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February 2, 2020 10 AM Update

Good morning! Happy Ground Hog Day 🐻! Like a true Ground Hog Day I decided to walk out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center 🐸 two days in a row. The rail trail is fine but there is more nature and bathrooms 🚽 at Five Rivers to take a piss. Plus hiking along 443, is always an adventure in its own right. Next Sunday is the Snow Moon. 🌕 Partly cloudy and 33 degrees at the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. β›… There is a west-northwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃.

Been feeling a lot better lately 👍 ever since the Lyme Disease symptoms have gone away. They didn’t disappear instantly when I got off the medication 💊 but two or three months out they’re totally gone and I’m enjoying doing a lot more walking. 🚶 The bicycle is fine 🚲 but walking is better for the whole body. 💪

Had some really blue skies and sun β˜€ around 8 AM but by the time I started hiking out to Five Rivers for the second time this weekend it started to cloud up. But I like listening 👂 to the birds 🐦 and observing nature. I figure it might not be that nice come this afternoon. I also have some stuff I want to work on at the Bethlehem library before going out to the folks house this afternoon. 👪

Today will have a slight chance of snow before noon, then a chance of rain and snow after 2pm. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a high of 38 degrees at 1pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 26th. Southwest wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 32 degrees. The record high of 53 was set in 1981. 11.9 inches of snow fell back in 2015.❄

I went shopping 🏪 yesterday and washed my truck in the evening 🚘 so I don’t have to do that today. Also got gas for Big Red, β›½ thirstier than I thought but I haven’t gotten gas in about three weeks. As I said earlier, I do want to get down to the library books later on to do some work on the internet but I guess I can do it at my parents house 🏡 if it looks like it will pour this afternoon.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:10 pm with sun having an altitude of 30.5Β° from the due south horizon (-40.4Β° vs. 6/21). The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:29 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (241Β°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (248Β°) starting at 5:07 pm and lasts for 3 minutes and 9 seconds with dusk around 5:39 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the south-southeast (151Β°) at an altitude of 61Β° from the horizon, 246,044 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:14 pm. At sunset, look for possible rain showers 🌧 and snow showers 🌨 and temperatures around 35 degrees. Won’t freeze on the road most likely. There will be a southwest breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 10 hours of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 21 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday I was in the Five Rivers discovery center, studying the bird 🐦 name display. All of the birds listed are incredibly common locally and I probably could identify most by memory but I’m not sure if I would be able to do it as part of a quiz show. 💭 I really should study up on bird and plant 🌿 identification.

I didn’t do a blog post last night as I was tired 😴 and there is a bug in the code that is keeping me from using the blog template at the first and last quarter 🌗 moon. I upgraded to a new library for moon phase predictions after the Navy stopped posting their moon tables as part of their website redesign. Plus I got reading 📖 that book about the loosing presidential candidates and how their losses changed America.

Tonight will snow likely, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy 🌨, with a low of 30 degrees at 9pm. 15 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 27th. South wind 5 to 8 mph becoming west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. I think it’s going to mostly be a nuisance snow if even that. In 2019, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 31 degrees. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1955.

🌹🌻🌼Only 46 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼

That’s roughly six weeks away but the Ground Hog 🐻 is calling for an early spring. I have my doubts, I bet it will get cold by late February or early March but things could change. Varmints have a mixed record on predicting the weather, they’re much better at breaking tractor axles 🚜 and legs. Kind of like the mafia but more agricultural, digging holes in farm fields and eating crops. 🌽

Been continuing to research picnic table tents 🎪 to use during Memorial Day Weekend and my summer camping trip. While I hate to acquire more gear to store, maintain and ultimately dispose of – it would be nice to have a good sheltered place from the black flies in the spring and rainy days in the summer. Or even for camping in a site with limited shade and trees to hang stuff from. Where I can sit with a book or cook sheltered. 💭

As previously noted, next Sunday is the Snow Moon 🌕 when the sun will be setting at 5:18 pm with dusk at 5:48 pm. On that day in 2019, we had mostly sunny, snow showers and temperatures between 31 and 20 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 57 back in 1925.

