John Boyd Thacher State Park, is situated along the Helderberg Escarpment, one of the richest fossil-bearing formations in the world. Even as it safeguards six miles of limestone cliff-face, rock-strewn slopes, woodland and open fields, the park provides a marvelous panorama of the Hudson-Mohawk Valleys and the Adirondack and Green Mountains. The park has volleyball courts, playgrounds, ball fields and numerous picnic areas with nine reservable shelters. Interpretive programs are offered year-round, including guided tours of the famous Indian Ladder Trail. There are over 25 additional miles of trails for summer hiking and mountain biking, and winter cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, and snowmobiling.
Good morning! Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day! 👑 I think his birthday 🎂 was yesterday, so a happy belated birthday to him. Now when do we get a holiday to celebrate the life of Fred Hampton?
Mostly sunny and 15 degrees at the Moscow Hill Camping Area. ☀ There is a north breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. Cold start to the morning but it’s warming up fast especially as the sun gets above the hills and into the holler. 🌡️
Cold enough this morning I started Big Red 🛻 for a while to be safe and ensure the battery 🔋 would be good by the time to leave. I don’t like idling my truck too much while camping due to oil consumption from idling and the famous 5.3 lifter tick but I didn’t want a dead starting battery either in the cold. She started right up though. It was in the single digits last night. I was a bit concerned as it appeared some voltage was bleeding through the relay last night to the accessory battery from the staring battery when I was idling the truck, not sure what that was about, but it didn’t cause any issues. 🤷♂️
M. L. King Day will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 32 degrees at 2pm. Typical for M.L.King Day. It’s the coldest week of winter on average though not this year. LA Nina and global warming from rednecks like me who drive big jacked up trucks and burn too much plastic. Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph. A year ago, we had light freezing rain in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 37 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 1995. 15.1 inches of snow fell back in 1945.❄
Today I’m going to take down camp and maybe hike back to Tassell Hill from Chittenden Pond. ⛰ It’s the highest point in Oneida County and I’ve never been there before. Might also hike around Brookfield Creek loop and or Glimmerglass though I’ve done the later a few times. Then I want to head home relatively early and take a shower 🚿 and wash the salt and sand off Big Red 🛻 and get ready for a regular session work day on Tuesday.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:12 pm with sun having an altitude of 26.2° from the due south horizon (-44.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:10 pm with the sun in the southwest (234°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (242°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:54 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 19 seconds with dusk around 5:24 pm, which is one minute and 11 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:00 pm. At sunset, look for sunny skies 🌃 and temperatures around 30 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 28 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 40 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 19 degrees at 12am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 19th. Maximum wind chill around 20 at 5am; Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm after midnight. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light snow by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 28 degrees. The record low of -23 occurred back in 1971.
Yesterday I hiked about 12 miles around Charles Baker State Forest 🌲🌳 checking out some of the more remote campsites, deep back country horse 🐴 trails, Lost Pond, Evergreen Pond Lean To, Quaker Cemetery 🪦 and the Old Little Red School 🏫 House, a one room school house that’s now somebody’s residence. I was surprised 🤨 I ran into more people than I expected in the woods.
While not currently a state holiday, next Monday is National Cheese Lovers Day 🧀 when the sun will be setting at 5:04 pm with dusk at 5:33 pm. Nobody can be opposed to that. Plus soon I won’t be walking home from work in the dark. 🔦 On that day in 2022, we had mostly sunny skies, a few snow showers and temperatures between 24 and 11 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 32 degrees. We hit a record high of 64 back in 1906.
Good morning! Made it what is normallythe coldest ❄ part of the year and I’m out camping 🏕 in Madison County. What can I say, I’m kind of nuts 🥜 and I like burning shit 🔥 and spending time out in the country where things are real. 🚜 For a while last night that fire was rip roaring and that smoke was black! Well it is Martin Luther King weekend. 🖤
Mostly cloudy and 13 degrees at the Moscow Hill Camping Area. ☁ There is a north-northwest breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. The current wind chill is 2. There is a dusting of snow on the ground. ☃ Things will start to thaw out at Tuesday around 10 am. 🌡️I’ll be home by then then.
