May 23, 2020 Night

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Good evening! Partly clear and 63 degrees at Mason Lake. There is a southeast breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 46 degrees. Really nice evening now that the black flies have retired for the night 🐜. Very starry night.

Laying back in the hammock – I treated it with Permethrin today – but still the black flies were too bad to lay outside. I was surprised the Permethrin stained the fabric a bit but I don’t care as Its an inexpensive hammock and the compound hasn’t done any physical damage to it. 😴

Today was kind of a hot day as Memorial Day Weekend often is. 🎪 The screen tent made the black flies quite bare able but when you went outside especially in the evening before dusk they were pretty unbareable. I was glad when they were gone for the evening.

Did some reading 📖, listening 👂 to podcasts and scrolling through social media today. 💻 Kind of a lazy day, in the afternoon I paddled around Mason Lake for a few hours before coming back, cracking open a beer 🍻 and cooking up burgers. 🍔 It was nice not to be quite as much as normal for struggling against the black fly during this most buggy of weekends.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 42 degrees at 4am. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 30th. Southeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 52 degrees. The record low of 29 occurred back in 1963.

Tonight will have a New 🌚 Moon. The Strawberry 🍓 Moon is on Friday, June 5. The darkest hour is at 12:55 am, followed by dawn at 4:52 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:26 am in the east-northeast (60°) and last for 3 minutes and 23 seconds. Sunrise is 48 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:08 am with sun in the east-northeast (67°). And then the black flies return. Tonight will have 8 hours and 59 minutes of darkness, a decrease of one minute and 45 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 68 degrees at 4pm. Much cooler than today. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around May 12th. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 70 degrees. The record high of 92 was set in 1964.

Tomorrow should be quite nice. I think I’ll run to Speculator and do some paddling on the Sacandaga River. 🚣 That parking lot is bright and sunny ☀ and I want to top off my work laptop so I’m prepared for work from Speculator on Monday. Yeah, it’s not a holiday for me.

I am undecided if I will head home after work on Monday. 🏡 I am thinking if I can get that campsite I wanted for the holiday weekend I would have good cellphone, laptop and solar power – and because it’s a new campsite a few miles away from the site I’m at the 3 night stay limit resets. High on the hill it might be a lot cooler than here and if I got ice I probably could have enough supplies to make it through midweek. Maybe it’s just a crazy 😜 idea. I’ll decide on Monday – who knows if the site will be available or if the weather pattern remains.

Next week the propane tree 🎄 I ordered also with my birthday money will arrive. I avoided getting one for the longest time as the reviews are bad and they can be unstable when the tanks are low but with the screen tent I wanted to be able to bring the lantern 🏮 in there or use the lantern in places lacking two trees to hang a rope or bungee cords. While I’ve never placed a lantern on a nail on trees before – as I know how much damage that causes to trees – it can difficult to hang lanterns in some places – and they’re more efficient and reliable than electric lights with my relatively small but growing battery 🔋 bank in the truck.

The other thing I’d like to have is a fan to help cool off in the tent. 💨 What to use is the question. Do I build a 12 volt ⚡ extension cord for my existing fan or use some kind of 120 volt AC fan? Or some kind of rechargeable fan or one I could use off of the battery bank or USB charger? Definitely a lot of options although I’d prefer to spend no money accumulating more stuff.

In four weeks on June 20 the sun will be setting in the m orthwest (304°) at 8:42 pm,🌄 which is 18 minutes later then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had humid temperatures, mostly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 79 and 66 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 79 and 58 degrees. I think I actually was camping up here that weekend last year. The record high of 97 degrees was set back in 1953.

Looking ahead, Summer ️⛱️ is in 4 weeks and Primary Day 🗳️ is a month away.

Spookey Open Area of the Swamp

May 23, 2020 Afternoon

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Good afternoon! Partly sunny and 76 degrees at the Mason Lake. There is a east breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 44 degrees. It’s not real humid but it’s hot with the sun. I think the long hair doesn’t help. At least it’s quite bug free in the tent I can wear shorts. I’d really like to get swimming and wash off some of the sweat. I’m not sure Mason Lake is very good for swimming 🏊 thought, it’s kind of mucky. Definitely not a sand lake.

I just got done with this 45 minute conference call 📞 with one of my clients. It is really kind of a working trip. The one upside is the black flies aren’t bad inside the screen tent. 🎪 I did string a tarp over the east side of the tent to cool things downs bit. Somehow with the relatively low humidity I didn’t think it would be quite so hot and sticky. Maybe because there isn’t that much shade.

This afternoon will have a slight chance of showers after 3pm. Mostly sunny 🌦, with a high of 76 degrees at 12pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around June 7th. Maximum dew point of 51 at 2pm. East wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 72 degrees. The record high of 93 was set in 1964.

Later on I’m probably going kayaking on Mason Lake. 🚣That should be a good place to cool down for a while. The tent is nice but I kind of wish their was more shade or the black flies would be less bad an I could spend more time outside during the daylight hours. Other than that I’m going to hang back at camp, sit and read, 📖 and listen 👂 to podcasts and be glad I’m not stuck at home.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:55 pm with sun having an altitude of 67.1° from the due south horizon (-2.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:43 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (293°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (300°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:25 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 23 seconds with dusk around 8:58 pm, which is 59 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the west-northwest (297°) at an altitude of 4° from the horizon, 243,701 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:43 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 61 degrees. The dew point will be 48 degrees. There will be a east-southeast breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 59 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 47 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 43 degrees at 4am. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 3rd. Southeast wind 5 to 8 mph. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 52 degrees. The record low of 29 occurred back in 1963.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until the First Day of Summer 🏛 when the sun will be setting at 8:42 pm in the Central Adirondacks with dusk at 9:18 pm. On that day in 2019, we had humid weather that was mostly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 79 and 66 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 79 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1953.

White Pines Along Helldiver Trail

Coronavirus ‘does not spread easily’ by touching surfaces or objects, CDC says. But it still ‘may be possible.’

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Coronavirus ‘does not spread easily’ by touching surfaces or objects, CDC says. But it still ‘may be possible.’

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has always warned that "it may be possible" to become infected with coronavirus by touching contaminated surfaces or objects.

It just "does not spread easily" in that manner, the agency says, nor by animal-to-human contact or vice versa.