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Before the almost record breaking cold for early December 🥶

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Well if you can read these words, we survived the “Dire Emergency” snow storm yesterday, which was reported to me to make the roads pretty icy mid-day but it only really was just starting when I took the shuttle from downtown slip-sliding away, and by the time it was time to go home, really just the roads were wet. But what do I know, I live in the city, even if I do smell cow shit and silage sometimes from Preska’s down the road. I do like the smell of grass, even when when I’m not smoking it in the wilderness.

I have the windows and doors as tight as their going to be in my drafty old apartment, 🪟 and at least for now I’ll keep my heat at 50 degrees, taking full advantage of heated blanket and coffee ☕ with ginger, cinnamon and that delicious juice produced by the ladies 🐮 and the Teat Strippers in the morning. Might turn the heat up a few more degrees when it hits 5 degrees in early morning hours of Friday night, though I’ll probably ride in that day.

I decided though today I’ll be morbidly obese and take the CDTA bus that runs only every half hour these days and stops every six feet, 🚍 because you know Trump said no more express buses – it’s part of the grander plan to eliminate all bus service except that one trip per day from Arbor Hill to the Methadone Clinic in the Albany Pine Bush next  to current city garbage dump. Between the transfer over to the shuttle 🚀 to suburbanite office building next to old garbage dump,  it does give me a chance to get some exercise in before and after work as I step over the winos 🍷 asleep in Empire State Plaza. And get yelled 🗣️at by some obvious heroin addict of women, demanding I give her attention and shell her out money 💵 so she can board a bus to somewhere, I mean buy more needles and smack. 💉 But I need to get my steps in 👣 if I’m not riding my bike to work. Just leave me alone so I can listen to more of Edward Abbey’s The Fools Progress, while I’m monitored by the jack booted thugs 👮 for walking laps in Empire Plaza as they ignore the harassing winos.

I am prepping to ride in again on Thursday, 🚴 while I could not find the leak in the tube that I got while I was riding the snow-covered trail up at Camp Santoni back to Newcomb Lake, it doesn’t seem to be leaking now. Probably the fix-a-flat is doing it’s job now that I’m not changing the tire in the deep snow on the way to Newcomb Lake. Never made it back to the lake, but I don’t know if I would have been able to ride all the way back even with the snow. At any rate, the snow is still a bit too deep to use the bike path to get work, so it would be Corning’s Hill and Delmar Bypass if I were to ride in today, and I don’t love that option, it’s less scenic but at least it’s less likely to trash the wheels on my bike. Tomorrow though I’ll either do the bike path or the road, and maybe Friday too. Whatever.

Yesterday was just busy catching up on everything at work. 📎 📄 🖥️ With the holiday and extending it to spend time in Adirondacks, there was a lot to get caught up on, a lot of loose ends, etc. And then it was just the snow, we were short staffed for a good portion of day, as I encouraged people to not come in the office or leave early 🚘 so they could avoid the worse of the weather, though honestly the way it worked out with the weather, the best option would have been like I done, get in early and stay late as the worse time ont he roads were mid-day. Tried to stay off social media and news sites as much as possible, instead reading more of Color Theory For Dummies and also more of The Backyard Homestead Guide for Raising Farm Animals. Without the bike on the bus, I can pay more attention to the book, 📖 rather then keeping an eye on the bike, lest some ghetto criminal try to take it off the rack.

This morning was cranberry-apple 🍏 🟣 🥞 pancakes, with lots of shredded carrot and oatmeal put in the mix for good measure. Got to keep up on that fiber so I keep pooping 💩. And the beta-carrotine this time of year. 🥕 Added some lemon 🍋 juice to mix to make it extra tangy, as I bought a plastic bottle of lemon juice for the salmon 🐟 I got yesterday. I hate plastic but it does burn good. 🔥 Also cooking down some of that 15-bean soup which actually is 16 beans or maybe not as I added extra salt, cumin and of course pinto beans 🫘 to have for dinner when I get home. Last night was salmon 🐟 with spinach and broccoli 🥦.  Good eating even though it’s been cold. And I did get a fair amount of steps in yesterday, 👣 despite not riding my bike to work in the Dire Emergency blizzard.

I am looking forward to Christmas 🤶 🎄 and heading out to the State Horse 🐴 Camp in Madison County assuming there isn’t too much snow ☃️ though who knows with the way this winter is going. Mid-month I might do a few overnights up at Rensselearville State Forest, and I’m undecided about what I’ll do January 1-4th which I have off. A lot is weather dependent, 🎇 New Years Camping is fun but ice, snow, and cold are always a real possibility this time of year.

