Balsam Swamp is a sprawling state forest that stretches almost 5.5 miles east-west across 4 towns. The area is very rural, and the landscape surrounding the State Forest is predominantly forested. Balsam Swamp State Forest is comprised of a mix of native hardwood forests, hemlock swamps, and conifer plantations. There are no designated recreational trails on the forest, but there is ample opportunity for self-guided day hikes to explore the diversity of habitats represented on this State Forest. Additionally, the western section of Balsam Swamp State Forest is adjacent to Five Streams State Forest to the south.
The main attraction of this forest is Balsam Pond. The impoundment is approximately 152 acres and is a popular destination for fishing and paddle boat sports. Balsam Pond is a warm water fishery that contains a mix of largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, yellow perch, brown bullhead and sunfish. Tiger muskellunge have been stocked in the past with the last stocking occurring in 1995. However, there have been very few reports of anglers catching any of the adult tiger muskies. A shallow gravel boat launch is suitable for launching small fishing boats.
A small rustic camp ground is also located at Balsam Pond. Camping spaces are available at no cost on a first-come, first-serve basis and there is no running water or electricity. A fire ring, outhouse, and picnic table are provided for each camping space. A sign on Balsam-Tyler Road in Pharsalia designates the entrance to the boat launch and camping facility. This is a carry-in carry-out facility. Please do not litter.
My landlord called me and said is retiring and sold my apartment building after 16 ½ years of me living here. Maybe this is a sign to move on from my dumpy apartment in the suburbs, maybe it’s time to buy land and move back out to the country. Maybe I can stay or maybe I can find a place closer to work.
Who knows how much more time I have here. Maybe it will be just a reasonable bump in rent with the new owner or maybe I’ll have to leave. It wasn’t call I was expecting tonight but it’s been a good run here and while my apartment hasn’t been wonderful – it’s been inexpensive and convenient. Now that I work in the suburbs, maybe it’s time to move on, to a different livestyle and way of living.
It’s too soon to know immediately but change is in the air like it or not for my life. As much as I wish all to remain the same, I’ve watched as the neighborhood around me has gentrified and my apartment decayed as my landlord grayed, and knew that day would come when tough decisions came down. It will be a change, probably requiring an adjustment to my budget but I have options. I knew I couldn’t live here forever.
Don’t freeze off your dipstick riding to work I tell myself. Or maybe my hands I should be concerned about. I tell myself I should take the bus but truth be told, I’d rather get the exercise from the bike at least riding in even if I bus it home in the evening from the old train station downtown.
Good morning on thisValentine’s Day. 💜❤️ Mostly clear and 23 degrees in Delmar, NY. ❄ Breezy, ️21 mph breeze from the west-northwest 🌬 with gusts up to 31 mph 💨💨💨. The current wind chill is 8. Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 11 am. 🌡️
It’s all good to ride to work I tell myself. 🚲 No it will be fine just cold. My office is plenty warm I guess. I can bundle up and I’ll be burning lots of calories. I don’t know, maybe I should bus it. 🚍 I just had such a great time riding back and forth to work yesterday.
Today will have a slight chance of snow showers before 7am. Mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 30 degrees at 2pm. Six degrees below normal. Blustery, with a northwest wind 17 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with sunny skies in the afternoon. The high last year was 50 degrees. I wish it was that warm this year. The record high of 63 was set in 1946. 23.5 inches of snow fell back in 1914.❄
I got candy 🍬 ready in little baggies to give out to folks at work. Didn’t eat any myself. I was good. That said I had plenty of sugar this morning with banana carrot oatmeal pancakes 🥞 topped with mango 🍍 and real maple 🍁 syrup. Soon I’m sure farm stands will be stocked with this year’s freshly boiled sap. Dinner last night was Johnny cakes with lots of onions and garlic with turmeric and jalapeños topped with Greek yogurt. Good stuff.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:11 pm with sun having an altitude of 34.2° from the due south horizon (-36.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 8.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:46 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (246°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (253°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:26 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 2 seconds with dusk around 5:54 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the southwest (222°) at an altitude of 54° from the horizon, 229,854 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:28 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 27 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 14. ☃️ Breezy, 18 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest with gusts up to 28mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 36 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 39 seconds over today.
Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 20 degrees at 6am. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 23rd. Maximum wind chill around 9 at 6am; Northwest wind 9 to 16 mph. In 2023, we had clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 31 degrees. The record low of -22 occurred back in 1943.
I’ve put on a few pounds this winter 🤰🏽 from all the carbs from homemade bread and pancakes 🍞 but I’m thinner then I used to be. But I’m thinking 💭 with spring coming and riding back and forth to work I should strive to get my BMI below the overweight to the normal weight by the time of my next yearly physical. Last summer I was with nine lb of doing it and now I’m probably closer to 15-20 lb above but it’s actually not that much of a jump. I don’t eat processed foods anymore except on rare occasions but I do need to think a bit more about portion sizes and less carbs. And maybe a bit less fruit 🍌 – I do love the sweetness of all that mango and grapes to say nothing about bananas and it’s healthy but anything can be overdone. That would help with the budget too. 💸
Cloudy ⛅ but more sun as the weekend progresses. Saturday, a chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 33. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 37. President’s Day, mostly sunny and 43. Kind of breezy all weekend though. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees.
I’m having second thoughts about heading out of town for President’s Weekend ⛺ with it sounding like it will be colder and windier in Madison County though less of a risk of snow 🌨 on Friday for the drive out as they first predicted. I guess I’ll decide tomorrow.
Definitely looking forward on this cold morning, as there are 2 weeks until Average High is 40 ☀️ when the sun will be setting at 5:44 pm with dusk at 6:11 pm. Get a, warm day and it will feel really spring like. On that day in 2023, we had snow showers, partly cloudy and temperatures between 36 and 26 degrees. Well, last year wasn’t so warm, lol 😂. We hit a record high of 63 back in 1903.
