Inside the Kunjamunk Cave
Exploring the inside of the Kunjamunk Cave.
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Exploring the inside of the Kunjamunk Cave.
The Pentagon confirmed Friday it will not allow rainbow pride flags to fly at military facilities in celebration of Pride Month. That fell in line with the Pentagon's 2020 decision to permit only certain flags at Department of Defense installations.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters the DOD chose not to make an exception to the existing flag policy after careful consideration.
The quarter mile separation between campsites in the Adirondack State Land Master Plan is something I often quiver about. It does reduce camping opportunities at highly desirable camping locations but it greatly reduces user conflict – be it noise, light or smoke. No quiet hours here! When campsites are more then a quarter mile apart it’s far more of a wilderness experience, as witnessed by comparing Mason Lake to the Moffitt Beach Campground.
Television and radio stations want you to know that there is help available if you are suffering from mental illness. They will demonstrate repeatedly about the importance of mental health services by highlighting the worse possible outcomes where mental health issues lead to violence such as suicide or murder. The exceptional cases, not the routine thoughts and feelings that are common in most people’s lives.
It should be said that most people have very unpleasant thoughts in their lives from time to time. Sometimes passing throughs downright dirty, pornographic, violent and generally awful. If people didn’t have these thoughts than there would be no industry selling pornography or violent movies or for that matter the kind of news stories the media loves to dwell on. But for most people these bad thoughts are fleeting and non-harmful. Few people make a plan and act on their worse thoughts despite popular portrayals in the media that equivocate a naughty thought with a despicable act.
The problem is with the media’s portrayal of mental illness is it makes it scary and feeds people’s own anxieties making it worse. It makes a passing thought a major crisis, something to dwell on an fear rather than moving on. It emphasizes the worse case scenario, rather than the likely scenario. Rather than a rational cost benefit analysis the Main Stream media tells you to live your life in fear. This leads to more of a spiral down, more anxiety and more negative thoughts.
The best evidence for today is what happened yesterday. Inerita says that if yesterday was pretty good, chances are good that today will also be good and the worse case scenario is unlikely to play out, despite media portrayals. Chances are that the problems in your life are pretty minor, and that you are doing a lot better than many others. A lot of people probably look up to you and think you are lucky for all you have. You should also look up to those above you to strive to the next step in life but don’t forget to look back at where you were.
No therapist is going to tell you what to believe. Mental illness isn’t about having odd or alternative beliefs. Even odd behaviors or alternative lifestyle choices aren’t signs of mental illness if they aren’t causing substantial harm to a person or others around them. The bar for harm is quite high, most minor things might be safe to ignore or are manageable as is. The one hour a day requirement for OCD, or the actual hard plan for suicide exists to ensure minor things are not over medicalized – or unnecessary harm is induced by raising unwarranted concerns.
The truth is most mental illness is like a cold or a broken bone on the playground. You should ask for help but you shouldn’t dwell on it as things are probably far worse than you imagine. Chances are looking back you can chuckle at it but it’s not a bad thing to get addressed if it’s holding you back. Hiding in the closet about your problems can feel safe, and you might find ways to adapt to your problems but it’s better to come out, see the light, be honest who you are and change your life towards the better.
A hundred bucks in the bin, I feel like I’m making improvements in my anxiety levels and I’m already making some improvements in my life. I caught myself the other day in that negative thought cycle about my truck breaking down. I stopped it quickly and moved on. I am working on my obsession over rural burn barrels, burning my trash and the copious amounts of waste our society generates but as my therapist likes to point out burn barrels and landfills are far less harmful than some of the greenies like to point out. If you live way out in the country, especially in a red state, nobody really cares. It’s just one of the facts of rural life, a relatively harmless nuisance as the detritus of our industrial output goes up in smoke. It’s a topic I need to do more to come to grips with but I’ve long turned it partially positive by saving up and working hard to earn money to purchase for my off-grid homestead, where nobody will care what I burn as long as I’m safe with fire and not causing a nuisance.
