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Golden hour (photography) – Wikipedia

When the Sun is low above the horizon, sunlight rays must penetrate the atmosphere for a greater distance, reducing the intensity of the direct light, so that more of the illumination comes from indirect light from the sky (Thomas 1973, 9–13), reducing the lighting ratio. This is technically a type of lighting diffusion. More blue light is scattered, so if the Sun is present, its light appears more reddish. In addition, the Sun's low angle above the horizon produces longer shadows.

The term hour is used figuratively; the effect has no clearly defined duration and varies according to season and latitude. The character of the lighting is determined by the sun's altitude, and the time for the Sun to move from the horizon to a specified altitude depends on a location's latitude and the time of year (Bermingham 2003, 214). In Los Angeles, California, at an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset, the sun has an altitude of about 10–12. For a location closer to the Equator, the same altitude is reached in less than an hour, and for a location farther from the equator, the altitude is reached in more than one hour. For a location sufficiently far from the equator, the Sun may not reach an altitude of 10, and the golden hour lasts for the entire day in certain seasons.

In the middle of the day, the bright overhead Sun can create strong highlights and dark shadows. The degree to which overexposure can occur varies because different types of film and digital cameras have different dynamic ranges. This harsh lighting problem is particularly important in portrait photography, where a fill flash is often necessary to balance lighting across the subject's face or body, filling in strong shadows that are usually considered undesirable.

Because the contrast is less during the golden hour, shadows are less dark, and highlights are less likely to be overexposed. In landscape photography, the warm color of the low Sun is often considered desirable to enhance the colours of the scene. It is the best time of day for any type of photography since the light is properly diffused and warm.

Weekend at Bear Springs Mountain, Delaware Wild Forest, Warren Highlands

Based on the forecast for the long weekend, I decided to head down to the Western Catskills rather then Moose River Plains. It certainly was a bit sunnier, drier, and less snowy then it looks like they got up at Moose Plains. I simply did not another Memorial Day Weekend at Moose Plains, sitting in rain and snow showers.

I ended up heading down to the Western Catskills. Didn’t leave home until after 10 AM, because I was putzing around. So be it. I also had to stop at Walmart to buy another blaze orange hat, for hiking, because I lost mine. I knew it would be hunting season down there, and figured better safe then sorry. The previous night, they didn’t have one at Glenmont Walmart, so had to visit the Decided to head out the Warren Anderson Expressway (I-88) down to NY 10, and take that all the way south to Walton.

Driving down NY 10, as soon as I reached Summit, you could see a dusting of snow on the summits around. Stopped in Stamford, drove up to Mount Utsaythana. There was a dusting of snow there too, in parts it looked like a winter wonderland. Then it was down to Walton, following NY 10 and the East Branch of Delaware River. Drove through Delhi, a small rural college town. I had been through Delhi years ago, meandering around Stamford, but not in years. Then I went down to Walton, climbed an enormous hill in the truck, and was at the Bear Spring Mountain Wildlife Management Area (aka Public Hunting Grounds).

At Bear Spring Mountain WMA there is a state DEC campground known as Bear Spring Mountain Campground. It consists of two parts, a fully developed campground with hot showers that is open during the summer months near Launt Pond, and the Spring Brook area with stud pends and a pit privy, similar to Charles Baker State Forest. Both areas are a $18 a night in summer, but from October to the end of hunting season, the lower area is free, but the water is shut-off down there. The designated campsites there are crunched together, and there is no privacy, so I can’t imagine it’s much fun camping there, especially with the smell of horses on a hot summer’s afternoon.

By the time I got down there, it was fairly early, so decided to explore a bit. Drove up to Corbett, explored the Corbett Suspension Bridge, and an old chimney from the “acid factory”, which made an acid from tree bark for smokelesss gunpowder. Decided to head back and explore Bear Spring Mountain WMA a bit more, and drove up West Trout Brook Road, past several hunters. There are some limited views from end of East Trout Brook Road, namely at the summit Bear Spring Mountain. There are better views from NY 206, climbing up from Walton, but with few view points. Also explored Beers Brook Road, which had some limited but nice views into the valley below, and Russ Gray Pond.

Bear Spring WMA, being a federally-funded public hunting grounds, does not allow camping. The only camping there is those tiny, smashed together developed campgrounds known as the Bear Spring State Campground, operated by the DEC. I decided it was getting late, and I would camp there tonight, especially because it looked like one of campers had packed up, and the only other person around, was a female bow hunter, on far end of the campground. I wasn’t thrilled, as it meant I would have to keep the music down, but at least the campground was deep in the valley, protected from the wind.

