Search Results for: photo turning an ear

It’s good I took the long way to work 🚲

Erie Boulevard was closed under Interstate 90 due to a water main break or maybe bridge work. I don’t know, I was running a bit early and I figured it would be a nice day for a longer ride via the Menands Exit. Figure extra riding in the morning means less I need to do come the evening after work.

Good morning! Mostly sunny and 31 degrees in North Albany, NY. There is a south breeze at 8 mph. πŸƒ.

Got up early πŸ˜€ and rode in early, in part to take advantage of the nice day and because I was up early, as I didn’t sleep well. πŸ’€ Not sure why I didn’t sleep well, maybe because it’s I’ve had so much to think about in recent weeks. 😟 At least my office has unlimited free coffee β˜• which is a big benefit over working at Alfred E Smith Building, which had a coffee club but I never joined. I bring in my own skim milk with mint extract, rather then use creamer. Sometimes if I’m feeling healthy wanting less calories, 🧊 I’ll go the route of just adding ice — we have an ice machine here — and then add vanilla, cinnamon and ginger I have in my desk.

Fresh bread 🍞 and baked butternut squash πŸ† this morning, was cooking in the oven and on the stove πŸ₯ž was johnnycakes with lots of onion, shredded broccoli, spinach, and topped with cottage cheese for protein. A good start to the morning, after a bit of a rough night sleeping. πŸ›Œ Because I was listening to podcasts in the wee hours of the morning, and then reading for a bit πŸ“šοΈ I got all of the advertising for mattresses and BetterHelp every commercial break while I was riding into work listening to Fresh Air. I am not sure I like the idea of mental help over the internet or phone πŸ“ž , I feel like you miss something when you can’t get people’s facial expressions and be in the same room with them. That said, that licensed mental health professional I saw a few years ago was downright creepy in the basement of a run-down office building on the outskirts of town. But then again, I guess talking about your thoughts is a bit creepy too. πŸ‘¨‍βš•οΈ What, I just like burning shit and need to move back out to country. 🚜 πŸ”₯  Freedom, baby.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 46 degrees at 4pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 18th. South wind 8 to 10 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 66 was set in 2017. 10.7 inches of snow fell back in 2005.❄

I am moved into my new private office πŸ‘¨‍πŸ’Ό which I’ve grown to like more and more now that I’m out of the temporary cubicle and made it more homey with a desk lamp that I found in the closet, my plants, and some other random decorations from my old office. I still have a lot of empty wall space, but I will be filling that with several photos and posters in the coming week, I am getting them delivered on Saturday and will pick up frames. I have two large pictures from West Virginia and a 24×34″ color aerial photo of the Capital Region that I plan to frame and hang in my office πŸ–ΌοΈ next week the next time I drive in or take the bus — probably next Wednesday when it rains. 🌧️ I am also thinking of getting a candle warmer, and one of those sent candles πŸ•― to make my office smell good, πŸ‘ƒ especially if I have too many beans 🫘 for lunch or track in manure πŸ‘’ when I have my homestead. Also a brighter bulb πŸ’‘ for the desk lamp — Walmart has super bright 200 watt equivalent LED bulbs. I should bring in my desk fan, should be hot in here come the summer. πŸ˜… I want my office to be a calming place when the shit starts to fly in the data world, you know when the SQL query breaks. πŸ”’ Still don’t know if I can technically keep the lamp, it might belong to a different department, but it was in the closet collecting dust. πŸ›‹ If I have to buy my own lamp, then so be it.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:09 pm with sun having an altitude of 40° from the due south horizon (-30.8° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 7.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour πŸ… starts at 5:08 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (254°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the west (261°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 5:46 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 56 seconds with dusk around 6:13 pm, which is one minute and 14 seconds later than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 6:47 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies πŸŒ„ and temperatures around 44 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 10 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 51 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have increasing clouds ☁, with a low of 30 degrees at 2am. Eight degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around March 27th. South wind around 10 mph. Stlll not bad, not warranting turning the heat back on, as things will stay warm enough over night. In 2023, we had cloudy skies. It got down to 35 degrees. The record low of -04 occurred back in 1940.

Tomorrow will rain, mainly after 8am. 🌧 High of 45 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around March 15th. South wind 6 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, which became light snow by afternoon. The high last year was 41 degrees. The record high of 65 was set in 1991. 11.9 inches of snow fell back in 2018.❄

Looking ahead to Sunday, mostly cloudy, πŸŒ₯ with a high near 58. North wind around 6 mph. Typical average high for the weekend is 40 degrees. Sunday looks like a nice day for a ride, or maybe driving around in countryside, trying to carefully observe various properties. 🏘 I want to learn more how people live, what are realistic options, and not be stuck with the suburbanite crap.

