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One more nice day before the snow 🌞

Monday, Monday. Riding to work and enjoying it before the snow comes and takes over the land again during this mid-February Valentine’s Day Week. Then a three-day weekend, though it might be cool and snowy so who knows about Madison County come Friday.

Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. Cloudy and at the freezing point in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a northwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. Going to warm up as the day progresses, with the skies clearing around noontime. Not a terrible day ahead, though the morning will be cloudier and tomorrow will snow.

Oatmeal pancakes with shredded orange 🥞 🍊 made for a delicious 😋 start to the morning today. Topped with lots of blueberries I will note. 🫐 I know I’m waiting for the inevitable blood sugar crash 📉 though I’m hopeful that the protein in the egg plus the mixture of oatmeal, shredded orange including the peel and whole 🌾 flour will help slow the crash. Didn’t use any maple 🍁 syrup today, the blueberries were plenty of sugar, lol. 😂

I figure today’s the day to ride to work if any day this week. 🚲 👉 🌨 Tomorrow is going to be quite snowy, so it will be back to busing it back and forth to work. 🚵‍♀️ And after the snow tomorrow, the rail trail will be likely impassable for several days, ⛄ and while I could take Corning’s Hill and South Pearl to work, it’s going to be cold plus the shoulder of the South Pearl near the Port is a muddy rough mess. Not to mention, Wednesday looks like it will be quite cold. ❄️ I do need to call the bike shop and ask about a tune up for the bike 👩‍🔧 and getting those gears really tight and working well before spring comes and appointments with the bike mechanic get really hard to get. As I ride my bike nearly every day, I want to keep it running in top condition.

Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 42 degrees at 2pm. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 6th. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies. The high last year was 47 degrees. The record high of 55 was set in 1932. 13.5 inches of snow fell back in 1988.❄

On the way in, I got to stop at Hannaford ❤️ 🍬 and get some candy to hand out in the office for Valentines’ Day. As the director now, I have to make sure I have little trinkets to give away for holidays and special occasions to reward staff. 🎁 Nice little gestures. I know that’s what they did for years when I was just staff and deputy management, but being I’m now the big man in town, I got to make sure to plan to do such things going forward. 🎂 Also need to look up my staff’s birthdays and make sure to have cake or cookies for each of their birthdays. Figure I should budget about $20 a month for that. Even if I don’t eat cake and sweets anymore, I know a lot of people like that kind of thing. 🍪 It’s a nice gesture and important for a successful office.

Been exploring more of the free resources of the Bethlehem Public Library, 📚 namely E-Books borrowing using the Libby app that let’s you read 📖 and listen to audio books for free on your phone or Kindle if you have such technology. Mom was going to give me her old Kindle but I struggled to understand how the technology works 📲 and after cussing it out 🤬 I think it might be too old of a model. At any rate, I think it easier to read E-Books on my phone with the Libby app which saves them on the phone so I can use it offline in the remote Adirondack country. That said, I’ll probably use the audio books even more 📼 as I can listen while riding my bike 🚲 or by the campfire 🔥. I figure with my taxes so damn high, I best use every free government service out there – be it the state forests, free guided hikes, lectures, nature bus, bike trails etc.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:11 pm with sun having an altitude of 33.6° from the due south horizon (-37.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 9 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:43 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (245°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (252°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:23 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 3 seconds with dusk around 5:51 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the west-southwest (238°) at an altitude of 30° from the horizon, 226,878 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:25 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 39 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 10 hours and 31 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 39 seconds over today.

Groceries were another $120 this week, 🤯 which is more pain on the budget, but I did also buy some more loaf pans and knife sharpener. Eating all those fresh fruit and vegetables really adds up. 🍎 And it’s not like things are going to waste, 🚯 by the end of last week my freezer was mostly empty except for camping ice, but between inflation and everything else it adds up. Sunday night dinner was a really nice tomato 🍅 bean soup with the family 👪, I made some of my onion🧅 and carrot bread 🥕 to share. Took home leftovers, been slowly but surely eating up what’s in the freezer in an effort to cut my grocery costs. 🛒 Inflation sucks and I make good money 💵 these days but it doesn’t go very far anymore. Maybe it’s because I’m so committed to saving and investing in my future, 🔮 but I find it hard to make ends meet during these inflationary times.

I don’t even want to think about my $530 car insurance bill due the end of March or my taxes 🏦 which I haven’t started yet. I’ve been withholding extra out of each paycheck, 📂 which I’m hoping will help ensure I don’t owe a shit ton come April 15th. I got to figure out which service to use — I’ll probably use a Free-file site for my federal taxes, then copy that information onto a state tax form, and mail it in like I did last year. Hopefully not mess it up this time, and get a letter from State Tax Department. I hate filing taxes, especially when the government already knows how much money I make 🔍 as they get copies of my tax documents from my employers, banks, and vendors already. Thanks tax-vendor-software lobbyists and corporations. 🕴Life has gotten so damn expensive these days.