It wasn’t a bad night though. The pit privies were kind of gross, but probably not worst then most of the outhouses in the woods. There was surprisingly a lot of wood in woods near the campground. The truck worked well with keeping the lights on, since switching the truck’s radio back to the starting battery and evenly discharging both batteries. The radio shuts off automatically when the starting battery is starting to get a bit low, and Big Red’s DIC says “Battery Low: Start Engine Low”. Previously, with the starting battery at full charge, hooked up to the discharged auxiliary battery, the alternator wouldn’t kick up to full charge, so the auxiliary battery would fail to get fully charged. Now, with the starting battery slightly discharged – but with enough charge to crank the engine, things kept working well all night long. There was a little bit of sleet in the evening, but nothing major.

The next morning, I got a slow start. It was drizzling, and I kind of slept in. I didn’t have a tarp set up, which didn’t help. I probably didn’t break camp until 10:30 AM..I was thinking of hiking the NYC DEP trail that overlooks the Pepacton Reservoir, but I ended up turning off onto Holiday Brook Road, and deciding to check out Huggins Lake. Hugging Lake was a nice hike back, following an old woods road back there. There is a campsite down by the lake. Apparently on the ridge above Huggins Lake, there is an old growth forest, but I never got back there.

Then it was off to Mary Smith Road. On Campground Road, one of the cut-over roads, I got to a cover bridge, which had a clearance of 6’6”, which is about an inch too low for my pickup truck with the cap and racks on. So I had to turn around, and back track for about 5 miles. That sucked. Stopped and grabed a few pictures. When I got on Mary Smith Road, and back in forest preserve, I was pleasantly surprised to find three roadside campsites on it. I ended up camping at the most used of the sites – as witnessed by vegetation – along the Finger Lakes Trail/Mary Smith Trail/Middle Mountain Trail. It was a pretty nice roadside campsite.

About as soon as I scoped out the campsite, I realized it would be a pretty night up there. Despite the mountains on both sides, the north wind was whipping along the col. But I liked the campsite, and there was plenty of trees to hang a tarp up. I starting setting up camp at 2:30 PM – which was kind of early – but I figured it was too late to hike Mary Smith Hill (which wasn’t true), but it did start to rain/sleet a bit. Got the tarp up, then the lights strung up and flag up. A heavy sleet squall pounded the col, for a while bad enough I hid out in the cab of the truck. Then I went out, built a fire, and spent sometime listening to a podcast and reading a book about the 1964 World Fair in New York.

The new 60-watt equivalent LED bulb I bought worked real well in the cold, which got down below freezing that night.. But with the bulb focused on the book, it was easy reading and plenty bright. In the cold, the 60-watt equivalent LED bulb was actually brighter then the 100-watt florescent bulb I had at camp, even after fully warming up, because the cold wind made it impossible for the florescent tube to get warm enough to fully atomize the mercury in the fixture.

At times the wind picked up, and it was pretty darn cold, to say the least. I end up putting the fire out cold before bed, to reduce the risk of the fire spreading, and because the tarp partially covered the fire pit, I was afraid it could fall into the fire, and possibly set the truck on fire or cause dripping plastic to fall on it. The fire was out cold, and I went to bed around 10:30 PM. No nightmares.

After bedding down, the wind started to whip around. It literally was howling, and the tarp was snapping up and down, making quite a bit of noise. Morning came, and it was beautiful blue skies, but very cold. That was when I first saw car actually pass by on Mary Smith Hill Road – despite being a through-road, and not a super remote road at that. Had another slow breakfast, and built a small fire to burn up some camp garbage. Usually I don’t start fires in the morning, but I was chilly, and knowing that it may be a while until I got out camping again, I wanted to have a fire.

Once I finally got going, I hiked up Mary Smith Hill to the overlook. It really was a lot less further then I expected, and ha+d some interesting views to the north. Nothing totally breathtaking, but still an interesting short hike of maybe 20 minutes each way. Then I drove over to Russell Brook Falls, making a wrong turn and ending up going through Livingston Manor and the world famous fly fishing town, Roscoe. My impression of Roscoe, was it was a very a long and pokey 30 MPH zone, but with more stores then one would expect in such a rural, small town. I probably should have stopped, but I was burning daylight.

Finally made it to Morton Hill Road, and passed a Game Warden in a unmarked green suburbanite-style Jeep. The only reason I know that, was I saw him outside of the car talking to somebody in full uniform. Morton Hill Road climbs a lot from Roscoe out to where it hits Russell Brook Road. There are three campsites along Russell Brook Road, although in all of them there is a boulder barrier between the campsite and fire pit. One might still be able to use them for a pickup with a camper on them, I guess.

