Louise E. Keir WMA – Albany Gas Springs State Forest – Allegany Hanging Bog WMA – Allegany Karr Valley Creek State Forest – Allegany Phillips Creek State Forest – Allegany Mccarthy Hill State Forest – Cattaraugus Rock City State Forest – Cattaraugus Frozen Ocean State Forest – Cayuga Whalen Memorial State Forest – Chautauqua New Michigan State Forest – Chenango Perkins Pond State Forest – Chenango Mariposa State Forest – Chenango-Madison Macomb Reservation State Forest – Clinton Livingston State Forest – Columbia Taylor Valley State Forest – Cortland Trout River State Forest – Franklin Beartown State Forest – Lewis Frank E. Jadwin State Forest – Lewis Grant Powell Memorial State Forest – Lewis Indian Pipe State Forest – Lewis Sand Flats State Forest – Lewis Charles E. Baker State Forest – Madison Popple Pond State Forest – Oneida Rome Sand Plains Unique Area – Oneida 1 Huckleberry Ridge State Forest – Orange Roseboom State Forest – Otsego Gates Hill State Forest – Schoharie Petersburg State Forest – Schoharie Sugar Hill State Forest – Schuyler Brasher State Forest – St. Lawrence Helmer Creek WMA – Steuben Calverton Pine Barrens State Forest – Suffolk David A. Sarnoff Preserve – Suffolk Otis Pike Preserve – West – Suffolk Rocky Point Pine Barrens State Forest – Suffolk Bashakill WMA – Sullivan Hickok Brook State Forest – Sullivan Mongaup Valley WMA – Sullivan Roosa Gap State Forest – Sullivan Wolf Brook Multiple Use Area – Sullivan Wurtsboro Ridge State Forest – Sullivan Hammond Hill State Forest – Tompkins Potato Hill State Forest – Tompkins Witch’s Hole State Forest – Ulster
A Look Ahead Towards the Start of Meteorological Spring
In like a lion, out like a lamb in Albany, NY as we start meteorological spring …
March 1st
Average High – 40 degrees
Average Low – 22 degrees
Records:
Negative 9 below in 1940
66 degrees in 2017
March 31st
Average High – 52 degrees
Average Low – 31 degrees
Records:
12 degrees in 1923
89 degrees in 1998
Nice temperatures are just around the corner. Daylight savings time begins a week from Sunday on March 10th — an average high of 43. The first day of spring is Tuesday March 19th — an average high of 46.
It’s nice sleeping with the windows open 🔲
The fresh air is nice even if I don’t love all the road noise.
Good morning! Rain and 51 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ Breezy, ️18 mph breeze from the south-southeast 🌬 with gusts up to 28 mph 💨💨💨. The dew point is 50 degrees. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 11 pm. ☃️
Pancakes 🥞 with fruit and maple 🍁 syrup this morning. I should get some locally bottled syrup as this point I’m sure the sugar houses are firing up. Coffee ☕ too but not to much as there is plenty in the office 🏢 to drink, lol 😂.
