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.
People ask how I find the time to work on my blog. But to be honest, not owning a television frees up a lot of time, as does riding public transportation to work and around town.
Writing on my phone is particularly nice, because it has fewer distractions than my laptop and it’s small enough that it can just sit on my hand while laying in bed with the lights dimmed to a relaxing red color.
Lately I’ve increased my commitment to writing, as I think it’s a good way to expand my thoughts and share them with the world. And laying back on my bed while typing out my ideas gives me ample time to just do that.
Autumn really has its finest colors not when the leaves are still on the trees but in November when the sun angle is low, the skies are blue and crisp. The fading greens of the farm fields below, the smell of wood smoke and pungent manure on the farm fields.
I was in bed a little before eight last night and asleep shortly thereafter. I went for my evening walk right after dinner then slept until six o’clock though I did get up a few times in the night to use the bathroom. Eggs with all the usual vegetables for breakfast this morning.
Good morning! Happy Thursday. Tomorrow is Veterans Day Observed. Another state holiday, November is good for that. Rain letting up and 36 degrees in Bethlehem, NY. ☔ There is a south-southeast breeze at 14 mph. 🍃 with gusts up to 26 mph 💨💨💨. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Saturday around 11 pm. ☃️
No morning walk 🚶 today though it was decent enough to walk down to the earlier express bus 🚍 and now I’m walking in the Concourse before work. I probably could have ridden to work today but it’s rather damp and wet this morning. I thought about trying to catch the 7:20 AM downtown, but that was a bit early for me. But I still got in 5,000 steps before work, so I’m happy. I am going to see how close I can get to 10,000 steps before the bus ride home, 👣 but I concede I’ll probably have to do an evening walk. That said, I don’t mind the evening walk, especially if I do it right after dinner.
Tried the avocado 🥑 oil I got from Aldis this past weekend and was very impressed with the results. It’s like cooking with asbestos, the 500 degree smoke point means you can cook at high on the stove without the oil breaking down much less smoking. Things get crisp without burning. Great for cooking onions. 🧅Healthy omega 3 fat too. ❤️🩹 Real nice.
Today will have rain showers, mainly before noon. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a high of 46 degrees at 1pm. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 23rd. South wind 7 to 15 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 51 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1975. 10.0 inches of snow fell back in 1900.❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:40 am with sun having an altitude of 30.6° from the due south horizon (-40.2° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:59 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (241°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (248°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:40 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 8 seconds with dusk around 5:08 pm, which is one minute and 6 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:44 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 46 degrees. There will be a north-northwest breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 2 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 21 seconds over yesterday.
Yesterday I was sort of in a haze most of the day. 🤯 It was tough to get back into the routine with the time change, 🕒 plus I was up after nine 9⃣ finishing kneading the bread 🍞 and then up at five o’clock to bake the bread along with Butternut Squash. Then I spent a lot of time studying election results 🔎 at work as it was otherwise a rather slow day 🐢 in the office 🏢.
Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 37 degrees at 5am. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 30th. North wind 6 to 8 mph becoming south after midnight. In 2022, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 31 degrees. The record low of 16 occurred back in 1965.
I still haven’t turned on the central heat where I live. ♨️ The thing is with all cooking and the blankets, I don’t mind the cool. I did bring out the space heater and use it for like 5 minutes that one day last week when I chilled through, but other then it’s not been that cold. I’m not home all that much either, especially with all the traveling lately. And I’m thinking of heading out of town again this long weekend, as it will be cold but sunny, lol.
VeteransDay Weekend looks crisp but sunny 🌞. Friday, Veterans Day Observed cloudy and 52 degrees. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 46. Sunday, sunny and 43. Typical average high for the weekend is 51 degrees. I am now leaning towards spend the weekend in the Green Mountain National Forest, extending it to include Monday for three-nights, four days, much like last weekend. It will be cool but lots of sun. I’ll decide by mid-day, after checking my work calendar and how much time I have to take off. 🏕
But then again, I was looking at the Vermont Hunting Season schedule, 🦌 an opening day in Vermont is Saturday, so I probably don’t want to be camping this weekend there. I could do something in New York, though probably best to just stick closer to home this week, save some gas and money. ⛽ I really need a quiet, off week after all the traveling lately. I thought about Burnt-Rossman or Rensselaerville, but maybe it would be better just ride my bike around town. 🚲 I wonder if they’ll finally have that Slingerlands Rail Trail bridge open. Going to really be a cold weekend, even if sunny.
Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until Thanksgiving 🦃 when the sun will be setting at 4:28 pm with dusk at 4:57 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 49 and 24 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 46 degrees. We hit a record high of 72 back in 1931.
When I was at Aldi’s the other weekend I picked up some canned chicken after studying the nutrition facts. I was thinking canned chicken is a convenient way of having meat to add to various soups and stews I’m making up. Unlike normal chicken wrapped in plastic and Styrofoam, you don’t need to keep it frozen or even refrigerated, it can be stuck in cupboard or with other dry goods, and is ready when you need it.
