So the forecast is predicting. Lots of heavy rain to follow the previous rain in recent days, including the very gloomy wet Friday and Saturday, earlier this week. Probably really bad for the sewers and overflowed sewage treatment plants, that will continue keeping the Hudson River a muddy-raw sewage soup.
Next weekend’s weather forecast looks nice, but things can change by then. I really look forward to a nice solidly good weekend, as Memorial Day Weekend was pretty crappy except for Memorial Day, and two weekends ago at Piseco-Powley Place was darn hot and humid with rain showers and thunderstorms throughout the weekend.
Looking forward to the nice weather … should it actually be as nice as the forecast predicts.
There are some pretty hot and sticky days in the summer in Upstate New York. Some days in the are dog-gone hot, sticky, and pretty miserable, if you have to work outdoors or spend any significant time outdoors.
The reality is even on the hottest days, it really isn’t that bad in the shade, especially not out in the country or in the Adirondacks — or as soon as the sunsets.
Especially not compared to those bleak, long winters.
The month of May is upon once us again. It’s the first full month of spring, and it’s also the month of the unofficial start of summer, also known as Memorial Day Weekend. The month starts out with the green of early spring well under way, and leaves us with the signs of a spring maturing, and summer well under way.
There will be warm days and cool days in May. The days will continue to grow longer and longer, until we reach the end of the month, and almost feel like the lengthening days are too long too be true. They will prove to be true, once the end of June comes and we start to see maturing summer work it’s way towards August, and ultimately the fall.
Farms and gardeners will prepare and plant their crops. Many will work outdoors, soaking up the beautiful warming weather of spring time. They will enjoying the changing outdoors, that will ultimately in four months bring fall time bounty. Things will start to growth, and the natural world will come alive again.
May is a month of barbecues, parades, camping out under the stars, and much beauty this month. Much to enjoy, much to do that wasn’t possible when things where colder and not nearly as green. The days will past quickly as we work ourselves into the first true month of summer with June, but it still sure will be nice.
So enjoy this beautiful first month of what hopefully will be many months with long and beautiful nights outdoors.
At least that’s the goal. I am still working out some technical issues, that I need to get fixed before I upload new content, but once that’s done, I sure have a lot of photos to upload into the coming months (!) I also have some new maps that have not been updated in a while due to the same reason — I am still developing the media plug-in.
Things are always over time and over budget with this new blog. But so be it.
April Showers; Bring May Flowers. —Common Folk Proverb
The month of April is when in Albany we see the last snow showers of the year, and the winter is washed away by the occasional rain showers that dot the days. April in Albany is not a particularly rainy month, and indeed with the rapidly warming temperatures and dry weather leaves us with the highest wildfire danger of year.
By the end of the month, the valleys will start to show the first signs of green, and our world will start to return to it’s “technicolor” beauty. It will largely be a month of browns and grays in the mountains, occasionally with the lack of shade, the weather will be hot and brutal. We will all get bad sunburns in the next month, often the worst sunburns of the year, with no place to hide from the sun that is getting higher over our heads every day.
Over the next month, the daylight will grow by almost 2 hours, with the sun not setting until after 8 PM by the time May rolls around. The sun will start rising an hour earlier to. This bright springtime sunlight will start waking up nature’s cycles and engaging spring time weather by the end of the month. Green will be popping up everywhere.
April is in many ways November in reverse. November takes us from the delightful color of October into the wintry December. April leads us from the cold harsh weather of March back into the delightful color of May. Warm weather is heading our way, as is the beauty of springtime.
Enjoy the month, get out, and enjoy some of the bright clear days that make April such a charming month.
![Untitled [Expires June 6 2024]](https://andyarthur.org//data/photo_012487_large.jpg)
