The Rattlesnake Hill Wildlife Management Area is a 5,100 acre upland tract, situated approximately eight miles west of Dansville, New York. Roughly two-thirds of the area lies in southern Livingston County, while the remaining third lies in northern Allegany County. The tract was purchased in the 1930’s under the Federal Resettlement Administration and is one of several such areas turned over to DEC for development as a wildlife management area.
The area is appropriately named after the Timber Rattlesnake, which may be occasionally found in the more remote sections of the “Hill”.
The area offers an interesting blend of upland habitats such as mature woodland, overgrown fields, conifer plantations, old growth apple orchards and open meadows.
The area is inhabited by a variety of game species and is open to public hunting. The white-tailed deer, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, grey squirrel, cottontail rabbit and woodcock are found on the area. An occasional snowshoe hare may be observed adjacent to thick creek bottom brush or conifer plantation habitats.
A number of small marsh units have been developed and provide limited hunting for waterfowl. Some of the area’s furbearing species such as mink, beaver and raccoon may be occasionally viewed at these marsh units.
Going to be a beautiful day for riding to work. Carrot pancakes, need to stop at Hannaford to get bananas on the way in as a snack as I’ve not been shopping this week. Felt good to toss that empty plastic milk bottle in the trash on Earth Day knowing soon enough I’ll get it burnt, lol. Makes an excellent fire starter. Gotta celebrate Vladmir Lennin’s birthday with a little black smoke, as you turn the dirt with your plow or spreading manure on this Earth Day.
Good morning! Mostly sunny and 39 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a northwest breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 3 am. ☃️
Didn’t get a real early start 🛏 as when I first awoke I had a bit of nausea like I had been spinning. 🤯But once I finally got out of bed, got some coffee and carrot 🥕 pancakes 🥞 in me I was feeling better. I think I just have a bad case of the Monday’s. I am looking forward to the ride to work today, going to be a nice day. The weekend was cloudy, colder and wetter then expected but I had a lot of fun in the woods and a nice fire 🔥, rode some trail 🚵 and went for a nice five mile hike at Huyck Preserve.
Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 55 degrees at 5pm. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 7th. Northwest wind around 10 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 68 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 1985. 1.0 inches of snow fell back in 1928.❄
Going to stop on the way to work and get some bananas and apples at Hannaford 🍎 🍌 Got to fuel up for the busy week ahead, and I like having lots of fresh fruits and veggies to snack on when I’m in the office. 🤤 On the bike ride home I will stop and get more onions 🧅 and frozen fruit and veggies, and try to use up what I have around the apartment rather then doing a full grocery shop 🛒 until at least Wednesday, as I want to get down to the park after work to walk and read. 🚶📚️ I figure why fire up Red and spend a bunch of money on groceries 🛻 when I have a fair amount bar the fruit and vegetables, 🐄 which I can pick up riding to and from work. Also need to get more milk at Stewart’s. I know more plastic!
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:54 pm with sun having an altitude of 59.8° from the due south horizon (-11.1° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:07 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (282°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (288°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:46 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 2 seconds with dusk around 8:15 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the east-southeast (119°) at an altitude of 16° from the horizon, 250,219 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:52 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 51 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 46 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 40 seconds over yesterday.
I think it’s interesting how the greenies this year are focusing on single use plastics 💚 on Earth Day. Gets a little bit silly but I think they needed a new issue as they got their climate legislation through on the state level 🌎 but only time will tell what the effect is beyond using a lot of farm land and forest for massive solar farms. I’d be more concerned about the really toxic things in garbage today like all the electronics commonly discarded. ☠️ Or all the wasted building materials not the silly little plastic water bottles that are a tiny part of waste production made out of the least toxic forms of plastic – polyethylene. ♻ I really should get milk 🥛 delivery set up with Meadow Brook but it’s a pain having to call as they don’t have a website, and at least in the winter months I do recycle most of the discarded Stewart’s milk bottles. I wish they still had milk in glass for less trash like Byrne Dairy does. 🐮 I don’t drink as much milk as I once did since getting into healthy eating, preferring to drink more water from the tap, 🚰 but I still think those milk bottles take up much too much room in the trash or the recycle ♻️ when so inclined.
Tonight will be clear 🌃, with a low of 31 degrees at 4am. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 1st. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming south after midnight. In 2023, we had thunderstorm in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 43 degrees. The record low of 26 occurred back in 1975.
First half of theweekend looks decent Saturday, partly sunny, with a high near 62. Maximum dew point of 41 at 4pm. ☀ Not too bad but certainly can change. Sunday, a chance of showers. 🌦️ Mostly cloudy, with a high near 68. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Maximum dew point of 53 at 3pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 65 degrees. It is what it is, good I got out last weekend.
