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.
Good evening! Snow showers and 33 degrees in Delmar. ❄ Still just a light breeze around, 7 mph from the northwest. The really strong stuff is still a ways off. There are 6 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ We had some melting mid-day with the rain, but we got a few extra inches this evening. ️The skies will clear tomorrow around 10 am.
The big dramatic snow storm was well whatever. ⛄ Maybe enough snow to make snow men, but I don’t know. The sidewalks were fine for both the morning and evening walks, 🏃 I got in 5.6 miles today. The office was closed today from the snow 📚 so I stayed home and did several hours of reading. The evening walk — which I did around 5 PM was pretty cold and wet with really sloppy snow. And mid-day it was all rain. Cleaned my truck off twice today of snow, and shoveled out the turn around so I shouldn’t have any more to do come Sunday.
One week until calendar spring. 📆 It’s still possible we get yet another snow storm, but after March 15th the snow fall records get smaller and smaller and in recent decades, there is less and less of a record of significant snow falls. Today certainly wasn’t a record breaking snow fall. Maybe in higher elevations, I heard they got more in the Adirondacks. The strong winds and blizzard like conditions have yet to happen. Maybe the wind will pick up over night, we could even loose power but I have my doubts. And by then I’ll be soundly asleep. 🛌
Tonight will snow, mainly before midnight. 🌨 Low of 28 degrees at 6am. Typical for tonight. Blustery, with a northwest wind 18 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. In 2022, we had mostly 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 1 occurred back in 1993.
Tonight will have a Last Quarter 🌗 Moon with 49% illuminated. The Blue 🌝 Moon is on Friday, March 31. The darkest hour is at 1:06 am, followed by dawn at 6:43 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:11 am in the east (93°) and last for 2 minutes and 54 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 43 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 7:48 am with sun in the east (99°).Tonight will have 12 hours and 4 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 55 seconds over last night.
The morning walk tomorrow will not be pleasant. 🚶♀️I think that just the fact of the matter. But I’ll bundle up and get moving. I will survive. It’s been 55 days now of walking 5 miles or more each day. So I don’t want to break the record any time soon if I can avoid it. It might be hard come later in March though with my work schedule but I’ll do the best I can.
Tomorrow will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 36 degrees at 4pm. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 17th. Breezy, with a northwest wind 17 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 47 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 53 degrees. The record high of 72 was set in 2019. 10.4 inches of snow fell back in 1916.❄
Two weeks ago I bought some low fat vanilla yogurt as a snack. A small bowl 🍧is 80 or maybe 100 calories and I finally opened it up and it was delicious 😋. It’s a tub with 5 servings so what it means plastic garbage it’s not that much and those polypropylene containers burn fine. 🔥 Not going to be an every day thing though as it has some added sugar so I have to be careful about that and make sure to limit the portion size and just add extra fruit. But the vanilla taste is amazing.
Today in 1900, the Gold Standard Act is ratified, 💱 placing United States currency on the gold standard. It would last until the 1930s when the widely held belief was the gold standard was too restrictive on the economy and limited the ability of the government to stimulate or slow the economy, as now is the case with the battle against inflation. Truth is the economy had grown too big for pegging currency to gold, 💰 by the time Breton Woods rolled around, they really didn’t have much of an ability to continue it. And truth be told, I’ve always though buying gold is like putting all your money in one basket — really it’s a commodity and one with limited use beside the desire of some to hoard it. Jewelry and computer chips really are the only real use of gold, besides hoarding which can be fickle.
In four weeks on April 11 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (282°) at 7:33 pm,🌄 which is 32 minutes and 12 seconds later then tonight. In 2022 on that day, we had mostly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 61 and 29 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 57 and 35 degrees. The record high of 87 degrees was set back in 2017.
Looking ahead, First Day of Spring 💮 is Next Tuesday, Average High is 50 🌸 is Next Tuesday, Mothers Day 👩 is in 2 months, Primary Day 🗳️ is in 14 weeks, Independence Day 🇺🇸 is in 16 weeks, World Population Day 👩👩👧👧 is in 17 weeks, National Nude Day 👱 is in 4 months, August 🌻 is in 20 weeks, Halloween 🎃 is in 33 weeks, Average High is 50 🍂 is in 8 months, Election Day 🗳️ is in 8 months, Repeal of Prohibition Day 🍺 is in 38 weeks and Boxing Day 🥊 is in 41 weeks.
