You know it was worth an exploration, I tell myself even if it didn’t have the right feel for me. Pointed Rocks on the Batten Kill had been on my bucket list for a long time to hike – it’s a surprisingly long and steep hike outside of Adirondack and Catskill Park and the whole area around the Batten Kill is quite spectacular, full of birds and nature if not a pungent this time of year from the manuring. Shits gotta grow come the summer.

Good morning! Rain and 44 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ There is a south breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 4 am. ☃️

Honest, I wasn’t planning on going to Washington County yesterday 🏞 but I ended up that way after looking at some houses, properties and land in Hoosic, Pittstown and Valley Falls. Rural country out that way but it didn’t have the right feel in my mind. I totally get why that former Research Services director used to live out in White Creek but that’s a bit too far away from work especially having to drive through Troy and all those other little speed traps and hick towns. 🚓 Of course he did move to Pennsylvania as soon as he could retire.

I had wanted to hike Pointed Rocks and explore the area along the Batten Kill for some time now. 🚶 🏞️ but somehow I never got up that way as there isn’t any place right nearby to camp, except maybe for the Green Mountain National Forest on the other side of Bennington. Nice country up along the Batten Kill State Forest and along NY 313, but certainly too far from Albany too commute. 🚦🚙🚗🚚🛻 There was an interesting property along NY 22 that was 20 acres of moutainside and woods, with a steep creek for micro-hydro that looked quite attractive from the road and on paper, if not for all those damn traffic lights, hick towns and NY 7 traffic cluster. Had a nice little mobile-home sized site on a ledge over the road, with a somewhat steep driveway but partially cleared. I think it was a former hunting camp. 🏠️ Looked like the neighbors would have been good, they’re distance away, have horses and a small pre-fab house. Price was good, but it’s all about the location.

And I didn’t have the natural attraction to Grandma Moses country that I have to the Heldebergs, and I don’t know anybody who currently lives out that way. 👨‍🚒 I’m sure if I got involved in the community, maybe became a volunteer firefighter I could make friends, but it’s still tough. Plus, despite all the kitsch Grandma Moses Painting, that area of state is quite poor. 🐐 But I kind of like that, those are probably good friendly people who work hard, not yuppies.

Today will have showers likely, mainly before 8am. Mostly cloudy with some clearing later on 🌦, with a high of 51 degrees at 4pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 29th. South wind 7 to 15 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 47 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 1990. 4.1 inches of snow fell back in 1982.❄

The major plan for today is to go to the grocery store and get more groceries 🛒 fairly early on. I am as shocked as anyone that it’s already Sunday again and my pantry is fairly bare, although not as bad as some weeks in part because I stopped and got a few more things on the way home when driving in on Friday, as that was when I had my dentist appointment with that mean hygienist.🦷 I am not going to put up with her abuse, she was abusive in that dentist chair how she treated me. I am going to cancel my next appointment and see if I can reschedule with my usual dental hygentist Hamid.

I might head out to Coeymans to do some more poking around later on the back roads. 🛻 That said, I’ve checked out many of the listings, and I’m kind of tired after all the driving and exploring yesterday. Hell of it is because I decided to head up to Washington County to hike, 🚶 never made it down to southern Rensselaer County to explore some of the homes and properties around Lebanon Valley that are for sale. The thing is down there, you’re getting into the Taconics ⛰️ which are quite nice, but land prices go up there, and you start mixing with a lot NYC pukey-pukes down that way. Get south of the Berskshire Spur Thruway and there is some shit ton of NYC money that way, thanks to the Taconic Parkway. Not only is land is expensive, you know who is going to be living next door, people closer to Elliot Spitzer who is responsible for the burn ban, then some dirt-farming goat-rising good ol’ boy. 👛

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:04 pm with sun having an altitude of 46.3° from the due south horizon (-24.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 5.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:28 pm with the sun in the west (263°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (269°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:05 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 7:32 pm, which is one minute and 10 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the south (172°) at an altitude of 75° from the horizon, 241,964 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:06 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 45 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 4 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over yesterday.

Another work week ahead, 👨‍💼 back to being a professional rather then a cowboy-hat wearing good ol’ boy or so I play on the weekends. One more week until the long Easter Weekend when I’m hoping to get to the Adirondacks to camp 🏕️ and have a big ol’ fire 🔥 with flames mostly less then 3 feet high and not too much plastic, because you know the burn ban and stuff. 🤣 Ah, New York State. I should bring my .22 rifle and make some noise too while I’m up in the wilderness. It’s been too long since I’ve spent much time in the woods. 🌲

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌃 , with a low of 31 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 30th. West wind around 8 mph. In 2023, we had light rain in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 28 degrees. The record low of -08 occurred back in 1900.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇 when the sun will be setting at 7:30 pm with dusk at 7:57 pm. On that day in 2023, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 48 and 34 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 55 degrees. We hit a record high of 87 back in 2010.