Good afternoon! Rain and 37 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ There is a north-northwest breeze at 11 mph. 🍃. There is a dusting of snow on the ground. ☃ Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 4 am. ☃️

It was nice camping ⛺ up north in the Adirondacks, and I was surprised that it wasn’t as loud as it sometimes is camping along the East Branch of the Sacanadaga River. Traffic just seemed lighter than normal but I don’t think Gore is open yet nor is snowmobile season and big game hunting season is winding down in the Northern Zone, a lot of people have already tagged out. That said almost all of hunting cabins up north that I passed looked fully occupied with smoke coming out the chimney and lots of pickup trucks parked out front.

Lot more snow than I expected ❄, although not really based on the snow fall estimates which are usually pretty good. Maybe four inches of snow at camp – not real deep but enough that I was glad the site was plowed out by the hunter who had the campsite for the season before they tagged out – probably yesterday – and packed up and left. They also left a ton of firewood 🔥 which was nice, although some of it was particle and chip board although both after I took my axe to it burned well and didn’t stink that much much.

Because I had so much wood I ended up hanging out in camp and starting the fire early 🔥, shoveling around as needed. I didn’t set up a hot tent because I didn’t want to have to dry out my tent in the morning. It did get a bit cold by the fire late around ten as I forgot to pack Long Johns and Wool Socks but once I was under the covers in my truck I was plenty warm. If I go back out on Black Friday to camp – possibly back to the same place – I’ll probably pitch a tent as it’s always nice to have a warm tent to curl up before bed in.

I sat back and had a nice breakfast. 🍳 There was light snow during the overnight, maybe an inch, but by 8 am the roads were just wet. Then relaxing next to the heater ♨, working on some blog posts in the winter wonderland until quarter to ten, while slowly taking down camp, it started to sleet then turn to big globs of snow. ❄ By the time I broke camp, the roads had started to ice up a bit with the fallen snow. South of Wells the snow was about an inch deep on NY 30 but after a slow slog down to Northville, the roads were just wet. I drive super slow and carefully on the icy roads because I do so little winter driving these days 🚘 – and I know if it takes a little longer than necessary to get home safely – it’s still a shit ton better than getting in a crash. Really foggy 🌁 in Amsterdam.

It’s nice being in the wilderness and having a big fire. 🐺 The woods is my happy place where I can make as much noise as I want with my music 🎶 and guns 🔫 and have a nice fire. 🔥 Tossing a wrapper in the fire and watching it burn down to nothing and unzipping my jeans and peeing where ever I want is the best! Few things are quite as warming as a wood fire although that 18,000 BTU heater feels great at camp. Listening 👂 to the birds 🐦 this morning and the coyotes late last night. I can’t wait until I can live a life like this permanently. Not next year but eventually. Living in the city is convenient but I ducking love 😍 the wilderness and the countryside.

This afternoon will rain before 3pm, then rain and snow likely. 🌧 High of 37 degrees at 1pm. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 11th. Northwest wind 11 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 40 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 2014. That said, a few weeks later I remember snow camping in the Adirondacks. 8.8 inches of snow fell back in 1898.❄

Heading out to the folks house for Sunday dinner around four. 🍲 Warm enough and will stay warm so I expect the roads won’t be bad like they were up north for a while. That said things can change but it’s not that far for a slow pace or staying overnight if necessary.

The sun will set at 4:26 pm with dusk around 4:57 pm, which is 37 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and snow 🌨 and temperatures around 36 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 13 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 28 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 48 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of rain and snow showers before 7pm, then a slight chance of snow showers between 7pm and 9pm. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 32 degrees at 5am. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 16th. Northwest wind 8 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2018, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 39 degrees. The record low of 2 occurred back in 1938.

Tuesday morning I’m going to the Urgent Care to get my arm checked out 🙋. Five bucks more per copay then my regular doctor who is currently closed. I’m sure they’ll say it’s Lyme and they’ll put me on antibiotics and the aches and occasional severe headaches will fairly quickly go away. It’s become more noticeable since the bulls eye appeared, especially in the arm but I’m sure I’ve had Lyme Disease since I got the tick bite mid October. 🎯It’s not that bad now but I know it will get worse untreated and they’re so much better at addressing Lyme disease than even a few weeks ago. I was hesitant to go and get tested before I had the bulls eye because the test sometimes comes back false negative if you get tested too quickly and I didn’t want the doctor to thank me for the co-payment and send me on my way untreated. 😷

Also need to get a hair cut.💈 My hair has so quickly gotten shaggy. I did shave my goatee back 🐐 as that was getting kind of long and nasty. But the hair I can’t do myself. 💇

My buck fifty cellphone holder 📱I got from AliExpress broke so I couldn’t have Waze open to display my speed yesterday and I blew past a cop 👮 accidentally pm Interstate 890 🚔but fortunately I did not get pulled over. My speedometer is not accurate on Big Red with the lift kit so I always use Waze to know my speed. That said, for me to blow past a cop means doing 60 mph in a 55 zone which is probably what half the motorists are doing all the time. I should get another one. AliExpress is mad cheap but the quality is a crap shoot and it will take a month or two to arrive on the boat from China. 🚤

Definitely thinking about heading back north on Friday depending on the weather. ⛺ Maybe the same site but two nights, plus some hiking and time in the woods with my shotgun. This time I will pitch a tent and hot tent. I really should hook up the low voltage disconnect reset as in the cold and long nights it seems like occasionally the battery voltage dips but probably could be used longer without turning the truck on if I reconnected the reset button.

Propane camp lantern 🏮 isn’t working at all now. Not sure the issue although I suspect the generator tube that pressurizes the gas is fully plugged with mud and soot. During my October camping trip I was having problems with it producing a ton of black soot and burning dimly. I would like to fix it although I’m considering getting an LED lantern like my parents use and putting rechargable batteries in it it or maybe getting a lantern that can be charged by plugging into the USB ports on my truck. LED lanterns are a lot less fragile but probably not as bright as the propane and they need to recharged. Gotta think about it more. 💭

Speaking of broken shit my portable radio 📻 needs a new battery. The rechargable lithium ion BL – 5C battery it came with has failed, it barely holds a charge and it’s gotten all bloated from overcharging or another failure internally of the lithium ion cell. So bloated the battery cover won’t even fit on the radio.🔋 I’m hesitant to charge it now without watching it lest it go thermal and burn up. Years ago I was burning some camp trash and a little CR 2025 button cell got tossed in the fire and man did that go bang. 💥Moral of the story, don’t mess with lithium ion cells.

As previously noted, next Sunday is December 🎄 when the sun will be setting at 4:23 pm with dusk at 4:54 pm. On that day in 2018, we had partly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 45 and 31 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 41 degrees. We hit a record high of 67 back in 1934.