I am not fan of shut everything down every time it snows in the winter. Roads get snow covered, commutes are longer. Boots get wet, things are slushy. Commutes especially in the outlying areas can be challenging, some workers might have to call in for the day. But let’s be realistic, we all live in Upstate NY and I don’t think a modestly snowy day should be an excuse to shut everything down and be a disruptive as possible to the economy. Especially these days with the warming climate, and overly optimistic snow predictions that rarely come to be.
Maybe I should just embrace my day off. I save my bus fare, I didn’t have to work or even venture on out. But it certainly didn’t seem like an extreme snow storm like everybody was saying it would be. But then again I live in city where it never snows much and when it snows the streets and sidewalks are quickly cleaned. The buses run regardless of the weather. But I concede it would have been cold at 5 PM waiting downtown by those windy buildings, especially if we had gotten the wind they had promised in the meteorology departments. But I just find all this doomer talk on the television to be obnoxious.
Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. Rain showers, pitch black and 34 degrees for the morning walk. 🌨️ There is a south-southeast breeze at 6 mph. 🍃.
With the time change and the clouds this is a dark morning for the walk 🌃 but I was out a few minutes before the half hour of six. Listening to the Stones Paint It Black and noticing more sunlight as seven o’clock approaches. Oatmeal, cherries strawberries and bananas 🥣 for breakfast. I still pancakes in my refrigerator from the other day but after a heavy Sunday dinner I wanted something lighter with more fiber.
Today will have a chance of rain and snow before 8am, then rain likely. Cloudy 🌧, with a high of 40 degrees at 1pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 2nd. Southeast wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 34 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2012. 22 inches of snow fell back in 1993.❄
Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:06 pm with sun having an altitude of 44.4° from the due south horizon (-26.4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:22 pm with the sun in the west (261°). 📸
The sunset is in the west (267°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:59 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 7:27 pm, which is one minute and 11 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:00 pm. The days seem so much longer these days with the changing times.
At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 38 degrees. There will be a east breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 11 hours and 54 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over today. I’m still hoping to get my evening 🚶 and my steps in for the day 👣 but I’m the first to admit that tomorrow may be challenging depending on how much snow snow we get from the DIRE EMERGENCY SNOW storm that will probably be mostly rain ☔ but what do I care I live in the city. Either the buses will be running or I’ll be working from home.
Tonight we will have rain before 9pm, then rain and snow between 9pm and 1am, then snow after 1am. 🌨 The snow could be heavy at times, it’s still winter. But not really cold with around 33 which is about ten degrees above normal. East wind around 7 mph becoming north after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible. I’m not thinking dire emergency but most people these days think two inches of snow qualifies as a DIRE EMERGENCY.
Today in 1991, the Justice Department announces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. 🛢 Oil spills can leave kind of a mess.
Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 37. Typical average high for the weekend is 46 degrees.
Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until 8 PM Dusk 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 7:32 pm with dusk at 8:00 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 49 and 36 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 57 degrees. We hit a record high of 86 back in 1922.
Good evening! Mostly cloudy and 40 degrees in Delmar for the evening walk. ☁ Calm wind. ️It’s quarter to eight and not pitch black out which is nice for a change.
I am a fan of the time change 🕒 even if I didn’t get out walking 🚶 early enough tonight to do it in the daylight after Sunday dinner with the folks house. 🍲 Homemade beef stew which was good but heavier than I eat recently. As much as I like dairy and meat I’ve been cutting way back for health and financial reasons.
After dinner I went to Walmart and stocked up on fruits and vegetables 🍏 🥦 and unpacked. I was going to wash off my truck but I didn’t think I could get home without more salt splashing on it. 💦 I’ve only driven 40 miles since I washed it. Well if I have to drive anywhere this week I won’t have to worry about it getting dirty.