I planned to leave by nine yesterday and started down the road and realized that I didn’t know where my hat and gloves 🧤 were which are kind of essential for winter camping. So I ended up heading home and searching 🔎 for a half hour until I realized that I stuck it in the cooler to carry it out.
Then I had to stop in Esperance for food and fuel. ⛽ 🥩 The roads were just wet and salty all the way until I got out to Brookfield where they were snow covered. They don’t have a bare pavement policy in Madison County though the roads did have plenty of sand on them. I got to camp ⛺ on Saturday around 12:30 which left plenty of time to gather and chop wood for the night ahead 🔥 and set up camp and listen to a podcast then go for an hour walk in a beautifully snow 🌨 covered woods before dusk. 🌆 And cook some sausages up for lunch. 🌭
Today will be mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny ☁ ☀ , with a high of 27 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees below normal. North wind around 8 mph. A year ago, we had mist in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 65 was set in 1995. 13.4 inches of snow fell back in 1983.❄
I’ll believe it when I see it for the sun, ☀ so far this morning has been pretty cool and gray. I’d like some sun, preferably by midday to top off the battery bank 🔋. The weatherman promised sun for today but I’m not that hopeful with the skies so gray.
Today I have planned out a ten mile hike around the state forest, 🐴 hiking the horse trails which should be well frozen this time of year. In the summer they can be quite swampy from the horse hooves churning things up but things are well cold and frozen today.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:12 pm with sun having an altitude of 26° from the due south horizon (-44.5° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:09 pm with the sun in the southwest (234°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (242°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:53 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 19 seconds with dusk around 5:23 pm, which is one minute and 11 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:59 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌃 and temperatures around 24 degrees. There will be a north-northwest breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 26 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 39 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 8 degrees at 6am. Eight degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 10 at 5am; North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light freezing rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 30 degrees. The record low of -16 occurred back in 1971.
Going to be a cold night 🔋 I may need to start my truck up to be safe before bed. 🛏 But once I’m under the covers I should be good. But first I plan to have a big ol fire 🔥 just like I had last night.
Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until 40th Birthday 🎉 when the sun will be setting at 5:11 pm with dusk at 5:40 pm. On that day in 2022, we had cold, partly sunny and temperatures between 14 and 0 degrees. Maybe I’ll go camping then too. ⛺ LOL 😂. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 54 back in 2002.
I am little troubled by the notion of “rooting out extremists from the military” … 🪖
It’s all the fault of the bad dudes, as former President Trump once said about migrants trying to cross the border. Then there was George W. Bush who liked to talk about the “evil doers” that are out to do in our country. We want to believe they are different from the rest of us.
The problem with bad dudes and evil doers is they don’t really exist. They are just ordinary people, who go on to commit infamous acts of crime or violence. They are the product of bad socialization, not enough positive reinforcement and mixing with people who are of difference class, creed, race and background.
If you want to fix extremism, you need to emphasize diversity and learning. People need to become less afraid of people who are different from them. Racism and biogtry isn’t rooted in bad thought or bad people, it’s rooted in a lack of understanding and acceptance of people that live very different lives then they do. We much as a society share different experiences, increase learning and respect of people who are different then ourselves.
Rooting out bigotry and hatred doesn’t work by excluding people you have decided are evil. The opposite is true – we need to ensure all of our institutions are inclusive, learning places were people of all backgrounds are accepted and there is learning from one and another.
Good morning! Happy Saturday on this Martin Luther King 👑 weekend. Overcast and 25 degrees in Delmar. ☁ There is a north breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 1 pm. 🌡️
Today will cloudy with more sun later 🌥, with a high of 33 degrees at 12pm. Typical for today. North wind around 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 32 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 1932. 9.0 inches of snow fell back in 1999.❄
Getting ready to head out of town. 📦 Just a lot of packing and picking up things, though honestly for two nights it isn’t that much stuff I need especially as there isn’t much snow around. I’ll bring the shovel just in case but I’m not expecting a lot.