I was sort of hoping to get out camping this weekend, 🌧️ but not with the rain expected. It will be a good weekend to research property some more 🏘 πŸŒ²πŸ”  and do some reading on buying land. I am not rushing things at this point, but I also don’t want to give up the goal. πŸ₯… I just want to make the right decision. Plus get caught up on sleep after last night’s bad night in bed. πŸ›Œ I actually don’t know why I was so troubled by sleeping, I have my nice new office to work from today. I am going to text my friend from Boy Scouts tonight πŸ“± to see if he will be available this weekend. I’d love to learn more about how he financed and rebuilt his homestead. At this point, I’m just trying to sift through all the details. 🧁

Looking ahead, there are 2 weeks until Ides of March ✝ when the sun will be setting at 7:03 pm with dusk at 7:30 pm (Daylight Savings Time). Friendly strangers in black sedans be liking that day. πŸ–€ On that day in 2023, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 37 and 29 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 45 degrees. We hit a record high of 72 back in 2019.

Snow from Acra Point

Winter Camping is Not That Cold

A common reaction about my winter camping trip in December was people asking if it was cold. I didn’t think it was that cold, although I made sure to dress in layers, had a good working tent heater, warm campfire, and good nutritionally-dense, warm food to eat. Probably the coldest time during the whole trip was when I was out hunting, the rest of the time I was out burning calories, or sitting next to the fire or heater. When I was at camp, when I’d get cold, I’d chop wood and be warmed up quickly.

Winter is only cold if your not properly dressed for it and do stupid things like get wet and don’t have a plan for getting warm quickly. With the Big Buddy Heater, especially in the tent, I had no problems staying warm, indeed I found myself quickly turning it down because it got too hot in the tent. Sometimes there would be some cold drafts but for the most part it was delightful. At night, after the tent was warm and toasty, I’d shut the heater off and burrow under the covers. If I got cold at night, I’d reach over and turn the heat back home.

I think it’s a mistake to think winter camping is cold, although I do note the air was dry and my hands did crack easily. Hunting is cold in the winter, but not camping. Maybe if your ill prepared you might disagree – and certainly if I had better hunting gear, I’d probably been warmer. But it’s tough when your not burning calories and to keep warm, sitting still in the woods.

Untitled

Maybe riding in yesterday wasn’t advisable 🌨 🚲

I had no issues but things were kind of slick on the way home to and from the bus stop on heavy braking and more of a concern what how much road salt got on my bike riding on the front of the bus coming home last night. I guess I didn’t expect the snow to continue on and off all day yesterday and the roads to be wet and slushy come evening commute. That said it’s not going to be much longer I’m riding to work until it’s lighter in the evening and the bike trail is snow free.

Good morning! Yeah, it’s Friday! Survived another week, it’s not been a bad one. Day by day. Cloudy and 28 degrees in Delmar. ☁ Calm wind.There is a dusting of snow on the ground. β˜ƒ Really aren’t going to make a snowman with that. ️Things will start to thaw out at around 9 am. 🌑️

Ridden to work all five days this week. 🚲 Not too bad, a few days had to use some due care and the front break is squeaking a bit from the road salt. I should wash and grease the bike good this week. Only the ride in due to darkness in the evening, but that’s fine. Only a few more weeks, as I’m afraid January will be too cold or snowy, plus the issue of taking the shuttle with my bike on it, although I could instead use CDTA. Come the spring though, I expect except on rainy days I’ll be riding in each day. πŸ˜€ An no more State Street Hill but a longer ride.

Today will be mostly cloudy πŸŒ₯, with a high of 38 degrees at 1pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around December 15th. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 51 degrees. The record high of 58 was set in 1927. 4.3 inches of snow fell back in 2001.❄

Just kind of a bleak early to mid-December day weather wise. πŸŽ„ I think part of the reason they celebrate the holidays this time of year is to overcome the darkness that is upon us. That said, come Sunday we start gaining daylight in the evening, with the 5 PM sunset returning by the end of January. β›„ While I am still planning one or two more camping trips this year, I’m kind of bummed out about not being able to ride to work in a few weeks. But it’s fine, those days of wearing a suit and tie πŸ‘” aren’t that far off either.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:48 am with sun having an altitude of 24.7° from the due south horizon (-46.1° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 13.1 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour πŸ… starts at 3:38 pm with the sun in the southwest (232°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the west-southwest (239°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:23 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 22 seconds with dusk around 4:53 pm, which is 3 seconds earlier than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:30 pm. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy skies ☁ and temperatures around 37 degrees. There will be a southeast breeze at 5 mph. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 11 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 55 seconds over today.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy ☁️, with a low of 31 degrees at 12am. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 19th. South wind 5 to 7 mph. In 2022, we had clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 25 degrees. The record low of -11 occurred back in 1902.