I hiked back to Russell Brook Falls – a beautiful but relatively unknown set of falls – at least to non-regulars to that part of state. They are less then quarter mile from the Russell Brook Falls parking area. I stopped and grabbed some pictures. Then, it’s easy hike back to back to Trout Pond, following a gated road 9/10th of a mile from the parking area. There is a slight incline on the road, but nothing to make one break a sweat, even a fat out of shape dude like me, who spends too much time sipping cold buds in the woods. The road is a designated route for people with disabilities – somebody very strong with a wheel chair could theoretically get back there, or maybe with a CP-4 disabled with an ATV permit.

Back at Trout Pond, there is a campsite on the easterly end, and the gated road continues to the west end of lake. On the west end of the lake, there are two other campsites, spaced a ¼ mile apart, along with two lean-tos. All are designed for those with disabilities. There is also a trout spawning shelter on one of the creeks leading into lake. One of the lean-tos was well equipped – somebody left behind some nice pots and pans, all cleaned up, and a selection of perfectly good adult beverages and soda along the back wall of the lean-to. Talk about paying it forward to the next person who will use that lean-to – most certainly a hunter this time of year.

It’s small game hunting season, heard several small game bullets ring out, while hiking back there. No hunters nearby, as far as I could see, but I did wear plenty of blaze orange. I am sure next week, there will be a lot more hunters back there. Wish them luck. Hiked back to my truck and explored Campbell Mountain Road and Campbell Brook Road, looking for additional roadside campsites, preferably the kind you can back a pickup all the way back to. No such luck. Oh, well.

Then I drove down NY 30, through the hamlet of Harvard, then East Branch. Took Old Route 17 to Hancock, then poked around the Poconos and the Warren Highlands in Pennsyltucky, before eventually ending up in Susquehanna and Great Bend. The area around Hancock is very mountainous and beautiful. The Warren Highlands were rough, mostly hunting and rural landscape country, with a relatively small amount of farming going on. Lots of open burning going on too – I love Pennsylvania..

I love that wild country, and everything Pennsylvania. Fueled up, picked up certain Pennsylvania products not legal in New York and/or cheaper then New York, then hopped on I-88/Warren Anderson Expressway, and made a bee-line back to Delmar, stopping only momentarily at the rest stop on I-88. That place was creepy as all hell after dark, and not well lit either. I seriously thought of just taking a piss in some farm

I made it back to Delmar around 7 PM. It was a good adventure. Burned through more gasoline, then I had planned, although on the trip back along I-88, I average 19.9 mpg in my Big Red Silverado pickup, so not complaining.

A long-weekend trip in early November to explore the the Western Catskills.

Cold mid-April morning 🌥️

Started out my day bright and early around 5 AM cooking up a big pan of veggies, eggs and some cornmeal with lots of turmeric and red chili peppers to ensure my nose still ran well. Did some reading, finishing up the e-book on green building I had form the library, continuing that e-book on sustainable farming and java programming.

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Another shit weather weekend. 💩 That’s how I feel about this weekend’s forecast, now that the windows are closed in my apartment. 🪟 I like the fresh air, the lack of it makes me a bit cranky. Mostly cloudy with a few hints of sun, 🌥️ and 48 degrees in Delmar. Much colder then yesterday, and certainly quite a bit below normal. There is a south-southwest breeze at 13 mph. 🍃. The skies will clear around 10 pm.

One of the first things on my agenda 🔧 is to perform the usual adjustments on my bike 🚲️ to keep the gears working well. I also want to do scrub down some of the walls in my apartment and floor as the floors were soaked yesterday after all the rain and wet weather we’ve been having lately. 🌧️ I could smell the mold starting to grow once again. This place is such a run down dump, 🏚️ but let’s be honest, I kind of like it as it is. That said, I do like having the windows open. Fresh air is good.