Addison County Vermont

January 8, 2020 Night

Good evening! Snow flurries and 22 degrees in Delmar, NY. ❄ Breezy, ️18 mph breeze from the west-northwest 🌬 with gusts up to 32 mph 💨💨💨. The current wind chill is 9. I know it gets colder most winters and this is probably not the coldest of the winter but it’s still kind of cold out tonight. Tomorrow will only be in the upper 20s. The sun thought will help. But then things will start to thaw out at Friday around 10 am, with the mercury expected to reach the 60s by Saturday or maybe even the mid 60s by Sunday. 🌡️

Tonight will have a slight chance of snow showers before 11pm. Partly cloudy 🌃, with a low of 13 degrees at 5am. Two degrees below normal. But that ignores the wind that is howling around. Maximum wind chill around 2 at 6am; Northwest wind 11 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2019, we had mist in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 32 degrees. The record low of -20 occurred back in 1968.

I didn’t miss not having to do anything with the state of state this year. 🎤 That said the endless hours listening to this interview I was taking notes on 📝 for several hours was quite tiresome. The report I was writing for work is going slowly as it keeps getting more complicated and the NYC subject matters are a bit out of my wheel house 🎡. But at least I got to go home at five. I’ll catch up on the important stuff from the governors speech 💬 from the news headlines.

It was cold enough waiting for the express bus 🚍 home with the wind. 🍃 My neighbor was out so I stayed home and rode the exercise bike while watching another video about skinning and gutting rabbits 🐰🔪 (I must have downloaded several before). While the process is the same, some people have different techniques. Then I watched a video about off grid living in Alaska (very cold this time of year) β›„ and a phone battery manufacturing plant in China. 🏭 Those high tech factories are incredibly automated and fast in China. I only rode for about 45 minutes to 8:45 but I could have ridden later as my neighbor was still out. 🚲

I also worked on a program to extract captions from YouTube into a text file 📄 for easy reading. Sometimes I like to skim the captions file before I watch a long video to see if it’s worth watching. I also started to prepare and type up the index 📇 to John Wolcott history file. 📂 There is a lot more to do on that. Also worked on developing more content for the blog and read for a bit. 📙 Had a quick dinner of macaroni and cheese although once I stated cooking it I wish I had made fish 🐠 as that’s what I was more hungry for.

Tonight will have a Waxing Gibbous 🌖 Moon with 96% illuminated. At dusk you’ll see the moon in the east (81Β°) at an altitude of 25Β° from the horizon, some 238,886 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 The Wolf 🐺 Moon is on Friday, January 10. The darkest hour is at 12:03 am, followed by dawn at 6:54 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:26 am in the east-southeast (120Β°) and last for 3 minutes and 22 seconds. Starting to put push a bit further north. Sunrise is 11 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 8:11 am with sun in the southeast (128Β°) at an altitude of 6Β°. Tonight will have 14 hours and 45 minutes of darkness, a decrease of one minute and 13 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 28 degrees at 2pm. Two degrees below normal. Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming light and variable in the afternoon. Without the wind and with the bright 🔆 sun it shouldnt be too cold. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 40 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 2008. 9.9 inches of snow fell back in 1953.❄

In four weeks on February 5 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (249Β°) at 5:13 pm,🌄 which is 34 minutes and 29 seconds later then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had partly cloudy skies, mild weather with a few rain showers and temperatures between 57 and 32 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 32 and 15 degrees. The record high of 59 degrees was set back in 1890.

Getting to bed at quarter to ten 🔟 because I’m tired 💤 and I plan to get up at six thirty again tomorrow 😮so things aren’t so rushed getting to work. I really like having extra time to get going in the morning and because I’m getting out at five every day now there is no excuse for staying up late.

Looking ahead, National Bird Day 🐦 is in 1 weeks, 37th Birthday 🎉 is in 3 weeks, Average High is 40 β˜€οΈ is in 8 weeks, Daylight Savings Time 🌆 is in 2 months, April Fools Day 🤡 is in 12 weeks, Pink Moon 🌕 is in 3 months, Tax Day 💰 is in 14 weeks, Earth Day 🌎 is in 15 weeks, Latest Sunset 🌆 is in 24 weeks and Inauguration Day 2021 👴🏻 is in 54 weeks.