Homeless in the wilderness 🐺

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You’re not homeless when you choose to keep your heat at fifty degrees or lower all winter or take your big jacked up truck to the wilderness to spend a few cold nights winter camping. I can’t argue with these points but I still don’t feel like my rundown apartment that I ride my mountain bike to work from most days is really my home. It’s an apartment, a month by month deal, an interim place until I find a real home.

Winter camping can be harsh at times. The nights are long, and when the wind picks up it can be cold. You’re literally living outside, my truck cap is unheated. But it’s about as close as I can be to my real home, as it’s not in the city with all it’s advertising and plastic. The fake political fights, the angry news headlines, the endless reminders that cops have rifles aimed up your ass and you’re a rent payment away from being out oun the street. People are like, don’t you just want another plastic house with a big payment, and a commute in an SUV in traffic to your suburban office building next to old city garbage dump?

Maybe I have too many ideas, and not enough direction. Certainly there are many books I’ve read and thought about homesteading and permaculture. I am well aware of climate crisis, the poverty all around me, the tyrants petty and elsewise that rule are government. But it seems like the only alternative to plastic is playing woke and putting your plastic in blue bin. I recycle plastic, drive an electric car to the suburbanite office building and don’t burn my trash, aren’t I so morally virtuous the smug liberal says. I just want some more nights in wilderness, listening to coyotes scream in the distance and owls hoot, as I hunch over the smoldering camp fire in snow burning wet woods as I sip on the beer and smoke some more of the joint as I watch that discarded plastic bottle melt and burn up. It is probably madness, when I could be at home, warm, not sitting in the pitch black, here in wilderness.

Books not social media 📚

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The other day I was increasingly alarmed by my use of Facebook. I found myself endlessly scrolling through the feed, mostly of good ol’ boys and farmers doing hillbilly shit, slinging manure, wrenching around with their pickups.

But also I found myself getting angry at Alexandria Fabulso, the anti-solar activist and so many others who oppose renewable energy development. Facebook algorithms seems to encourage the same three commenters on every post and it seems to only lead to flame wars.

And then there is the ads that lead your mind down creepy rat holes, like you mention your preference of metal roofs and wooden-siding over the plastic and asphalt crap, and you’re literally assaulted with ads for homeowners, and a every five minute reminder that you’re a failure as a renter.

I realized I don’t want any part of it. Or if I do want to go on Facebook, I should limit my daily use to no more 30 minutes. Other social media sites aren’t quite as bad – maybe because I use Bravepipe to avoid seeing YouTube ads – and things like Instagram and TikTok don’t prominently feature comments or flame wars, still it’s a lot of crap. Just show me the hillbilly shit. Or other interesting stuff.

But I realize none of it is particularly healthy for my mind. What is a far better option is to just read a book. It’s never been easier when the whole library is on your phone, you can take out many different books at once, read at your leisure, free of advertising. There is much that can be learned by just sitting back and reading, and with your phone you have it everywhere, you can read in the dark or under the covers.

There is a lot you can learn from YouTube, Wikipedia, and many web sites. But reading a full book gives you a much more in depth view on an issue or topic. It also allows your mind to flow more freely, use your imagination. I am often oft-put by the hokiness of homesteaders videos on the Internet, or bicycle repair videos, but if you read it in a book, you can use your own imagination and your own vision.

Books give you a lot more freedom to create your own images and add your personal spin while learning and being taken to an often unfamiliar world. They don’t have a set speed for reading unlike a movie or audio book, which can often either drag on for too long or skip over something that is truly interesting and remarkable.

Back At It After the Long Weekend in the Snow 🌨️

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Apparently I brought the snow back with me. Literally in some cases, I was sweeping snow out of my truck and off my gear as I unpacked. And now it’s snowing more this morning, or at least will be shortly if the forecast is to be believed. I decided against driving my big jacked up truck to work or riding my mountain bike.

