Good morning! Happy October 🎃. The most colorful month of the year, as the greens of summer change to red and yellow, then to brown. Honestly though, I’m just looking forward to November. Things will get quiet after the election, then I’ll have sometime to spend enjoying the wilderness with nobody to bug me for a week or so. Thirty five days until election day. But in the meantime, next Monday is Columbus Day 🛥️ or Indigenous People Day 🤠.

Light rain and 54 degrees in North Syracuse. I hope you brought your umbrella. ☔ That said tomorrow is going to the real soaker. There is a north-northeast breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 51 degrees.  i am not complaining, at least it’s not raining ash out of the sky like that time I was in Niagara Falls. Talk about a depressing place.

Today will rain. ☔ High of 56 degrees at 4pm. Nine degrees below normal. North wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Not a real great day, but not as wet as tomorrow will be or so I’m told. 🌧 A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 66 degrees. The record high of 90 was set in 1927. There was a dusting of snow in 1946.❄

I got to say I’m glad that I’m not out camping in the rain, 🏕as pretty as it might be with all the leaves turning in the woods, because autumn camping in the rain tends to be rather wet and chilly — to say nothing of smoky from the campfire fighting the rain. It’s bearable with the big buddy heater, and it’s better then being home I guess, but it’s still kind of muddy and miserable.  That said, on sunny days, autumn camping is fantastic, even with the short days. You just have to make sure to get up early, especially after the time changes.

The sun will set at 6:44 pm with dusk around 7:13 pm, which is one minute and 47 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌆 At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and 55 degrees. The dew point will be 53 degrees. There will be a northeast breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 42 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 55 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be scattered showers, mainly before 3am. Cloudy 🌂, with a low of 55 degrees at 6pm. Nine degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 54 at 11pm. East wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2017, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 39 degrees. The record low of 30 occurred back in 1972.

So I am still thinking about taking off part of Friday to hike Jones Hill, probably in the evening to watch the sunset, although the autumn leaves would be better to see at sunrise. 🍂 I guess we will see how things go. I could do an overnight in hammock, if it’s not too chilly, just backpack the hammock up the hill, bring a flashlight and a light dinner, 🔦 and maybe a blanket. I’m chewing over that. I don’t know though, I probably should be back pretty early in the morning, and I’m thinking I might want to shower before work.

Went to the store and bought more can goods. 🥫Lots of soup, canned pasta, macaroni and cheese, and vegetables.  It’s tough staying where I am in North Syracuse, not having a freezer or stove. I do have a microwave and refrigerator, but still the options are limited, because I am trying to do everything on tight of as budget as possible, and I’m kind of busy. 🍌 I guess I could eat out more, but I really get sick of restaurant food and I don’t like all the wasteful packaging it comes in.👨‍🍳 I guess to be fair, I don’t usually eat canned foot at home, and certainly not at camp for the most part — i rather have things in packaging I can burn up in the woods rather then haul to the transfer station.🥫

I am definitely looking forward to my November Road trip when I can do more cooking, have fires every night, 🔥 be able to sit back every night and relax. I am tired of seeing the suburbs every day, working too many hours, getting home and collapsing. I want a good meal cooked on a fire, then listening to the radio into evening. If it’s cold I can always set up a tent and relax there. I miss seeing the countryside being stuck into the office so  much these days.

As previously noted, next Monday is Columbus Day 🛥️ when the sun will be setting at 6:32 pm with dusk at 7:01 pm. On that day in 2017, we had rain, mist, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 80 and 61 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 63 degrees. We hit a record high of 80 back in 2017.