Today will have a chance of showers. Cloudy 🌦, with a high of 49 degrees at 6am. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 26th. Breezy, with a southwest wind 13 to 20 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 38 mph. S Chance of precipitation is 50%. Going to be a fairly cool day by mid-April standards. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had sunny skies. The high last year was 89 degrees, breaking the previously set record. But not today. 5.5 inches of snow fell back in 1950.❄

Thinking of heading out early for a ride out to Voorheesville 🚴‍♂️ before the wind picks up an things cloud up. I am actually happy to see a bit of blue sky 🌬️ but I know it’s not going to last with rain more likely later. I might then go down to the library. 📚️ They are renovating the unit next door now that my neighbor with the big garbage pile moved out. A bit noisy with all the construction going on. 👷‍♀️ New landlord seems to be pretty good at maintaining the yard so far and has been friendly. Rent is going up in June, but it’s not that much — $800 a month in these inflationary times isn’t bad. 🏘️ I’m kind of hoping for a new lease, so I can stay another year while I continue to evaluate my options.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:56 pm with sun having an altitude of 56.6° from the due south horizon (-14.2° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 4 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:58 pm with the sun in the west (277°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (284°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:36 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 58 seconds with dusk around 8:04 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the west-southwest (256°) at an altitude of 57° from the horizon, 240,404 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:40 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 46 degrees. Breezy, 22 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest with gusts up to 46mph. Today will have 13 hours and 22 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 47 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday evening, did a nice bike ride out to Five Rivers. 🚴‍♂️ It was a nice evening, with the spring peepers 🐸 singing their songs and red-winged black birds chirping along. 🐦️ One of the cows was out loose on Meads Lane 🐮 . It was a pleasant evening, came home and read for a while, 📖 the headed off to bed.

Tonight will be cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy 🌃, with a low of 39 degrees at 6am. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 20th. Breezy, with a west wind 13 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 44 mph. In 2023, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 58 degrees. The record low of 19 occurred back in 1973. More rain come Sunday.

I’m hoping next week to get out camping. 🏕️ It all depends on how things go weather wise, but it’s been a few weeks since I last spent a night in the wilderness. Thinking about the Green Mountains, maybe taking a three day weekend, but it depends on what roads are open. I could also do Rensslearville State Forest or maybe Madison County. Not sure, I need to think about it a bit more.

As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until Arbor Day 🌳 when the sun will be setting at 7:52 pm with dusk at 8:21 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly cloudy, patches of fog and temperatures between 62 and 40 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 65 degrees. We hit a record high of 91 back in 1962.

Hoping for a smoother Tuesday today 🧑‍🚒🧯

I did not appreciate missing the express bus home yesterday or the smoke alarm repeatedly tripping off after cooking dinner. Or repeatedly hitting the wrong keys in VIM at work yesterday, half awake on a Monday. But the salmon and frozen asparagus was good for dinner as was the larger paycheck with my new job.

Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Clouds and 28 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ Calm wind.There are 3 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at around 1 pm. 🌡️

Made it through my birthday 🎂 without anybody saying anything besides my mom= and a few people at work. I keep my birthday locked down on Facebook as I get tired of all the fake happy birthdays you get on Facebook. I really don’t appreciate all the unwarranted attention to myself and my age, I’d rather tell my story but otherwise he ignored. Maybe that’s why I don’t do the social media.

Yesterday was a Monday and kind of a shitty one but it was always silly stuff. 💩 The kind of things that you can hit escape and then u in vim and undo. I just wasn’t feeling Monday, even if was my forty first time around the sun ☀. The smoke detector that kept going off time and time again from cooking smoke and moisture 🧑‍🚒 really set me off as did having to ride the local home. 🏡 Then I had to piss and crap so badly that I barely made the toilet 🚽 and had to clean up the seat but fortunately not my pants 👖 this time. 🤯 All that fiber and water from eating lots of fruits and vegetables can be tough at times. Especially spaghetti squash 🍆 which I find hard not to overeat but can he very lubricating of the gut and everything connected. Gawd, I’m getting old 👴🏼.

I got this enormous glass 🍸 at work as a Christmas gift that I love and when it’s full of water 💦 and ice 🧊 it’s so easy to overdo it and I was busy at the end of the day with work 📄 and didn’t have time to run to the bathroom before catching the shuttle 🚀 back to the Plaza. And then missing the express bus 🚍. Yeap. Forgot my fork 🍽 at lunch yesterday and didn’t have a spare one in my new office 🏢 so the cooked part of lunch with peas, corn, peppers and tofu got skipped for lunch as that ain’t finger 🖕 food. The milk 🥛 I had in the mason jar for my coffee ☕ at work went rancid. That was a Monday, my birthday. 🎂

I’m thinking today won’t be such a shit show 🤔 or so I tell myself. 🥞 Woke up at five o’clock like usual with no alarm ⏰ and made some good oatmeal banana 🍌 pancakes. I’ve finally mastered a good recipe that is absolutely delicious 😋 topped with mango and blueberries with real maple 🍁 syrup. The real stuff is so much better even if it’s slightly more calories. It’s not like I eat much meat or milk high in saturated fats these days or processed foods or added sugars so I figured I can use a little bit of natural sweetness occasionally like honey 🍯 or pure maple syrup.