In 1963, Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, is struck by lightning and crashes near Elkton, Maryland, killing all 81 people on board. 🌩✈️ As the flight approached Philadelphia, the pilots made radio contact with air traffic control near Philadelphia at 8:42 pm. The controller informed the pilots that the airport was experiencing a line of thunderstorms in the vicinity, accompanied by strong winds and turbulence. The controller asked whether the pilots wanted to proceed directly to the airport or to enter a holding pattern to wait for the storm to pass. The crew elected to remain at 5,000 feet (1,500 m) in a holding pattern with five other aircraft. The controller told the pilots that the delay would last about 30 minutes. At 8:58 pm, the aircraft exploded.[6] The pilots were able to transmit a final message: “MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY. Clipper 214 out of control. Here we go.” Seconds later, the first officer of National Airlines Flight 16, holding 1,000 feet higher in the same holding pattern, radioed, “Clipper 214 is going down in flames.”The aircraft crashed at 8:59 pm in a corn field east of Elkton, Maryland, near the Delaware Turnpike, setting the rain-soaked field on fire. The aircraft was completely destroyed, and all of the occupants were killed. A lot has improved in lightening and airplane safety since then. I think pilots generally try to avoid thunderstorms and turbulence these days, and radar is far better then it once was.

Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy πŸŒ₯, with a high of 45 degrees at 1pm. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 27th. South wind 5 to 8 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 39 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 1966. 7.3 inches of snow fell back in 2009.❄

Saturday plans are to be decided. πŸ’­ I am of two minds. I would like to get the Salvation Army to look at clothes but I also don’t want to get a bunch of salt on my truck or have to gas it up. β›½ Then do some riding on my mountain bike in the Albany Pine Bush and get groceries. πŸ›’ But I guess I’m okay with clothes for now, though I’d like to get some dressy stuff for wearing come January that fits well. πŸ‘” Often I can find good things now that I’m so much slimmer. On the other hand, I could stay home, go for a nice long bike ride, maybe make some soup and then be home before dark and do more of the Udemy Machine Learning Course.

Looking ahead to Sunday, rain. 🌧 High near 55. South wind 11 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Typical average high for the weekend is 40 degrees. It looks like the rain will be heavy enough that I won’t have to worry about much salt on the road at that point, and if anything any salt I get on my truck will be mostly washed off by the heavy rain. Not that I guess it makes much difference. Going shopping in the morning πŸ›’ would give me something to do and then go out to folks house later πŸ‘ͺ as I don’t think Sunday will be a good day for anything outdoors. β˜”

Looking, next Friday is Bill of Rights Day πŸ“œ when the sun will be setting at 4:24 pm with dusk at 4:54 pm. As I often point out, the constitution is not self-enforcing. It’s all a matter of quality of judges and the politicians people elect. Politicians and even judges ignore the law all of the time when it’s inconvenient and they have the power to get around it. On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy, sleet and temperatures between 33 and 16 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 38 degrees. We hit a record high of 61 back in 2015.

Gray morning

A day to remind us of October days gone by β˜€

Making a run at sixty degrees this afternoon but don’t worry the sun will be setting in the four o’clock hour so no bike ride home.

Good morning! Happy Thursday. Sunny and 31 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 Calm wind. Things will start to thaw out at around 7 am. 🌑️

Kind of a cold start to the morning, ❄️ for my morning walk. I was up at 5 AM to start the pea soup πŸ₯˜ but went back to bed until around 6 AM when I went out for my walk. Oatmeal pancakes, this time experimenting with an egg in the batter, some cider vinegar and baking soda to see if I can make them more fluffy. πŸ₯ž Honestly, they were somewhat better. I should play with whole-wheat flour and a more conventional pancake recipe, though I don’t like the idea of adding sugar or oil to the mix. Plenty of sugar from the blueberries 🫐 I used in the mix.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 57 degrees at 2pm. Eight degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 28th. Light and variable wind becoming southeast around 5 mph. A year ago, we had light drizzle in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 42 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 2006. 3.4 inches of snow fell back in 2002.❄

