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Happy Final Friday of January 2024! ☔

Kind of a wet one to flush away the month of January. I’m up early walking laps on the Concourse in the Emperor’s Plaza. I was thinking if I wanted to do some cardio I could do the stairs in LOB, though truth be told I’ll be here come midday for diversity training and then I’m going to work the rest of the day in my old office.

Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! Heavy rain and 38 degrees at the Elm Ave Park and Ride. 🌧️ There is a southeast breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. Not much snow left after the warm temperatures and the rspTemperatures will drop below freezing at Sunday around 3 am. ☃️

For some reason I didn’t sleep well last night 🛏 so I’m up early walking 🚶 the Plaza. I just find it hard to sleep with the windows closed and I need another night in the wilderness but alas it’s January for a few more days and the woods is going to be a mosh pit after all the rain of recent. 🐽 I have diversity training today, so I’ll need to stay awake for that. And lots more reports to run. I need to figure out how to get Docker running on my work machine 🤖 to automate that further.

Breakfast this morning was pancakes 🥞 made from carrots 🥕 and apples with some egg and whole wheat flour for binder with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice and honey 🍯 to top. Then I decided I was still hungry and wanted some protein, so I had some Greek yogurt and strawberries 🍓 as a side. ☕ Looking forward to more coffee when I get in the office. Last night it was pea soup 🥣 with carrot bread which came out so moist and tender, reminded me almost of carrot cake. By the end of the week I think I will have eaten nearly five pounds of carrots.

Today will rain, mainly before 10am. Patchy fog after 5pm. 🌧 High of 43 degrees at 4pm. 10 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 9th. Southeast wind 6 to 10 mph becoming northeast in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 41 degrees. The record high of 59 was set in 1950. 8.5 inches of snow fell back in 1949.❄

Bike ride in and hike was good, 🚲 though on a cloudy day like yesterday it was darker than I would have preferred for riding across the Water Street Bridge. Didn’t help there was a bunch of debris from crashes on the shoulder. I should have enough time that in the future I might ride through Corning Preserve 🏞 and over the pedestrian bridge as an alternative.

I’m getting used to suburban office 🏢 with its acres parking 🅿 which everybody tells me is a good thing but I find it hard to believe. I just find the corporate architecture to be so soul depraving with the acres of cubicles, florescent lighting and the very square windows that are few and far between. At least I can make it work with the buses 🚍 and it’s an easier bike 🚲 ride. I enjoyed riding in yesterday and riding down to the river at lunch time, ☺ It will be nice come summer. Acres of parking probably is good if I’m planning on going out of town after work.

I do think I’m doing good work, 🖥 putting my data science skills and Unix knowledge to hood work in the new position. Change is good, I think I’m rapidly getting up to skill. Plus it’s a good resume builder as I can say I’m using Unix text utilities, SQL and R processing in a o

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:08 pm with sun having an altitude of 28.6° from the due south horizon (-42.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 11 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:18 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (238°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (245°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:00 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 12 seconds with dusk around 5:30 pm, which is one minute and 17 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:05 pm. At sunset, look for cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 42 degrees. There will be a southeast breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 48 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 7 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have patchy fog before 7pm. Otherwise, cloudy ☁, with a low of 35 degrees at 5am. 20 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 10th. North wind 3 to 6 mph. In 2023, we had light snow in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 27 degrees. The record low of -23 occurred back in 1994.

Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a high of 41 degrees at 1pm. Eight degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 3rd. North wind around 6 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 36 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 1974. 9.3 inches of snow fell back in 1963.❄

Looking ahead to Sunday, rain and snow, becoming all snow after 4pm. 🌨️ High near 35. North wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees.

As previously noted, next Friday is Ground Hog Day 🐻 when the sun will be setting at 5:10 pm with dusk at 5:39 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 36 and 19 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 53 back in 1981.

Places I Camped in 2023

While this year was a rainy one, and it rained during many of my trips, I was able to get out for 53 nights in the wilderness — mostly fairly close to home but I also did a trip down to West Virginia in late October with several trips to the Adirondacks, Central New York and summer vacation in the Finger Lakes.

