Often talk about how the woods is empty of wildlife, pollinators, bugs and native species. They bemoan all that is lost and all that has changed. They remember the good old days of yore. All they see is what has been lost, the plant and animal diseases and what is lost.
Has a lot been lost? Yes. But in some ways it strikes me as an exaggeration based on the urban environmentalist who rarely leaves the city for the woods. Invasives and introduced species are everywhere but also many native species continue to thrive.
There are still a lot of birds and bugs out there. The forests are full of diverse wildlife if you only look. You drive out in the country and your windshield will still be covered with bug splatter and the right time of year you’ll be still swatting black flies, no see ums and black flies.
Supposedly this is the coldest morning of the year but it doesn’t feel too bad without any kind of breeze to make much of a chill. Can’t believe it’s already Sunday.
Already taking camp down again. 💼 How fast time comes and goes. Next weekend I’ll certainly not be camping as I’ll be recovering from eye surgery 👁️👁️ but maybe the following weekend but I think we need rain before I have another fire in the woods. I’ll do the green thing, wash out and separate out the urban recycling ♻️ plastics and paper 📄 as who knows for sure when I’ll get back in the wilderness next. 🌧️ Maybe rain showers on Tuesday but it doesn’t seem like the drought will break soon. Had another very small fire 🔥 last night but again I really drowned it well before bed 🛏️ and actually ended up killing the lights and sitting by the heater seeing at least one shooting star 🌠 last night.
But first I think I’ll spend the balance of the day either at Partridge Run or maybe Huyck Preserve 🐦 before heading home. 🏡 I did my wash on Thursday night – the reason I didn’t head to camp until Friday – and got groceries 🛒 so I’m ready for the week ahead which is another four day work week or maybe 4 ½ if I work from home prior to eye surgery. Thinking I’ll park in the hollow off Peasley Road, ride the bike up to the top of Henry Hill then come back over Bradt Hollow Road. Maybe first though a ride around more of Rennselaerville State Forest. 🌲 Why not, I’m already here and it’s a nice day. I don’t know once the bike is loaded in the truck do I want to unload to ride at Partridge Run?
It seems werid to think I’m putting my contacts in for the second to lasttimetoday. 👓 I’ve worn contacts for over twenty five years now, paying every year for more plastic and rarely wore glasses due to my difficult seeing out of them but I’m required to wear no contacts after Tuesday but I’m going to stop after tomorrow to ensure my eyes are 100% free of irritation before LASIK. I’m ready to be done with the irritation though today the contacts are fine. I’m going to leave my excess contacts at work to see if anyone has my prescription.🤓 I could donate my old glasses to the LIONS club bin but they’re kind of scratched and worn out. Rather than toss them in the white trash bag with the rest of the burnable wrappers 🔥 the next time I have a fire, I think I want to save them and watch them burn along with the contacts containers. I’ll hold onto the excess remaining contact solution for a while in case I have future dry eye. 😵💫 All that will remain is the wire frames, I’ll smash them down and toss in with the recycling.
Truth is that in my mind, I actually can’t imagine a world beyond Friday without contacts and glasses. 👀 I know it will come, and I’m ready with the money 💰 and the operation is simple and straightforward with modern technology and the recovery is much faster than I would imagine. Saturday I’ll wake up, take off the anti-rub goggles and will just be able to see without glasses 👓 for the rest of my life. I re-read the restrictions post operation and I should be able to bicycle to work within a few days as long as I wear eye protection. 🥽 I could even head out of town the following weekend.
I really have enjoyed my rides and explorations up here in Rennselaerville. ⛰️ It’s so nice to sit up on Cheese Hill and the OSI Parcel and look down at the hollow and Tri Mount with memories of years past and just the feel of the rural landscape. It feels like home and even high school 🚸 a quarter century ago now. While I like being older and more experienced with a good job I do miss the wild country and treasure being up here when I can. 🐐 Some day I’ll live in a place like this 😍 but hopefully not in New York.
I didn’t like it all when the left wing adopted cancel culture and censorship. I thought too often scientists and government were too self confident, too willing to proscribe their beliefs on the public.
But I now see the right wing adopting all of the same tactics and I sure don’t like it all. While I personally find a lot of things that Charlie Kirk said to be incredibly distasteful, I think he had the right to say it and you had the right to stay home and ignore his rallies. Or show up and protest. He’s dead now, due to assassin’s bullet but that doesn’t automatically make him some kind of martyr or legitimize his message. That said, he had the right to be heard, not censored or canceled by either the public or private sector.
People shouldn’t talk about sensetive work business outside of work, especially on a public forum. But people have a right to have opinions and not have their occupation define all of their waking hours. People should be free to talk about whatever they want outside of work, bar maybe sensetive company secrets, when they’re off the clock. It doesn’t matter if you are liberal or conservative in your views.
Always so many beautiful views of the mountains, full of colors in the autumn with the fading Goldenrod and Purple Astors. Full of monarchs today, along with bees and wild turkeys. I can walk these fields for hours studying the wildflowers and natures, taking in the serenity of the Catskills and the valley below where the Catskill Creek ultimately runs.
I guess you know you’ve made it when the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation is buying ad space on your blog. “Join your local birding club today! – NYS DEC”