Riding to work today, 🚲 should be a nice one for that. If not so dark in the evening, it would be excellent for a bike ride home too. Going to be certainly mild enough, I’ll take October weather in mid-November. I’m hoping for a pretty mild winter, β›„ being an El Nino year. So far no snow or even salt on the roads, as we’ve not had any icing or snow this year as it’s been mild and relatively dry. Probably the best chance for them calling out the salters in the mountains is that Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but even I’m skeptical about that. They’ve had them out a lot more in the highlands of West Virginia this year.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:41 am with sun having an altitude of 28.7° from the due south horizon (-42.1° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 11 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour πŸ… starts at 3:51 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (238°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the west-southwest (245°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:34 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 13 seconds with dusk around 5:02 pm, which is 53 seconds earlier than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent πŸŒ’ Moon in the south-southwest (211°) at an altitude of 12° from the horizon, 231,427 miles away. πŸš€ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:38 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies πŸŒ„ and temperatures around 53 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Tomorrow will have 9 hours and 45 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 6 seconds over today.

Dinner last night was 15-bean soup πŸ₯˜ but as I didn’t have enough soup, I cut up some spinach, celery, carrots, onions and added some smoked paprika to make it a meal, dipped in with lots homemade bread, this way the loaf without the shredded carrots. πŸ₯• As much as I like my bread with the carrots 🍞 I find it really tough on my stomach and guts, so I might end up cutting that out for just whole-wheat bread with some oatmeal put in the mix. Or just only whole-wheat flour, if I want things to be fluffier. Dessert was Greek yogurt with too much canned 100% pumpkin and some pumpkin pie spice. Tasted good but I probably eat too much. I keep telling myself I need to get pie pumpkins πŸŽƒ and make my own pumpkin up at home. It would save the can ♻️ that I otherwise have to save for recycling. Rather compost then recycle, then tin cans usually still have a good market.

Last night I returned my library books πŸ“š to the library. I had a stack of books I haven’t read but I keep putting off returning them. I am spending my free time with the Udemy classes on Remote Sensing, so it’s not that I’m not learning, but it’s not with books. Most of the library books I get out are pretty out of date, and I am lazy and I just like watching video lectures, especially now that I get Udemy through my library for free. πŸ“± There are so many great online resources I’m learning I can access with my library card, physical books aren’t the only way to keep up with the world. 🌎 Plus I like being able to snuggle under my heated blanket with the phone, rather then a book. That said, I’m usually dog tired by 8 or 8:30 PM as I get up at 5 AM each day, to start cooking. πŸ‘©‍🍳

Tonight will be mostly clear πŸŒƒ, with a low of 34 degrees at 1am. Three degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around November 9th. South wind 3 to 7 mph. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 32 degrees. The record low of 7 occurred back in 1972.

Looking forward to that pea soup when I get home 🍡 re-heated up with lots of good homemade bread and some balsamic vinegar. Just writing that makes me hungry. Not a real cool evening but it’s not exactly warm and with the sun set so early, it should be plenty cool by later in the evening.

Right now, a split verdict on the weekend. πŸ˜• Saturday, a chance of showers before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 47. Northwest wind 10 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 45. Typical average high for the weekend is 48 degrees.

Turkey fans and turkey farmers will note that next Thursday is Thanksgiving πŸ¦ƒ when the sun will be setting at 4:28 pm with dusk at 4:57 pm. So early! On that day in 2022, we had partly cloudy and temperatures between 49 and 24 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 46 degrees. We hit a record high of 72 back in 1931.

 Escarpment

The mouse got away from the mouse zapper 🐭

One of the other directors at work was saying how wonderful those electronic mouse zappers are but I avoided buying one as they’re like 20 bucks. At first it was great, catching three mice with no mess or blood, just open and dump the reusable trap but last night I heard a mouse and the zapper was tripped but no mouse to be found. Much like the snap traps, the mice are somehow getting away. Annoying. Same thing happened with the bucket drowning trap – catch a ton at first and then the rest get away.

Good morning! Mostly cloudy and 30 degrees in Delmar, NY. πŸŒ₯ There is a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. πŸƒ. Things will start to thaw out at around 7 am. 🌑️

Up a little after 5:30 am ⏰ I decided to the route involving eggs πŸ₯š and spinach with onions, beans, broccoli and whatever else I wanted like cottage cheese and ;nutrional yeast and hot sauce. 🍳 It was good except for the egg I dropped on the floor and had to clean up half awake. 😴 I didn’t need to get up that early to cook but I had to run to the bathroom 🚽. That said the electric blanket felt wonderful this morning, still resisting turning on the central gas heat downstairs.

Walking 🚢 down to the earlier express bus 🚍 from the Park and Ride. A bit too cold and wet to ride to work 🚲 today plus Lynne is leaning on me to attend yet another Colonie meeting about developing even more of the Pine Bush. This week it’s housing, a change from the warehouses and industrial solar facilities. 🏘 🏭 🌲I’ll catch the 182 up there after work I guess. Walking laps in the Concourse.