Gully

January 5, 2020 Morning

Good morning! Happy National Bird Day 🐧! Birds the word. It should be nice for observing 🔭 birds when I go for a walk this afternoon in the Albany Pine Bush this afternoon. Three weeks to 5:30 PM Dusk 🌆. Mostly cloudy and 35 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a northwest breeze at 13 mph. 🍃. I’m hoping for sun later, despite the darkness cast over the land by the incumbent president. Let the record reflect Donald Trump is asshole who hell bent on ruining America.

As I mentioned earlier, I made up that queche earlier and it quite good 🍳, although my kitchen still stinks from turning on the broiler to melt the cheese. A decade ago I accidentally left a plastic spatula in the oven with the broiler on and after all these years it still stinks when I turn it on. The oven is fine, just just the broiler setting. But regardless, it cooked up nicely. The old crust tasted fine too. Topped everything off with bread crumbs from shredded old bread 🍞 I had in the fridge.

Today will be mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny 🌞, with a high of 34 degrees at 11am. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 11th. Breezy, with a northwest wind 13 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. With that wind 🍃, I’ll probably want to bundle up when I go out in the Pine Bush. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. The high last year was 40 degrees. The record high of 64 was set in 1950. 8 inches of snow fell back in 1891.❄

Today’s plans include hiking in the Pine Bush🌲then going to the Save the Pine Bush meeting, then out to folks house for Sunday dinner. 🍲 Then it’s five day work week but hopefully it will be a busy one and go by quickly. But for now I’m riding the bike 🚲 for a while watching the videos of Madison County that I made last week.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:01 pm with sun having an altitude of 24.7Β° from the due south horizon (-46.1Β° vs. 6/21). The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:51 pm with the sun in the southwest (232Β°). 📸 Might actually be golden this afternoon. Heading towards thirty degrees sun elevation by the end of the month. The sunset is in the west-southwest (239Β°) starting at 4:33 pm and lasts for 3 minutes and 23 seconds with dusk around 5:07 pm, which is 57 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:43 pm. At sunset, look for mostly sunny skies 🌃 and temperatures around 30 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 18. β˜ƒοΈ Breezy, 18 mph breeze β›… from the west-northwest with gusts up to 30mph. Today will have 9 hours and 10 minutes of daytime, an increase of 59 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of snow, mainly after 1am. Increasing clouds 🌨, with a low of 24 degrees at 12am. Nine degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 11th. Not going to be until pretty late. Maximum wind chill around 20 at 9pm; Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 22 degrees. The record low of -19 occurred back in 1996.

🌹🌻🌼Only 74 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼

Everyday is one closer to spring. Or so I tell myself. The countdown makes it seem closer as do the memories of getting eaten alive by the black flies. 🐜 But all seasons do change.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until 5:30 PM Dusk 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 5:00 pm with dusk at 5:30 pm. On that day in 2019, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 28 and 14 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 31 degrees. We hit a record high of 59 back in 1950.

The crowds waiting for day break.

December 29, 2019 Night

Good evening! Rain and 33 degrees in Delmar, NY. β˜” There is a east breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. Back home on this rainy evening. It would have been fairly miserable camping tonight and it looks like we are stuck in this rainy pattern for a while, then it will get cold. Temperatures will drop below freezing at Wednesday around noontime. β˜ƒοΈ

I got home and unpacked. 💼 Not too difficult as my gear didn’t get that muddy and I only had one day worth of food and clothing packed. Moreover I’ve been leaving more and more of my camping gear in the truck year round and I have seperate cooking utensils now for at home versus at camp. 🍴 I had fish for dinner 🐠 and started looking at storing the dash cam photos and videos 📹 I got. Tomorrow I’ll walk down to the library and upload them if it’s not raining too hard. It’s kind of nice that I don’t have to work tomorrow.

Tonight will rain before 1am, then rain or freezing rain. 🌧 Low of 33 degrees at 10pm. 17 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 12th. East wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. Probably just rain here. In 2018, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 23 degrees. The record low of -21 occurred back in 1933.

