July 22, 2020 Night

Good evening! Mostly clear and 69 degrees in Speculator, NY. ๐ŸŒƒ Calm wind. The dew point is 61 degrees.

I think I made the right choice to stay up north as it’s a very pleasant evening. Not going to stay up beyond ten but I’m hopeful to see the comet ๐ŸŒŸ tonight. So far I’ve only seen Vega. Some high clouds but I’m hoping for a very starry night from this open sky campsite. A little fire tonight, cooled off a bit after dark. Kept the lights simple tonight – just the flag light, campfire and lantern ๐Ÿฎ on low to allow me to better enjoy the site. No screen tent ๐ŸŽช tonight as the bugs ain’t bad and I didn’t want to deal with wet gear.

This evening I hiked back to Fly Creek Road and down to the Sacandaga River to wash the sand off my itchy feet. ๐Ÿ‘ฃ I checked out the area where Robert Garrow murdered those campers nearly 50 years ago. ๐Ÿ”ช I couldn’t find the exact site, I may not have walked down far enough. ๐Ÿ˜• Pretty area though but very overgrown. I was surprised, the old road is poured concrete with asphalt coat – hasn’t been paved in probably 70 years and still in passable shape. I was glad to get that sand off my feet, they were itchy enough to make me think I might have gotten athletes foot from the beach, like last time. I’ve been wearing my sandals a lot more lately to try to keep my feet drier. Athletes foot doesn’t bother me but jock itch is bad when you have itchy balls ๐Ÿ†.

Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly after 4am. Mostly cloudy ๐ŸŒง, with a low of 63 degrees at 4am. One degree above normal. Maximum dew point of 64 at 11pm. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Seems like it will stay to the south. In 2019, we had light rain in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 65 degrees. The record low of 45 occurred back in 1981.

Today wasn’t a bad, worked from the town park โ›ฒ and then went during the beach during lunch to swim ๐ŸŠ then spent the balance of the day working at the library ๐Ÿ“š. All day was rain free which was nice, well except for a brief shower when I was working from my truck. It’s nice being only five minutes away from Speculator – makes it easy with work. Library parking ๐Ÿ…ฟ lot was packed midday with people using the Wi-Fi – a lot of children ๐Ÿšธ – must be doing the – lessons. Internet was slow for a while. ๐Ÿข

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent ๐ŸŒ’ Moon with 6% illuminated. At 9 PM, the moon was in the west (281ยฐ) at an altitude of 12ยฐ from the horizon, some 230,253 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. ๐Ÿš€ At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by January 13th. Buckle up for safety! ๐Ÿ’บ The moon will set in the west-northwest (292ยฐ) at 10:11 pm. The Strugeon ๐Ÿก Moon is on Monday, August 3. The darkest hour is at 1:04 am, followed by dawn at 5:04 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:38 am in the east-northeast (61ยฐ) and last for 3 minutes and 21 seconds. Sunrise is 58 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ŸŒ„ The golden hour ends at 6:19 am with sun in the east-northeast (68ยฐ). Tonight will have 9 hours and 7 minutes of darkness, an increase of one minute and 54 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have scattered showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 1pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy ๐ŸŒฆ, with a high of 78 degrees at 2pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around August 28th. Maximum dew point of 66 at 8am. Southwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. It was humid. The high last year was 79 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1955.

Tomorrow will be similar to today, ๐Ÿฌ although I’ll need to run to the store for ice and food ๐Ÿฒ. It should be another nice evening tomorrow and then Friday after work I’m heading back to Piseco Powley Road for the weekend, probably camp farther north, maybe at a site I’ve never camped at before. Probably visit the Potholers Saturday and then head home relatively early come Sunday.

In four weeks on August 19 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (288ยฐ) at 7:54 pm,๐ŸŒ„ which is 36 minutes and 14 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had humid, partly cloudy, mist and temperatures between 86 and 69 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 80 and 60 degrees. The record high of 92 degrees was set back in 1899.

Green to Colors

Local Farmers Financially Impacted by COVID-19

Local Farmers Financially Impacted by COVID-19

Dutch Hollow Farms is part of a co-op, so while Chittenden says they’re luckier than independent farms their co-op still asked them to cut their milk production by six percent.

“Our milk wasn’t being disposed of, it was still gonna get shipped but we just weren’t gonna get paid for it,” Chittenden said. “So to make the product and not get paid for it is a humongous economic hit to this business — so we have to figure out a way to make less milk — we actually sold 35 cows yesterday.

Dutch Hollow Farms has Jersey cows, which produce higher fat content and higher protein milk than other milk producing breed, so Chittenden says their milk is often favored over some other farms. But that’s not the only reason he says their family feels fortunate.

Nate is a great guy and his social media, especially his Twitter is great - but also follow him on Facebook. They dairy just outside of Castleton on Hudson, producing wonder Jersey milk on the fertile gently rolling country above the Hudson River. 

Borinquรฉn

Throughline: Borinquรฉn

7/16/2020 by NPR

Web player: https://podplayer.net/?id=109761044
Episode: https://play.podtrac.com/npr-510333/edge1.pod.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/npr/throughline/2020/07/20200716_throughline_final_mix_pr_rerun_wads_lw071520-60906980-4194-467e-bab5-2ecef9ba0681.mp3?awCollectionId=510333&awEpisodeId=891442022&orgId=1&topicId=1136&d=4024&p=510333&story=891442022&t=podcast&e=891442022&size=64248400&ft=pod&f=510333

Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory in 1898 and for much of the next fifty years Puerto Ricans fought fiercely about this status. Should they struggle for independence, or to be a U.S. state, or something in between? In this episode, we look at Puerto Rico’s relationship with the mainland U.S. and the key figures who shaped the island’s fate.

This is a wild story about the history of Puerto Rico and how wild and rebellious displaying the Puerto Rico flag truly is. I am a supporter of all revolutionaries seeking justice.

Soil health means better human health | Successful Farming

Soil health means better human health | Successful Farming

Experts believe these soil microbes could also have a big impact on the nutritional content of our food. Moreover, the plants we eat and the dirt we come in contact with may also directly fortify our own gut microbiomes. The discovery of this link between soil health and human health has commanded the attention of big food companies, farmers, scientists, and environmental organizations, and it’s sparked a research boom that may soon tell us whether soil microbes are as important to our longevity as daily exercise and a restful night’s sleep.

Camp

A simple, very open campsite for relaxing, near Speculator. No complaints there, although my cell service was a bit weak.

Taken on Wednesday July 22, 2020 at Spectulator.