It feels great to be able to ride both in and home from work. Instead of paying the bus fare, I’m paying towards my future with better health and saved money. That buck thirty each way may not be a big expense but it still kind of gnaws at me like a dripping faucet.
It’s not to say that the ride home is a ride in the park. I mean it is most of the way literally but it’s still a good climb out of the gorge. But that cardio is good, and it’s a great way to get exercise while saving a bit of money and enjoying nature while not using much more time than I would use riding the bus.
I don’t know if I’ll ride home the rest of the week – going to be colder and cloudier but it’s a sign of spring time with the knowledge that soon I’ll be able to do this nearly every day, with some weeks never boarding the bus at all.
As a single guy, I am no fan of Valentines’ Day. We are now seven weeks into winter, often with a gray haze and clouds all around. It’s cold, I’m stuck inside in my small little apartment that is rarely warm in part because I don’t like paying for the heat, and in part because it’s drafty and falling apart. Despite the foam I put around the door, one of the days it’s going to completely fall apart again. The vinyl windows have lost their seal, and the walls don’t line up with the foundation, allowing air to leak in freely on this blustery morning.
I got the news that I am likely losing my home 16 years this week, with the landlord selling the building. A place I’ve gotten to know so well, with many in-perfections but also the niceties of living somewhere that is walk-able and bikable, with good public transportation. I have to start the home search, be it an another apartment or buying a house. But I don’t want to move or give up on the life I’ve come to love — biking to work, walking down to the library, weekends in the wilderness.
My heart is so broken to be losing my apartment in the coming months. But it’s also tough to be so alone, in what often seems like the bleakest days of winter, before the dawn of spring. The nights are getting shorter, but not by much, and the mercury slightly warmer. Things will get better soon, but it’s so bleak right now. I have much to look forward to after this period of darkness.
Maybe they’ll be some snow. I’m going to try to ride in early this morning on my bikebutit depends how slick the trail gets and how much snow comes down in the morning squall. The alternative I guess is to head in early and walk laps at the Empire State Plaza.
Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Cloudy and 31 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a north breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. Things will start to thaw out at around 8 am. 🌡️
Up at five o’clock, no I don’t use an alarm ⏰ clock. My body just naturally wakes up at that hour as I go to bed 🛏 early. Decided to do eggs 🥚 with broccoli 🥦 and spinach along with some leftover ham 🐽 that I had in my fridge. Plus some mango. 🍍 A bit of coffee ☕ but I’m cutting back as I had to pee 🚻 all day yesterday. Last night was salmon and broccoli. Went for the evening walk 🚶 and read 📖 more of Paved Paradise, How Parking has Defined the World on the Libby app. Trying to do more reading again.
Today will have a slight chance of snow between 7am and 11am. Cloudy 🌨, with a high of 39 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 25th. North wind 7 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 52 degrees. The record high of 58 was set in 1900. 9.0 inches of snow fell back in 1893.❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:11 pm with sun having an altitude of 33.9° from the due south horizon (-36.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 8.9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:44 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (246°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (253°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:24 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 3 seconds with dusk around 5:52 pm, which is one minute and 19 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the southwest (232°) at an altitude of 43° from the horizon, 228,076 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:27 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 37 degrees. There will be a north-northwest breeze at 10 mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 34 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 40 seconds over today.
Tonight will have a chance of snow showers, mainly between midnight and 2am. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 22 degrees at 6am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 1st. West wind 7 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 30 degrees. The record low of -13 occurred back in 2016.
Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, a chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 34. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees.
Looking ahead, there are 5 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.
Libby is a free application for your phone that allows you to borrow e-books and audio books from your local library. You install the app, enter in your library card number and it allows you to download the book to your phone for two weeks.
While not every book is available on it and some popular titles may be checked out, it is pretty amazing. The books are nicely formatted for your screen, it is portable and you don’t have to worry about the books getting wet or having to return them to the library. As the books are downloaded to the phone, you don’t need cell service to read them, they read just fine in camping the remote Adirondacks or in a deep hollow in Schoharie County.
I’ve gotten out of the habit of reading in part because it’s such a pain to lug a bunch of books around and you end up with a big stack of library books that end up sitting on the shelf. But your phone is small and you carry it everywhere, and not only does it provide the reading material it also has your music and apps.
Lately I’ve been hearing from many Joe Biden supporters on how they profusely hate Donald Trump, at the same time seem to have adopted most of his views based on what they are hearing in the news. From supposed Joe Biden supporters , I hear about the illegals pouring over the border, how bail reform is ruining our state, crime is out of control, and how Joe Biden is too old, frail and elderly to be in the White House. But I’m told he’s somehow he’s better then his obnoxious, 96-count felon opponent, Donald Trump.
It’s a big problem for Democrats when the media has ground into the public’s mind that Joe Biden is a failure, an aloof old man who doesn’t get today’s concerns. People might not like Donald Trump’s style or some of his positions, but if your believing most of his rhetoric, then it’s hard to be an enthusiastic Joe Biden supporter. The media still digs Donald Trump and his narrative because it’s dramatic and sells a lot of newspaper and television advertising.For them, it’s not about policy, but just making a lot of profit.
I don’t know how we turn the tide on the anti-Joe Biden narrative that has come to overtake the political debate in recent weeks. It’s just so profitable for the corporations to tell a bad story about the nation. Not to mention, a lot of corporations want Donald Trump back in the White House, to cut regulation and taxes. Joe Biden, despite being the incumbent, in many ways is the underdog in his rematch with Donald Trump — despite all the legal challenges and problems the former President faces.