To be sure, finding a mental health provider can be difficult these days with limited choices but you have to be persistent and keep going through the list your insurance provider gives you. The intake process is a bit scary with the screening process but then you realize how much worse you could be off. Chances are good your not the monster psychopath that the media makes out all mentally ill people to be. A silly thought is unlikely to lead to death or imprisonment. And then it can be tough to break down long standing prejudices and fears in your life, trying to talk about bad habits and things you might do that are less than the best light you want to see yourself in. But I do see my own mental health improving and I do think with more counseling my life will get better, I’ll be a stronger individual and it will prove to be a good investment in my time and money.
This is a very mysterious cave that keeps everyone wondering if it was man-made or not. Check it out and decide for yourself. The cave itself is about 15 feet deep and 8 feet wide with a small window opening near the top. For the trail along the river, see Kunjamuk Trail.
Hot day but I decided to hike on back to the Kunjamuk Cave and Elm Lake.
Taken on Sunday June 6, 2021 at Kunjamuk River, Kunjamunk Bay, Sacandaga River.Good morning! Happy Sunday. Next Sunday is Fathers Day ๐จ . Also the Gas Up ๐ is next weekend. I should see if my dad wants to go, otherwise I might tent or hammock camp overnight in Schoharie County and go the next morning. Partly cloudy and 67 degrees at the Mason Lake. โ There is a west breeze at 8 mph. ๐. The dew point is 58 degrees.
It’s a pretty nice morning for sure. I had breakfast of eggs and sausage ๐ณ and sat in the screen tent ๐ช then back out in the hammock. Been working on a blog post about mental illness stigma and the media and just hanging out. I’m going to need to take down camp โบ and head into town later to get ice as the heat has been tough on the coolers and while I can probably go another day, I think that will be really pushing it. I didn’t have salt for salt water ice and while I could probably wait until Monday I don’t want to deal with spoiled milk or rancid meat. ๐คฎ
Yesterday was a pretty lazy day in the hammock. ๐ด That was the plan. I did a lot of day drinking in the heat ๐ป and got quite buzzed but who cares I haven’t started my truck since Friday as I used the solar go keep things charged. ๐ Did some fishing ๐ฃ and went for a swim in Mason Lake, it was cold and mucky as to be expected. ๐ฆ Walked down to the other end of the lake and saw a few Mallard ducks fly off. Been hearing a lot from the loons but I haven’t seen them but honestly I spent more time in the hammock then down by the lake yesterday.
Today will be mostly sunny ๐, with a high of 83 degrees at 3pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around June 28th. Maximum dew point of 59 at 10am. West wind 8 to 11 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 86 degrees. The record high of 94 was set in 1925.
I think today I will pack up โบ and head into Spectulator. While it is getting warm fast, I am thinking about hiking back to the Kunjamuk Cave and Elm Lake. I could drive there but I would rather park the truck and walk ๐ถ๐ป so I can look at birds ๐ฆ and wildlife ๐ฆ. I need to get a block of ice โ a Charlie John’s and then I want to get some ice cream ๐ฆand go for a swim in Lake Pleasant at the town beach ๐ which isn’t officially open yet but I am sure there will be a ton of people there. ๐๐ปโโ๏ธ
Solar noon ๐ is at 12:57 pm with sun having an altitude of 69.1ยฐ from the due south horizon (-0.7ยฐ vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour ๐ starts at 7:53 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (296ยฐ). ๐ธ The sunset is in the west-northwest (303ยฐ) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:37 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 30 seconds with dusk around 9:11 pm, which is 41 seconds later than yesterday. ๐ The best time to look at the stars is after 9:58 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies ๐ and temperatures around 76 degrees. The dew point will be 60 degrees. There will be a west-southwest breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 19 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute over yesterday.
Tonight will be mostly clear ๐, with a low of 61 degrees at 4am. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around June 27th. Maximum dew point of 60 at 8pm. West wind 5 to 8 mph. In 2020, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 54 degrees. The record low of 37 occurred back in 1958.
As previously noted, next Sunday is Fathers Day ๐จ when the sun will be setting at 8:40 pm with dusk at 9:15 pm. On that day in 2020, we had cold, partly sunny and temperatures between 66 and 46 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 79 degrees. We hit a record high of 94 back in 1892.