Tonight will have a chance of snow, mainly after 4am. Increasing clouds 🌨, with a low of 30 degrees at 5am. 13 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 27th. North wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 24 degrees. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1875.

Yeah, I got to turn the heat back on tonight. ♨️ It’s been nice the few days with the heat off and the windows open. No electric blanket use either. I’ve been using the electric blanket a lot more this year, but not he past few nights. My electric bill has come down somewhat, 🔌 as I’ve not made as many soups and beans on the stove top, and have been making sure my oven is fully packed 🍞 when baking bread, to get as many meals as possible out of each time things are cooking in the oven. I like cooking 👨‍🍳 but it can get pricey at times buying those whole-food type ingredients, which really can be a lot more expensive when added up then the packaged processed crap I used to buy a lot more of when I was fat. 🤰

Hopefully now with that cable I bailed out from the post office 🔌 ⌨ I’ll be able to use that USB switch I bought two weeks ago, to switch between my laptop and work PC seemlessly when I get into the office. Otherwise I’m out $17 and a lot of aggravation, but it seems like the switch is working well when I tried it with the one cable it originally came with and the second cable I bailed out due to insufficient postage by the seller seems to be working fine. We’ll see when I get to the office this morning I guess. 🏢 That and tinkering with the gears ⚙ on my bike has been so much aggravation over the past two weeks. At least lately I’ve not been having problems with the smoke alarm 👩‍🚒 repeatably going off. The warm weather over the weekend has allowed me to have the windows open and clear out some of the cooking smoke and moisture from my dumpy apartment.

Cool with times of sun for President’s Day. ⛅ Saturday, a chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 34. President’s Day, partly cloudy, with a high near 42. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees.

As previously noted, next Monday is Presidents Day 👴 when the sun will be setting at 5:33 pm with dusk at 6:00 pm. On that day in 2023, we had mostly cloudy and temperatures between 47 and 23 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 37 degrees. We hit a record high of 66 back in 1981.

I’d like to get out of town for President’s Day 🏕 but the weather doesn’t look great. I was thinking about taking a half day off on Friday to head out to Brookfield and Charles Baker Horse Camp 🐴 for the long weekend, but now it’s looking like lake effect snow on Friday, and there is now way in hell I’m going to do the hills around Brookfield in the snow. I’ve dealt with those roads in the past, and they’re not well plowed, as Madison County primarily uses just sand and not salt, and some of those hills can be quite icy. That said, things could change before the weekend, so I’ll keep it in mind.

All good things must come to an end 🌞

I mean you can’t have that many days in early to mid February that are in the 60s. Tomorrow after work, I’ll have to turn the heat back on and probably start using the electric blanket again. I’m not sad, I’m just glad we had a break of spring weather. And it’s not like today or tomorrow is going to be real cold. Tuesday snow, but at this point it’s five weeks until calendar spring, and depending on how mild spring is, we could be as close as two months away from the green-up at least in the city. Maybe earlier if you are talking about the invasive, that is you, multi-flora rose that I’m talking about.

Good morning! Mostly cloudy and 40 degrees in the Delmar. ☁ There is a west-northwest breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. It was nice walking to the store to get moo juice this morning for the coffee. ☕ 🐮 Spring must be coming, I could smell that tangy smell of them spreading the shit 💩 while I was riding in on Friday as I was heading into the Normans Kill Gorge. Soon enough to become silage and hay, fed and become that juice that makes that coffee so awesome. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 11 pm. ☃️

Today will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a high of 44 degrees at 2pm. Nine degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 12th. Northwest wind 9 to 11 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 59 was set in 1981. 9.6 inches of snow fell back in 1933.❄

The big thing for Sunday is to get to the grocery store 🛒 and get stocked up for the week that is to be. One thing to consider is if I’ll be getting out of town for the upcoming President’s Day Weekend. 🏕 I have crazy thoughts 🤪 about taking a half day on Friday and heading out to Madison County for a three-day weekend. 🌨 It all depends on the weather and if we get a lot of snow, or at least if the fine folk of Mad Co. New Yak have too much snow for me to access the horse camp. 🐴 It’s not like I didn’t spend last year’s Presidents Day at the horse camp. It was fun. I know more money bleeding out of my budget 🔴 after shopping. But having apples and vegetables are so important to living the good life, 🍎 🥦 so I better get to the store before it’s picked over and packed like is the case most Sunday’s after a while.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:11 pm with sun having an altitude of 33.2° from the due south horizon (-37.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 9.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:42 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (245°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (252°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:22 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 4 seconds with dusk around 5:50 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the west-southwest (243°) at an altitude of 17° from the horizon, 226,323 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:24 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 41 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 10 hours and 26 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 35 seconds over yesterday.