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent Moon 🌙 with 22% illuminated. The moon will rise at 10:33 am. The is on Wednesday night with partly cloudy skies. The sun will rise at 7:24 am with the first light at 6:52 am, which is 13 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 14 hours and 55 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 33 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will rain or freezing rain before noon, then rain between noon and 4pm, then rain and sleet after 4pm. High of 34 degrees at 12pm. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 22nd. Southeast wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New sleet 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 33 degrees. The record high of 53 was set in 1984. 10.9 inches of snow fell back in 2000.❄

I have tomorrow off because the original plan had me out camping. β›Ί It will be a bit of a staycation I guess. Tuesday if there is still snow left in the hilltowns I’m thinking to a local state forest to back country camp in a hot tent for New Years Eve 🎇 but the key 🔑 is I need snow on the ground and roads not too icy for that to happen. No guarantees at this point.

I do want to do more winter camping for sure. Ideally I’d prefer to stay somewhere I can drive my truck to so I have electric πŸ’‘ and gear nearby but that’s not a show stopper for me. I’m really interested to find out if Moscow Hill campground is plowed, as that would be perfect even if it’s just far enough to get off the road. That said, I bet there are a lot of snowmobiles that assemble in that area going brap brap all winter long but even so I bet it thins out at night. 📞 I’ll have to call the DEC office in Sherburne and find out. Also if the snow isn’t deep I should be able to get there as the ground is really solid there due to the reinforcement for the horse trailers and hooves during the summer 🐴.

I don’t know but I was just taken in by the beauty of Southern Madison County and Northern Otsego County. 🐮 Yeah things did kind of smell earthy and like cow poop 💩 but that’s country living. The browns and the grays were pretty, they stirred something in my soul. I think it’s so fortunate to those who are able to chip a life out of the rural country, if by agriculture and one of many other jobs, some small, some decent paying but all tough with limited opportunity compared to the big cities.

Between the forested, snow covered hills full of wildlife and the rich farmlands below its such beautiful country. β›² So many quaint old farm houses and run down trailers, homesteaders with a family pig 🐽 or cow to muddy farms with old fashioned tie stall barns 🐮, milking twice a day with surge milkers and fifty year old open cab tractors with box spreaders. Weeds growing up around broken and forgotten farm equipment, piles of manure rotting away to be spread someday in the future. Trees to be split and someday warm the farm house. Four wheelers for fun and getting around the farm, a goat 🐐 tied to a tree, piles of junk to be scrapped some day or burnt to a crisp in a bonfire. 🔥 Rural scenes like this exist across the nation but I live in the city and make my money 💵 doing the urban thing now saving for a better tomorrow when I can own land in a freer state and have an off grid property, hopefully in an area as beautiful and wonderful as Southern Madison County.

I’d someday love 😍 to live in a place like that but not in an oppressively liberal state like New York which doesn’t really understand rural communities. After all two out of three New Yorkers live in the metropolitan region 🚇 – that is Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester, New York City and Long Island. Might soon be 70 percent of New Yorkers. Pennsylvania is nice but it kind of suffers from the same problem – and its also an incredibly expensive state to live in especially with the recent gas tax hikes β›½. City life may be getting better, as may regulations for fair commerce with business but its also an incredibly hard to make it in the small towns. I don’t think Trump is the answer but neither is his counterpart closer to home who exists 180 degrees out of phase but in many ways is similar.

2020 is going to be a big year for all of us 🎇 but my hope is it will be another step forward towards a better life. I’ll work hard and try to advance my career and help my company grow and move forward. What’s good for them is ultimately good for myself. 💼 I know working in the windowless basement office 🏢, paying my dues, someday will pay off with more career advancement, more money to save 💵 towards that off grid property out in the country.

Climate change will probably really kick in during the next decade, and it’s going to be a wild ride for mankind. I don’t think whatever comes out of the next election in the coming year will change that but it will bite us in the next decade and prove that we are doing much too little too late. 🌎 People use per capita stats to blame the guy with the rusty pickup and burping cows in the tie stall barn in Madison County but if you don’t look at the big cities for the root of the problem your just playing games with statistics. 🔢But my focus is enjoying life and saving for a better future and not saving the world.

In four weeks on January 26 the sun will be setting at 5:00 pm,🌄 which is 30 minutes and 26 seconds later then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 28 and 14 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 31 and 14 degrees. The record high of 59 degrees was set back in 1950.