I really have mixed emotions about it all. 🛻 It looks like a cold winters day 🌬️ though the weekend will improve as it goes on. I don’t enjoy camping and traveling the way I once did, I have more and more anxiety about driving. But on the other hand, I do look forward to the open country 🐄 and the rural landscape, and the fire 🔥 once its going and a nice warm dinner. Then hiking the truck trails tomorrow will be nice. But it’s also a lot of money I don’t have though I’m sure it will work out as my tank is still mostly full on my truck and I don’t need that much in groceries and supplies. Part of Mission Fifty is figuring out what is next, I’m not sure I want to keep doing the things in my forties that I found fun in my twenties and thirties.
Got to check ☑ the oil 🛢 and load up the truck. Double check my packing list. Go through a second time and hopefully be on the road a little after 9:30 as I need to get groceries and supplies on my way out and want plenty of time to set up, gather firewood and maybe go for a walk before dark. ⛺
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:05 pm with sun having an altitude of 26.1° from the due south horizon (-44.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:02 pm with the sun in the southwest (234°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (241°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:46 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 19 seconds with dusk around 5:16 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:52 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 31 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 27 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 36 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 21 degrees at 6am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 26th. Maximum wind chill around 15 at 12am; North wind 11 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mist by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 19 degrees. The record low of -20 occurred back in 1957.
I was looking at my paystub 🎫 and I noticed that they are taking out more for deferred comp now that the federal limit has been raised. It’s good, in the sense that I’m saving more money for retirement though it also means that I have less for today, saving and investing. But it’s pre-tax, so it’s saving money living in a high tax state like this is good. Plus there are years of dividends and market growth ahead. But it still feels like I’m getting squeezed yet another way. 🎐
Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Don’t Cry over Spilled Milk Day 🥛 when the sun will be setting at 5:23 pm with dusk at 5:50 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 26 and 12 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 35 degrees. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1981.
Good evening! Cloudy and 33 degrees for the evening walk in Delmar. ☁ There is a northwest breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. The skies will clear Sunday around 4 am.
Survived Friday the 13th 👻 though I hardly noticed it. Busy at the end of the day. Rain stopped fairly early, got in 18k steps or eight miles for the day.
The work week has come and gone, 💼 it’s a three day weekend ahead. I won’t say it was an exceptional week but busy though most days I got home at the normal time. Thursday was wet. Friday morning at work was quiet for a while than it got busy.
Just out for the evening walk 🚶 after doing some cleaning and packing around the apartment. Toilet 🚽 needed a good scrub, as did the sink, counter tops and kitchen floor. I’m dirty, everything I own is dirty and worn but I kind of like the life. Maybe that’s why I idolize farming so much, especially the ramshackle, rundown farms in the hills. 🐐 Maybe tomorrow when I get out of town I can see some of them.
Getting ready to head out of town for a few nights of winter camping and hiking. ⛺ I still haven’t fully decided how far I want to head from home. Tomorrow night will be cold but Sunday and Kings day pretty nice. I’ll bring the microspikes but won’t need the skis due to a lack of snow basically everywhere except for the Adirondacks.
I’m just happy 😊 to be getting away. I just feel so trapped living in the city. Earlier in the week, one of colleagues from high school wanted to know when I planned to move back into the hills. ⛰ It’s a question I ask myself a lot. At the same time I keep hearing stories about people falling over and dying from heart attacks in their 40s and 50s.
Tonight will be cloudy ☁, with a low of 27 degrees at 5am. 11 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 18th. North wind around 10 mph. In 2022, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 6 degrees. The record low of -24 occurred back in 1957.
Tonight will have a Last Quarter 🌗 Moon with 59% illuminated. The moon will rise at 11:34 pm. The darkest hour is at 12:05 am, followed by dawn at 6:53 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:24 am in the east-southeast (119°) and last for 3 minutes and 19 seconds. Sunrise is 23 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 8:09 am with sun in the southeast (127°).Tonight will have 14 hours and 35 minutes of darkness, a decrease of one minute and 33 seconds over last night.
Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a high of 33 degrees at 2pm. Typical for this time of year. North wind 10 to 13 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 32 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 1932. 9.0 inches of snow fell back in 1999.❄
I keep thinking about Mission Fifty, 🤔 and thinking who I want to be in ten years. 🔟 I often always took the easy way out, the slow and steady path. 🐢 I have the corner office, the desk in a private office with the brass lamp that overlooks the Capitol and the Hudson River and several garbage dumps and smoke stacks. But there is still so much wild country out there I’ve never explored. Maybe though I’m waiting too long to take the next step. But if I keep walking 🚶, try to eat healthier and save more 💵 I can build a better tomorrow.
In four weeks on February 10 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (251°) at 5:21 pm,🌄 which is 35 minutes and 33 seconds later then tonight. In 2021 on that day, we had partly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 25 and 12 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 35 and 16 degrees. The record high of 53 degrees was set back in 1955.
Looking ahead, tommorow is , Clean Your Computer Day 🧹 is in 4 weeks, 5:30 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 5 weeks, 5:30 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 5 weeks, St. Patrick’s Day 🍀 is in 9 weeks, 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 12 weeks, Cinco de Mayo 🤠 is in 16 weeks, National Nude Day 👱 is in 26 weeks, Average High 70 🎑 is in 33 weeks, September 🍎 is in 33 weeks, Labor Day Weekend Begins 👨🏭 is in 33 weeks, Autumn 🍂 is in 36 weeks, Average Night Below Freezing 🌌 is in 10 months, Buy Nothing Day 🛍️ is in 45 weeks, December 🎄 is in 46 weeks, Bill of Rights Day 📜 is in 48 weeks and Days are Getting Longer ☀️ is in 49 weeks.
Good morning! Happy Friday the 13th 🦹on this Make Your Dream Come TrueDay. 🚜. Honestly I think superstitions can be kind of silly, but I believe in power of compounding and dividends produced over time. ⌚ Everything done today can lead to a better future 🔮 if you so choose. You can’t change the past or even the world 🌎 but you can change yourself and future.
Rain showers and 38 degrees at the Elm Ave Park and Ride. ☔ There is a southwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 9 pm. ☃️
Not a real soaking rain 🌧️ but I decided to skip the 6:45 am morning walk 🚶 in favor of catching the earlier express bus 🚍 downtown and walking inside the Concourse with the muzzle on. 😷 Last night was also raining so I stayed home 🏡 but I got my steps 👣 in earlier in the day. That said I’m thinking about increasing my steps goal 🥅 as most days I’m exceeding the goal.
Today will have a chance of rain before 4pm, then a slight chance of showers after 4pm. Cloudy 🌧, with a high of 43 degrees at 10am. 10 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 9th. Southwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1932. 13.1 inches of snow fell back in 1964.❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:05 pm with sun having an altitude of 25.9° from the due south horizon (-44.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:01 pm with the sun in the southwest (233°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (241°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:45 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 20 seconds with dusk around 5:15 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:51 pm. Maybe not today though. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 37 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 9 mph with gusts up to 20mph. Today will have 9 hours and 24 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 30 seconds over yesterday.
I was hoping my December electric bill would be under $100 ⚡ but ultimately it came out to be $101. I forget how cold it was right before Christmas and on the holiday, even though we had that week when I had the heat off. I’m trying to save where I can but it’s hard, especially with inflation and higher energy prices. I guess it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but I hate to waste energy.
Tonight will have a chance of rain and snow showers before 7pm, then a chance of snow showers between 7pm and 2am. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 27 degrees at 5am. 11 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 18th. North wind 8 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2022, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 6 degrees. The record low of -24 occurred back in 1957.
Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a high of 33 degrees at 1pm. Typical for Tomorrow. North wind around 11 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 32 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 1932. 9.0 inches of snow fell back in 1999.❄
Then for Sunday, sunny, with a high near 34. ☀ North wind 10 to 13 mph. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees.
Martin Luther King Day looks to be another winner ☀ with a high around 38. Not bad for January at any rate. Still a few weeks off until January.
Should be a good weekend for getting out of town 🌲 but the question on my mind is how far I want to go from. Not a lot of snow around but Saturday is going to be really cold ❄.
Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Clean Your Computer Day 🧹 when the sun will be setting at 5:21 pm with dusk at 5:49 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 25 and 12 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 35 degrees. We hit a record high of 53 back in 1955.