I am not opposed to doing a three-day weekend and heading up to the Adirondacks 🏕️ but only f the weather looks good. It would be nice to spend some time in the wilderness, have a good fire 🔥 and ride trail or explore the back country 🚵 before black flies are out in mass, 🦟 but only if the weather ain’t shit. 💩 I kind of want to wait until things green up 🌱 before heading out to Schoharie County to camp, and eat fresh ramps I found in the woods, and ride the Catskill Scenic Trail from Stamford to Bloomville 🚵♂️ and back again, enjoying the colors of spring and the smell of all that freshly turned dirt.🚜 Maybe that will be Mother’s Day Weekend.
Looking ahead, there are 9 weeks until Latest Sunset 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 8:38 pm with dusk at 9:12 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 86 and 61 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 82 degrees. We hit a record high of 96 back in 1943.
Especially after that rain and snow mix yesterday afternoon which somewhat took me for surprise. Gotta get that manure out on the hay fields even in the hills and hollows of Rensselaerville. I too much believed the National Weather Service forecast that called for clearing skies and cold with the breeze though that’s a relative thing in late April. I think I left my windows open last night in my apartment, at least on the first floor, I’m hoping it didn’t trigger the heat to come on despite being set at 45. Oh well.
Good morning! Happy Sunday. Mostly cloudy and 39 degrees at the Huyck Preserve in Rensselaerville. ☁ There is a west-northwest breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 6 am. ☃️
Today will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a high of 46 degrees at 5pm. 16 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 19th. West wind 10 to 13 mph. We had some sun earlier, maybe we will have some later. But it’s much colder and grayer then I expected. Of course I probably shouldn’t have been surprised to have cold wet snow camping yesterday afternoon too. ❄ A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 79 degrees. The record high of 89 was set in 1923. 0.6 inches of snow fell back in 1947.❄ Big whoop.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:56 pm with sun having an altitude of 59.5° from the due south horizon (-11.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:07 pm with the sun in the west (281°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (287°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:46 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 1 seconds with dusk around 8:15 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the east-southeast (123°) at an altitude of 26° from the horizon, 251,521 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:52 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 13 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 43 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 40 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 32 degrees at 5am. Eight degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 4th. West wind 11 to 15 mph. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 53 degrees. The record low of 20 occurred back in 1947.
Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until Cinco de Mayo 🤠 when the sun will be setting at 8:02 pm with dusk at 8:32 pm. Been so cold and wet this spring that seems hard to believe. On that day in 2023, we had partly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 64 and 40 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 68 degrees. We hit a record high of 91 back in 1944.
We didn’t get the big wash out that I expected last night. I probably could have done two nights at Rennselearville State Forest but I’m up and going, hoping to get out before the driveway gets full of construction vehicles and equipment as they continue to completely gut the next door apartment.
Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the weekend! Weekdays fly by these days being so busy at work. Cloudy and 47 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a south breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Thursday around 3 am. ☃️
Don’t have a lot of things to pack 🎒 but I do need to swing by Glenmont to get propane and then I’ll head out here via Medusa to avoid all the small town speed traps. 🚨 Not sure if it’s actually faster to go that way but I want to look at some land on the way out there and observe houses and the way people live rural locally. 🏡
Today will be cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny ☁👉 ☀ , with a high of 61 degrees at 3pm. One degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 19th. Maximum dew point of 46 at 6am. South wind 6 to 15 mph becoming northwest in the morning. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 66 degrees. The record high of 93 was set in 1941. 5.8 inches of snow fell back in 1947.❄
I was a bit on the fence today about heading out camping 🏕 but I decided with the landlord working on my building 🚧 and that by afternoon it looks half decent to do a quick overnight to Rennselearville State Forest and then go to Huyck Preserve on Sunday followed by a visit to my parents. 📙 I have several e Books to read 📚 and it would be nice to ride some of the roads especially after noon time when the youth hunt is done for the day. Plus I think it will be damp enough to have a small fire 🔥 under the moon lit skies. 🎑
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:55 pm with sun having an altitude of 59.1° from the due south horizon (-11.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:05 pm with the sun in the west (281°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (287°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:44 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 2 seconds with dusk around 8:13 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Full 🌝 Moon in the southeast (127°) at an altitude of 36° from the horizon, 252,189 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:49 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 49 degrees. Breezy, 17 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest. Today will have 13 hours and 41 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 43 seconds over yesterday.
Should be a great day once I get camp set up in Rennselearville. ☺ I figure get set up early 🦃 and then head out hiking and biking after noon time when youth spring turkey closes for the day. Just kind of check out the scenery and keep my eyes 👀 open for gobblers, they might actually like it with all the recent timber cuts 🪵up here lately.
Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 34 degrees at 6am. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 9th. Northwest wind 10 to 16 mph. A bit of a chilly night for the second half of April but then again this has been a cooler April in general. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 45 degrees. The record low of 20 occurred back in 1875. Almost a full 🌕 moon so it should be a nice evening, listening to the spring peepers 🐸 assuming the breeze ain’t too cold.