Every single warning sign was on the way driving back from Boreas Ponds reading, “Snow Expected Tomorrow – Visibility Likely Reduced” ❄ or as I headed farther south and out of Adirondacks, “Snow Expected Tomorrow – Avoid Travel”. Sounds dramatic, though maybe we’ll get a half foot of snow, maybe more. It seems like its all over the map. I would ride in but I don’t love bringing my laptop on the bike, plus this afternoon it will be snowy by 5 PM. Tonight assuming that the meeting isn’t cancelled, there is a Save the Pine Bush Meeting to attend. 🌲

I got home around 6 PM last night, 🌨 but with the snow coming, being low on groceries after camping and my truck encrusted with salt, I headed over to the car wash 🚿 and gave Big Red a bath, and stocked up at Wally World. That is after I got unpacked, had some dinner and took a quick shower, and then by the time I kneaded the bread 🍞 and got to bed it was 9:30 – 10 PM. This morning, baking bread and acorn squash was a bit of a rush, as I wanted to catch the earlier bus downtown, so I could be in the office and catch up on work from the past week. It was a nice trip, but I have so much catching up to do. The snow isn”t helping.

I spent four days camping off NY 28N at Boreas River Campsite 1. 🏕 Friday was cold up north and so was Saturday morning. But as the day progressed, the sun came out and the wind died down. I wasn’t really sure if this trip was going to be more than a one night trip but after reviewing the weather forecast I headed back down to the Boreas River and NY 28 to camp for two more nights. It was so nice to be away from it all, rode some trail, had some fires, cooked some good meals, smoked some grass and drunk some beer, wandered around the wilderness with a camera. 🖼

Driving up on Friday wasn’t bad until I got north of Saratoga and had to slog through icy snow on the Northway until I got off at South Glens Falls to fuel up ⛽ with my tank nearly empty. It’s been a while since I’ve done much winter driving. Back on the Northway a few more miles of icy driving then slush and I stopped at Stewart’s for milk. 🐮 Then the rest of the way north I was beyond the snow squall and it was smooth driving. I was up to camp by 10:30 AM and spent the midday 🕛 setting up camp 🏕️ then riding up the hill on NY 28N to the Standard Lead Railroad tracks, realizing that driveway on the top of the hill I went past was the entrance to the unmarked Roosevelt Truck Trail. I rode the Roosevelt Truck Trail for two miles are so, basically to where the Vanderwhacker Brook crosses it. The Roosevelt Truck Trail is great on the mountain bike, and there wasn’t too much snow on it. 🚵 That said, into the evening, it was still pretty cold with the wind whipping around. Had a nice fire, 🔥 though the wood was wet, the burnables help get that fire burning hot. 👨‍🚒As predicted, the battery in the broke smoke detector that was driving me nuts, made a nice bang when it burnt up. And burned with a brilliant bright flame.

Saturday also started out cool but as the day progressed the sun came out, 🌞 and the wind died down. I hiked back to Hewitt Eddy Loop Trail 🚶then drove up to Newcomb and was going to ride from Camp Santoni back to Newcomb Lake, but as I got about 4 miles out there, I got a flat tire on the rear, and had to swap the tube. 🚴 I wasn’t going to risk being broke down, and the snow was getting deeper, so I rode back to the Main Farm at Santoni, poked around the historic buildings, 🏡 and rode back to my truck. Stopped for a while at Newcomb Overlook 🗻 but as the day progressed the wind only picked up 🌬 and was kind of unpleasant. I decided based on the forecast Sunday would be okay to camp, so I would stay through Monday. For a while, I wasn’t sure, as they were calling for high winds and blowing snow, possibly a foot or more. Fortunately, none of that came to a pass.

Instead, Sunday was snowy but in a nice kind of way without a lot of wind. 🚶 Hiked back along Moose Club Way to the Vanderwhacker Brook and the railroad tracks, which I followed south along the Vanderwhacker Brook and then along the Boreas River. 🏞 It was a nice quiet afternoon walk, probably went about 10 miles round trip, though with the insulated overalls and hunting boots, my pace was not quick. But it was enjoyable watchingt he snow come down. Came back to camp, made a big pot of chicken noodle – rice soup with lots of vegtables, mostly canned but also some frozen I brought from home, beans, and the last of the onions I had. Made a big old fire up, smoked some grass, and enjoyed watching the snow fall as I read Power on the Hudson: Storm King Mountain and the Emergence of Modern American Environmentalism by Robert D. Lifset on Libby. I am glad I had that book electronically, free from the library, as the print book is $72. I much prefer Libby and Hoopla, as they are much more convenient then getting books in person, and you don’t have to haul around books or worry about them getting wet. 📚 I can bring like 5 or 10 books, plus audio books on my phone, and it doesn’t weight anything. And at least time both my Libby and Hoopla books worked well without cell reception, though Libby traditionally has been finicky off-the-network, though making sure I had network access turned off on my phone may have helped stopped corruption of the files. 🔇 I liked being away from the Internet and social media for four days, even though at times I could get signal when I was out hiking or on Saturday when I went up to Newcomb to check out the weather.