Rainy ☔ morning today, but I’m driving to work 🛻 as we are going to lunch to celebrate 🎉 the retiring director and I need a car to get to lunch plus I need to get money 💵. I also want to bring in some of my plants 🌿 and some of my other office stuff that’s been sitting at home while I’ve been in the temporary cubicle. 👞 I have big shoes to fill but I know I’ll do excellent work that I’m proud of in coming years. In some ways it’s a dream job – I’ve always loved working with computers and data – and I get to use the Unix text utilities and SQL every day. Plus lots of R and Python. 🖥 I miss the politics and working Capitol Hill but I’m hopeful to be more involved with that side of things come the autumn. 🗳 Those posters I’m sure once framed will be beautiful in my office. 🖼️
Today will have showers likely, mainly between 10am and 11am. Cloudy 🌦, with a high of 59 degrees at 2pm. 19 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 14th. Maximum dew point of 55 at 1pm. Breezy, with a south wind 18 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning, which became mostly sunny by afternoon. The high last year was 36 degrees. The record high of 63 was set in 1903. 9.7 inches of snow fell back in 1948.❄
I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy 😊 to have my rent check clear 💵 but it seems like my new landlord didn’t delay in cashing the check. It’s good to know he got paid and he’s not going to play games with Venmo. 🎮 While I don’t view Delmar to be my home forever, and hopefully not into next winter it buys time. Even with the June rent hike, this is still my cheapest option to live here. I don’t think I’ll come out ahead owning a home compared to renting a cheap place on the bus 🚍 line and riding to work 🚲 most days.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:09 pm with sun having an altitude of 39.3° from the due south horizon (-31.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:05 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (253°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (260°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:43 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 57 seconds with dusk around 6:11 pm, which is one minute and 14 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:44 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 58 degrees. The dew point will be 54 degrees. Breezy, 22 mph breeze ⛅ from the south with gusts up to 37mph. Tomorrow will have 11 hours and 15 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 51 seconds over today.
I’m still looking at better housing options even though my rent check cleared as saving money isn‘t the only thing in this world, I’m rapidly getting older 👴🏼 and as I settle into what is likely my career for the next twenty years, I should look for a lifestyle that I really want to live. As I noted yesterday, few things scare me more than dropping dead at age 64 and not living the life I want before then. Life isn’t guaranteed forever. Plus I’m super jealous of all my friends and colleagues who have land out in the country. 🚜 I shouldn’t be but I am.
I am basically pre-qualified for a mortgage after submitting a ton of documents but I haven’t followed up with the banks to get it in writing or get a letter ✉ of pre-approval. Part of it is I might not get a traditional mortgage should a buy a fixer up property or have a cabin built to my specifications. To be clear, I don’t want to stall now that the pressure is off but I want to make the right decision on what may define the place I call home my remaining working year. I am continuing to read a book 📖 about custom home building ⚒️ and the contracting process. Is that the right option for me? I don’t know but I don’t want to be stuck in a house too big with features I don’t want with a life I don’t want.
Tonight will rain showers, possibly mixing with snow after 10pm, then gradually ending. 🌧 Low of 24 degrees at 5am. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 1st. Windy, with a south wind 23 to 30 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 48 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. 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 19 degrees. The record low of -2 occurred back in 2008.
Last night 🌃 I had more fried zucchini with onions and corn with spices. A good dinner followed by some mango and chopped apple 🍏 with cinnamon. Then I went for my evening walk 🚶. Rode both ways to work plus a short ride around North Albany. Been finalizing the details of moving into the new private office and getting the phones 📞 switched over to that office. Plants 🌿 are moving into that office today even if the retiring director still will be there a bit today.
Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 59. I still think it would be a nice night 🌃 to camp on Saturday if not too muddy. Today’s rain should reduce the fire risk though it also will reduce the snow. Typical average high for the weekend is 40 degrees.
One month 📅 from now the Average High is 50 🌸 when the sun will be setting at 7:18 pm with dusk at 7:45 pm (Daylight Savings Time). That sure will be nice when the heat is off and the windows open. And the evening commute much brighter 🔆.
Few things at this point take my breath away like reading he died at age 64, right before retirement … ⚰️
I don’t know why I think that so scary but as I push further into my forties, dying in my mid 60s just prior to retirement seems so scary. Maybe because I’m working so hard and saving so much for my retirement but also because my fear that a life that exists in my imagination might never exist and that I’m forever stuck in Albany, the same drudgery of taking the bus downtown to the big office building downtown in the big city. A future dreamed about and saved for but never reached and only forgotten about.
While tomorrow is never guaranteed, somehow dying in your sixties before retirement or much of it seems like such a cruel thing. All the decades of work for no reward. The whole thing just really horrifies me each time I see it brought up in the news.