I am thinking about doing an afternoon hike up Bennett Hill 🏃 while the weather is still nice, and going out to see the family. 🍞 I baked bread, and we’re going to have soup 🍲. Should be a nice afternoon. Then it’s back to work tomorrow. I plan to ride to work tomorrow 🚲, getting one more day of riding before snow makes the bike trail impassible, 🌨 though I could always take South Pearl Street and Corning’s Hill, though I hate how rough South Pearl is by the Port of Albany with all that traffic. 🚚🚚🚚🚚

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 28 degrees at 3am. 11 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 21st. Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph. In 2023, we had clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 23 degrees. The record low of -16 occurred back in 1979.

Looking ahead, next Sunday is 6 PM Dusk 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 5:31 pm. Yeah! That means after that day, if the rail trail is free of snow I can ride home from work. 🚲 Of course, with the common late February and big March snow storms, that’s hardly a guarantee. But spring will come, or so I tell myself. 🌺 At least the multi-flora rose will pretend it’s spring, to crowd out all of the native species. 🤣 On that day in 2023, we had mostly sunny, snow showers and temperatures between 40 and 19 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 37 degrees. We hit a record high of 63 back in 1981.

Hump Day, and I’m out riding early 🚲

Slept in a bit later then I wanted this morning but I made good time this morning and was able to go for a 45 minute ride out Meads Lane and Orchard Drive. Cows were all lumped together, staying warm in the cold. My fingers felt a bit swollen and sore when I first got back indoors but the warm shower seemed to make things feel better again.

Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. Partly sunny and 17 degrees at the Downtown Albany. There is a west breeze at 11 mph. 🍃. The current wind chill is 4. Honestly, I think that wind chill is an exaggeration but I’m kind of a tough mother. There are 4 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at Tuesday around 9 am. 🌡️

The morning bike ride at 6:45 AM wasn’t bad 🚲 though it was a bit cold at times, especially on my fingers. 🤚 I had gloves on which helped quite a bit, 🧤 but at times my fingers were cold. Riding up the hills on Orchard Avenue helped warm me up but I didn’t mind getting back home and taking that warm shower 🚿 before heading out to the bus. 🚌 It turns out the later express bus works out well for the transfer to the shuttle to the suburban office, making for a commute not much longer then driving, plus it saves money and I don’t have to worry about bumping other cars, and watch videos or do other things while I ride the bus. That said, I look forward to riding to work again, but right now the rail trail is snow covered ❄️ not to mention it’s a pretty cold week.

Today will be partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 24 degrees at 3pm. Eight degrees below normal. West wind 10 to 13 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became cloudy by afternoon. The high last year was 33 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 1889. 10.9 inches of snow fell back in 1994.❄

Moving back out to working in the suburbs is what you might expect it to be. 👨‍💼 Very much kind of a corporate experience, working in a massive two-story sprawling building with massive open-air cubical farms, surrounded by acres of free parking. 🅿️ At least it’s convenient for parking for the weekends I plan to head out of town after work, right off the freeway. ☕ And as much free coffee as I want and not many late nights. And it’s a bit more money and a good resume builder, which is important especially in these inflationary times. 💸 Need to study up on VIM and probably awk, as I think those programs will be essential for my new job. They have some books in the office, but I know there is a lot of Youtube videos and other sources of info about it on the internet.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:06 pm with sun having an altitude of 26.5° from the due south horizon (-44.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:05 pm with the sun in the southwest (234°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (242°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:49 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 17 seconds with dusk around 5:19 pm, which is one minute and 12 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the south (174°) at an altitude of 56° from the horizon, 228,953 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:55 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 22 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 11. ☃️ There will be a west breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 30 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 43 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday with the snow was kind of a messy commute ❄️ and I was annoyed that I got on the local bus and saw shortly thereafter the very late express bus passing by. 🚌 I just didn’t trust the real time bus info, as it kept shift as the express bus and local bus kept getting later. I though they might have canceled the express bus or I missed it as the shuttle back to the Plaza was running late due to snow, but it was accurate data. Doesn’t matter, I was still home by 6 PM.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌃, with a low of 14 degrees at 2am. One degree below normal, which is similar to a typical Maximum wind chill around 4 at 10pm; South wind 8 to 10 mph. In 2023, we had light freezing rain in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 32 degrees. The record low of -19 occurred back in 1957.

Ended up getting dinged $45 for damaged books 📚 from the library, but I get to pickup the books and I’ll add them to my collection. Two of my books unfortunately got wet and dirty when I was camping. 🏕 It happens, I shouldn’t bring library books winter camping I guess. Or at least plan to keep any books that I take up to the woods with me. Never a problem in the summer, but in the winter, it’s easy for dirt and wetness to get attracted to the paper. It happens, oh well. I’ve paid the fine. At least with the mild weather in December, my electric and gas bill was down, mostly because I didn’t use that much gas heat. This month though with the recent cold blast 🌬 it must certainly will be back up. Trying to limit my power use too by cooking efficiently with a full oven each time I cook. 👩‍🍳

Cold but clearing this weekend. ⛅ Saturday, mostly cloudy, with a high near 17. Without much sun, that’s going to feel like a real cold day for sure. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 24. Typical average high for the weekend is 32 degrees. But it’s too be expected in mid-to-late January. By Tuesday, things are expected to be in the low 40s and by the second half of the week if the trend continues, looking at upper 40s. It’s really to far away to know about things though for following weekend, and heck even past Tuesday who really knows but it looks like there is a warming trend ahead.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Valentines Day ❤️ when the sun will be setting at 5:26 pm with dusk at 5:53 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly sunny skies mild temperatures between 50 and 30 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 36 degrees. But maybe there is hope after all the cold. We hit a record high of 63 back in 1946.