Looking ahead, next Saturday is Arbor Day 🌳 when the sun will be setting at 7:52 pm with dusk at 8:21 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy, patches of fog and temperatures between 62 and 40 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 65 degrees. We hit a record high of 91 back in 1962.
Good morning! Happy Friday! Foggy 🌁 and cloudy and 46 degrees in Delmar. Many of my windows were closed earlier but they’re back open now. There is a south-southeast breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. The skies will clear around 10 am.
Carrot pancakes 🥕 with Greek yogurt and strawberries 🍓 were breakfast today. Up a little before 5 am, after breakfast did a bit of reading 📖 about custom house 🏡 building. I keep studying building plots. I need to seriously study CPAs and how to create a plan for managing my money 💵 as part of the building plan. And I keep varying how much land I want.
Today will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a high of 59 degrees at 3pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 15th. South wind 9 to 17 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 47 degrees. The record high of 92 was set in 1976. 8.8 inches of snow fell back in 1983.❄
Going to ride to work today, 🚲 might bus it home in the evening depending on the weather. It might rain ☔ again this evening and is expected to rain during the overnight so not going camping 🏕 tonight. Maybe tomorrow I’m undecided.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:55 pm with sun having an altitude of 58.8° from the due south horizon (-12.1° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:04 pm with the sun in the west (280°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (287°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:42 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 1 seconds with dusk around 8:12 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the southeast (133°) at an altitude of 46° from the horizon, 252,187 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:48 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 54 degrees. Breezy, 18 mph breeze ⛅ from the south with gusts up to 28mph. Tomorrow will have 13 hours and 41 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 42 seconds over today.
Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly between 9pm and 5am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 45 degrees at 6am. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 5th. South wind 13 to 18 mph decreasing to 7 to 12 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 37 degrees. The record low of 19 occurred back in 1875.
Tomorrow will be cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny ☁👉 ☀ , with a high of 58 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 13th. Northwest wind 9 to 15 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 66 degrees. The record high of 93 was set in 1941. 5.8 inches of snow fell back in 1947.❄
I might do a quick overnight camping 🏕 tomorrow but it depends on the morning tomorrow though maybe I should decide by evening so I can get gear together 🎒🥾 and maybe run to the store and top off the propane tank. 🏮 It looks like tomorrow evening and night would be good for a fire 🔥 and Sunday would be nice for a spring time hike.
Looking ahead to Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 55. ☀ West wind 10 to 15 mph. A bit breezy it would seem. But nice if not a bit cool. But at at least things are greening up. Typical average high for the weekend is 62 degrees.
Looking ahead, there are 3 weeks until Average High is 70 🐮 when the sun will be setting at 8:07 pm with dusk at 8:37 pm. On that day in 2023, we had sunny and temperatures between 77 and 39 degrees. Maybe that weekend I’ll do the Catskill Scenic Trail with everything green and spring like then. We hit a record high of 92 back in 1970.
There has been a lot of talk about making college education free for students. Usually the proposal involves either a new tax on the rich or cobbling together existing funding streams, adding a little extra money here and there, and saying that college is now free. The prior idea often is dismissed as politically impossible, and the later idea while implemented is misleading at best, as usually it involves little additional funding and doesn’t cover the cost of fees and housing during college.
But maybe the answer exists today with the infrastructure built during the pandemic — remote learning. Let students get full college experience via Zoom or other video lecture. There is no limit on class-size for Zoom lecture, a classroom could span a whole state or even the world for relatively little money compared to old ways of educating. Online tests and quizzes can be automatically graded by a server. Papers and essays could be submitted electronically for review by the professor and adjuncts. For other quizzes and tests, where there is a concern about cheating, local High Schools could be used in the evenings with paid test proctors to administer the tests in a secure environment. Likewise, High Schools could be used in group discussions in the evenings, connecting with the professor over Zoom.
There once was a bias against remote learning and remote work. But the pandemic has struck many of those prejudices down, showing it can work. While part of human connection is lost over Zoom, already many traditional classes were taught in large, impersonal lecture halls. The remote learning infrastructure could be made so much cheaper that it would be easy for states to fund unlimited learning and certification of people wanting to learn new skills to advance their careers, improve their knowledge, or learn more about a subject.
Already, there are many colleges like MIT and Penn State that offers free online lectures and textbooks. It’s a good start, but there is no formal testing or certifications after participating in such courses. But adding this component to learning process could be a very economical way for states to provide free learning to all their citizens. People could gain new skills throughout the careers, advancing the work force and allowing their citizens become more knowledgeable about the world.