It’s like late April in February 🌷
Maybe no tulips yet but it’s going to be a real nice one – I’ve seen daffodils starting to spring up and probably in warmer more sheltered parts of the woods coltfoot can be found. I’m sure we’ll still have cold blasts like on Thursday but it gets harder and harder for extended cold come March.
Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Starting out cold but will warm up quickly. Partly sunny and 37 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☀ Calm wind.
Definitely riding to work today, 🚲 leaving early so I can possibly ride up via the upper Menands ramp to extend the ride on this beautiful morning. 🌅 Plus I always have a stack of work to do over at Data Services, as the data keeps pouring in. 🖥 Don’t get me wrong, I love 😍 the work but it’s non stop. Data is dirty, it needs processing, manually and programmatically, has to be synced to the databases and user 👤 permissions updated. The work never stops in the world of data. 🔢 I’m becoming such a pro with unix textutils – awk, sed, tr, grep and cut are my go to tools ⚙.
Today will have a chance of showers, mainly after 5pm. Mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 63 degrees at 3pm. 24 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 22nd. I’ll take late April weather in February. Already opened a bunch of windows to let the smoke from cooking 🍳 and steam from showering out. 🌬️ Going to be windy, and you got to wonder about red flag 🚩 conditions although there is snow in the mountains ⛰ remaining for now. Light south wind increasing to 13 to 18 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 35 degrees. The record high of 61 was set in 1997. 3.6 inches of snow fell back in 2019.❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:09 pm with sun having an altitude of 38.9° from the due south horizon (-31.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7.4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:04 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (253°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (259°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:42 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 57 seconds with dusk around 6:10 pm, which is one minute and 15 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:43 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 60 degrees. Breezy, 16 mph breeze ⛅ from the south with gusts up to 28mph. Today will have 11 hours and 10 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 50 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will have showers. 🌧 Low of 51 degrees at 7pm. 30 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 24th. Maximum dew point of 50 at 6am. 🏖️ South wind 14 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Leave the windows open? In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became light snow by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 26 degrees. The record low of -10 occurred back in 1950.
Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 57. Typical average high for the weekend is 40 degrees. Still looks great for camping 🏕 but I got to be careful with fire.
Looking ahead, there are 3 weeks until Last Day of Winter 🏂 when the sun will be setting at 7:08 pm with dusk at 7:35 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2023, we had partly sunny, snow showers and temperatures between 33 and 22 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 46 degrees. We hit a record high of 78 back in 2012.
The thing I’m learning about looking at houses is there two kind of places, mold and mouse-infested with paint peeling and marble countertops and swanky shit. 🏘
The prior the intention is to get an FHA loan, tear out all of crap and send it to the landfill and replace with Home Depot cheap swank features, while the later is already covered with that marble crap and swank features, and already has had that tear out done. In some ways it makes me feel good knowing that I’m not totally responsible for trashing my apartment, as shit wears out if you not constantly repairing it. Things have a lot shorter lifespan and are designed to be sent to the mound on the outskirks of town much sooner then you might think. Maybe I’m too much of a horny buck goat myself, who sprays his beard with urine because it smells so good at least to a horny buck goat, and even though I don’t spray my own beard with urine, I find those to be such a spirit animal.
Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. Mostly cloudy and 35 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a south-southeast breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 10 pm. ☃️
I was listening to this audio book, Jennifer McGahan’s Flat Broke with Two Goats, 🎧 last week which of course had too many descriptions of goat sex and all things smelly and dirty about owning buck goats, listening while I ride to work, probably as I pass through the Delmar suburbs and the poverty South End, and people are horrified overhearing the audio with the often very descriptively smelly parts of goat farm life. But shit’s real, unlike those marble countertops they keep trying to push me towards when I look at Zillow ads. And vinyl siding. Have you ever seen how black that vinyl siding shit burns, like my childhood neighbors did with the scraps when they got their then new double-wide manufactured home? 🔥 Yuck. I’m cool with people burning shit out in the country, but vinyl siding is so toxic and nasty to burn. ☠
Today will be mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny ☁, with a high of 52 degrees at 3pm. 13 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 31st. South wind 5 to 9 mph becoming north in the afternoon. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 63 was set in 1976. 8.4 inches of snow fell back in 1972.❄
Going to be a great day for riding to work. 🚲 And maybe also at lunch time. That’s one of advantage of living in city, well the suburbs for now. Figure might as well take advantage of it while it’s a thing. 😀 Plus it’s a great cure for my anxiety. 🤪 Yesterday, I had multiple anxiety attacks as I’ve been incredibly stress about taking over management of the Data Services division 💻 all by myself this week, the whole situation about the rent check 📜, even though I know it will be fine as I mailed the paper check to my new landlord, as much as he doesn’t want a paper check, he has to accept it, 🤷♂️ and he pretty much agreed to it in writing. It should be in box by tomorrow at the latest, which is three days before it’s required. I know things will work out, but it’s really a tough time in my life, as I’m pulled in forty different directions. ◀️ ▶️ I am no longer in my twenties and thirties, the days of rambling in the wilderness 🌲 are probably coming to an end. But maybe becoming a hobby farmer is next, and heating with wood and having bonfires 🔥 out back in next.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:09 pm with sun having an altitude of 38.5° from the due south horizon (-32.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:03 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (252°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (259°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:41 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 58 seconds with dusk around 6:08 pm, which is one minute and 15 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:42 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 48 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 7 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 49 seconds over yesterday.
I was really hoping to meet my friend from Boy Scouts yesterday to learn more about he financed and secured his 10-acre homestead outside of Greenville 🐐 but he got stuck working late. He works really long hours, but then again I had to do some work adding accounts for the data system on Sunday too. Everybody is quite busy. Started to go through the list of properties in the hilltowns with back taxes owed to county, studying acreages, aerial photos, and LIDAR to glean what knowledge I can. 🔍 I am not saying this guarantees I’ll find the right land for me for cheap, that frees up funds for building the homestead of my dreams that smells like horney buck goat or hogs 🐷 and isn’t afraid of some mud, 👃 but pushing the paper — well actually the GIS databases and property tax information can provide insight into who to send certified letters in hopes I might find a willing seller for a reasonable price. 🤝
I’m not afraid to haul some garbage and tires for the perfect property without the marble counter tops that I have nothing but disdain for. 🏚 Maybe next weekend I can get together with him, I think he has a lot of good ideas I need to learn about, because I don’t think a real estate agent will be pushing me to the right property. I’ve also started reading a e-book 📖 from Libby about the process of building your own home, 🏠 or restoring an existing property. I can haul garbage but I don’t trust myself with a hammer, 🔨 especially anything structural or supposed to look the least bit purty, not that I give a duck 🦆 about being purty but functional. I am also studying possibly having a cabin built to my specifications — there is lots of acerage available locally but so many of homes for sale have marble countertops and probably aren’t appropriate for raising hogs or burning shit out back without the neighbors calling the jack-booted thugs on you. 👩🚒 As my farmer friends like to post, happiness has a smell and it smells like barnyard. 👨🌾 Silage can be so pungent.
Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 28 degrees at 2am. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 21st. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2023, we had light snow in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 23 degrees. The record low of -13 occurred back in 1940.
Awesome weekend on tap, with temperatures running 16 degrees above normal. 😎 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 53. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 59. Typical average high for the weekend is 40 degrees. Maybe I can go camping. 🏕 I need some time in the wilderness. Nothing like a good ol’ fire to soothe the soul 🔥 especially if we get some rain this week and it lowers the fire risk. March camping might be a challenge if we’re under red-flag conditions much of the month, especially if it’s windy as much of the spring often is. Honestly, I don’t mind a bit of snow in March, but hopefully at least we will get some needed rain. 🌧
Looking ahead, there are 5 weeks until April Fools Day 🤡 when the sun will be setting at 7:23 pm with dusk at 7:50 pm (Daylight Savings Time). Day after Easter. 🐰 Early this year. On that day in 2023, we had rain and temperatures between 74 and 41 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 52 degrees. We hit a record high of 77 back in 1986.
