Sunny and 56 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 Calm wind. The dew point is 53 degrees. Should be a nice day.
Yesterday, I took the Nature Bus 🚌 to Thacher Park, hiked around 15 miles including starting at the Overlook Parking, then Hop Field, the Hop Field Wetland Trail, then up to Beaver Road, hiked out to Thompsons Lake Hamlet, then down to the boat launch, campground, nature trail. 🏞 From there I took the Salisbury Trail to Perimeter Trail to Fred Schroeder Memorial and then down to High Point, then along the mountain bike trail to Hang Gliders Cliff and then out to Horseshoe Clove. It was a pretty good hike, catching the 6:20 PM bus home, some eight hours later, with a little bit of hammock time.
Today, I am not planning on a real ambitious day, 👣 after walking 40,000 steps or about 20 miles yesterday. I probably should do a morning walk today, but I am not ready to get going yet, plus I have an idea for a project I’m working on for the blog — namely 360 photos that I’ve discovered how to with my smartphone. 📸 New record on the steps.
I should probably do an early morning walk — I was up a little after 6 AM but I am enjoying my coffee. ☕ I should do a little more cleaning and putting away after summer vacation, especially if I am thinking about heading up to the Adirondacks next weekend, maybe the Potholers one last time this summer. With work, I don’t think I can be so far off grid in future weekends.
I will need to get milk 🥛 tomorrow as that plastic jug is about to hit the wastebasket. I do wish I could get milk in deposit glass. I don’t make a lot of trash 🗑 and they burn fine but it seems like such a waste. I drink less milk these days though to try to cut back a bit on the calories. Ice water 💦 is a lot more healthy.
I should think about voting, 🗳 as the early vote center down the road is now open for the Congressional primary race, but I can do that one night after work I figure. 🚶♀️ Plus, on election day, primaries all-day long in New York under some of the reforms the legislature did a few years back to make voting easier.
This afternoon I’m heading out to the folks house for Sunday dinner 🍔 and then will probably hike Bennett Hill. It’s been a few weeks since I lost caught up with them. 🚶 It’s always a nice hike and should be good and clear. The elevation gain gets the blood pumping and at let’s me get some of my steps in for the day. Truth be told I should have done my morning walk but maybe I can do some in the evening. 🌃
Step 1: Light the lighter and set the milk jug on fire.
Step 2: Milk jug starts to melt and burn.
Step 3: Milk jug collapses on itself.
Step 4: Milk jug 3/4 gone; reduced to melted plastic, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, and water!
Step 5: It keeps burning up and disappearing.
Step 7: It’s almost entirely gone.
Step 8: All that’s left is a little resin left in the coals.
The fire has almost completely disposed of this milk jug that was previously just trash that otherwise would have lasted forever in a landfill. The fire will eventually burn out, and what remains will be burnt up in the next fire.
I was watching the flicker of the flames as I lit the charcoal this morning.💥 Big yellow flames as the charcoal and lighter fluid caused hydrocarbons to be split in a somewhat oxygen deprived environment producing yellow light as the carbon bonded to the oxygen producing carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.🔥
While it’s true that carbon monoxide is a deadly poison that kills humans and animals, and exposure to elevated levels causes heart disease, out in the wilderness it quickly dissipates into non harmful levels as a substance that is a part of nature. 🌀It’s a much bigger problem in cities where there are many more sources of carbon monoxide or in enclosed areas where there isn’t a virtually unlimited supply of oxygen.👷
I enjoy looking at the flames, the flicker and the warmth. Fire produces light, and warmth, it can be used to cook🍔 or even dispose of burnable waste.🛢 Who doesn’t like watching that styrofoam plate or plastic milk jug melt away into oblivion?
I’ll be the first to admit I’m a fire bug. I like fire, I like camping and spending time in the wilderness. I cook with fire, and sit into the evening next to roaring fire.🔥 When I finally own a house and land, it will be out in the country where I can heat with wood, cook over fire, burn my own garbage and have bonfires.🏡
I get that fire can be a dangerous and destructive force. 👿Fire can pollute, smell bad, especially when burning certain noxious substances in more urbanized areas.🌟 But out in the country, the wilderness, when used safely it can be very beneficial force.
I’m a big of farmers who are essentially Living Off the Earth and think Rednecks are Noble Savages. Dairy Farming are key to our rural landscape. I’d trust a farmer or a hunter in a pile of guts he’s butchered over any ivory-tower scientist.
Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day from the Adirondacks, of course. Two weeks to Latest Sunset 🌆. Filtered sunshine and 62 degrees at the Speculator Village Park. ⛅ There is a southeast breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 56 degrees.
