The solitude is nice but it is cold when the wind picks up and I wish I knew where my sunglasses were because it’s bright with the snow. Not enough snow for skiing so I’m just walking 🚶 with my microspikes on. Good snow and ice for the microspikes.
But as we read mainstream articles and hear reports and speeches about how far we’ve come on this federal holiday honoring him, it is important that we remember some of the most hateful things that have been said about Dr. King and what he stood for by leaders of and in this country—Black and White—then and now. Why? Many of the conditions that he marched, boycotted, and spoke out against still exist today—racism, materialism, militarism. We celebrate him now, even while condemning today’s activists the same way Dr. King was condemned 60 years ago.
Some regarded him as “too passive” for his position on nonviolent action. Others, “too radical,” for his stance against racism and oppression.
Dr. King was widely disliked for his message of liberation for oppressed people in this country—Black people, Brown people, Native people, all poor people. The year he died, nearly 75 percent of American people disapproved of him, according to a 1968 poll.
Good morning! Happy Martin Luther King Day 🖤 ! Three weeks to Clean Your Computer Day 🧹. Sunny and 11 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 There is a northwest breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. The current wind chill is -3. Cold morning and going to be a cold day. There are 3 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at Wednesday around noontime. 🌡️
Bit of a breeze but doesn’t seem particularly gusty right now but I wonder what it will be like when I head out later. 🎿 I’d still like to go skiing at Schodack Island in a bit but I also don’t want to get sicker. At this point if it was a work day I’d be on the way to work – and I’ve been up for 2 hours now but it sure just looks cold outside even if it is sunny ☀. They’re certainly have been colder Martin Luther King days in the past.
M. L. King Day will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 23 degrees at 2pm. It’s the wind that makes it feel so cold. Seven degrees below normal. Northwest wind around 10 mph. A year ago, we had snow in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 21 degrees. The record high of 53 was set in 2006. 10.4 inches of snow fell back in 2019.❄
I cleaned off my truck yesterday ⛄ so when I head out I won’t be throwing snow and ice on the solar panel when driving 🚘 and to keep the batteries topped off in the cold. 🔋 Just a trickle charge with the low sun angle that’s fine as I’m not pulling much of a load these days in the winter as I’m not camping ⛺. Even though the snow was modest this morning it would have been pretty cold to camp plus I got a lot of reading done at home. 📖
Somebody commented on one of my posts how relatively little power the solar panel on my truck puts out this time of year – and amp or two an hour at 12 VDC which is true 🔋 but my consumption is so low and the alternator does a good job topping things off when I drive. An amp an hour eight hours a day, seven days a week though adds up – 56 amp hours. That said, lately it seems like I’m getting about 400 watt hours a week or 30 amp hour at 14 volt DC. In the summer when camping I can easily do 1,200 watt hours a week or 85 amp hours not including what I get from the alternator.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:07 pm with sun having an altitude of 27.2° from the due south horizon (-43.6° vs. 6/21). At least the sun angle is rapidly improving but its still low in the sky. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:10 pm with the sun in the southwest (235°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (243°) starting at 4:50 pm and lasts for 3 minutes and 15 seconds with dusk around 5:23 pm, which is one minute and 14 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:58 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies 🌃 and temperatures around 23 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 12. ☃️ There will be a northwest breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 32 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 52 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 7 degrees at 5am. Seven degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 7 at 6pm; Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph. In 2019, we had light snow. It got down to -7 degrees. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1994.
Mild but cloudy next weekend. ☁ Saturday, a chance of rain and snow. Cloudy, with a high near 38. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Not sure if there will much snow for the Pine Bush hike. Probably good though to bring microspikes. Sunday, a chance of rain and snow. Cloudy, with a high near 39. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Typical average high for the weekend is 31 degrees. Starting to warm up a bit.
🌹🌻🌼Only 59 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼
As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Clean Your Computer Day 🧹 when the sun will be setting at 5:20 pm with dusk at 5:49 pm. Don’t even need a skid loader or manure spreader for that. Or just buy more disk space, it’s so cheap these days. You can get a 128 gb USB stick for under $15 at Wally World. I don’t even know what you would put on a memory stick that big. On that day in 2019, we had mostly cloudy, with snow showers and temperatures between 33 and 17 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. Right on target. We hit a record high of 53 back in 1955. No tail fins on the cars back then, well except for small ones.