I found the perfect property yesterday … except for that one little dealbreaker 🏠
Ironically, not one I drove by but one I found on Zillow that had been by years ago on my back-roads explorations, and dirt cheap at $90k. But just a little bit too far away from work, and it was on Travis Hill, which is steep probably isn’t well maintained in the winter. But I loved everything else about it — 6 1/2 acres of land, no close neighbors, a simple 1,050 square foot beam-foundation cabin with a central wood stove and also back up oil heat, shower, flush toilet, well, septic, and electricity. But probably the price had to do with the location and that the inside needs a bit of cleaning and repair. I do wish something like that could be what I called home.
Good morning! Happy Sunday. Sunny and 13 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at around noontime. 🌡️ Hopefully the final last real cold day of the year. At least that’s my hope as I want to keep the heat off for the season, especially with all the air leaks in my apartment. I don’t mind the cold but the pipes can’t freeze.
Today it’s off to Walmart to get groceries and then some cleaning, 🧹 🧽 and maybe a short bike ride 🚴♀️ before going out to see the folks this morning. Then this afternoon, I’m hoping to visit with my friend from Boy Scouts who has that beautiful homestead out near Greenville, 🚜 and learn whatever insight I can from him.
Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 39 degrees at 4pm. Typical for today. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had light snow in the morning, which became snow by afternoon. The high last year was 21 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2017. 16.8 inches of snow fell back in 1966.❄
Going to be a nice day for driving around and looking at property. 🏠 I hope to learn a lot. After discovering that cabin on Zillow the other day, I’m starting to explore the pros and cons of having something constructed like that for me, but smaller. I don’t need a second floor, really a single room with a stove, oven, sink, woodstove, table, rocking chair and bed plus a bathroom would really be what I need. Less stuff to clean or maintain. I 🪵 like the idea of a beam-foundation cabin, as it’s less expensive then a full basement, provides easier access for maintance of pipes, though you have to worry more about pipes freezing, animals burrowing underneath plus sufficient insulation to keep the cold from coming on up. 🛖
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 38.1° from the due south horizon (-32.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 5:01 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (252°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (258°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:40 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 58 seconds with dusk around 6:07 pm, which is one minute and 15 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:41 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 37 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 4 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 48 seconds over yesterday.
Just another Sunday, Funday. 🏘 I wish I could find my dream property right away, but I concede it’s going to take time. I got the Albany County back taxes list, and I am going to link it to the NYS Property Tax Database, to see if there is any interesting parcels with back taxes. 🤖 Maybe I can find an abandoned homestead and house that way, one that hasn’t gone to the land bank, but maybe I can find the owner and make some kind of deal. Then back to work on Monday. 👨💼
Tonight will have a slight chance of sleet before midnight, then a slight chance of snow showers and sleet between midnight and 1am, then a chance of snow showers after 1am. Mostly cloudy 🌨, with a low of 28 degrees at 3am. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 21st. South wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow and sleet accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2023, we had light snow in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 16 degrees. The record low of -11 occurred back in 1950.
Hopefully just one more day that I’ll need the heat on. ♨️ Maybe tomorrow will be warm enough to open up windows and let some fresh air into my moldy, dusty apartment. I don’t pay much for the heat because I keep it so low, but I like the fresh air and I don’t like things excessively warm, especially with my heated blanket. Plus with all the air leaks in my apartment, whenever the heat does kick on, it gets excessively warm, especially in the bathroom. So I’ll be happy when it’s done for the year. I’m just hoping to be out of here by the end of the year.
As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Daylight Savings Time 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 6:57 pm with dusk at 7:24 pm (Daylight Savings Time). On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 44 and 20 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 43 degrees. We hit a record high of 72 back in 1977.