Martin Luther Kings Day – January 14-16 (2 nights)

To start out my camping adventures in 2023, I drove out to Charles Baker State Forest and Brookfield Horse Camp. There wasn’t a lot of snow — just a dusting but it was a fun weekend, topped off by a beautiful sun-full glittery hike up Tassell Hill after a hoar frost. Explored Lost Pond and several of the trails in the middle of state forest.

40th Birthday – January 27-29 (2 nights)

For my fortieth birthday, I took off the Friday leading up to my 40th birthday to cross country ski and winter camp at Rensselaerville State Forest. It was a beautiful weekend with lots of blue skies, sufficient snow for skiing but not so much that was a ton of snowmobiles out on the trails.

Presidents Day – February 17-19 (2 nights)

I decided for Presidents Day Weekend to do another trip out to Charles Baker State Forest and Brookfield Horse Camp. Slightly more snow then last time but again largely a snow-less winter, with some nice days for hikes through the various truck and horse trails. I hiked around much of state forest, especially the more southern part of the forest.

Easter Weekend – April 7-9 (2 nights)

On Good Friday through Easter I camped at at Rensselaerville State Forest. The snow was gone and it was fairly mild though at times it was a bit cool. Spent a fair amount of time walking around and exploring the new OSI Parcel that has been recently added to state forest and is still largely open fields with sweeping views of the Catskill Mountains.

Duck Pond Trip – May 5-7 (2 nights)

The first Friday in May I took a half day from work and headed out to Schoharie County to camp at Duck Pond at Burnt-Rossman Hills State Forest. Originally the plan was to camp two nights at Duck Pond, hiking along the Long Path and exploring the state forest and then on Sunday hiking the Catskill Scenic Trail. That part of the trip changed when driving along Duck Pond Road the low tire pressure light came on I found a pallet nail in my truck tire. I was able to top off the truck tire and then change the tire when I got home and got the nail pulled and plugged. But it wasn’t the best way ever to end a trip early.

Overnight at Cole Hill – May 13-14 (1 night)

After visiting the folks on Mother’s Day Weekend, I decided to do a quick overnight hammock camp on Cole Hill State Forest in Berne. Nothing fancy or formal, it was as much a way to test out sleeping in my hammock with the bug screen. Kind of a chilly night, I took camp down fairly and headed home early in the morning.

Memorial Day Weekend at Cole Hill – May 20-22 (2 nights)

This year I decided to eschew the Adirondacks and Greene Mountains for Memorial Day Weekend due to the black flies, my desire to look at bicycles, and work I had to do on the Saturday morning leading up to the holiday weekend. I decided to hammock camp again Cole Hill State Forest in Berne. This was a three-day two night trip, so it it gave me a chance to bring more gear up the mountain, set up a more formal camp. Cooked on the fire, hiked around the forest. It was a warm weekend, but I enjoy the solitude, along with having good cell service for listening to podcasts and watching videos.

Juneteenth Weekend on Piseco-Powley – June 15-20 (4 nights)

To kick off summer, I did my usual Juneteenth weekend camping trip, tacking on some days on the Juneteenth Holiday Weekend. It was a bit of a cool and rainy weekend to kick off summer, one that would actually be followed by many cool and rainy weekends where I would stay home. Camped at House Pond for the first three nights, spending time down floating in the tube on East Branch while the final night I camped up at Powley Bridge site and kayaked along the East Branch. Really, like often is the case, the best weather was the day I took down camp.

Catskill Scenic Trail Trip – July 22-24 (3 nights)

After several months of researching and visiting various bike shops, I finally got a mountain bike. I decided it would be fun to do as much of the Catskill Scenic Trail as I could before my summer vacation got underway. Actually did quite a bit of riding and hiking that weekend — started out hiking Pratts Rock’s then riding from Grand George to Hobart. Sunday, I rode from Fultonham to Middleburgh on NY 30, doing a quick climb up Vromans Nose, then stopping at the farm market then going to Mine Kill State Park to swim. Monday I rode from Hobart down to Bloomville, getting caught in a major thunderstorm and downpour a few miles north of Bloomville with no shelter in sight. The trail became super boggy, then I went to Mine Kill State Park for one more swim, and then out to folks house for Sunday dinner a day later then usual.

