Kings Road Barrens
A winter's afternoon hiking in the Kings Road Barrens in Albany Pine Bush.
Taken on Saturday February 24, 2018 at Albany Pine Bush.
Propane 🏮
Propane 🏮
A few days ago I posted about how my research found that it was the propane dealers association that was most vocally pushing back against the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Propane is widely sold as a cleaner and cheaper fuel to heating oil, especially in rural Western NY in areas lacking natural gas lines. Oil still remains dominant though in rural parts around the Hudson Valley. I don’t know if electricity is that much of a threat to propane, although it’s obvious that propane dealers see the writing on the wall, or at least are pretty fearful about heat pumps and greater electrification of rural residences. A farm or rual residence might be a good place for solar panels, and if you can make your own energy, why pay a propane dealer?
I have some experience working with propane having used it a fair bit for camping over the past six and half years with a twenty gallon tank and my big buddy heater, propane stove and lantern. Propane has its pros and cons for sure — it’s a relatively clean fuel but it can get very dirty from the oils on connectors taking them in and apart in the woods. But certainly propane is a much cleaner and more reliable fuel then the awful liquid gas stoves I used to use, especially when burning regular gasoline.
When I own my own land and have an off-grid cabin, I will probably use propane but I’m not sure if I would want to use it as a primary heating fuel, as it’s relatively expensive and makes you dependent on propane deliveries, which can be difficult if not impossible in remote country. Plus it sure seems l like some of the propane dealers engage in scammy business models. While bulk propane delivery is much cheaper, getting a 100 lb or even a 30 lb tank might be a better option, as you can take it to any propane filler to get filled and have multiple tanks around.
Most energy consumed by propane is by far for heating. While I might keep a propane wall heater or a big buddy heater for warming things up quickly in the cabin when things are cold, I think the best method of heating remains wood, harvested and processed yourself. Wood is a carbon neutral fuel if harvested from your own acreage, it’s not dependent on market prices. Propane though is good for cooking, although if you have a wood-stove going, you might as well make breakfast and other meals in a cast iron skillet right on the wood-stove, rather then consuming expensive gas.
In the summer, an outdoors cook-stove might be a good option, although in my experience in Boy Scouts, cooking on wood isn’t as easy as you might think to control heat levels, and it’s a lot of waiting for coals to build up. Maybe though in a regular outdoor cook-stove it’s easier to cook then an smokey, open fire. At least with a cook-stove you can ventilate the smoke up and above and not have it in your face, and to boot, papers and wrappers can be disposed of after cooking so you have less kitchen trash around. But I don’t know, there is definitely some advantages to cooking with gas, especially in rural areas without access to high-voltage electricity.
Albany City Wards – Redistricting Winners and Losers
I decided to take a look at the 2020 Census data and redistricting in the City of Albany. Ward 12, the Pine Bush is the biggest winner while North Albany Ward 4 is the biggest looser. Pine Hills Ward 13 was hurt a lot by COVID 19 and college students being remote during April 2020.
February 9, 2023 Morning
Good morning! Firery red skies to the south east and 22 degrees for the morning walk. 🌅 Calm wind for now. ️Things will start to thaw out at around 8 am. 🌡️Then more rain. That should kill off most of the remaining snow.
Skies are certainly colorful for the morning walk 🚶 but it’s a sure sign of the coming clouds and rain. I will try to get as many steps as possible in before the rain, probably walking the Concourse and museum at lunch time so I have my ten k in without having to walk in the rain ☔.
Out walking by 6:30 which is good 🥞 though it’s still to dark to walk before breakfast at six but maybe next week. I generally like walking earlier in the morning when it’s quieter out. Also if I walk first then I feel like time is less compressed in the morning. 🗜
Today will rain, mainly after 11am. 🌧 High of 42 degrees at 4pm. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 6th. Light south wind increasing to 12 to 17 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. I’m old enough to remember when it snowed in the winter but not this year. A year ago, we had snow in the morning, which became snow by afternoon. The high last year was 24 degrees. The record high of 57 was set in 1925. 13.7 inches of snow fell back in 1906.❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 32.7° from the due south horizon (-38.2° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 9.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:39 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (244°). 📸
The sunset is in the west-southwest (251°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:19 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 4 seconds with dusk around 5:48 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:22 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 42 degrees. Breezy, 17 mph breeze ⛅ from the south-southeast with gusts up to 30mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 24 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 36 seconds over today.
Tonight will rain likely before midnight, then a chance of showers, mainly between midnight and 5am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 42 degrees at 6pm. 26 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 27th. South wind 10 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 12 degrees. The record low of -21 occurred back in 1948.
A picture perfect weekend on tap. 😎 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 37. Northwest wind 10 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 43. Typical average high for the weekend is 35 degrees.
Maybe a bit breezy but the sunshine ☀ should be nice. Still think this should be a stay at home weekend though I’m considering stopping by Indian Lader Farms 🍏 and doing some bird 🐦 watching at the marsh out in Voorheesville though with the muck boots 👢 on.
As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Read Across America Day 📚 when the sun will be setting at 5:47 pm with dusk at 6:14 pm. On that day in 2022, we had cold, mostly sunny and temperatures between 24 and 9 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 40 degrees. We hit a record high of 65 back in 1991.