Before the real cold kicks in ❄

Winter’s going to kick like a mule come next week but we’re only like 68 days away from spring and being an El Niño year it’s not going to remain cold for all that long.

Good morning! Happy Thursday. Mostly cloudy at the freezing point in Delmar. ☁ There is a west-southwest breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. There are some remaining snow banks on the ground. ☃ But not for long. ️Things will start to thaw out at around 7 am. 🌡️

Cornbread this morning with onions, garlic, spinach and lots of spices.🥧 Came out such a deep rich color and fluffy thanks to the baking soda. Do wish I had added some salt. 🍊 Then I ran a full orange, peel and all through the food processor for a fiber rich treat. 🧡 Fiber fills you up and blunts the impact of all those sugars and the inevitable insulin spike. I do poop 💩 a lot on the morning especially after all that coffee ☕ rich with cinnamon and ginger.

Today will have a slight chance of rain and snow showers after 1pm. Cloudy 🌧, with a high of 38 degrees at 2pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 21st. West wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 33 degrees. The record high of 67 was set in 2020. 8.0 inches of snow fell back in 1922.❄

Riding to work again today, 🚲 this time taking my preferred route through the Norman’s Kill Gorge as the snow and ice should be mostly gone. ☺ I really don’t love riding Delaware, I’d much rather do the rail trail. That said not sure how much I’ll be riding next week, going to be cold plus Tuesday and Wednesday are session days. Do think it’s likely I’ll be finally moving out to the burbs for work but I have a schedule ready for the shuttle 🚀. Okay, maybe not that kind of shuttle. I don’t think the cold will be that prolonged being an El Niño year, or so I tell myself.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:04 pm with sun having an altitude of 25.5° from the due south horizon (-45.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:58 pm with the sun in the southwest (233°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (241°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:42 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 21 seconds with dusk around 5:13 pm, which is one minute and 5 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:49 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and snow 🌨 and temperatures around 38 degrees. There will be a south-southwest breeze at 6 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 22 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 27 seconds over today.

Yesterday on my way out ran into the landlord and we got chatting 🗣️ and guess what I forgot to lock 🔒 my door 🚪 or even shut it tightly. It was a mild day and the heat probably didn’t kick on, and it’s not like I have much worth stealing. 👮 Today I’ll be more careful. Going to try to leave a bit earlier today so I’m not as rushed plus I have a morning meeting to get down to. 👥

Tonight will have a slight chance of snow showers before 10pm. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 27 degrees at 4am. 11 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 18th. South wind around 6 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2023, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became light snow by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 32 degrees. The record low of -26 occurred back in 1968.

15 bean soup 🍲 last night was delicious 😋 though it made the last of my carrots 🥕 dissappear and a lot of spinach and celery. I should have bought the five pound bag of carrots last week. Rye bread with lots of red onions in it for a rich flavor. Then a shredded apple run through the food processor with lots of cinnamon and ginger with a touch of peanut 🥜 butter powder after my evening walk. Not quite a slurry, I mean smoothie but good. Not so cold for the evening walk. 🌧️ Rained on the bus 🚍 ride home but stopped by the time I was filled up with that delicious soup and bread. I was in bed 🛏 by eight and up by five this morning.

Weekend continues to look rainy after first then get cold. 🌦️🤜🌬️🤜🧊Saturday, rain before noon, then showers likely, mainly between noon and 1pm. High near 48. Southeast wind 14 to 17 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. Sunday, a chance of snow showers after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 32. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees. I’m still thinking about at least one night up in the woods but I concede with the wind, going to be a cold weekend.

Looking ahead, next Thursday is Winnie the Pooh Day 🍯 when the sun will be setting at 4:51 pm with dusk at 5:21 pm. On that day in 2023, we had cloudy, mild, freezing rain showers and temperatures between 44 and 32 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 32 degrees. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1973. Last week I bought honey 🛒 but I haven’t opened it yet. I’ve decided to include more natural sugars sparingly in my diet for flavor but only occasionally as a treat. That and real maple 🍁 syrup. Yum. But it’s not going to be an everyday thing and will always be paired with fiber rich foods and whole grains be it milled corn, milled oats or whole wheat foot.

Up after the teat strippers, lol 🐄

Every morning I get the Morning Ag Clips newsletter delivered to my email box a little after 3 am. Who is up at that hour? Dairymen, nearly two hours before I wake up and get cooking and a jump on my day. After all, you gotta strip the teats before you milk the laddies so I can have cottage cheese with my eggs and milk in my coffee.

Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. Rain and 43 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ There is a west-southwest breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. There are 3 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Still too much snow to ride the bike into work on the rail trail, but regardless it’s still raining. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 2 am. ☃️

I slept in late until 5:10 AM this morning, which really is about ten minutes later but I don’t set an alarm clock ⏰ so I get up when I wake naturally. I was in bed by 9 PM last night 🛌 so eight hours later is about 5 AM though I woke briefly at 3 AM when I heard the Morning Ag Clips come in but I didn’t read until I was up and out of bed, loading the oven with bread and taking the seeds out of the spaghetti squash, getting it ready to cook. A good nights sleep, despite the warnings of high wind and severe weather, all I heard was a bit of rain on the roof.

Woke up feeling a bit achy this morning from the rain, 😫 but I got some onions, spinach, corn, peppers eggs frying 🍳 with a bunch of turmeric, red chili pepper, and salt. Then coffee with lots of ginger and cinnamon. ☕ Feeling good now. Baked up some rye bread, with lots of dill weed and chopped red onions. I find for a good crispy crust, adding some baking soda helps. The red onions give it a dark, rich texture, almost like pumpernickel. Also cooked up a big pot of 15-bean Cajun soup, but then I added a bunch of corn, celery, carrots and spinach to beef up the soup. Will be good with the rye bread later. To keep the oven full, also made spaghetti squash. Using up a lot of stuff in my pantry but I’ll go shopping either Thursday or Friday night, or maybe early Saturday morning.

Today will have a chance of showers, mainly between 11am and 3pm. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 44 degrees at 12pm. 11 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 12th. I like mid March weather in January. Breezy, with a southwest wind 7 to 12 mph increasing to 16 to 21 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 41 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 55 was set in 2016. 7.3 inches of snow fell back in 1984.❄

I wasn’t going to ride my bike to work, 🚲 until I decided to do just that. I will take Delaware Avenue in I guess, because I think there is still snow and ice on the rail trail ❄️ though I’d much rather take the rail trail and avoid traffic. 🚂 When I switch to the office in North Albany — maybe next week — if the rail trail is closed, I will take Second Avenue. I think there is less traffic there, and less risk of getting doored, 💥which scares me as much if not more then getting rear-ended on the bicycle. Riding on Delaware Avenue, it’s constant looking ahead and looking backwards, compared to the relatively easy to ride down the rail trail. 🚵‍♀️ Once I’m fully moved the suburban office, I will be able to take Albany County Rail Trail to Corning Preserve, almost entirely off the road, then it will be an easy ride up Erie Bouelvard, through the old Lumber District.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:03 pm with sun having an altitude of 25.4° from the due south horizon (-45.5° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:57 pm with the sun in the southwest (233°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (240°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:41 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 21 seconds with dusk around 5:12 pm, which is one minute and 4 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:48 pm. At sunset, look for rain showers around 🌧 and temperatures around 40 degrees. Breezy, 21 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-southwest with gusts up to 41mph. Today will have 9 hours and 19 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 19 seconds over yesterday.

I was pleasantly surprised that the blueberry pancakes I made yesterday 🥞 didn’t cause me to have a blood sugar spike that I was afraid it would. Maybe it was because the pancakes were whole-wheat flour and some milled oats and made myself without added sugar or even bananas. Maybe using pure maple syrup 🍁 in moderation helped. I do love the sweetness of blueberries 💙 but it can come with an hour or two down the clock feeling really hungry and even a bit dizzy. But I was reading that such blood sugar troughs aren’t that uncommon for many people, and isn’t a sign of anything more serious besides bad dietary choices. I was looking at my online health record, and two times I got my blood and urine tested, my blood sugar levels were in normal levels and I didn’t have any glucose in my urine. 🥤 I did have slightly elevated bile in my urine, a sign of some kidney damage probably back when I was more overweight, but I was barely outside of normal level, 👩‍⚕️ nothing my doctor said I should be concerned about. I am super paranoid about diabetes these days, as I watch and it slowly saps the life away from my parents who are growing older. And I don’t like needles. 💉

Tonight will be mostly cloudy ☁️, with a low of 29 degrees at 4am. 13 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 24th. Breezy, with a southwest wind 14 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. With that wind, I’ll probably need the heat again. ♨️ In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 19 degrees. The record low of -25 occurred back in 1968.

Last night was cold with the wind so I turned on both the gas heat down stairs and the space heater on as I was chilled through. 🌧 🌬 It was absolutely pouring when I was waiting out for the bus, and when I got home things were cold and damp. Cooking in the oven the salmon 🐟 things warmed up, and then I kneaded up the bread 🍞. Also made some corn mush mixed with peanut butter powder which was pretty good. And then shredded and orange and had that with a warm glass of milk with cinnamon and ginger before bed. Eating good. Wish I had gotten more steps in yesterday, but I did do that seven mile ride in during the morning.