Looking ahead, National Bird Day 🐧 is in 1 weeks, 5:30 PM Dusk 🌆 is in 4 weeks, 37th Birthday 🎉 is a month away, Ground Hog Day 🐻 is in 5 weeks, Snow Moon 🌕 is in 6 weeks, March 🌨 is in 9 weeks, Daylight Savings Time 🌆 is in 10 weeks, Ides of March ✝ is in 11 weeks, Palm Sunday 🌴 is in 14 weeks, Easter 🐰 is in 15 weeks, Mothers Day 👩‍ is in 19 weeks, Pack Rat Day 🐀 is in 20 weeks, Strawberry Moon 🌕 is in 23 weeks and Fathers Day 👨 is in 24 weeks.

Some Snow on the Trees

December 29, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Happy Sunday. Next Sunday is National Bird Day 🐧. Partly cloudy and 33 degrees at the Glimmerglass State Park. β›… Calm wind. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 6 pm. β˜ƒοΈ I’ll be home by then.

It was kind of a cold start to the morning – 25 degrees according to Big Red’s DIC. 📟 I started Big Red up for a few minutes this morning after I saw the voltage ⚑ drop on the starting battery 🔋 after opening the door due to the cold. It was a nice night and I was plenty warm under the covers but a bit cold after I got up until I turned on the heater and sat by it for a while. I could have set up the tent 🎪 but I knew if I had the tent I would have probably stayed in late warning myself next to the heater.

I made eggs and hash 🍳 for breakfast. It was a good breakfast along with a nice big cup of coffee β˜•. Or three. Started a small fire to burn the camp trash and toilet paper, as the ground was too cold to easily bury it in a deep hole and the Porta Potties they have in the summer 🚻 have long been removed. Any poop 💩 that doesn’t burn hot buried in the ash and what wasn’t sanitized by this fire will be gone the next fire 🔥. Sat and watched the sun rise over the horizon β˜€ about nine o’clock. Nice morning, not too cold after sunrise. Broke camp around 10.

Today will rain, mainly after 4pm. 🌧 High of 37 degrees at 1pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 13th. Light southeast wind. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 50 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1984. 6 inches of snow fell back in 1915.❄

The sun will set at 4:33 pm with dusk around 5:05 pm, which is 44 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 35 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 9 hours and 3 minutes of daytime, an increase of 30 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will rain and freezing rain, possibly mixed with sleet before 11pm, then freezing rain between 11pm and 2am, then rain, possibly mixed with freezing rain after 2am. Low of 31 degrees at 8pm. 15 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 20th. East wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New ice accumulation of around a 0. 2 of an inch possible. Little or no sleet accumulation expected. In 2018, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 23 degrees. The record low of -21 occurred back in 1933.

Forecast somewhat improved from Friday in Hector so I kind of wish I packed more clothes 👚 and food 🍲 so I could go out there but heading back to Glimmerglass is the wrong direction for the Finger Lakes. It still would have been a pretty cold and wet night camping up on Hector Backbone. Tuesday now promises to be better but who knows. It was a nice night 🌃 out in Madison County and it’s been a long time since I’ve been to either the Rogers Environmental Education Center or even the Moscow Hill Camping Area. It’s pretty nice there off season and it’s also right on the plowed, asphalt county road. Plus the sites are really reinforced so they’re not really muddy. This time Iucked out again and I didn’t have to burn any of the bagged wood I originally bought in November for that camping trip to the Adirondacks. I also much preferred the rural scenery to the Adirondacks – I go north too much.

I was really surprised how quiet it was up at camp. Very little traffic on Moscow Road at night, seems like most people turn the other way from Quaker Hill to head over to Hamilton. I heard the coyotes🐺 and what sounded like a weasal last night for a while 🐆 and occasionally moo of a cow from the beef farm 🐂 down the road and some tractor noises 🚜 this morning.

I am starting to think that the DEC plows the Moscow Camping Area loop β›Ί in the winter ❄ which would be cool if that’s true. I noticed that there appears to be some snow piles along the loop road but it could have just been a hunter who had a truck do it when they camped during big game season. But I’m thinking that they might do it for the snowmobile parking 🅿 but I’d be quite happy if I could come up here mid winter and have a place to camp and go cross country skiing 🎿. I don’t mind dragging my gear back a little ways on a sled or digging out a parking spot but I gotta have a place to park. Madison County can be kind of icy in the winter though and it looks like the steep and twisty county roads are mostly cleared with sand so that’s a consideration.