Went for a five mile bike ride this morning after breakfast before showering and catching the express bus downtown. 🚲 Not so cold this morning for a change. My hands 👐 weren’t cold nor was my face. The cows 🐮 on Meads Road were up and around chewing their cud not all huddled together. 🚜 It was nice for a change. I probably would have gone for a longer ride, but time was tight as it was close to 6:50 AM when I got out riding. One thing is nice is that the mornings are a lot brighter then they were.

Today will have patchy freezing drizzle before 10am. Mostly cloudy 🌥, with a high of 33 degrees at 2pm. Typical for today. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 41 degrees. The record high of 56 was set in 2013. 11.0 inches of snow fell back in 1966.❄

After all of it, dinner last night was good, 🐟 even if the fire alarm problem was annoying. 👩‍🚒 I am not sure why it’s been such a problem with the smoke detectors this winter. I got a new smoke detector hoping it would stop false alarms, 🔕 without much luck. Fresh asparagus are hard to get this time of year, but the frozen ones weren’t bad. 🎍 Looking forward to spring 🐰 when the fresh ones are more available for a reasonable price, like around Easter. 👣 Evening walk was good too. I need to get back in the habit, if my fingers are cold all of the time, 🧤 I should learn to toughen up and get better gloves. It’s not like I have as much of an opportunity to get steps in working in the suburban office, though come nicer weather when I don’t have to dress up as much, I’ll probably be back to riding back in and home from the office. I figure after President’s Day, there will be enough daylight in the evening to ride home, and that’s where the real calorie burning takes place. 🌧 With the rain and cold, I’ve really gotten out of the habit, and my stomach and face are starting to show it.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:09 pm with sun having an altitude of 29.6° from the due south horizon (-41.2° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 4:24 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (239°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (247°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:06 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 10 seconds with dusk around 5:35 pm, which is one minute and 18 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 6:10 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 32 degrees. There will be a south-southeast breeze at 7 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 59 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 18 seconds over today.

Maybe I’ve been overly cranky, but the smoke detector thing in particularly really set me off yesterday, 👩‍🚒 especially after such a long and difficult birthday. I am so done with winter, ready for nicer weather and longer days. At least the mornings and evenings aren’t as dark we move into February. I have a lot to look forward to once we get over the hump of winter. ⛄ I think what I really need is just more time in the wilderness. 🏕 Maybe this weekend.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 25 degrees at 4am. 10 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 11th. South wind around 7 mph. In 2023, we had light snow in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 18 degrees. The record low of -26 occurred back in 1948.

It’s always nice to see a bit of money in bank account 💰 before the money goes into retirement, investments, and my landlord’s slice. 🏘 My apartment is a dump but it’s affordable.

A picture perfect weekend on tap. 😎 Saturday, sunny, with a high near 35. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 35. Typical average high for the weekend is 33 degrees. I am thinking of doing an overnight in the woods this weekend, though I wish I had skis ⛷ but I should be able to ride roads if the trails have too much which they might. Kind of a birthday weekend camping adventure. ⛺ But a week late. Probably won’t head too far out of town for that. President’s Day Weekend, depending on how much snow there is, I might head up to the Adirondacks or Madison County.

As previously noted, next Tuesday is Save the Pine Bush Turns 43 🦋 when the sun will be setting at 5:16 pm with dusk at 5:44 pm. On that day in 2023, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 41 and 21 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 34 degrees. We hit a record high of 55 back in 1991.

Twenty two years ago on this September 11th 🇺🇸

Hard to believe it was 22 years ago that I was a freshman in college at Hudson Valley Community College on that day with the bright blue skies, listening to Amy Goodman and seeing those terrorist attacks on television at my college statistics class before college adjourned for the day and I spent it just walking along High Point Road in Berne, looking up and noticing the skies without airplanes above.

Good morning! Rain showers and 69 degrees in Delmar. ☔ Calm wind. The dew point is 65 degrees. The skies will clear Wednesday around 11 pm.

Catching the earlier express bus 🚍 downtown so I walk 🚶 in the Plaza before work as it’s really not a particularly nice day. Kind of a dreary autumn day, though at least not so hot. Certainly not the crisp, clear day of 22 years ago. I don’t want to go back to those days with all trials and tribulations ahead of me as I started in college, 🎓 it’s kind of nice to be in the midlife even if things aren’t perfect every day. That was quite a time, when so much possibility ahead existed, when I was learning so much and changing so quickly. I was bad yesterday, didn’t get my steps in, 👣 but this morning I plan to do the stairs maybe twice at work, and walk the Plaza in an attempt to get in 10,000 steps for the day.