Still looks like the weekend starts out rainy, but then gets cold for the balance of the M.L. King weekend. 🌦 Saturday, rain, mainly before 1pm. High near 48. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 31. Breezy. M.L.King Day will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 31. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees. I am not sure if it looks good for getting out of town, thinking it will be a swamp on Saturday and then frigid come Sunday. Maybe just one night. Things could change though.

One month 📅 from now will be Clean Your Computer Day 🧹 when the sun will be setting at 5:21 pm with dusk at 5:49 pm. The average high temperature is 33 degrees, with a record high of 55 in 2016. Now that’s depressing on the mercury front, but let’s be honest, not much beyond there, things start to warm up once again as we head into the second half of February. 🌺 Spring will come eventually.

Waiting on the sun to ride after yesterday’s snow 🌅 🚲

Figured if it’s a dress-up day for work, I won’t be able to ride to work or want to take the stairs up to my office. So it best to get out riding early. It looks like the main roads will just be wet, not super icy though I might run into some snow on side-streets, like Meads Road and Orchard Street. I don’t expect it will be that bad of a ride this morning, and it’s not super cold. But first the sun needs to rise a bit more. I have lights on my bike but I don’t want to ride in the pitch black, especially past the street lights on NY 32 and Meads Road.

Good morning! Happy Monday on this Bubble Bath Day. 🛀 Back to work today, no time for bubble baths. 🧼Partly cloudy and 23 degrees in Delmar. ⛅ There is a northwest breeze at 14 mph. 🍃. The current wind chill is 11. There are 7 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at around 10 am. 🌡️ Probably want a bubble bath by the time I get home from the ride this morning. And more oil on the bike chain.

This morning I made cornmeal paddies with an egg, milk, red onions, garlic, spinach, red pepper and salt. 🍔 I think with the garlic, salt and red pepper I might next time dial back it back a bit, as they were a bit more punchy then I’d like in the morning, but they were good. The spinach helped boost the fiber content plus topping them with greek yogurt and the egg in them really boost the protein content. I was pretty happy with how they came out, and will make them again though I still think I’d want to tone them back a bit. Just too spicy for morning food. Is corn as healthy as oats or whole-wheat? Probably not, but it has the different sweeter and oiler taste. Don’t need to add any oil to the paddies for sure, and they were good.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 37 degrees at 1pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 18th. Northwest wind 7 to 14 mph. Between the warm weather, breeze and sun I don’t expect the snow to stick around. But we can really stick a fork in it come Wednesday with the rain expected. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 35 degrees. The record high of 60 was set in 2008. 8.3 inches of snow fell back in 1923.❄

Yesterday, I decided to make up some chicken soup 🍲 for dinner, which was followed by pea soup and a small bowl of cornmeal porridge. Interested in finding new ways to use cornmeal. Shredded a full orange in the food processor, to get all the flavor, taste and fiber of both the inside and outside of an orange. Didn’t make up any bread last night, I was kind of tired, but I probably will tonight when I get home.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:02 pm with sun having an altitude of 25.1° from the due south horizon (-45.7° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:54 pm with the sun in the southwest (232°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (240°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:39 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 21 seconds with dusk around 5:10 pm, which is one minute and 2 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:46 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌃 and temperatures around 34 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 7 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 14 seconds over today.

I’ll be the first to admit yesterday wasn’t the most productive day ever. Just a lot of reading, and watching Youtube and Udemy videos to learn more about machine learning and other topics. I probably should have gone out for a walk yesterday, but it was cold out and I wasn’t super interested in heading out. I kind of want to just get through winter at this point.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🏙, with a low of 22 degrees at 6am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 1st. Light and variable wind. Should be a nice night for the evening. In 2023, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 18 degrees. The record low of -20 occurred back in 1968.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, rain. High near 45. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 32. Breezy. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees. Things could evolve but Saturday isn’t looking great for heading out of town but Sunday into King’s Day might be good. I kind of would like to get at least one night in the woods, preferrably two if I decide to head up to the Adirondacks or Central NY. Rensselearville isn’t so bad for just one night, but it still requires quite a bit of packing.

Next Monday is Martin Luther King Day 🖤 when the sun will be setting at 4:48 pm with dusk at 5:17 pm. We are picking up quite a bit of time in the evening now, even if when I move to the Enterprise Drive office in the suburbs, there will be enough light in evening to ride back and catch the express bus home. The question now is just cold and snow. On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 33 and 19 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 32 degrees. We hit a record high of 65 back in 1995.

Places I Camped in 2023

While this year was a rainy one, and it rained during many of my trips, I was able to get out for 53 nights in the wilderness — mostly fairly close to home but I also did a trip down to West Virginia in late October with several trips to the Adirondacks, Central New York and summer vacation in the Finger Lakes.