Finger Lakes National Forest – July 28 – August 6 (9 nights)

Every year for nearly a decade and a half I’ve been doing summer vacation out in the Finger Lakes — camping in the National Forest and exploring as much as possible during my days there. The past few years I’ve been driving there on a Friday, to get a better campsite before they’re taken by the weekend campers. This year was no exception. With Blackie, my mountain bike, I did nearly all of the bike trails in the near vicinity, from the Black Diamond Trail to the Cayuta Valley Trail to Dresden – Penn Yan Canal Trail. Kayaked on both Cayuga and Scenic Lakes, swam many days at Watkins Glen State Park and Taughannock State Park, explored the Cornell Campus and Botanical Gardens on my bike. Got some good ice cream at the Spotted Duck, explored the Geneva Waterfront along with the Cayuga-Seneca Canalway. Some rain but compared to the wet summer that was, this was a pretty good week.

Piseco-Powley – House Pond Campsite – August 18-20 (3 nights)

The next few weeks for rainy and by the time I got away for one more long weekend, it promised to be fairly nice weekend but turned out to be fairly cool and cloudy with some rain. Back at the House Pond Campsite, did some swimming in East Branch, but with the mercury in the 60s most of the weekend, I didn’t spend a lot of time in the water. Hardly what I had dreamed when the I planned the weekend. Rode Blackie up to Goldmine Stream Falls and relaxed down by the falls for a bit, also sat down by the swimming hole off of the Old Edick Road Snowmobile Trail, watching the rain fall, bemoaning the wet and cold weather. Still it was good to get away for a bit, and I did do a fair amount of reading in hammock, under the protection of the bug net, as the bugs were bad after such a wet summer.

Labor Day at Perkins Clearing – September 1-4 (3 nights)

I took the Friday off before Labor Day to get a jump on the holiday season travel, and set up camp at the site I really enjoy up at Perkins Clearing overlooking the mountains. Did a fair amount of riding along the various dirt roads of Perkins Clearing, including over to Mason Lake and on Sunday rode most of the way to the Spruce Lake Trailhead, though didn’t make it there in time as I got a bit of a late start as I spent the balance of the day reading and swimming in the Jessup River Bridge swimming hole. Labor Day, I rode around the Spectulator Tree Farm, doing a large loop, through the tree farm, past the north end of Elm Lake, then down to Austin Falls and Old Route 8B. I had hoped to get ice cream, but by the time I got to the ice cream shop they were out of soft-ice cream, and there was a long line. Summer was dragging to a close.

September Trip to Rensselearville State Forest – September 15-17 (2 nights)

With time being fairly tight and the weather only so-so I decided to do a two night trip close to home out in Rennselearville to ride some of the gravel trails, explore the OSI Parcel further and just enjoy an early autumn weekend camping.

Columbus Day at Rensselearville State Forest – October 8-9 (1 night)

Columbus Day Weekend was cold and rainy for the first half of the weekend, but the Sunday heading into Columbus Day was nice, so I decided to head out to Rensselaerville for a quick overnight at the campsite on CCC Road. Leaves were late this year, so not a lot of color, but it still was nice to get away for a night and ride some of the trails around.

West Virginia Trip – October 21-29 (8 nights)

The banner trip of the year was my trip down to West Virigina. While it started and ended in rain, it was a very enjoyable trip with lots of new adventures this year. Camped the balance of the week — 6 nights in Canaan Heights — doing day trips from that area. Overnighted one night driving down at County Bridge Campground in Pennsylvania, and a on the way back camped overnight at Long Pond State Forest in New York. Adventures in West Virginia included hiking at Dolly Sods, mountain biking at night in the sods of Canaan Heights, riding up and hiking to Table Rock, exploring Blackwater Falls State Park on the mountain bike, MonPower Mountain Bike Park, Thomas Rail Grade and the Olson Firetower. Rode part of the Great Allegheny Trail through the Cumberland Passage, and the two sections of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canalway, including the Paw Paw Tunnel.

Stoney Pond – November 4-7 (3 nights)

A little over a week back from West Virginia, I headed out to Madison County to ride the Tassel Hill Mountain Bike Trails at Alfred Woodford, the Chenango Canal Trail in Hamilton and Erie Canalway from Chittenango to Green Lakes State Park and then to Canastota and Wampsville. The first night was cold at Stoney Pond but the subsequent nights were quite pleasant and mild.