Twenty two years is a long time ⏳ even if in the grand scheme of things it’s not. 14 ½ years from now my mom was pointing out I will be 55 years old and if I’m still working for the state at that point I’ll have in close to 30 years and can collect my Tier 4 pension if I decide to do alternative things. 💵 Maybe move out west, have that off-grid homestead property I want. By then I’m hoping to have $1.5 million in assets put away though some I won’t be able to tap until 59 1/2 (IRA) but it’s still young enough that if I stay healthy and continue to improve my physical shape there is a lot of possibilities at that age. September 11th in 2001 seems like just yesterday but it was a long time ago now. 🏙

Today will have showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after 1pm. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 71 degrees at 1pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 24th. Maximum dew point of 67 at 1pm. Calm wind becoming north 5 to 7 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 74 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1931.

Listening to Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning while doing my morning walk 🚶 around the Plaza. I’m actually surprised there is less of a police 👮 presence as there was in years past on the anniversary. I guess September 11th has been forgotten but then again it was more than a generation ago now – and I’m sure the threat analysis by terrorism center kept the color code green or blue. I remember that day so well, listening to the attacks live with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now, followed by that somewhat old lady troublemaker sounding Rezsin Adams who read 📖 from the Nation Magazine like she did every morning after Democracy Now on WRPI. It’s been decades now since she was kicked off the radio, 📻 and going on three years since her passing. It’s good I got to know her when I was at her house folding the Save the Pine Bush newsletter.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:53 pm with sun having an altitude of 52° from the due south horizon (-18.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 4.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:38 pm with the sun in the west (271°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (277°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:15 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 55 seconds with dusk around 7:41 pm, which is one minute and 46 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:17 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 70 degrees. The dew point will be 65 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 44 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 50 seconds over yesterday.

Yesterday, after a few hours of cussing including on Facebook 🤬 and playing around with controls on my bike and some internet research, I got the bicycle shifting smoothly again. ⚙ 🚲 I think what happened is a snagged the front derailleur cable on some bushes when I was riding at the back country at Thacher Park, plus over the past 750 miles or so of riding, cables have stretched. I think it’s good enough for now, though come the end of the year, I’ll take Blackie to the shop for a full tune up — the gears professionally adjusted for smooth shifting along with the wheels trued again. 🚵‍♀️ If I have continued problems with noisy operation or rough shifting, I will just take it back to Steiner Sports to get tuned up and maybe that cable replaced in the front. Sucks I have to put more money into the bike already, but in the grand scheme of things it’s not going to cost that much, even in these inflationary times. The gear adjusting is actually pretty simple to do, I can’t imagine they would charge a small fortune for 5 minutes on the bike stand to index the gears.

I also glued back together the lid on my mini food processor/chopped 👨‍🍳 and it’s working fine after shattering yesterday, but I got looking at getting a full-sized food processor with a dough blade and a big enough motor to knead dough. I would then “retire” my mini-food to my camping supplies, as it works well enough now glued together but I really want something for more power for at home, especially if want to use it to help automate the bread and dough making processor, make chickpea and red lentil flower, larger batches of hummus, etc. 🍞 🍌 I don’t mind kneading dough, but it sure would be convenient to dump the ingredients in, have things kneaded for me without a full bread machine. Looking at $60 model at Wally World, which is not a super high-end but should do that trick with enough power, assuming my dough aren’t so sticky and far more powerful then the 70 watt mini processor. Truth be told I don’t need the mini-food processor for camping, but I sure like the sauces it makes, and how it mills the oatmeal perfectly for oatmeal-banana pancakes, and perfectly scrambled eggs. And it really has minimal current draw on the inverter.

I am a little worried about money, 🤑 but this week is a pay week and my credit card bill gets retired on Friday automatically, so that will help restore my credit limit. It’s funny but when you do the Autopay, it does it the date the bill is due, so it really covers the cost of summer vacation now. Plus I’ve had more costs with inflation, high food and gas prices ⛽ and a lot more summer travel over the past few months — to say nothing of getting more spices and kitchen supplies for doing more cooking. 🥘 But it’s good as eating healthier is an investment in my future. And it most of my concerns are short-term, if I have to move money around for a few days from a rainy day fund, it’s not the end of the world.