Martin Luther Kings Day – January 14-16 (2 nights)

To start out my camping adventures in 2023, I drove out to Charles Baker State Forest and Brookfield Horse Camp. There wasn’t a lot of snow — just a dusting but it was a fun weekend, topped off by a beautiful sun-full glittery hike up Tassell Hill after a hoar frost. Explored Lost Pond and several of the trails in the middle of state forest.

40th Birthday – January 27-29 (2 nights)

For my fortieth birthday, I took off the Friday leading up to my 40th birthday to cross country ski and winter camp at Rensselaerville State Forest. It was a beautiful weekend with lots of blue skies, sufficient snow for skiing but not so much that was a ton of snowmobiles out on the trails.

Presidents Day – February 17-19 (2 nights)

I decided for Presidents Day Weekend to do another trip out to Charles Baker State Forest and Brookfield Horse Camp. Slightly more snow then last time but again largely a snow-less winter, with some nice days for hikes through the various truck and horse trails. I hiked around much of state forest, especially the more southern part of the forest.

Easter Weekend – April 7-9 (2 nights)

On Good Friday through Easter I camped at at Rensselaerville State Forest. The snow was gone and it was fairly mild though at times it was a bit cool. Spent a fair amount of time walking around and exploring the new OSI Parcel that has been recently added to state forest and is still largely open fields with sweeping views of the Catskill Mountains.

Duck Pond Trip – May 5-7 (2 nights)

The first Friday in May I took a half day from work and headed out to Schoharie County to camp at Duck Pond at Burnt-Rossman Hills State Forest. Originally the plan was to camp two nights at Duck Pond, hiking along the Long Path and exploring the state forest and then on Sunday hiking the Catskill Scenic Trail. That part of the trip changed when driving along Duck Pond Road the low tire pressure light came on I found a pallet nail in my truck tire. I was able to top off the truck tire and then change the tire when I got home and got the nail pulled and plugged. But it wasn’t the best way ever to end a trip early.

Overnight at Cole Hill – May 13-14 (1 night)

After visiting the folks on Mother’s Day Weekend, I decided to do a quick overnight hammock camp on Cole Hill State Forest in Berne. Nothing fancy or formal, it was as much a way to test out sleeping in my hammock with the bug screen. Kind of a chilly night, I took camp down fairly and headed home early in the morning.

Memorial Day Weekend at Cole Hill – May 20-22 (2 nights)

This year I decided to eschew the Adirondacks and Greene Mountains for Memorial Day Weekend due to the black flies, my desire to look at bicycles, and work I had to do on the Saturday morning leading up to the holiday weekend. I decided to hammock camp again Cole Hill State Forest in Berne. This was a three-day two night trip, so it it gave me a chance to bring more gear up the mountain, set up a more formal camp. Cooked on the fire, hiked around the forest. It was a warm weekend, but I enjoy the solitude, along with having good cell service for listening to podcasts and watching videos.

Juneteenth Weekend on Piseco-Powley – June 15-20 (4 nights)

To kick off summer, I did my usual Juneteenth weekend camping trip, tacking on some days on the Juneteenth Holiday Weekend. It was a bit of a cool and rainy weekend to kick off summer, one that would actually be followed by many cool and rainy weekends where I would stay home. Camped at House Pond for the first three nights, spending time down floating in the tube on East Branch while the final night I camped up at Powley Bridge site and kayaked along the East Branch. Really, like often is the case, the best weather was the day I took down camp.

Catskill Scenic Trail Trip – July 22-24 (3 nights)

After several months of researching and visiting various bike shops, I finally got a mountain bike. I decided it would be fun to do as much of the Catskill Scenic Trail as I could before my summer vacation got underway. Actually did quite a bit of riding and hiking that weekend — started out hiking Pratts Rock’s then riding from Grand George to Hobart. Sunday, I rode from Fultonham to Middleburgh on NY 30, doing a quick climb up Vromans Nose, then stopping at the farm market then going to Mine Kill State Park to swim. Monday I rode from Hobart down to Bloomville, getting caught in a major thunderstorm and downpour a few miles north of Bloomville with no shelter in sight. The trail became super boggy, then I went to Mine Kill State Park for one more swim, and then out to folks house for Sunday dinner a day later then usual.

Finger Lakes National Forest – July 28 – August 6 (9 nights)

Every year for nearly a decade and a half I’ve been doing summer vacation out in the Finger Lakes — camping in the National Forest and exploring as much as possible during my days there. The past few years I’ve been driving there on a Friday, to get a better campsite before they’re taken by the weekend campers. This year was no exception. With Blackie, my mountain bike, I did nearly all of the bike trails in the near vicinity, from the Black Diamond Trail to the Cayuta Valley Trail to Dresden – Penn Yan Canal Trail. Kayaked on both Cayuga and Scenic Lakes, swam many days at Watkins Glen State Park and Taughannock State Park, explored the Cornell Campus and Botanical Gardens on my bike. Got some good ice cream at the Spotted Duck, explored the Geneva Waterfront along with the Cayuga-Seneca Canalway. Some rain but compared to the wet summer that was, this was a pretty good week.

