwest breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 27 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 50 seconds over yesterday.

Got the new bike ๐Ÿšฒ light ๐Ÿ”ฆ installed on my bicycle yesterday and it’s quite bright ๐Ÿ”† from my initial before dawn testing this morning. I’m hoping if I get out today to camp I can do some night riding and see how great it really is. I love how it has USB charging built in and I can just plug in both the front and back lights for a charge while I’m home or at camp. No need to worry about batteries. ๐Ÿ”‹

Tonight will be partly cloudy ๐ŸŒƒ , with a low of 40 degrees at 6am. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 18th. South wind 7 to 9 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 36 degrees. The record low of 27 occurred back in 2001.

Might be a decent night ๐ŸŒƒ for camping ๐Ÿ•. As who knows about next week. I keep refreshing the forecast for Thomas WV and aren’t really sure what to think ๐Ÿค” about it. Still looks very cold and wet in the long range but things could change for sure.

 Hills

Not the nicest autumn weekend ever ๐Ÿ‚

That said it’s officially autumn however you want to slice it. Summer is just history and in a day or two it will be more night than day. My mind is totally on West Virginia and the Mountain Laurel of Canaan Heights not that I’ve even taken off those days yet. Or even fully planned a vacation.

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the Nature Bus ๐Ÿš Day! Mostly cloudy and 50 degrees at the Delmar, NY. โ˜ Calm wind.The skies will clear Monday around 5 am.

It’s kind of silly how much I love the Nature Bus ๐Ÿ˜ as I could drive to Thacher Park myself and I have a parks pass for parking ๐Ÿ…ฟ but it’s fun as it enforces a schedule and doesn’t cost anything. ๐Ÿ’ต Not going to be a really nice day but I don’t expect it to be a complete soaker either. Going to ride trail for a while ๐Ÿšต then probably hammock before catching the 3:30 back home. If it becomes a soaker there are pavilions and the Discovery Center with the nice porch and wifi to shelter under.

Today will have a slight chance of showers after 2pm. Cloudy ๐ŸŒฆ, with a high of 63 degrees at 3pm. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 12th. Maximum dew point of 50 at 9am. Calm wind becoming northeast 5 to 7 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 59 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1895.

This morning I was up and cooking ๐Ÿณ around five like I often do. Two big baguettes ๐Ÿฅ– and chicken and veggies roasting down in the oven. Up top was onion, garlic, and zucchini cooking to be cooked with eggs ๐Ÿฅš and fresh spinach before it goes bad. Used up the last two fresh tomotoes that I had. Nevertheless a good start to the morning. Made some walnut butter ๐Ÿฅœ to spread on the fresh bread – so yummy ๐Ÿ˜‹. Then I did morning walk ๐Ÿšถ. I didn’t sleep great but I have been getting to bed early as it gets dark early.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:49 pm with sun having an altitude of 47.4ยฐ from the due south horizon (-23.4ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 5.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 6:16 pm with the sun in the west (265ยฐ). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west (271ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:53 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 53 seconds with dusk around 7:19 pm, which is one minute and 47 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous ๐ŸŒ” Moon in the south (170ยฐ) at an altitude of 19ยฐ from the horizon, 228,989 miles away. ๐Ÿš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 7:54 pm. At sunset, look for rain ๐ŸŒง and temperatures around 62 degrees. The dew point will be 50 degrees. There will be a northeast breeze at 7 mph. Tomorrow will have 12 hours and 7 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over today.

I think the evening will end in rain โ˜”. But I have a delicious meal in the fridge ready to go ๐Ÿด and I’ll probably work on the blog re-write. I want to phase in the new data structure for the blog this coming week and start up the ads to cover hosting costs. ๐Ÿ–ฅ And then lights out ๐Ÿ’ก early tonight again.

Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly before 2am. Cloudy ๐ŸŒง, with a low of 53 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 16th. Maximum dew point of 50 at 6pm. North wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 41 degrees. The record low of 27 occurred back in 1963.

My blog got approved for Google Ad Sense. ๐Ÿคฌ I don’t love advertising and I’m going to use sparingly, but my hope is to generate about $30 a month from advertising primarily from the map pages, but also some of the archives and maybe the main feed but not right up top. I figure if I can make an average of $30 a month, a third will go to the tax man, then the $20 will cover hosting costs and maybe even cover a bus fare or something like that. I have the code ready to add the advertising to the blog, I am manually placing ads, not in the best positions but in ways that aren’t so obnoxious but do earn a bit in revenue, based on the high number of page views I get from my maps, especially in the summer. ๐Ÿ—บ I figure it’s an incentive to get off my ass and make up more maps.