Monday I took down camp pretty early, and drove over snow-covered Blue Ridges Road slowly, ❄ and hiked back to Boreas Pond, which took most of the day, because it’s about 13 miles round trip from the outer lot. I could have driven all the way to the parking lot at LeBeir Flow, but there was 3-4 inches of snow, and a bit of ice, and being an unfamiiar road, I wasn’t going to try it and lest my big jacked up truck slip off the road. 🛻 It was a nice hike, didn’t see anybody except one deer hunter 🦌 who was out driving the roads listening and watching for deer sign. 🐾 Boreas Pond is very scenic but I cringe at the though of being there on a beautiful summer or autumn day, with the crowds. They only allow parking in number spaces, and no road-side parking, and I can only imagine the crowds and enforcement on a summer day. Hell, you couldn’t pay me to go there on a day with the drooling woke granola eaters, 🍫 👧 with their Honda SUVs and Subarus and Sierra Club backpacks. Most of it would be a good bike ride, but without the tube patched, though the first part of the hill is a bit steep.

You’re so vain …

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Ah yes, that Carly Simon song. You probably think this blog post is about me.

Being vain refers to having an excessive or exaggerated pride in one’s own appearance, abilities, achievements, or qualities. It often involves a preoccupation with one’s physical appearance, a desire for admiration, and a tendency to prioritize oneself over others. Vanity is associated with an inflated sense of self-importance and a constant need for validation and admiration from others. People who are considered vain may focus excessively on their looks, status, or accomplishments, often at the expense of developing genuine connections with others.

I often think society is too vain, but what do I know, I don’t have a color television. I do think that in my younger years, I was to concerned about others, saving our world, or doing what appears to be right, without taking care of myself or working to better myself. I was taught that the only real heroes in the world are people like Martin Luther King, and that one can’t be a hero without some grandiose public act that gets world renown. But as I frequently say, “if you can’t save the world, you should at least try to save yourself.”

I have frequently written about the high cost of political activity. Many people give of their lives up and liberty to be involved in politics and work for societal or even community change. Often their reward is a jail cell or a bullet in their back. Ask the late Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King. Or the January 6th rioters and Black Lives Matter activists spending decades behind bars. By entering the public sphere, and not being merely a private citizen means you give up a lot. You can do a lot of good, but that life isn’t for everyone. I don’t think you have to be saving the world to do well for yourself.

I don’t embrace the extreme consumerism and marketing of pop culture. I don’t reject all purchases, but I do try to be frugal and protect my own interest. It’s foolish to be ignorant of all the institutions and people trying to tear you down, enslave or imprison you in a million different ways. I always try to be respectful and helpful, but I also make it a priority to protect myself first and foremost from all the evil that is going on currently in society. I will help people when I can, hold open a door and be a friend, but I won’t lay down my life to save another. I have only one life, and I am not going to die on a cross if I can all avoid it. Caring about yourself while also being understanding of the world around you doesn’t mean you’re so vain.

The world needs people like Martin Luther King. People who protest, raise their voices, stand out on the freeway or railway track. People who are willing to take a bullet in their back or spend decades behind bars in the fight for what is right. But we don’t have to all die for what is right. You can still be a good person, live a good life with taking a bullet in your back. Some have to die for what is right for the world, but you don’t have to.

Confusion has it’s costs 🌸

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Lately I just feel more and more confused – about everything. You’re either a right-wing extremist, an ignorant son-of-a-bitch who ignores all evidence and human suffering. Or you’re woke – you live with your heart on your sleeve and you spend your money on do-gooders’ organic products with cardboard and plastic labels that brag about sustainability but are soon hauled off to the local dumping grounds on the outskirts of town.

The thing is I don’t think wokerism has all the answers. I don’t think the solution – at least for me – is to buy a house out in the suburbs made out of vinyl siding and with an asphalt shingle roof with grid tied electricity, high speed internet and weekly garbage pickup. But I’m told that’s a good investment, but I don’t want to be forever tied to one place where I don’t have the opportunity to walk away when necessary. Not that I’m planning to leave tomorrow, but I don’t see any future at least for me in my community.

Maybe it’s a mid-life crisis. But if anything, I don’t really want to spend-spend-spend, as I find consumerism to be so oft-putting, knowing soon I’ll be throwing away whatever I buy. I am glad I don’t have a computer or internet at home, much less a television. I rarely even bring my laptop home. I do want to replace Big Red so I can travel, and get my eyes permanently fixed, so maybe that’s a sign of wanting to spend the money I have. Yet, I have very little interest in a performance cars or fancy houses.