Tonight will be cloudy ☁, with a low of 32 degrees at 4am. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 2nd. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph after midnight. In 2022, we had light snow in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 18 degrees. The record low of -6 occurred back in 1885.
Tonight will have a Waining Gibbous 🌖 Moon with 71% illuminated. The Worm 🐛 Moon is on Wednesday, March 29. The darkest hour is at 12:06 am, followed by dawn at 6:46 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:14 am in the east (94°) and last for 2 minutes and 54 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 43 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 7:52 am with sun in the east (100°).Tonight will have 12 hours and 10 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 minutes and 55 seconds over last night.
Tomorrow will snow likely before 9am, then rain and snow likely between 9am and noon, then rain after noon. 🌧 High of 40 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 2nd. Southeast wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had heavy snow in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 34 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2012. 22 inches of snow fell back in 1993.❄
Will we get one more last hurrah for winter 🌨 before its done for the season on Monday evening into Tuesday? Who knows but I’m the first one to admit that my 54 day run of more than 10,000 steps may come to an end tomorrow. All things come to an end. That said I’m now thinking about taking a fifty mile hike this summer. The steps aren’t a problem – I do that many weeks but I would have to build up my back for carrying a pack. Plus I would have to plan a route and get used to doing more hills. I could camp in the hammock with a mosquito net. I’m hoping to shed some pounds this spring time.
In four weeks on April 9 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (281°) at 7:31 pm,🌄 which is 32 minutes and 17 seconds later then tonight. In 2022 on that day, we had rain and temperatures between 52 and 36 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 56 and 34 degrees. The record high of 77 degrees was set back in 1991.
Looking ahead, tommorow is , Last Day of Winter 🏂 is Next Sunday, 7:30 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 4 weeks, Average High is 60 🌷 is in 5 weeks, 8 PM Sunset 🌇 is in 8 weeks, Mothers Day 👩 is in 9 weeks, Fathers Day 👨 is in 13 weeks, Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆 is in 18 weeks, Last Sunset After 8 PM 🌆 is in 5 months, 6:30 Sunrise 🌇 is in 26 weeks, Constitution Day 📜 is in 27 weeks, October 🎃 is in 29 weeks, Average High is 65 🍂 is in 30 weeks, Columbus Day 🛥️ is in 7 months, 7:15 AM Sunrise ⌛️ is in 39 weeks and Christmas Eve 🎅 is in 41 weeks.
With all these complaints about the time change, I am somebody who actually likes getting up early. And with brighter mornings not that far away, especially coming in May, I am seriously considering getting up closer to 5 AM and getting out and walking and getting extra steps in before work. While I walk at 6:15 AM most of the year to kick off my mornings, when it’s getting bright out at 5 AM it sure seems to be a waste to be asleep. I could be spending my mornings down in the park, walking and enjoying more nature.
I guess that would have to be tempered against the fact that the nights soon will be getting much brighter later in the night. Come June I can easily spend my evenings down at the park until 9 PM and then by the time it’s really dark and I walk home it’s 9:30 PM. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to sleep, as I like to do nine hours of sleep a day, especially as some of that sleep isn’t perfect and Iike being well rested before work as I don’t preform well on a bad nights sleep. I used to stay up later, but I don’t see much benefit of wasting electricity on artificial light when I could be getting needed sleep, while enjoying the brighter parts of the day outdoors.
Don’t eat the rice, you’ll get arsenic poisoning! 🍚
White rice is unhealthy, fruits and vegetables are often contaminated with heavy metal, especially if you don’t get the special expensive organic type from the yuppie store, and you might as well not eat fruits and vegetables if you don’t eat kale.
And other bullshit along those lines.
I’m passing up on the free cake at work and I’m making sure to eat many pounds of fruits and vegetables every week now. I make rice a part of many meals — a mixture of white and brown rice. Brown rice is more filling and healthier but it takes longer to cook. So I do both, and make a big portion for multiple dinners and lunches. Cook it with lentils, which are another cheap food source that is quite healthy.