Tonight will be scattered showers, mainly before 7pm. Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy ☁️, with a low of 61 degrees at 5am. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around August 19th. Maximum dew point of 66 at 6pm. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2022, we had light rain in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was humid. It got down to 65 degrees. The record low of 36 occurred back in 1875.

I think I might have a bladder infection 🚽 as I am going to the doctor’s this afternoon to get checked out. For a while I was chocking going to the bathroom at night and having to stop so much when traveling to just eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables with farm stand season underway, especially all those aciditic tomatoes and peaches, 🍑 🍅 but I was talking to my parents this weekend, and I think it’s best to get it checked out, especially before it could spread to my kidneys. Turns out it’s a simple test, and then antibotics if necessary. And then relief from pissing all of the time. It’s kind of bad that I can’t go anywhere these days without needing a pee break every hour or so, especially in the morning. Maybe I need to cut back on the coffee but I think I might also have an issue — and I’ve noticed some soreness since Friday.

Cool almost autumn like weekend ahead. 🍂 Maybe the North Country will have it’s first hints of autumn this weekend. I thought about heading north, but I think I’d rather wait for more color. It will be refreshing after all the heat and humidity of late. Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 72. Maximum dew point of 53 at 12pm. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 75. Maximum dew point of 58 at 12pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 75 degrees. 😀

This weekend I would like to head out of town. ⛺ Maybe Rennselearville State Forest or hammock camping at Cole Hill State Forest is an inexpensive option, I know mom wants me to go apple 🍏 picking with dad come Sunday. Not totally sure, the sunsets are so much earlier this time of year. If I want to head north, it’s best to take off Friday and just leave early that day to get north. That said, I think I’d rather wait until there is more color for a trip up north. 🍂 I wouldn’t mind a couple of quiet nights in the woods, even though the nights are much longer now, and some trail riding.

Looking ahead but not forward, next Monday is 7 PM Sunset 🌆 with dusk at 7:28 pm. On that day in 2022, we had rain and temperatures between 80 and 62 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 74 degrees. We hit a record high of 91 back in 1891.

It’s kind of like an inverted hump riding my bicycle to work today 🚲

Heading downtown, I go downhill then down along the river then back up hill. Finally a nice enough morning for riding to work. Going to be hot later on, so I’ll have to decide if I’ll load my bike on the bus or ride home. It wasn’t a bad ride in, though the bike didn’t seem to trip the Madison and Green Street light, so I’ll have to find an alternative. I also found a bike rack at the LOB across from security that I can see from my office to keep an eye on the bike.

Good morning! What day is it? Hump Day, of course. Fog 🌁 and 71 degrees in Elsmere. NY along the bike trail. Calm wind. The dew point is 66 degrees. The muggy weather ends Sunday around 3 am. 😓

Today will be mostly sunny and hot , 😎 with a high of 90 degrees at 4pm. Six degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 66 at 9am. Not so humid, so probably won’t feel so hot. Plus a southwest breeze 3 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 80 degrees. The record high of 96 was set in 1963. Too bad the hot weather isn’t expected to stick around for vacation, but at least it will be sunny and not so cold. Good weather for biking, and should be lots of blue skies with a relatively low risk of thundershowers. So I can’t complain.

Got kind of a later start today, 🚵 as I didn’t do my morning walk and stayed up later. Through summer vacation, I am switching over 11 PM – 7 AM or so for sleeping, as I want more time in the evening, especially as the sun set is still relatively late, especially farther west in the Finger Lakes. Once I get back home after vacation, I’ll go back to going to bed at 9 PM or maybe earlier, as the sun will be setting earlier. 🌆 I found a better light for my bicycle — actually the headlamp which I mounted on with twist-ties which will help keep things brighter then the other light, until I find a head lamp for my bicycle that is bright, affordable and that I actually like.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:02 pm with sun having an altitude of 66.8° from the due south horizon (-4° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:43 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (291°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (298°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:24 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 16 seconds with dusk around 8:55 pm, which is 59 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the south-southwest (200°) at an altitude of 26° from the horizon, 238,735 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:37 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 81 degrees. The dew point will be 66 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 44 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 58 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌃, with a low of 69 degrees at 3am. Six degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 66 at 8pm. South wind 6 to 8 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 57 degrees. The record low of 47 occurred back in 1977.

On this day in 2007, Shambo, a black cow in Wales that had been adopted by the local Hindu community, is slaughtered due to a bovine tuberculosis infection, causing widespread controversy. 🐃Granted, preventing the spread of bovine TB is probably much more important then some religious tradition. And in 1948, U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order 9981 desegregating the military of the United States. 👨🏿 🎖 It would be one step in many in protecting the rights of minority races in our country.

