Last Summer Camping During the Heat Wave in August.

Last summer during a heat wave in August, I camped down at the House Pond Campsite on Piseco-Powley Road. I hadn’t camp there in years, but this turned out to be a really nice campsite with a perfect little swimming hole just across the road.

Swimming hole with a good book

Happy Place

I think over the years, the campsite has expanded somewhat, with the fire pit pushed back further, and more room to hang a tarp or pitch a tent. There also is a nice little outhouse up on the hill in back of it.

Camp

Spent lots of time reading a book, laying back in a hammock on the hill above.

I also hiked back to House Pond, which was not all that impressive, but I did find some bear poop up that way.

Fortunately though, I didn’t see any bears, because I spent most of my weekend eating clams and sweet corn and drinking lots of beer.

Cooking Clams

February 21, 2020 Morning

Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! Three weeks to 7 PM Sunset πŸŒ†. Sunny and 19 degrees at the Elm Ave Park & Ride – CDTA. 🌞 There is a northwest breeze at 6 mph. πŸƒ. Honestly with the sun at a relatively high angle, it feels a lot warmer — I turned my heat down this morning to 50 degrees before I left for work.Β  There is a little bit of snow and ice on the ground. β˜ƒ Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 10 am. 🌑️ Should be a great day tomorrow at the Save the Pine Bush Hike.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high around the freezing point at 3pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 5th. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming west in the afternoon. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 44 degrees. The record high of 73 was set in 2018. 11 inches of snow fell back in 1929.❄

All and all a beautiful morning. 🚢I know I enjoyed my walk down tot he Park and Ride.πŸ•Ά Took Gillig 4115H downtown, which was fine, but it seemed like the hybrid portion of the bus wasn’t working right, so the bus accelerated really slow (almost like a blown turbo) and there wasn’t a lot regenerative braking. πŸ’₯ Believe it or not, that bus is now 13 years old, so it’s past it’s lifespan but as long as they can repair the problems, I am sure it will get a few more years of use. 🚌 Unlike the Gillig 4114H which is blowing a ton of black smoke — at least the last time I rode it.🚭

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 36.7Β° from the due south horizon (-34.1Β° vs. 6/21). The golden hour πŸ… starts at 4:56 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (250Β°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the west-southwest (256Β°) starting at 5:32 pm and lasts for 2 minutes and 59 seconds with dusk around 6:02 pm, which is one minute and 17 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 6:36 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies πŸŒ„ and temperatures around 29 degrees. There will be a west-southwest breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 50 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 47 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be clear πŸŒƒ, with a low of 18 degrees at 6am. One degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 20th. Maximum wind chill around 12 at 3am; South wind 5 to 7 mph. No unreasonable, the weekend should be quite nice. In 2019, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 28 degrees. The record low of -8 occurred back in 1963.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 40 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 4th. South wind 7 to 10 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Should be a great day for the Pine Bush hike. 🌲🚢🌲🌲A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 68 was set in 1997. 14.8 inches of snow fell back in 1893.❄

Looking ahead to Sunday, sunny, with a high near 48. Southwest wind around 7 mph. Sunday should be nice, I am thinking about hiking at Partridge Run or maybe Renssleearville State Forest again, as there might still be enough snow out there. β›· Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees.

🌹🌻🌼Only 27 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until 7 PM Sunset πŸŒ† when the sun will be setting at 6:59 pm with dusk at 7:27 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2019, we had partly sunny, sleet and temperatures between 44 and 21 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 43 degrees. We hit a record high of 70 back in 2012.

Gobler's Knob Stage

Opinion | Why Sanders Will Probably Win the Nomination – The New York Times

Opinion | Why Sanders Will Probably Win the Nomination – The New York Times

Successful presidential candidates are mythmakers. They don’t just tell a story. They tell a story that helps people make meaning out of the current moment; that divides people into heroes and villains; that names a central challenge and explains why they are the perfect person to meet it.

In 2016 Donald Trump told a successful myth: The coastal elites are greedy, stupid people who have mismanaged the country, undermined our values and changed the face of our society. This was not an original myth; it’s been around since at least the populist revolts of the 1890s. But it’s a powerful us vs. them worldview, which resonates with a lot of people.

Trump’s followers don’t merely believe that myth. They inhabit it. It shapes how they see the world, how they put people into this category or that category. Trump can get his facts wrong as long as he gets his myth right. He can commit a million scandals, but his followers don’t see them as long as they stay embedded within that myth.

Bernie Sanders is also telling a successful myth: The corporate and Wall Street elites are rapacious monsters who hoard the nation’s wealth and oppress working families. This is not an original myth, either. It’s been around since the class-conflict agitators of 1848. It is also a very compelling us vs. them worldview that resonates with a lot of people.

View from Long Path

Walking the Long Path along the escarpment overlooking the Switzkill Valley at Partridge Run,