So camp is taken down once again 🎪 and after work today I’ll most likely head home. I’m out of food and ice, well except for some dry goods like peanut butter and jelly, some mustard and eggs. 🐮 I dumped out the last cup of so of milk in the milk jug in the cat hole 💩 before breaking camp because otherwise I figured it would go rancid and it already was two days expired. I had to take down camp as my three nights in I e location, as the regulations state, had expired. Plus I don’t think today will be a very good day for solar power. ☀
To start out my day, I walked down to the boat dock at Speculator Village Park ⛲ with my binoculars to observe birds 🐦 and ducks until the first email 📧 or call 📞 of the day comes in. I know at eleven o’clock the texting program gets underway and that should keep me busy the bulk of the day besides all the other memos 📝 written, database imports ⏫ and all other necessary tasks.
Today will be scattered showers between noon and 1pm, then scattered showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partlu cloudy ⛅ , with a high of 78 degrees at 3pm. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around June 14th. Maximum dew point of 66 at 5pm. Southeast wind 8 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 81 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 2008.
I have my bathing suit and beach towel ready 🏊 should the weather be nice enough and I get a break to swim during lunch or after work. I’m not sure how stormy today will be but I’m sure we might get some large booms from thunder ⚡. While I’ve been washing my hands and rinsing out my hair and shaving each day, I could definitely use a good shower 🚿 when I get home as it’s been a week since I’ve had a good scrubbing. Been cool enough up north that I’ve not been swimming.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:58 pm with sun having an altitude of 69.6° from the due south horizon (-0.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:55 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (296°). 📸 The sunset is in the borthwest (304°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:39 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 31 seconds with dusk around 9:13 pm, which is 34 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 10:01 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 71 degrees. The dew point will be 66 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 11 mph with gusts up to 21mph. Today will have 15 hours and 21 minutes of daytime, an increase of 44 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be scattered showers and thunderstorms before 9pm, then a chance of showers between 9pm and 3am, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 3am. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 67 degrees at 1am. 12 degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 10pm. South wind around 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. In 2019, we had light rain in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 58 degrees. The record low of 36 occurred back in 1980.
Tomorrow I’ll run to the laundromat 👚 and continue unpack and get things cleaned up. It’s yet another work day but I can work remotely from my truck while at the laundromat. I’ll also need to get groceries. 🍲 I’ll call 📞 the shop 🔧 about them looking into the wear pattern on the tire, have them rotated and a synthetic oil change. I know the service light isn’t on yet but I always like to do oil changes early to avoid sludge build up. ⛽
On this day in 1964, United States Senate breaks a 75-day filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, leading to the bill’s passage. 👍 That was a big change back then and fifty years later I expect even further changes in our country. I’m glad police 🚨 reform and defund the police has gotten so much attention – I think it will make a big difference in the future of our country.
Cool but sunny this weekend and at least in Speculator. Saturday, a chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 67. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 49 at 8pm. Sunday, a chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 68. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Maximum dew point of 52 at 8pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 77 degrees.
Saturday I’ll probably walk out to Five Rivers 🚶 for bird watching 🐦 and then Sunday I’ll probably hike at one of the local preserves before going out to mom and dad’s house for Father’s Day. 👪 I’ll bring my own fork and knife 🍴 along with plate, and set up the screen tent 🎪 to help further social distancing. That said it’s at least in New York that pandemic is winding down at least for round 1.
I expect it’s likely that the Capital Region will be in Phase 3 of the reopening 🏢 and I’ll most likely be working downtown next week. Do I have any evidence of that? No. I’m just waiting to see when CDTA reopens. 🚍 I’ll probably be taking the 719 back and forth to work 💼 as that bus is rarely crowded, especially the 8:26 downtown.
As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until the Latest Sunset of the Year 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 8:42 pm with dusk at 9:18 pm. On that day in 2019, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 85 and 56 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 80 degrees. We hit a record high of 96 back in 1943.
I have two Coleman coolers, one from the 1970s from my parents and one I found on the curb from an apartment down the street. They seem to work fine, although I wish I had a drain in them for letting out water. But I’m not going to replace technology that I have that already works. I typically use two coolers in the summer months, because about half of each is taken up by ice in summer months. One cooler is used for meat and milk which has to remain particularly cold, the other is for beer, cheese, condiments, and stuff that has to remain less cold.
For ice, I use two gallons of ice placed in each cooler, frozen in old milk jugs. The milk jugs typically last for 2-3 camping trips before they have to be replaced. I’ve looked at using blocks of dry ice for longer trips, but only one place locally, somewhat out of the way, sells ice. Dry ice has the advantage of lasting a lot longer and not melting into water, but I’ve heard it can food an off taste and you have to be careful handling it. It generally lasts 3-4 days, on the hottest summer days. After that I buy ice from local retailers, preferably block ice but if they only have cubes, that will work.
I also have a 12 volt piezeoelectric cooler, but I don’t use it much any more. For one I’m not all that impressed with it’s cooling ability, especially in a hot vehicle (I leave the windows shut in bear country and when I’m parked on the street, in shade, while at work before camping) and I only have limited cooling capacity.