Piseco-Powley – House Pond Campsite – August 18-20 (3 nights)

The next few weeks for rainy and by the time I got away for one more long weekend, it promised to be fairly nice weekend but turned out to be fairly cool and cloudy with some rain. Back at the House Pond Campsite, did some swimming in East Branch, but with the mercury in the 60s most of the weekend, I didn’t spend a lot of time in the water. Hardly what I had dreamed when the I planned the weekend. Rode Blackie up to Goldmine Stream Falls and relaxed down by the falls for a bit, also sat down by the swimming hole off of the Old Edick Road Snowmobile Trail, watching the rain fall, bemoaning the wet and cold weather. Still it was good to get away for a bit, and I did do a fair amount of reading in hammock, under the protection of the bug net, as the bugs were bad after such a wet summer.

Labor Day at Perkins Clearing – September 1-4 (3 nights)

I took the Friday off before Labor Day to get a jump on the holiday season travel, and set up camp at the site I really enjoy up at Perkins Clearing overlooking the mountains. Did a fair amount of riding along the various dirt roads of Perkins Clearing, including over to Mason Lake and on Sunday rode most of the way to the Spruce Lake Trailhead, though didn’t make it there in time as I got a bit of a late start as I spent the balance of the day reading and swimming in the Jessup River Bridge swimming hole. Labor Day, I rode around the Spectulator Tree Farm, doing a large loop, through the tree farm, past the north end of Elm Lake, then down to Austin Falls and Old Route 8B. I had hoped to get ice cream, but by the time I got to the ice cream shop they were out of soft-ice cream, and there was a long line. Summer was dragging to a close.

September Trip to Rensselearville State Forest – September 15-17 (2 nights)

With time being fairly tight and the weather only so-so I decided to do a two night trip close to home out in Rennselearville to ride some of the gravel trails, explore the OSI Parcel further and just enjoy an early autumn weekend camping.

Columbus Day at Rensselearville State Forest – October 8-9 (1 night)

Columbus Day Weekend was cold and rainy for the first half of the weekend, but the Sunday heading into Columbus Day was nice, so I decided to head out to Rensselaerville for a quick overnight at the campsite on CCC Road. Leaves were late this year, so not a lot of color, but it still was nice to get away for a night and ride some of the trails around.

West Virginia Trip – October 21-29 (8 nights)

The banner trip of the year was my trip down to West Virigina. While it started and ended in rain, it was a very enjoyable trip with lots of new adventures this year. Camped the balance of the week — 6 nights in Canaan Heights — doing day trips from that area. Overnighted one night driving down at County Bridge Campground in Pennsylvania, and a on the way back camped overnight at Long Pond State Forest in New York. Adventures in West Virginia included hiking at Dolly Sods, mountain biking at night in the sods of Canaan Heights, riding up and hiking to Table Rock, exploring Blackwater Falls State Park on the mountain bike, MonPower Mountain Bike Park, Thomas Rail Grade and the Olson Firetower. Rode part of the Great Allegheny Trail through the Cumberland Passage, and the two sections of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canalway, including the Paw Paw Tunnel.

Stoney Pond – November 4-7 (3 nights)

A little over a week back from West Virginia, I headed out to Madison County to ride the Tassel Hill Mountain Bike Trails at Alfred Woodford, the Chenango Canal Trail in Hamilton and Erie Canalway from Chittenango to Green Lakes State Park and then to Canastota and Wampsville. The first night was cold at Stoney Pond but the subsequent nights were quite pleasant and mild.

Prospect Mountain – East Branch Sacanadaga – Buttermilk Falls/Hudson Special Management Area – November 24-28 (3 nights)

Strangely enough, I had never been up Prospect Mountain. So I decided the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) to hike up Prospect Mountain, and then spend the next two nights camping on East Branch of the Sacandaga River. The Saturday and Sunday was fairly cold, so I ended up spending the bulk of day hanging around camp, doing a bit of hiking around Fox Lair. Sunday, evening around 8 PM it started to sleet, then snow, then rain, Monday morning, it turned into a white globby snow, and I ended up taking down camp fairly early after discovering I was out of propane and then spent much of the day exploring the Hudson River Special Management Area – Buttermilk Falls.

Stoney Pond – Charles Baker – December 21-26 (5 nights)

On the days leading up to Christmas I decided to take a second trip to Madison County. I was originally planning to camp two nights at Stoney Pond then two nights at the Charles Baker Horse Camp but my family’s holiday plans were cancelled due to illness in my family, so I ended up staying an extra night at the horse camp, through the day after Christmas. On Friday, I rode the Erie Canalway from Canastota to East Verona, nearly to Rome. On Christmas Day I rode around many of truck trails at Charles Baker with my mountain bike, leaving my face splattered with mud. Many of the days were fairly cold and cloudy, but that’s too be expected in late December. Still it was a special way to spend Christmas.

Andy Arthur.org

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