Decent weekend ahead. Saturday, showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 84. ⛅ Chance of precipitation is 60%. Maximum dew point of 72 at 11am. Sunday, sunny, with a high near 80. Maximum dew point of 59 at 6am. Typical average high for the weekend is 84 degrees. Similiar forecast expected for the Finger Lakes, though maybe a bit warmer.

One month 📅 from now will be National Dog Day 🐩 when the sun will be setting at 7:41 pm with dusk at 8:09 pm. Not be confused like Work Like a Dog Day next Tuesday, which the only dog I’ll be working like on vacation is a lazy dog in the heat of summer, laying back on the hammock. 😴

The worse part is the acrid smell of the smoke during the middle of the night 👃

Really in bed is when I’ve been noticing the foul air quality the most, though the smoke is everywhere including in my office. Seems as the temperature drops in the evening the smoke gets downright acrid, like something nasty made out of PVC you tossed on the bonfire. Politicians say stay indoors ignoring the fact that whatever is outdoors is likely to get indoors and a lot of people don’t have air conditioning.

Good morning on this smokey Thursday. 🌇 . Smoke and 49 degrees at the Elm Ave Town Park for the morning walk. 🌫️ There is a west breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The current air quality index is 208, very unhealthy.

There are some people out jogging this morning 🏃 and I think they are nuts 🤪. I’m doing my morning walk 🚶 at a slow and steady pace but my nose and throat are irritated some from the air pollution but also the lack of quality sleep 🛏 after the long and crazy days at work. Managed to get in 7.3 miles walked yesterday but it’s tough between the smoke and the work schedule. Hoping both session and the pollution break soon but I see both dragging into the weekend.

Today will have a chance of showers before 2pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 2pm and 5pm, then a chance of showers after 5pm. Some of the storms could produce small hail. Widespread haze before 11am. Patchy smoke before 11am. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 65 degrees at 5pm. 12 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 28th. Maximum dew point of 53 at 3pm. West wind around 6 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 77 degrees. The record high of 93 was set in 2011.

The air pollution locally hss been pretty bad but nothing like what they’ve had in the Finger Lakes, or even Syracuse or New York City. 🌁 We haven’t had the bright orange skies of New York City but the haze has cast a blueish pale gray on everything. Makes everything dull like a rainy day or a little like behind a car burning oil. 🚘 That said I certainly felt it racing out to the bus 🚍 which was running late or even after walking. Just a lot of congestion at times, a bit of a sore throat from all that particulate matter. Probably like a night of hard drinking 🍻 after a few smokes. 🚬 That said, life goes on and sometimes it’s best to keep a good habit going regardless of the poor air quality.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:55 pm with sun having an altitude of 70.2° from the due south horizon (-0.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 2.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:49 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (296°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (303°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:32 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 9:05 pm, which is 37 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:51 pm. At sunset, look out for potential rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 60 degrees. The dew point will be 51 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 15 hours and 16 minutes of daytime, an increase of 52 seconds over yesterday.

Last night I worked until 11 pm, though I finished up the evening from home 💻 as between the laptop and Hotspot and phone there isn’t much you can’t do remotely. I’m kind of hoping I can finish tonight off remotely too, though I concede the air quality might be better in my office 🏢. Though who knows, even with the air conditioning at work, you could smell the smoke being sucked in all day by the HVAC system. I’m starting to run low on fresh and frozen fruit 🍏 at home along with eggs 🥚 and kale but I doubt I’ll be able to get to the store before Friday. It’s possible I’ll need to run to the laundromat Friday night if I’m working Saturday. 🧑🏻‍💼

Tonight will have a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers after 5am. Some of the storms could produce small hail. Mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 47 degrees at 6am. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around May 13th. Light northwest wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It became somewhat humid as the night progressed. It got down to 58 degrees. The record low of 37 occurred back in 1977.

On this day in 1968, Robert F. Kennedy’s funeral takes place at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. 😕 Saturday, a chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Some of the storms could produce small hail. Partly sunny, with a high near 72. Northwest wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Maximum dew point of 54 at 9am. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Maximum dew point of 58 at 8pm. Typical average high for the weekend is 78 degrees.

Looking ahead, there are 6 weeks until Ugly Truck Day 🚚 when the sun will be setting at 8:29 pm with dusk at 9:01 pm. On that day in 2022, we had hot, humid, mostly sunny, thunderstorm and temperatures between 97 and 72 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 84 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1991.

Andy Arthur.org

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