Seems like this week is following the exact same pattern as last week, rain Wednesday evening, rain Thursday and Friday with showers and clouds and cool come Saturday. Kind of obnoxious in my book as I like riding into work and I would like to head out of town for the weekend at least the overnight.
Good morning! Happy Rainy Thursday. I know, again, really? Rain and 45 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌧️ There is a south-southeast breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. I can’t control the weather but I can my attitude. 🤬 It would definitely would be a cold and wet day if I was out camping.
Started the morning with shredded oatmeal and some canned pumpkin 🎃 with a bunch of fried yellow onions🧅 with cornmeal, broccoli 🥦 and eggs 🥚and some garlic. A few cups of coffee ☕ and I’m up and off early to walk laps on the Concourse. 🚶 If it’s going to rain ☔ best to get my steps in early.
Today will have showers before noon, then showers likely with a chance of drizzle, mainly between noon and 1pm. 🌦 High of 46 degrees at 8am. 15 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 19th. Southeast wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 51 degrees. The record high of 90 was set in 1976. 2.7 inches of snow fell back in 1887.❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:55 pm with sun having an altitude of 58.4° from the due south horizon (-12.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:03 pm with the sun in the west (280°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (286°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:41 pm after setting for 3 minutes with dusk around 8:10 pm, which is one minute and 9 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the southeast (141°) at an altitude of 55° from the horizon, 251,515 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:47 pm. At sunset, look for rain showers 🌧 and temperatures around 46 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Tomorrow will have 13 hours and 38 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 42 seconds over today.
Last night I took the bus 🚍 home, made up Johnny cakes 🥞 and oatmeal with pumpkin 🎃 and then went upstairs to do some reading 📖. Ended up stumbling upon a very well narrated video series on statistics and spatial analysis using R by Great Courses on Kanopy from my local library for free 🆓. While I’m fairly experienced in R there is always more to learn. Spatial correlation is something I’m quite interested in but I find it’s a bit of a complicated theory to understand.
Tonight will have a chance of drizzle with a slight chance of showers before 1am. Mostly cloudy 🌧️ , with a low of 41 degrees at 3am. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 25th. Light south wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2023, we had light rain in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 35 degrees. The record low of 18 occurred back in 1875.
Blusteryand cool this weekend but not so wet. ☀️🌬️Saturday, a slight chance of showers before 8am, then scattered showers after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 60. West wind 9 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 56. Typical average high for the weekend is 62 degrees.
I am thinking about camping 🏕 locally this weekend if Saturday is half decent so I don’t have to listen to them working on construction 🚧 at the unit next door, even though the new landlord has been good about not running the jack hammer or loud equipment in the weekend and evenings. Still it’s annoying as often they have a lot of equipment on the driveway and I have to ask for them to move it to get our so it might be nice to do a quick overnight. I’m thinking the first or second week of May to do trip out to Schoharie 🚲 and ride the Catskill Scenic Trail once things green up, especially the greener farm section down in Delaware County assuming that it’s not so wet the trail is completely bogged down.
One question that is on my mind when I move out west, eventually is what I will do for work. While I plan within maybe a year of moving to have my own land in the clear and live a simple off-grid homestead, I will probably still need some work for health insurance and to cover incidentals without bleeding down my savings until well into retirement.
My parents are quite dismissive of any future move, noting that I’ll probably not be able to find another job in government and politics. Not that I want another job in this field – truth be told I only work in this industry now because it’s a leading field in the greater Albany area and it pays well with good benefits. It’s allowing me to save a lot towards a better future for sure.
That said, I think my job nowadays in research, communications and middle management actually is helping me to develop skills that could be useful in a wide variety of industries where people have to be managed, papers written, demographic analysis done and communications a key. I also think my growing experience at map making – especially high quality maps for presentations and analysis of GIS data is an asset. While I don’t have any formal training in GIS, my ability to develop good maps entirely using free software and open data is an asset.
But all opportunities need not be white collar too. If I have enough money saved and cut my expenses enough I can probably live on much less income as I won’t need to be saving so much money, and I won’t have rent to pay, utility bills, cheaper gas prices and cheaper items in places with a lower cost of business. I am certainly able to do any kind of secretary work or even maybe work in social services like I did with the disabled years ago. I could even do something like work in a grocery store if that helps cover the bills and pays for health insurance. I could certainly do political communications or run campaigns but it’s not something that I want to do when I move west. Being a long haul trucker might be a good job for seeing the country. I briefly dated a girl that was doing that on the side while going to community college.
I don’t know, I have options. By no means am I tied to Albany for the rest of my life but I’ll probably stay local while I have family nearby and I’m making good money to save for tomorrow. It’s been a great few years in the stock market and I’ve been making enough money to invest and save a fair bit so when I make the leap, I can do it and make a smooth transition. It’s not going to be tomorrow but I do want to have enough time remaining in my life to enjoy some fun things, be able to own my own land and live the life I actually want to live.