Looking ahead, there are 6 weeks until Daylight Savings Time Ends ๐Ÿ•’ when the sun will be setting at 5:46 pm with dusk at 6:14 pm. On that day in 2022, we had sunny, warm and temperatures between 71 and 46 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 54 degrees. We hit a record high of 76 back in 1994. Those days will be here before you know it.

Some Parts of the Rail Trail Follow Quite Closely to NY 30

Where have all the August days gone, long time passing? โ›ฑ๏ธ๐Ÿฉด๐Ÿฆ•๐ŸŒฝ๐ŸŽช๐ŸŽข๐ŸŽก

Where have all the August days gone,
With memories from dawn to dusk?
They slipped through time’s gentle hand,
Leaving memories in the mud and muck.

Good morning! August days fade away as mostly wet memories — though it looks like come September a beautiful stretch of weather is ahead. Did you see that big blue moon last night? Mostly clear and 56 degrees in Delmar, NY. ๐ŸŒ… There is a north-northwest breeze at 9 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. The dew point is 51 degrees.

A nice morning for the walk ๐Ÿšถ. I have chickpeas cooking down on the stove this morning ๐Ÿฒ in a second attempt to make hummus again this time with fully cooked down chickpeas, sufficient salt and olive oil and fresh lemon ๐Ÿ‹. This time hopefully it will be a nice smooth mixture. ๐Ÿ›ป Tomorrow at this time my hope is to be heading towards Tribes Hill for Samdil’s Farm to stock up ๐ŸŒฝ ๐Ÿ† ๐Ÿ… ๐Ÿฅฉ ๐Ÿฅš prior to the Adirondacks. โ›ฐ๏ธ

Today will be sunny ๐ŸŒž, with a high of 73 degrees at 4pm. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 19th. Maximum dew point of 50 at 6am. North wind 8 to 10 mph. Very autumn like day ahead. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 79 degrees. The record high of 93 was set in 1953.

Closing out summer what seems like much too soon ๐ŸŒป but it always seems to happen this way. I went out to Bender Mellon Preserve ๐Ÿˆ after finishing off the last cantaloupe last night probably the last time after work until next spring due to the early sunset. Dark and shadowy now for the morning walk too as the sun rises later.

The red lentil wraps I made yesterday worked out good, ๐Ÿณ they were tasty with just the right amount of added sea salt. Again the key was soaking the lentils in advance all day so they were big and soft when they hit the food processor to make a good batter. ๐Ÿฅž Ultimately they were delicious with the red kidney beans and maple syrup ๐Ÿ for dinner though I’m sure if I had kept more water in mix they would have been excellent wraps. Might try again up at camp this weekend.

Glad I rode back and forth to work yesterday ๐Ÿšฒ as there was a car ๐Ÿš™ ๐Ÿ”ฅ fire on the Thruway and 787 was quite backed up plus I saved $2.70 for the day and got good exercise. Strong west wind coming out of the Norman’s Kill Gorge but I knocked it down and climbed slowly in lower gear โš™. Going to do the same today.

Solar noon ๐ŸŒž is at 12:57 pm with sun having an altitude of 56.1° from the due south horizon (-14.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐Ÿ… starts at 6:56 pm with the sun in the west (276°). ๐Ÿ“ธ The sunset is in the west-northwest (283°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:34 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 58 seconds with dusk around 8:01 pm, which is one minute and 41 seconds earlier than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 8:38 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies ๐ŸŒ„ and temperatures around 69 degrees. The dew point will be 49 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 13 hours and 13 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 46 seconds over today.

Tonight will be clear ๐ŸŒƒ, with a low of 50 degrees at 6am. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 22nd. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2022, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 55 degrees. The record low of 41 occurred back in 1967.

Funny thing about all this warm weather coming up next week ๐Ÿ˜Ž is I am already thinking a lot about the soups I can make up for cheap this winter, and are a bit disappointed that coming week isn’t going to be good soup weather. I was researching the use of canned broth and bouillon mixes and making my own stock for soup in coming months. ๐Ÿž ๐Ÿฒ Bouillon is cheapest and easiest way to add flavor to soup and other meals, and broth is fine though it seems like a lot of packaging, and once you open it up, you kind of have to use it up quickly. Most bouillon is high in salt though, in part due to it’s use as a preservative, but also taste. The flipside is the salt in bouillon means you can leave it out of the rest of the soup, and soup can keep you going most of the day. Stock is a good way to go if I have time — a whole chicken isn’t that expensive and I think I have a big enough pot. I am thinking soup is a great way to make a lot of healthy meals cheaply, and would be so good with the simple, whole wheat bread like I made up earlier in the week.