After cleaning my propane camp lantern 🏮 it now is super bright 🔆 again for the first time in years. I had forgotten what full output looked like. No soot on the globe either. It was just so plugged up with carbon probably because I usually run it for long periods on its lowest settings. I mostly run it as a backup in case the electric lights shut off due to an under voltage condition. I did crack the glass in it the last time I packed but it worked fine with the crack. I bought a second globe 🌐 last year but I’ve not yet had to use it.

The rechargeable LED lantern 🏮 I got for Christmas worked pretty good too. I don’t think it will replace the gas lantern for reliable all evening light in the winter but it is nice to have have something that is brighter than a flashlight, can be switched on and off, dimmed or brightened 🔆 and is lightweight, not corded and not hot like the lantern. Electric lights are fine but they have a cord. 🔌

They use a ton of sand 👡 on the roads in Madison County, especially the hills for traction. It’s certainly a lot better for the environment and cheaper but it covers everything with mud. All the cars are a deep brown. 🚙 Between the high moisture corn 🌽 the farms are hauling out, and the manure being spread on the fields 💩, and just the gray somewhat winter foggy 🌁 skies everything is so brown. But a nice shade of brown. I do like seeing the working land though and the freedom of rural life and maybe a handful of illicit burn barrels too. 🔥 Definitely a different experience than the Adirondacks. 🗻

As previously noted, next Sunday is National Bird Day 🐧 when the sun will be setting at 4:39 pm with dusk at 5:11 pm. On that day in 2019, we had rain and temperatures between 40 and 29 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 31 degrees. We hit a record high of 64 back in 1950.

Very much a classic stream and gully preserve

December 22, 2019 10 PM Update

Good evening! Mostly clear and 25 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind.There are 3 inches of snow on the ground. β˜ƒ ️Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 8 am. 🌡️

The weekend came and went quickly but at least I got done the major things on my list 📃 and got out and did some skiing 🎿. I was happy that I have the voltage switch wired up and that’s working well. I did reduce the upper turn on voltage to 13.7 volts to ensure that it does dump some power into the starting battery 🔋 even on fairly cloudy days. ☁ Hopefully now I won’t go out and see after the truck has been parked for a week that the starting voltage has dropped to 12.4 or 12.3 volts. If I’m producing more power than I can use, might as well dump it in the starting battery for easier cold weather starts and to prolong the battery life. I’ve not had any problems with starting the truck but when I see the voltage sag on the starting battery I always get concerned.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 23 degrees at 10pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 12th. Maximum wind chill around 21 at 10pm; Light south wind. In 2018, we had light snow in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 31 degrees. The record low of -12 occurred back in 1955.

It’s weird but on a mild night 🌃 like tonight it just feels so much warmer inside. ♨Does it actually read all that much warmer on the thermometer? Not really but it’s just less drafty and cold feeling. I can be comfortable with a lot less clothes on. 👚 Its amazing how much warmer it feels inside when it gets to 35 degrees outside with the south facing roof compared to a 25 degree day with lots of clouds.

Tonight will have a Waning Crescent Moon 🌘 with 4% illuminated. The moon will rise at 4:28 am. The New Moon is on Wednesday night with mostly cloudy skies. The is on Wednesday night. The sun will rise at 7:22 am with the first light at 6:50 am, which is 30 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 14 hours and 57 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 2 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 48 degrees at 2pm. 15 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 16th. I’ll take mid November weather a few days before Christmas. Light south wind increasing to 6 to 11 mph in the morning. Nice for a change, it should mean the boiler stays off tomorrow. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 35 degrees. The record high of 64 was set in 1990. 8.8 inches of snow fell back in 1947.❄

I’ve installed on both my phone and my laptop red light filters for night time use, 😴 in hopes that it will improve my sleep. While the hope is that less blue light will make for easier sleeping, I noticed that with the rest of my bedroom lights a dim red the monitor is awful bright 🔆 when I watch YouTube at night especially when I ride the bike 🚲.