Prospect Mountain – East Branch Sacanadaga – Buttermilk Falls/Hudson Special Management Area – November 24-28 (3 nights)

Strangely enough, I had never been up Prospect Mountain. So I decided the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) to hike up Prospect Mountain, and then spend the next two nights camping on East Branch of the Sacandaga River. The Saturday and Sunday was fairly cold, so I ended up spending the bulk of day hanging around camp, doing a bit of hiking around Fox Lair. Sunday, evening around 8 PM it started to sleet, then snow, then rain, Monday morning, it turned into a white globby snow, and I ended up taking down camp fairly early after discovering I was out of propane and then spent much of the day exploring the Hudson River Special Management Area – Buttermilk Falls.

Stoney Pond – Charles Baker – December 21-26 (5 nights)

On the days leading up to Christmas I decided to take a second trip to Madison County. I was originally planning to camp two nights at Stoney Pond then two nights at the Charles Baker Horse Camp but my family’s holiday plans were cancelled due to illness in my family, so I ended up staying an extra night at the horse camp, through the day after Christmas. On Friday, I rode the Erie Canalway from Canastota to East Verona, nearly to Rome. On Christmas Day I rode around many of truck trails at Charles Baker with my mountain bike, leaving my face splattered with mud. Many of the days were fairly cold and cloudy, but that’s too be expected in late December. Still it was a special way to spend Christmas.

Final Friday of 2023 ☺

The year is coming to a close. I decided to work from home today so I can run to the store midday to get the supplies and food I need for the New Years Eve trip and probably because we’ll get released early and frankly because I don’t expect a busy day today at work today. If I have downtime, might as well work from home. But first a quick ride out to Voorheesville to get some exercise before work starts.

Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! Clouds and 42 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ Calm wind. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow night around 10 pm. ☃️ But first quite mild.

I was pleasantly surprised ☺ that there is no showers around this morning 🚲 and I can do a morning bike ride before work for some exercise and working at home. Some things to do today but should be a generally slow day. At lunch time I want to get propane 🏮 so my tank is full for camping 🏕 along with toothpaste and other things on my list at Walmart. 📃

Today will have a chance of showers. Patchy fog before noon. Otherwise, cloudy 🌦, with a high of 47 degrees at 1pm. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 22nd. Calm wind becoming southwest around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter 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 48 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1984. 6.0 inches of snow fell back in 1915.❄

I managed to set off the smoke alarm twice this morning while cooking. 🧑‍🚒 I I’m sure my neighbor loves me for that fortunately he works the early shift. 🍳 Shredded onions and spinach with eggs 🥚 made into a cake with mushrooms and peppers. Pretty good, fiber rich breakfast. I’ve also been enjoying that carrot 🥕 bread I made – the vital wheat gluten really helps improve the consistency 🍞 and between the shredded carrots and the baking soda it baked to a nice deep color, almost like pumpernickel bread moist with the consistency almost of cake. And this time it wasn’t so tough on my stomach. 🤰🏽

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:58 am with sun having an altitude of 24.1° from the due south horizon (-46.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:45 pm with the sun in the southwest (231°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (239°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:30 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 5:01 pm, which is 44 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:38 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 46 degrees. There will be a west-southwest breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 8 minutes of daytime, an increase of 36 seconds over today.

Tonight will have a chance of showers. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 38 degrees at 6am. 19 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 27th. West 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 cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 43 degrees. The record low of -21 occurred back in 1933.

Tomorrow will have a chance of rain showers before 4pm, then a slight chance of rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 43 degrees at 12pm. Eight degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 2nd. West wind 5 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 57 degrees. The record high of 53 was set in 1984. 10.9 inches of snow fell back in 2000.❄

I think I’ll probably head up to camp ⛺ mid-morning tomorrow for the New Years Holiday. 🎊 Not planning anything too fancy just two nights in the wilderness with a fire 🔥 and some sparklers 🎇 and try to stay up until midnight on NYE and toast in 2024. Maybe fry up some walnuts and cranberries. Listen to podcasts 📻 and enjoy the mild weather and probably mud. I’m going to ride some trails and roads 🚲 though probably a lot will be muddy.