I often think the organic and pure healthy foods crowd really doesn’t want you to eat healthy but is just a shrill for the processed food industry. Let’s be honest — an apple or broccoli farmed with conventional methods is far healthier then any junk food you could find at the store. Cheaper too, as most processed food looks cheap but it’s not compared to fruits and vegetables bought in bulk, especially if they are flash frozen.
I was listening to a podcast the other day, and they had an advertising segment for Whole Foods. Yes, they did mention healthy foods, but quickly switched to reminding people they have a bakery full of cakes and desserts. I can’t help to think that many people go to Whole Foods to buy “fresh” kale to only allow it to rot on kitchen counter while they gorge on the brownies they bought while healthy shopping.
I’m quite happy to shop at Walmart and get my apples and frozen fruit and rice there, even if it is conventionally grown. There may be heavy metals residues in foods, we live in a world of modern chemistry. Milk, cheese and meat — and most processed foods have dioxins, PCBs, and other chemicals. But let’s be honest what kills most people, it’s not the trace levels of arsenic or even dioxins in food. It’s the fats and sugars that are part of our contemporary diets. Federal food safety standards provide a reasonable level of safety for eating healthy food, and any trace levels of toxins in healthy food are far surpassed compared to the unhealthy, common alternatives.
Good morning! Mostly sunny and 29 degrees at the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. There is a north breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. There are 1.5 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at around 9 am. 🌡️
Got a fairly early start this morning 🌅 to walk out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center to embrace as much of the time change as much as possible. I don’t want to get into the habit of sleeping in 🛏 but continuing to get up early and doing my walk. Plus it’s a nice morning with a giant sunrise about a half hour after I started my walk at 6:45 after having a good pan 🍳 of eggs 🥚 and lots of vegetables. I’m mostly out of fruit so it was eggs today. Little less healthy then recent days but I’ll get plenty of steps today. 👣
I figure it’s best to walk early before the woods is soft and muddy, 🌞 as I’m sure the case will be by afternoon. Yesterday afternoon was nicer than expected but I stuck to my plan of going to the library 📚 in the afternoon because with the melting snow and mud it wouldn’t be a good day to go to Five Rivers plus this morning looked so nice.
Today will have increasing clouds ☀ ➡ ☁, with a high of 45 degrees at 4pm. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 15th. North wind around 5 mph becoming east in the afternoon. A year ago, we had heavy snow in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 42 degrees. The record high of 69 was set in 2012. 30.4 inches of snow fell back in 1888.❄
Red winged black birds 🐦 are out but not in real big numbers yet as are the morning doves 🕊 and red headed woodpeckers. It was early enough this morning that Meads cows 🐮 were all piled up in the cold sleeping and chewing their cud. No spring peepers 🐸 yet though ice is mostly off the ponds at this point.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:06 pm with sun having an altitude of 44° from the due south horizon (-26.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 6.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:21 pm with the sun in the west (260°). 📸
The sunset is in the west (266°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:58 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 7:26 pm, which is one minute and 11 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 7:59 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 41 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 11 hours and 48 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 54 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will have a slight chance of snow after 3am. Mostly cloudy 🌨, with a low of 31 degrees at 6am. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 30th. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2022, we had light snow in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 18 degrees. The record low of -6 occurred back in 1885.
Maybe snow 🌨 or rain ☔ come Monday night into Tuesday but I think it might be too warm in the city to add up to much. Plus it’s March and if it’s pushing fifty with rain come Friday it will be gone come the weekend. I’m fine with that. I have a family 👪 event to go to next weekend so I can’t get out of town this weekend but maybe the following weekend. My truck is due for service fairly soon – oil change, transmission fluid and tire rotation come April before I start doing any big trips but Rennselearville isn’t too far for a weekend trip.
Today in 1933, was the first of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fireside chats. 📻 Back when everybody listened to the radio for their news and entertainment. You can still listen to them on the interwebs if you are curious.
As previously noted, next Sunday is Last Day of Winter 🏂 when the sun will be setting at 7:07 pm with dusk at 7:34 pm. On that day in 2022, we had cloudy, warm, rain showers and temperatures between 63 and 43 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 46 degrees. We hit a record high of 78 back in 2012.
