It was a nice walk down to the bus stop but we are still socked into the clouds. Mostly cloudy now but eventually the high pressure front will push in and it will clear. 36 degrees with temperatures expected to drop throughout the day to 29 later. Not so breezy now but as the afternoon progresses the wind will pick up increasing the windchill. Listening to Joan Baez’s Sweet Sir Galahad, which seems perfect for Friday the 13th. And here’s to the dawn of their days…

The sun will set at 4:45 pm with dusk around 5:17 pm, which is 1 minutes and 9 seconds later than yesterday. Today will have 9 hours and 23 minutes of daylight, an increase of 1 minute and 34 seconds over yesterday. Slowly but surely the days are getting longer. The five o’clock sunset resumes a week from Wednesday, January 25th.  Monday, March 13th,  on day after the time change, we have a 7 pm sunset. Ten hours of daylight on February 1st.

Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low of 14 degrees at 6am. Two degrees below normal. Northwest wind 5 to 14 mph. In 2016, it got down to 12 degrees with periods of snow. The record low of -24 occurred back in 1957. Last night only got down to 38 degrees which 62 degrees above the record.

Looking ahead, next Friday is Inauguration Day when the sun will be setting at 4:54 pm with dusk at 5:24 pm. On that day in 2016, we had mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 30 and 16 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 30 degrees. We hit a record high of 53 back in 2006. I know a lot of people are looking forward to that day, although I guess liberals are looking forward to more with dread. In contrast, conservatives are pretty ecstatic. We will see what happens, as ultimately we all are victims of history.

Going camping over the long weekend is a possibility I considered but I don’t know. I got to think about it more. There isn’t a lot of snow at this point, or at least a whole lot less in the Adirondacks. I will see what the weather is like and how I feel. I probably would go to the Adirondacks as the roads are likely icy in Schoharie County, but too little snow to drag a sled back in Albany County. I could carry the gear back but that’s going to be difficult with all the winter gear. Or maybe I will just go hiking or skiing somewhere local or distant. I haven’t really decided yet.

Tomorrow I have to pick up my dry cleaning and my new blazer from the maul. I might go hiking in the Albany Pine Bush and watch the sunset. I have a few more errands to run in the city on Saturday. I should check the fluids and tire pressures in my truck, as it’s been a few weeks since I last did that. Also getting a haircut is on the agenda of definite possibilities.