Looking ahead to Sunday, New Years Eve, partly sunny, ☀ with a high near 38. Northwest wind 8 to 11 mph. Typical average high for the weekend is 35 degrees.

A better Thursday closing out 2023 ☺

The days go by so quickly it seems, though in the case of yesterday maybe not quick enough. Things just got off on the wrong start with the smoke alarm yesterday, compared to today with warm fresh carrot bread and banana oatmeal pancakes.

Good morning! From here on out the sun will be setting after 4:30 PM 🌆 . Slowly but surely the days are getting longer out, step by step. Rain and 44 degrees at the Elm Ave Park and Ride. ☔ There is a north breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Saturday around 11 pm. ☃️

After slamming my way through the morning yesterday, 💥 it turned out to be a pretty decent day and things went fairly smoothly. I caught the express bus 🚍 home and between the lunch time and an evening walk 🚶 got my steps in for the day. Made up a bunch of whole wheat bread 🍞🥖 – one loaf with rye and the other with carrots 🥕 and was in bed by nine 🛏 and got a good night’s sleep.

Today will have a chance of showers. Patchy fog before noon. Otherwise, cloudy 🌦, with a high of 47 degrees at 2pm. 12 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 22nd. North wind 3 to 5 mph. Another mild day ahead. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 41 degrees. The record high of 61 was set in 1982. 7.0 inches of snow fell back in 1967.❄

Another dreary day on tap 🌨️ but we could be slip sliding our way through it but it’s too warm and I’m not paying for the heat. 👣 It’s not a bad day for walking laps around the Plaza before work and I’ll turn on that brass lamp that I like a little too much when I get to my office 🏢. I wonder if my new office will have a brass table lamp. After all that is what is truly important in the world these days. I just like shinny things that don’t harbor viruses and bacteria. 🛋️

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:57 am with sun having an altitude of 24.1° from the due south horizon (-46.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:44 pm with the sun in the southwest (231°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (239°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:30 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 5:01 pm, which is 43 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:37 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 47 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 7 minutes of daytime, an increase of 27 seconds over yesterday.

I have to admit it just was difficult to shift gears from Madison County 🐮 back to work. It was just so much fun spending Christmas at the horse camp. 🎅 Yes, it was damp and cold at times, with that tangy taste of manure on the air 💩 but it seemed so far away from Albany. The mornings were so dark that I slept in pretty late. I was fortunate that I was able to get away for six days.

Tonight will have a chance of showers. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 41 degrees at 5am. 22 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 17th. Light northwest wind. Chance of precipitation is 50%. 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 22 degrees. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1933.

I haven’t decided if I will work from home tomorrow, 💻 I have those end of the month reports to run and it would be easier to do from the office though I have bandwidth on my phone 📱 to do it if I wanted. I would kind of like to get propane at lunch time 🏮 and food and supplies for camping 🏕 this weekend. 🪥 In particular, I need toothpaste, I forgot to get that last time I was shopping on Tuesday 🛒 along with all important tumeric.

Mild and less wet weather to close out the 2023.🌤️ Saturday, a chance of showers, mainly before 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 42. West wind 7 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. New Years Eve, partly sunny, with a high near 39. New Years Day 2024 looking at 40 degrees with more sun as the day progresses. Typical average high for the weekend is 35 degrees.

I think I’ll head up to camp ⛺ early on Saturday morning as Friday looks kind of wet. Two more nights is plenty to close out the year. 🎆 Use up some of those sparklers and toast away the year as there is much to look forward to both good and bad in the 2024. And make sure to start dating things correctly. 🗓

Fifty days remain in 2023 🗓

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 🌅 and 41 degrees in Delmar, NY on this Veteran’s Day. 🏵 There is a northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 10 pm. ☃️ 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 ⏰ though I was awake before then. Decided to do oatmeal-banana pancakes with chia seeds today, 🥞 topped with shredded apples 🍎 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 — 🍲 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, 👩‍🍳 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. 🥜

Today is Veterans Day, which will will be mostly sunny 🌞, 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.❄

I am thinking about riding out to Peebles Island State Park in Cohoes. 🚲 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. 📷 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. 🚌 as I expect by then I’ll probably be running low on daylight and pretty tired as it’s a big trip. 🌆 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 🌞 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 🏅 starts at 3:57 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (240°). 📸 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. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:42 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 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 💳 after vacation and renewing my blog contract and all the trips I’ve been taking. ⛽ 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. 🏨 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, 🔀 but the thing is as soon as it comes in a lot goes out. I am continuing to invest heavily into my retirement accounts 👴 as now is the time to do it while I’m relatively young and making good money, 💵 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 📉 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 ♨️ I finally put the screens in my window and patched the air leaks around the door, 🪟 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 🌃, 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 🚲 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. 📱 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 📡 to learn about what is happening on the earth’s surface. 📚 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. 🛌 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 🦌 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.

