Day: July 15, 2020💾

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July 15, 2020 Morning

Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. It’s cloudy and 68 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ Calm wind. The dew point is 61 degrees. Not expected to real cloudy all day. The skies will clear around 9 am.

Once again I stayed up too late last night 🌃 sitting out back. I can use the excuse that it’s not a problem as people aren’t seeing my ugly face and I don’t have to leave at BOB TIME ⌚ that is 8:08 to catch the bus downtown but truth be told I’m still not getting enough sleep. But I like sitting out back after my evening walk 🚶. No morning walk this morning, just coffee ☕ and maybe a cold shower 🚿.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 84 degrees at 3pm. One degree above normal. Maximum dew point of 62 at 8am. Light southeast wind. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 85 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1997.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:02 pm with sun having an altitude of 68.8° from the due south horizon (-2° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:50 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (294°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (301°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:32 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 21 seconds with dusk around 9:04 pm, which is 39 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:49 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 78 degrees. The dew point will be 59 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 59 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 30 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 65 degrees at 5am. Three degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 63 at 11pm. Southeast wind around 6 mph. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 60 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1946.

On this day in 1959, the Steel Strike of 1959 gets underway, 🏗️ and forcing contractors to either import steel or delay construction projects. 👷 Many chose to import lower-cost steel, with the result being the US Steel industry never recovering.

Hot this weekend. ☀ Saturday, mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 91. Maximum dew point of 67 at 9am. Sunday, mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 94. Maximum dew point of 69 at 7pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 83 degrees.

I am thinking about taking a three day weekend to Piseco Powley Road ⛺ to check out the potholers and see how things are rebuilding. I was originally thinking of going to Speculator on Thursday or Friday and working from there first but I might skip that part of trip due to the forecast.

 Cedar River Flow On Independence Day

Map: Green Mountain National Forest North
Map: Green Mountain National Forest South

July 15, 2020 – Next Sixteen Weeks

While it is hot now, autumn is coming and sixteen weeks it will be the day after Election Day …

Week Date Dawn Sun-
rise
Sun-
set
Dusk Day Noon Sun Angle Avg High Avg Low Record Hi Record Low
0 Jul 15 4:58 am 5:31 am 8:31 pm 9:04 pm 14:59 68.8° 83 62 96 (1997) 44 (1950)
1 Jul 22 5:05 am 5:38 am 8:25 pm 8:58 pm 14:47 67.5° 83 62 102 (1926) 47 (1970)
2 Jul 29 5:12 am 5:44 am 8:18 pm 8:50 pm 14:33 66° 82 62 97 (1894) 47 (1987)
3 Aug 5 5:20 am 5:52 am 8:10 pm 8:41 pm 14:18 64.2° 82 61 99 (1955) 43 (1972)
4 Aug 12 5:29 am 5:59 am 8:01 pm 8:31 pm 14:01 62.2° 81 61 99 (1944) 46 (1987)
5 Aug 19 5:37 am 6:07 am 7:50 pm 8:20 pm 13:43 60° 80 60 92 (1899) 43 (1977)
6 Aug 26 5:45 am 6:14 am 7:39 pm 8:08 pm 13:24 57.6° 79 59 98 (1948) 40 (1942)
7 Sep 2 5:53 am 6:22 am 7:27 pm 7:56 pm 13:05 55.1° 77 57 100 (1953) 38 (2017)
8 Sep 9 6:01 am 6:29 am 7:15 pm 7:43 pm 12:45 52.5° 75 54 94 (1959) 36 (1938)
9 Sep 16 6:08 am 6:37 am 7:02 pm 7:31 pm 12:25 49.8° 72 52 92 (1939) 32 (1964)
10 Sep 23 6:16 am 6:44 am 6:50 pm 7:18 pm 12:05 47.1° 69 49 97 (1895) 32 (1963)
11 Sep 30 6:24 am 6:52 am 6:38 pm 7:06 pm 11:45 44.4° 66 45 88 (1905) 28 (1991)
12 Oct 7 6:31 am 7:00 am 6:26 pm 6:54 pm 11:25 41.7° 63 43 89 (1963) 27 (1986)
13 Oct 14 6:39 am 7:08 am 6:14 pm 6:42 pm 11:06 39° 61 40 81 (1920) 21 (1958)
14 Oct 21 6:47 am 7:16 am 6:03 pm 6:31 pm 10:46 36.5° 58 38 81 (1979) 17 (1972)
15 Oct 28 6:56 am 7:25 am 5:53 pm 6:22 pm 10:28 34.1° 55 36 78 (1971) 18 (1974)
16 Nov 4 6:04 am 6:33 am 4:44 pm 5:13 pm 10:10 31.8° 53 34 76 (1994) 17 (1951)

View from Tower Hill Road

Light and Dark

Map: Bear Mountain Trail on Cranberry Lake
Map: Three Springs State Forest

Keeping an open mind

I’ve always believed that politics is like buying a car on the lot. You only get two choices, and neither one really suits you well. But you have to choose the one that suits you and your interests best. For me, I think that’s the Democrats in many cases. But I’ve owned Chryslers, Fords and Chevrolets so I’m hardly a partisan.

The left-wing of Democratic Party likes to rebrand itself as progressives, because being a liberal seems to imply that your just a big welfare spender. But they are in many ways progressive too – in the sense that Democrats are often open to new ideas and different cultures. Democrats have long been the party of International Government, the United Nations and Free but Fair Trade. They’re not afraid of different cultures, they’re openly embracing it. Democrats advocate for change, recognizing that some changes may be bad for certain groups like coal miners, but good for all people as we move to less polluting forms of energy. Democrats, when they push for clean energy, are also working to train people for the sustainable jobs of the future. Democrats generally advocate for strong worker protections, strong environmental protections, and good schools.

Now unlike some partisans, I’m not going to embrace what my party does good or bad. If I see my party doing something bad, I think it’s important to speak up. If the Republicans have a better solution to a problem – Democrats shouldn’t reject it just because they didn’t originate the idea. Indeed, much of the creative energy these days seems to be coming from the Republican Party – not because they have all good idea but because they’ve been out of power for eight years and most Democratic ideas have been around for sometime and many have already been tested.

I don’t think it’s wrong to support an idea just because President Donald Trump supports it. If it seems like he has a good idea, then we should all get behind it – Democrat or Republican. And if Donald Trump introduces a new idea or a new solution, we shouldn’t reject it automatically, just because he’s the de facto head of Republican Party. Supporting a good President Trump policy doesn’t mean your a Republican, but instead means yours supporting an idea that you think will move our country forward.

I also think people should do more to understand the other side of issues. It’s often hard to understand conservative positions on issues, being in Albany, NY where the liberal media dominates so much of our lives. Articulate conservative perspectives are generally unwelcome on local media, and even when they are invited to speak, their views are often dismissed by hosts and other guests.

In conclusion, while I support the Democratic Party, I don’t believe one should blindly follow any party you belong to. Question their orthodoxy, and it’s fine to cross party lines and vote for candidates that are closer to your views on issues. There is nothing wrong with taking liberal positions on some issues and conservative positions on others. Keeping an open mind is essential.

Map: Lester Flow
Map: Long Pond State Forest