John Boyd Thacher State Park

John Boyd Thacher State Park, is situated along the Helderberg Escarpment, one of the richest fossil-bearing formations in the world. Even as it safeguards six miles of limestone cliff-face, rock-strewn slopes, woodland and open fields, the park provides a marvelous panorama of the Hudson-Mohawk Valleys and the Adirondack and Green Mountains. The park has volleyball courts, playgrounds, ball fields and numerous picnic areas with nine reservable shelters. Interpretive programs are offered year-round, including guided tours of the famous Indian Ladder Trail. There are over 25 additional miles of trails for summer hiking and mountain biking, and winter cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, and snowmobiling.

http://nysparks.com/parks/128/

November 1, 2020 Morning

Good morning! Happy November πŸ₯§! This is my favorite month of the year. Mostly because of the pumpkin pie. πŸŽƒ Plus I love the ways the woods looks on a clear November Day and long nights around the campfire. πŸ”₯Big warm up next week. 😊Five weeks to First Sunday of Advent ✝️.

We’ve had a few breaks of sun, but I’d say it’s mostly cloudy and 37 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a south-southeast breeze at 13 mph. πŸƒ. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 5 am. β˜ƒοΈNot uncommon for November.

It was a nice hike to Five Rivers 🐦 yesterday but it sure gets dark early now and even darker come today with the time change. Nice bright Halloween Blue Moon πŸŒ• last night – I looked at it through the window but it was kind of cold so I stayed inside. Still having a lot of trouble sleeping so I retired to bed early last night πŸ› and took full advantage of the extra hour of sleep 😴 during the extra hour we got last night.

The autumn sleeping problem πŸ’€ is particularly accute this year but I’ve been trying to get to bed πŸ› extra early and sleep up later to deal with the many hours I spend awake in the wee hours of the day listening to random podcasts. 🚜 Learning a lot about random agriculture topics and hunting 🦌 when I end up at two AM not being able to sleep. I am going to buy some sleeping pills πŸ’Š today. At least with the extra hours in bed I’ve been sleeping I haven’t been super tired in the day time like in years past.

Today will have showers, mainly after 2pm. 🌦 High of 50 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 10th. More mercury than yesterday but colder with a breeze and showers. South wind 13 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 70 degrees. The record high of 78 was set in 1950. 3.9 inches of snow fell back in 1951.❄

With the rain it’s certain to get dark early tonight. πŸŒƒ The time change too. I have some work stuff to do this afternoon πŸ’» before I squeeze in a walk assuming it’s not raining out this evening.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:40 am with sun having an altitude of 32.8Β° from the due south horizon (-38.1Β° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 9.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. This time of year the sun is quite weak and the shadows quite long. The golden hour πŸ… starts at 4:09 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (244Β°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the west-southwest (251Β°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:49 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 5 seconds with dusk around 5:17 pm, which is one hour, one minute and 18 seconds earlier than yesterday due to the time change. πŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:52 pm. At sunset, look for gusty rain showers 🌧 and temperatures around 50 degrees. Breezy, 16 mph breeze β›… from the south with gusts up to 28mph. Today will have 10 hours and 17 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 33 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will rain and snow showers before 4am, then a slight chance of snow showers after 5am. 🌧 Low of 32 degrees at 6am. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 13th. Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming calm after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2019, we had clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 35 degrees. The record low of 19 occurred back in 2002.

One month πŸ“… from now will be December πŸŽ„ when the sun will be setting at 4:23 pm with dusk at 4:54 pm.

 Back In New York

Pond

I took this same picture six months ago and his fast the seasons have changed during this year of the pandemic. 

Taken on Saturday October 10, 2020 at John Boyd Thacher State Park.