I ordered more contacts online 👀 but I think my prescription is expired so it will be canceled as it looks like they actually check β˜‘ the prescriptions more carefully now. But I’m okay with that as I found another large box 🎁 of contacts in my truck and my insurance now covers yearly contact lens exams. It used to be that contact wearers had to pay for every other exam – or order online. That said, I really hate my current eye doctor 😷 but the other places I’ve been too haven’t been much better. I feel like most doctors offices are scams although I do have to say that doxycycline I got for Lyme seemed to mostly make those problems go away. If my prescription is denied, I’ll have to make an appointment but not right away as I actually have a supply for a while. 👓 And ultimately if I run out of contacts there always is the option of getting used to wearing glasses again.

In four weeks on January 19 the sun will be setting at 4:51 pm,🌄 which is 26 minutes and 6 seconds later then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had snow and temperatures between 31 and 7 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 30 and 14 degrees. The record high of 62 degrees was set back in 1929.

Looking ahead, National Bird Day 🐧 is in 2 weeks, 5:30 PM Dusk 🌆 is in 5 weeks, Ground Hog Day 🐻 is in 6 weeks, Snow Moon 🌕 is in 7 weeks, March 🌨 is in 10 weeks, Daylight Savings Time 🌆 is in 11 weeks, Ides of March ✝ is in 12 weeks, Palm Sunday 🌴 is in 15 weeks, Easter 🐰 is in 16 weeks, Earth Day 🌎 is in 4 months, Mothers Day 👩‍ is in 20 weeks, Pack Rat Day 🐀 is in 21 weeks, Strawberry Moon 🌕 is in 24 weeks, Fathers Day 👨 is in 25 weeks and Average High is 80 🏖 is in 6 months.

Ice on the Vloman Kill

December 22, 2019 Morning

Good morning! Happy Days are Getting Longer β˜€οΈ! Summer is coming in another six months but winter and black fly season is first! Two weeks to National Bird Day 🐧. Partly sunny and 27 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a south breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. There is a inch of snow on the ground. β˜ƒ ️Things will start to thaw out at around 11 am. 🌡️

This morning started out cloudy β›… but it is quickly clearing. Not sure if the voltage switch ⚑ is going to hit the 14.0 volts to turn on, if not I may set it lower at least on an experimental basis. I also think I’ll reduce the anti-retrip mode down from 8 minutes to 60 seconds. It’s worthwhile experimenting to see what produces the maximum charge on both batteries. 🔋

I got to take a shower 🚿 and then head to the store 🏬 before the crowds get there. 🍖 I also have some beer cans to return from my November camping trip 🍻 as last time the machine was full so I didn’t return them all. I want to test the gas lantern 🏮 and get that ready for my camping trip next.

I had waffles for breakfast 🍳 but I’m going to have to get more waffle mix if I want to have more next week. The nice thing is that I only have to work Monday next week and then I have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. 🎄 I doubt they’re going to be much snow left for the holidays as we lost a fair amount of snow yesterday and even more should disappear after today’s sun and warmth.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 39 degrees at 2pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 7th. South wind around 6 mph. Yeah, save on the heat. ♨ A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 59 degrees. The record high of 60 was set in 1990. 12.3 inches of snow fell back in 1969.❄ It looks like this year though we are going to end it snow free. 🚫I’m fine with that as snow can be problematic while camping β›Ί although mud much more so. 🐽

The sun will set at 4:25 pm with dusk around 4:57 pm, which is 30 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌃 and temperatures around 35 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 2 minutes of daytime, a decrease of over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 26 degrees at 5am. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 4th. Southwest wind 3 to 6 mph. In 2018, we had light snow in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 31 degrees. The record low of -12 occurred back in 1955.

A week from now I will be having my first camp breakfast 🍳 and splitting firewood. 🔥 I just hope it’s not too cloudy ☁ and damp but there is a lot that could change in the forecast by then. If it’s nice, I’ll enjoy sitting down by Seneca Lake in Clute Park or doing some cross country skiing if a little bit of snow remains, which seems increasingly unlikely now. 🎿

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until National Bird Day 🐧 when the sun will be setting at 4:35 pm with dusk at 5:07 pm. On that day in 2019, we had rain and temperatures between 40 and 29 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 31 degrees. We hit a record high of 64 back in 1950.

White Rocks Overlook