On this day in 1965, Super Guppy took it’s first flight. The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy is a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft that is used for hauling outsize cargo components. ๐Ÿ›ฌ It was the successor to the Pregnant Guppy, the first of the Guppy aircraft produced by Aero Spacelines, which in turn was named for its resemblance to a pregnant guppy. Five were built in two variants, both of which were colloquially referred to as the “Super Guppy”.

A truly beautiful Labor Day Weekend on tap. ๐Ÿ˜Ž Friday, clear and crisp 74. Might want to wear jeans and even a long shirt for heading up north! Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 81. South wind 3 to 8 mph. Maximum dew point of 59 at 4pm. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 85. Maximum dew point of 66 at 4pm. Labor Day, sunny heading up to 90. Typical average high for the weekend is 79 degrees.

I packed clothes and filled the water containers ๐ŸŽ’ in preparation for Labor Day Weekend and will finish packing this evening. I want to be to bed well before 9 PM, maybe 8:30 so I can get a very early start tomorrow, and be on the road before 7 AM if at al possible, so I can hit Spectulator by nine or so. Not because I’m planning on working ๐Ÿ’ค but I want to get that Hardwood Hill Campsite if at all possible, and then have the hammock set up and be all set up by mid-day, after which I’ll go for a nice bike ride. ๐Ÿšฒ I was thinking on Saturday or Sunday when it’s warmer, one option would be to ride down to Jessup River to cool off in the creek, although I almost want to drive down just so I can bring the tube for floating and cooling off. ๐ŸŠ‍โ™€๏ธ Going to be hot come Labor Day, though not excessively hot up north — but it is September. Still with the sun, it could get pretty warm up on Hardwood Hill, should I get that campsite.

Looking ahead, there are 6 weeks until Columbus Day Weekend starts โ›ต when the sun will be setting at 6:20 pm with dusk at 6:47 pm. Can you believe only six weeks until that one final big blast of autumn color? On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny, shallow fog and temperatures between 71 and 41 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 63 degrees. We hit a record high of 85 back in 1954.

Blue to Yellow

A slow and warm day for setting up camp for the next five days in the Finger Lakes ๐Ÿฎ

Finally made it to the Finger Lakes National Forest which is exactly my reaction when I pulled to the roadside desperately to piss in my wheel well as all day I’ve been peeing. I didn’t think I drank too much coffee this morning but those peaches and other farm fresh produce I was snacking on my ways to the Finger Lakes National Forest kept my bladder full and looking for trees, rest rooms and stops. Didn’t help I got stuck in bad traffic in Ithaca with construction and a tourist bus that used the back bumper of a flatbed trailer to stop and oh, yeah no power in East Ithaca or working traffic lights. Plus besides all the bathroom breaks, shopping at Walmart in Oneonta and an amazing farm stand in Caroline that made me wish I hadn’t gotten so much in Oneonta. Regardless, lots of good eating over the next few days.

Good evening! Partly clear and 79 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. There is a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. ๐Ÿƒ. The dew point is 66 degrees. The muggy weather ends tomorrow around 11 pm. ๐Ÿ˜“ Kind of buggy with the heat and humidity, though I expect things to improve come tomorrow. The real question is how wet will tomorrow be. Not sure, the Finger Lakes this year haven’t been as wet as Albany but not quitgy dry spell like Western New York. Seasonably wet you might say.

Got the big ol campsite โ›บ I wanted on Potomac Road. I admit I kind of raced the last two miles up here after a leisurely drive as I wanted to ensure I got the site I really wanted including swerving to dodge a pothole on the road and maybe even cutting off a driver a bit in determination to get the site though I doubt they were looking to camp here. I did see a camper van who was obviously looking for this site around 4 or 5 pm but I was here by 1:45 and it’s first come first serve. I took Friday morning off for a reason, lol. I really like this site as it’s farther off the road, well shaded but also where my truck is parked in a sunny field. No cell service at camp ๐Ÿ”• but I look at that as a benefit because I like the quiet ๐Ÿคซ. And my radio ๐Ÿ“ป is broke so no endless hours of talking heads ๐Ÿ‘ฅ discussing Jason Aldean’s Try that in a Small Town. I don’t need that crap or the endless stream of emails ๐Ÿ“ง and notifications on vacation. ๐Ÿ–

