Day: December 18, 2025

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Big Flats Wildlife Management Area

Big Flats WMA is 129 acres of state hunting grounds between Steege Hill and Harris Hill, commonly known as the "Palasades" of Chenango County, south of Big Flats. This narrow, agricultural valley is famous for it's wildlife and raptors, including bald eagles. Additional parcels will be added to the preserve in coming years. https://www.stargazette.com/story/news/local/2019/06/10/big-flats-natural-landmark-protected-finger-lakes-land-trust-chemung-river/1407352001/

 Big Flats Wildlife Management Area

NY 5 Westvale Stub

The east end of this expressway (right) is located in the Westvale neighborhood of the Town of Geddes. The expressway was planned to continue across West Genesee Street as a southwestern bypass of Syracuse, and would have connected with the junction of Interstates 81 and 481 in southern Syracuse. A spur from this beltway would have carried NY 5 into the downtown district. Today, the expressway stub shows a partially-built folded diamond interchange (with a loop in the northeast quadrant), where today NY 5 turns east onto West Genesee Street towards Solvay. The cleared right-of-way is largely intact along the highway's planned path through the Towns of Geddes and Onondaga, although new development can already be seen on the south side of Genesee Street.

http://www.empirestateroads.com/week/week39.html

Sadness as the year draws to a close but hope for the future πŸ˜”

I can be sad about what was, but there is only 13 days left in the year, so I might as well maximize them before it’s done forever. Put on as many miles, see as much as possible before the year is forever done.

Truth is that I am quite excited about going to Michigan and Upper Peninsula next summer, and this does remove a major mental impediment to the trip. And it will give me a chance to build a better rig, with fewer worries in first few years. Seeing the Midwest with the forests, farms, dirty hick towns that smell like burn barrel, manure and paper plants, all while singing along with Ian Tyson and Dick Curless. Seeing places that might be on a map, but aren’t on many people’s mental maps except but the locals, and certainly can’t be found in any tourist brochure.

But the internet is like, don’t you want a plastic house in suburbs, heated and cooled to 72 year round, with a 100 foot square television in XXX High-tech 200000 Resolution and high 62G speed internet and a 30 yard plastic “recycling” dumpster in front yard? That you can drive your frugal 20-year old Honda Civic to and from, because that’s the financially responsible thing to do. Please put a bullet through my brain if it ever comes to that. Thanks.

Median Household Income in New York State, a Hexagram

Hexagrams are a trendy thing these days. Folks like 538 and NPR do a lot of them, but I haven't seen many local ones for New York State. Then I discovered this "R" library that can convert geospatial polygons into regular or hexagonal grids known as J Bailey's geogrid. It turns out it's a pretty good library, and has decent output, but requires a bit of minor editing to improve the computer output to make more sense of county locations.

Median Household Income in New York State, a Hexagram