Maybe canned chicken isn’t as healthy as canned tuna, as it’s an omega-6 rather then omega-3 fat but it’s good for a change and is a relatively healthy meat-protein source. It’s also very affordable, the package fully recyclable with urban recycling programs. It would be good in quick soups made up at camp, or even at home when I’m not really in the mood to do much cooking but want a quick chicken soup with carrots and other vegetables.
Got to bed a little after nine after my bread was rising in the oven. Up a bit before five to get baking, beans cooking on the stove, butternut squash cleaned and baking.
Good morning! Mostly clear at the freezing point 🌅 in Delmar, NY for the morning walk. There is a northwest breeze at 13 mph. 🍃 with gusts up to 24 mph 💨💨💨. I’m out walking this morning and it’s a cold one. I’m out and going though with my morning walk, but it’s cold. 🚶♀️ Going to ride to work today, 🚲 but by five o’clock it will be dark and I’ll be busing it back home.
Lost one of my gloves 🧤 when I was out riding on Monday, so it might make for a bit of cool ride into work, but I figure I best do it today as tomorrow isn’t going to be nice enough to ride to work. I am stumbling around this morning though, running late, it’s going to be closer to 10 AM when I get into the office. 👨💼 Probably almost would have been just better to take the local bus in this morning, but so be it. Part of it was I was studying local election results and news 📰, trying to see what happened last night. Not that it makes much of a difference in my life, but I always find it interesting to see what’s happening politically.
Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 43 degrees at 2pm. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 30th. Northwest wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with sunny skies in the afternoon. The high last year was 53 degrees. The record high of 75 was set in 1975. 1.7 inches of snow fell back in 1894.❄ A few years before my time.
The bread I ended up making came out very salty, 🧂🍞 as I decided to put extra salt on the top. I might try to scrape it off, but if that doesn’t work out, I’ll let the bread dry out and use it in a soup as breadcrumbs with less salt in it. I am out of flour now, I will need to get more before I start doing anymore bread. Last week’s bread came out so good, I am disappointed I messed this one up but I was kind of sleepy as I made the bread up, having just come back from those three nights camping out Madison County.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:40 am with sun having an altitude of 30.9° from the due south horizon (-40° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:00 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (241°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (248°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:42 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 8 seconds with dusk around 5:10 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:45 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 41 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 5 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 23 seconds over yesterday.
This morning is cold ❄️ but this evening looks even worse. But hopefully late enough that it won’t impact my plans to get out walking 🚶♀️ this evening after dinner, then read for a while 📕 and get to bed early 🛌 as I’m quite tired. It’s been a fun few weeks but it’s been so busy with vacation then taking the other weekend out to Madison County. 🤠 Plus much like yesterday, ☕ sipping coffee just seemed like a more important activity then getting to work on time, lol. 🤣 It’s going to probably be a fairly quiet day in the office, as I didn’t see a lot of backgrounds or cap grants go through when I was on vacation on Monday.
Tonight will rain, snow, and sleet likely before 3am, then rain likely, possibly mixed with sleet. 🌨 Cloudy, with a low of 32 degrees at 11pm. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 13th. Calm wind becoming southeast around 6 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow and sleet accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2022, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 27 degrees. The record low of 11 occurred back in 1971.
Yesterday, drove back to Albany from Madison County. 🚘 Stopped at Altamont Orchards and got apples 🍏 and grapes 🍇. The grapes weren’t as good as the concord grapes I got last week at Annuto’s but far better then what I would get at a grocery store. Went out and visited the family on Sunday evening. 👪 Then got clothes unpacked and started kneading the bread 🍞 and then headed off to bed, a bit after 9 PM as I didn’t get home too early and had a fair bit to unpack.
Cool but sunny weekend ahead, bar Veterans Day. 🎖 Friday, Veterans Day Observed, mostly cloudy, with a high near 50. West wind 7 to 11 mph. Saturday, Veterans Day, sunny, with a high near 46. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 43. Typical average high for the weekend is 51 degrees. Not a half bad weekend, kind of wish I had held off until this weekend but so be it. Sunday was nice last weekend in Madison County. I am considering going out to Vermont next weekend, but I’ll see how the weather looks as we get closer. Might be kind of cold.
Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Saint Nicholas Day 🎅 when the sun will be setting at 4:23 pm with dusk at 4:53 pm. On that day in 2022, we had rain showers, partly cloudy, mild and temperatures between 54 and 39 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 41 degrees. We hit a record high of 68 back in 2001.
I was thinking picking up littered beer cans at Stoney Pond State Forest what would be an effective deposit today to reduce litter and maximize recycling. With inflation, I think a quarter per can makes a lot of sense, it would provide a real incentive to make sure cans are brought back to the store for recycling or refilling.
A quarter a can would raise the 12 pack of beer by $3 and a 30 rack by $7.50. I concede that’s a pretty big price hike but the flip side is it’s fully redeemable when you bring your cans back. I’d argue it’s quite worth it and would help to keep our forests and farms clean, and provide a relatively clean source of scrap aluminum for factories.