Spent the balance of the afternoon unpacking, organizing and setting up camp ๐Ÿ’ผ so everything will be perfect ๐Ÿ‘Œ for the next nine days. Did a lot of cooking – chicken, potatoes, onions, peppers and other things for lunch, then a similar thing with frozen samon for dinner. ๐Ÿ  I have so much good food to eat it’s hard to know where to start. Diet, lol. ๐Ÿ˜‚ Actually truth be told, I don’t have any cookies or junk food, just solid quality minimal whole fruits and vegetables ๐Ÿ that I’m cooking and eating this week. Had a beer ๐Ÿป but only one and no more then two each day if that all. Had some fresh squeezed lemonade ๐Ÿ‹ with stevia and used the rest of the lemon with the salmon. Yum, I’m eating good. ๐Ÿ˜‹

Tonight will be mostly cloudy ๐ŸŒƒ , with a low of 67 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 9pm. Northwest wind around 7 mph becoming south in the evening. In 2022, we had partly cloudy skies. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 68 degrees. The record low of 47 occurred back in 1987.

My phone shows a chance of rain โ˜” late this evening, so I’ll put away anything I don’t want to get wet before bed like my hammock and store my clean clothes in the cab of my truck to ensure they stay dry. I have a tent ๐ŸŽช set up for the dirty clothes, boxes and other camp supplies I’m not immediately using, mostly for organizational purposes. I think I need to get some crates for storing food, like I use on the back of my bicycle ๐Ÿšฒ especially as I have so much fresh stuff that I am not keeping in the cooler as I don’t have the space and I don’t think it strictly necessary but I worry about bruising and disorder in the reusable shopping bags ๐Ÿ›.

Tonight will have a Waxing Gibbous ๐ŸŒ” Moon with 82% illuminated. At 8 PM, the moon was in the south-southeast (158ยฐ) at an altitude of 17ยฐ from the horizon, some 233,176 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. ๐Ÿš€ At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by January 21st. Buckle up for safety! ๐Ÿ’บ The Strugeon ๐Ÿก Moon is on Tuesday, August 1. The darkest hour is at 1:14 am, followed by dawn at 5:23 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:56 am in the east-northeast (63ยฐ) and last for 3 minutes and 15 seconds. Sunrise is 59 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ„ The golden hour ends at 6:36 am with sun in the east-northeast (70ยฐ). Tonight will have 9 hours and 21 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 3 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 3pm. ๐ŸŒฆ High of 73 degrees at 12pm. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 14th. Maximum dew point of 71 at 12pm. ๐Ÿ–๏ธ West wind 9 to 15 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. It was sticky. The high last year was 89 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1894.

I am not expecting a real nice day tomorrow ๐ŸŒง๏ธ but I got books to read ๐Ÿ“– and podcasts to listen to and I’ll spend a relaxed day around camp doing some good cooking ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿณ healthy ingredients from the bounty I got at Walmart and that farmers market. ๐ŸŒฝ I have a ton of delicious Vadella onions ๐Ÿง…and lemons, ๐Ÿ‹ and so much else from grapes ๐Ÿ‡ to strawberries ๐Ÿ“ that I won’t go hungry and if I do I have more salmon, fresh spinach, rice ๐Ÿš beans ๐Ÿฑ and hot peppers ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ. Nice days I’ll head into town or other activities, ๐ŸŠโ€โ™‚๏ธ rainier stormy days, I’ll tool around the National Forest with Blackie my mountain bike ๐Ÿšต, hike into the back country and do some fishing ๐ŸŽฃ.

In four weeks on August 25 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (286ยฐ) at 7:55 pm,๐ŸŒ„ which is 38 minutes and 26 seconds earlier then today. In 2022 on that day, we had hot, humid, mostly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 87 and 60 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 81 and 60 degrees. The record high of 99 degrees was set back in 1947. Too soon, I’m not willing to think about summer coming to an end on vacation, lol.

Looking ahead, Average High 70 ๐ŸŽ‘ is in 5 weeks, September ๐ŸŽ is in 5 weeks, Labor Day Weekend Begins ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿญ is in 5 weeks, Autumn ๐Ÿ‚ is in 8 weeks, Buy Nothing Day ๐Ÿ›๏ธ is in 17 weeks, December ๐ŸŽ„ is in 18 weeks, Bill of Rights Day ๐Ÿ“œ is in 20 weeks, Days are Getting Longer โ˜€๏ธ is in 21 weeks and 4:30 PM Sunset ๐ŸŒ† is in 5 months.

Summer day