The truth is it’s the simple things that fascinate me that most these days. The wildflowers, the clouds. Just sitting there and staring at them. Or the flicker of the flames of campfire or watching that piece of debris burn on up. Good bye plastic syrup bottle! The truth is I want to travel, once I have reliable transportation that can take me thousands of miles to forests and wilderness es far away with minimal problems.  Lately I’ve just become so fascinated by the trippy nature of so much in this world, the colors, even if I don’t really enjoy that much grass except up at camp.

Often confusion is seen as a psychological problem, something profoundly bad. “See what you is need Better Help!” the advertisers scream at me! I’m not sure my confusion is that kind of confusion, it’s more trying to figure out the next decade and half before I decide to toss in my hat at work to focus on my off-grid homestead. It’s askewing the conventional wisdom, not because I want to forever live a life of poverty and be blocked from owning my own land out in the country, but because I’m not convinced that toxic vinyl siding and big-screen televisions are right for me. I don’t agree with the advertising.

Indeed, I am not sure if confusion is opposite of clarity of thought. Maybe it’s more profound thing, a questioning of conventional wisdom. Now I do wish I had more clarity, but I am not sure my confusion is coming from lack of understanding of reality.

I want to be inspired 💭

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Hammock View

Probably the top reason for smoking pot in my mind is to find more inspiration about the world around me. To help me find clarity in ways that reading and thinking has yet to provide in my own life. I think or at least have been told that smoking cannabis can let you focus on the moment and while making you forgetful, can provide a sense of calm that is too often lacking in my life as too many things break down and wear out as I refuse to engauge in all the consumerism trends of the day. I don’t own a television, but I am damn aware of all the evil in society, and how all of us are one bad day from having our entire lives destroyed.

So far on that front I’ve been disappointed, mostly getting hungry and sleepy after getting stoned. Most of the various pre-rolls I got when I went to Northern Lights a little over a month ago have been more on the indica rather then sativia side of things, probably because the prior is less expensive and something too strong on sativia side of things runs a risk of paranoia, and just a bad experience if not enjoyed in moderation. I asked for more sativia, but at least some of the stuff on summer vacation made me more couchlocked in hammock then anything else. I am going to probably need to get more cannabis prior to camping in woods over Labor Day Weekend, so I’m continuing to research strains, methods of smoking and enjoying cannabis. It’s fun to ride a mountain bike through the wilderness after dark, stoned because of how it makes your eyes wide open.

I get smoking pot or doing any kind of drug, be it alcohol or caffine or some kind of “illegal” drug won’t get you all the answers. Mostly it will get you stoned or drunk or awake. But sometimes taking a look at things and being focused more on the now, in an altered state of mind, when your away from it all can be beneficial. Certainly many creative people over the years have smoked a little weed, for the better. The more sativia leaning hybrids I’ve smoked, in moderation are better but I still need to figure out what I want to ask for and have a better idea the next time I visit the the local budmaster. He after all can’t be much guidance if I can’t give him the direction I am looking for over my next high in the wilderness.

I do want to get a pipe and probably will want a grinder so I can buy flower, rather then get pre-roll which is unneccessarily wasteful. I especially dislike the pre-roll I have that is packaged in glass that has to be seperated out of the trash for recycling. It’s a good commitment, not that expensive, and will save money in the long run, once I figure out what I like to smoke. That White Wedding ain’t bad, but I’m not sure that’s my best option for the experience I seek. There are so many options out there, and I just want to see and think clearer but not get paranoid. Not that cannabis has made me any more paranoid — if anything my paranoia over my someday faltering pickup truck and housing situaton has gone down since I’ve started to smoke. I’ve never been afraid of monsters in closets, it’s more what happens if things spin wildly out of control in the long run or that ball joint or the roof joist in my rundown apartment that finally goes ko-put.

Truth is I don’t smoke all that much one way or another. Nor do I plan to make it habit outside of sitting around a campfire in the wilderness or laying back in the hammock staring at the clouds or floating in the tube during the summer months. There are real health consequences to smoking too much. Much like eating too much bacon or ice cream — both are a treat. Smoking cannabis should be something you do that’s special and not ordinary. Plus I like it because it’s kind dirty and smelly, not socially acceptable (your doing drugs!), somewhat illegal. Not unlike dairy or hog farming! Or having a burn barrel and bonfires for trash. But I get a kick out of people turning up their noses at me, and saying I’m just a dirty hick. And some what of an outlaw!