NPR

Joe Diffie, Wry Country Traditionalist, Dead At 61 Following COVID-19 Diagnosis : NPR

The arrival of the coronavirus to Nashville came early in March, but Joe Diffie's passing yesterday, at the age of 61 — just two days after releasing a statement about his diagnosis through his publicist — marked the first reported loss of a country star to coronavirus-related complications. An admired, early-'90s neotraditionalist, Diffie had a belated professional start but a quick breakthrough that came a few years into a wave of hard-country singers who favored naturalistic production.

You can set my truck on fire, roll it down a hill and still wouldn't trade it for a Coupe de Ville. Definitely white trash, the kind that smells like kerosene, rundown mobile homes and pig farm, but a good a good song. 

March 30, 2020 Morning

Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. πŸ’Ό Final day of March! No buses to catch just clock in at nine o’clock. πŸ•’ Hopefully this won’t last forever but I don’t mind working out back when the weather gets nicer. Four weeks to Arbor Day 🌳. Cloudy with some breaks of sun, damp, a bit windy and 42 degrees in Delmar, NY. β›… There is a south breeze at 6 mph. πŸƒ. The skies will clear Wednesday around 8 am.

Today will have showers, mainly after 3pm. 🌦 High of 47 degrees at 1pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 25th. Southeast wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. 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 71 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 1986. 4 inches of snow fell back in 1911.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:00 pm with sun having an altitude of 51.4Β° from the due south horizon (-19.4Β° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 4.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour πŸ… starts at 6:42 pm with the sun in the west (270Β°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the west (276Β°) starting at 7:17 pm and lasts for 2 minutes and 55 seconds with dusk around 7:47 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter πŸŒ“ Moon in the west-southwest (238Β°) at an altitude of 60Β° from the horizon, 240,649 miles away. πŸš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 8:22 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 44 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 12 hours and 39 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will rain showers likely before 4am, then a chance of rain and snow showers. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 35 degrees at 4am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 8th. Northeast wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. In 2019, we had partly cloudy skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 35 degrees. The record low of 12 occurred back in 1923.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. β›… Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 55. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 57. Typical average high for the weekend is 53 degrees. I am continuing to watch the forecast, might do some social distancing in the wilderness β›Ί and maybe do some fishing. 🎣 I am thinking Schoharie County but I’m a bit undecided.

Also thinking about calling the repair shop πŸͺ and seeing if they can fix the alignment issue on Big Red. I’ve noticed that the uneven wear on the rear drivers side wheel and while it’s not severe, I really should get it fixed before the summer driving season. πŸ”§ I’m thinking with everything shutdown now would be the time as I’m working from home so picking up before five isn’t a big deal and I’m getting that government stimulus check in a few weeks.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Arbor Day 🌳 when the sun will be setting at 7:51 pm with dusk at 8:21 pm. On that day in 2019, we had rain showers, partly cloudy and temperatures between 50 and 40 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 63 degrees. We hit a record high of 91 back in 1962.

Roundtop Mountain

Sign to Foot Trail Down Back of Mountain

I decided not to take the much steeper foot trail down the mountain with my snowshoes, as the snow was rather deep, and not well packed down. I also did not know how steep the trail was, so I decided to go back down the mountain the way I first came up it.

Taken on Sunday March 7, 2010 at Black Mountain.