Nostgolia on this Election Day 2023 ☕🙈🗳️

This year I’m glad I’m not involved in any elections or doing anything political. Just sipping my coffee watching the sun rise remembering the days gone by but glad I’m not at all rushed this morning.

Good morning! Happy Election Day 2023. Partly cloudy ⛅ and 51 degrees at the Stoney Pond State Forest. ☔ There is a west-southwest breeze at 15 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 47 degrees. I can smell the manure somebody’s spreading this morning 💩 it’s November in Madison County and the field work is soon to be done for the season. 🚜 They might have snow as soon as midweek.

Turned out to be a much nicer morning then expected. ☕ I knew it was going to be a great day when I awoke, saw the clear night skies 🌜and the moon. Had a nice hardy breakfast of eggs 🍳 with lots of vegetables and onions 🧅 that I got at Aldi’a yesterday in Cazenovia. While yesterday was cold, damp and gray at times it was still a good day with lots of riding 🚲 and making the most of my day off. A lot has changed in this world over the past few years but mornings are still quite beautiful and the coffee is good.

Glad I’m not involved in any elections this year 🗳 but there were many hard fought ones out of Bill Magees auction house 🗝️ 🍶🏺just down the road. Been half a decade now, I saw the bridge in Cazenovia they renamed after him. It was sad he lost five years ago, but during that general election cycle wasn’t my race. 🧑‍🌾 Truth is winning these rural districts is almost impossible with the democratic party becoming mostly an urban issues party with gun 🔫 control one of their top priorities. I can understand why people vote the way they do nowadays out in the country. 🚜 It’s not just Trump. Both parties have become more extreme but the Republicans have really locked up the rural areas nowadays. I have a feeling that Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Senator John Tester of Montana are going to loose in 2024, especially if the GOP runs a stronger presidential candidate then felon Donald Trump. ⏳ Time moves on. Democrats though really have locked up the suburbs, especially the older ones and professional class. 🕴🏻

Today will have showers likely, mainly between 10am and 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a temperature falling to around 43 by 5pm. 🌦️ Breezy, with a west wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with sunny skies in the afternoon. The high last year was 69 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 1938. 4.5 inches of snow fell back in 1886.❄

I’m not sure how long it will be nice, clouds are already pushing in. 🌥 I don’t want to deal with wet camping gear 🏕 so I’m slowly but surely taking things down. I don’t have solid plans for today but I think 🤔 I’ll just go for a walk 🚶 around Stoney Pond then head home and get unpacked. 👪 Planning to go see my family this afternoon it’s been three 3⃣ weeks as I’ve been out of town 🌲 on various trips. Despite yesterday being cold and dreary especially midday it was a great trip.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:47 am with sun having an altitude of 30.9° from the due south horizon (-39.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:08 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (241°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (249°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:50 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 8 seconds with dusk around 5:18 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:53 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 44 degrees. Breezy, 20 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest with gusts up to 32mph. Today will have 10 hours and 6 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 26 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday I rode the South Trail from outside of Cazenovia to New Woodstock. 🚵 Nice ride though best on a mountain bike as some parts of the trail are a bit rough with roots and gravel. Pungent with the cow poop and water slurry 🐮 💩 one of the dairies was applying to a nearby field but that’s to be expected this time of year.

Spent a little bit of time riding around New Woodstock yesterday after taking the South Trail from outside of Cazenovia to New Woodstock. 🚂 Neat little village with a Historical Museum just off the rail trail. They like in Cazenovia also have an old Black Diamond Caboose there. Cute little village.

Unfortunately my bike had developed a really annoying squeak on Sunday afternoon ⚙️ which I couldn’t figure out and started applying grease everywhere, including getting it all over my hands 👐 and jeans 👖 and started to drive me crazy thinking I might have a failing bearing or some problem that could leave me stranded. I thought it was just some stone dust from the Erie Canalway somewhere it shouldn’t be mixed with the grease. Kept stopping, applying grease trying to find the noise. 🔕 Finally, I figured it out, it was the left pedal got some stone dust in it and squeaking. A little spray lubricant, knock off WD 40 on the pedal after my south trail ride 🚲 returned my sanity.

Swung by Critz Farms hoping to get apples 🍏 but it looked like only the brewery was open 🍻 and I wasn’t looking for a drink. So I went to Cazenovia Lake Park. Kind of cold gray afternoon but the geeese didn’t seem to mind the cool gray day on Cazenovia Lake. 🦆

Then I went to the Lorenzo State Historic Site, never been there before. ⛲ Been by it a million times though. It was a Monday so all the buildings were shut up and no visitor services or as I needed a bathroom 🚽 but it was still nice to explore the grounds. Swung by the library 📚 in Cazenovia for a pee.

Then I Canastota – Cazenovia Trailway, it was starting to rain and was cold didn’t spend a lot of time, ☔ wanted get back to camp and start cooking soup plus by then I needed another bathroom 🚽 break. Too much coffee ☕ in the morning. 🌅 Also didn’t feel like carrying my mountain bike over several steps to cross Bingley Road. Visited Aldi’s in Cazenovia 🍏 🥦, such a delightful shopping experience. 🛒 Low prices, simple selection quick in and out and the cashier lines without them bagging is so quick. ☺

Got back to camp around 4 pm accidentally brushed a tree with one of my tires backing into the campsite ⛺ rushing having to pee but didn’t do any body damage to my truck 🛻 as the tires stick out beyond the body. Sun ☀ came out and ghe wind died down. Fried onions and mushrooms, boiled carrots, broccoli, spinach and whole wheat pasta, added some tuna fish 🐠 for an excellent dinner. Soup really warmed me up 🍲, I just wish I had some homemade bread 🍞 to dip in it but I eat all of that the previous three days. Had a nice fire 🔥 didn’t rain until 7:30 pm so it was a good evening at which point I retired to bed 🛏 in my truck for the evening.

Tonight will have a chance of rain and snow showers before 11pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 11pm and 1am, then a chance of flurries after 1am. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 26 degrees at 6am. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 3rd. Northwest wind 14 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2022, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 34 degrees. The record low of 18 occurred back in 1971.

Cool but fairly decent now for Veterans Day Weekend, especially come Saturday. ☀ Friday, clouds then clearing, high may reach 43. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 37. Sunday, going to be sunny and 39. Typical average high for the weekend is 51 degrees. Probably will stay 🏡 next weekend.

Looking ahead, next Tuesday is Average High is 50 🍂 when the sun will be setting at 4:42 pm with dusk at 5:11 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 42 and 27 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 50 degrees. We hit a record high of 70 back in 1973.

Not a Real Fan of Thacher Park

For many years I would never go to John Boyd Thacher State Park. I never really liked the place — I thought it was too developed — too surbanized — too packed the gills with obnoxious people. Not a place to go for relaxation or scenic views but to be run over by joggers and bicyclists while taking in the view or doing nature study.

My hatred of John Boyd Thacher Park wore off over the years. First in 2003, I started go occasionally to the back part of the park off of Beaver Dam Road after my college class let out for the day — usually once a week. It was nice going back there, especially around the ski hill in the evening, as you would never see to many people back there. Mostly undeveloped, wandering around the cleared paths in the brushy woods that were full of wildlife.

Then I “rediscovered” the OSI parcel, which is some “wild” lands to the north of the park. Especially on weekdays, and to certain extend on the weekends this area is quite nice, quite and wild. Most of the surburbanites in their SUVs avoid this area for the developed parcels with the picinic tables and rails to discouage them from heading to close to the edge. But the OSI parcel is a totally different experience.

While I like the OSI parcel with its views, if I have other choices I’ll go to other wild lands with even fewer restrictions. I don’t like how Thacher Park closes at dusk, you can’t go for moonlit walks or camp there like on state forests. There just seems to be so many restrictions compared to other wild lands around to explore.

Andy Arthur.org

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