Figured with that extra cup of coffee β˜• probably best to walk the Concourse and then when I inevitably need to run to the restroom I can stop there. At least with the eggs and hopefully the full nights sleep – I was asleep a little after eight – πŸ› I won’t have the blood sugar crash 😴 of yesterday around ten o’clock in the morning when I could barely keep my eyes πŸ‘€ open reading that cap grant πŸ“ I was reviewing on my desk. It inevitably wasn’t the most excited organization without colorful people running it like the brain 🧠 teaser of one I got later in the day.

I am blaming the cream of wheat 🌾 with the blueberries 🫐 and chia seeds and greek yogurt for the crash but it probably was as much getting up at five o’clock to bake the bread and soup, listening to the Bread Greatest Hits record πŸ’Ώ and that very boring πŸ’€ cap grant I was reviewing. πŸ”Ž I guess every day at work can be exciting, some days are just dull. That said, the blueberries and cream of wheat did hit the spot.

Today will have a slight chance of snow showers before 7am. Mostly cloudy 🌞, with a high of 44 degrees at 11am. Six degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 28th. Northwest wind 6 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 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 42 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 1973. 14.4 inches of snow fell back in 1972.❄

That fifteen bean soup πŸ₯£ and homemade bread 🍞 really hit the spot on the cool evening last night, it was good on a cool evening. I went for my evening walk 🚢 shortly thereafter headed to bed πŸ› with the heated blanket trying to watch as much of the Udemy course that I could with my eyes open before going asleep. That said, I’ve been gassy 😲 since eating that especially with that bread that contains all of those shredded carrots πŸ₯•.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:41 am with sun having an altitude of 29.2Β° from the due south horizon (-41.6Β° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 10.7 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour πŸ… starts at 3:53 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (239Β°). πŸ“Έ The sunset is in the west-southwest (246Β°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:35 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 11 seconds with dusk around 5:04 pm, which is 57 seconds earlier than yesterday. πŸŒ‡ The best time to look at the stars is after 5:40 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies πŸŒƒ and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 14 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 51 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 11 seconds over yesterday.

I got oranges 🍊 for a snack in the office 🏒 as they are coming back into season and it’s important to have lots of Vitamin D with the darker days ahead and inevitably more people getting sick. πŸ€’ I was doing the muzzle thing for a while when I got back from West Virginia πŸ—» though I stopped but if I hear sick people in the office that I can’t persuade to go home, I’ll put it back on.

Tonight will be partly cloudy πŸŒƒ , with a low of 25 degrees at 5am. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 7th. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Another cool autumn evening ahead. In 2022, we had partly cloudy skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 21 degrees. The record low of 14 occurred back in 1939.

A fairly typical mid November weekend with showers for opening day in the SZ. 🦌 Saturday, a chance of showers before 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 50. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Bang, bang. πŸ”« Sunday, partly sunny, with a high near 44. Typical average high for the weekend is 48 degrees.

I am just focused on the Friday after Thanksgiving πŸ¦ƒ for getting out of town. I am already tired of the Albany and ready for more nights πŸŒƒ in the wilderness. But who knows what the weather will be like at that point but one can hope. 🀞

Looking ahead, there are 3 weeks until Repeal of Prohibition Day 🍺 when the sun will be setting at 4:23 pm with dusk at 4:53 pm. On that day in 2022, we had partly sunny and temperatures between 44 and 26 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 42 degrees. We hit a record high of 65 back in 2001.

Looking Down Into the Gorge

The heating game

Every autumn I play the game of how long I can go without turning the heat on in my apartment. 😨I actually like keeping things colder but I know at some point I must turn the heat on to keep the pipes from freezing up.

Except in the coldest weather, I usually keep the heat in the low 50s, only turning it up to 60 in the evening when I’m home to be comfortable come the morning. 👏The thermostat often overrides as it’s located downstairs near the heater and heat rises upstairs. Come the coldest time of the year I might leave it constantly around 55 or 60 to ensure it remains warm.

Figuring that I eventually will forgo centralized heating when I own my own house, I doubt I’ll ever get used to keeping it real warm as fires often die down during the night. 🔥Plus keeping it cold can help save energy, cut climate emissions and reduce utility bills.

Trees on a Spooky Halloween Day

Experts say soggy summer to blame for washed out colors of fall foliage

Experts say soggy summer to blame for washed out colors of fall foliage

Even though many spots in our region are now at or approaching peak fall foliage, this year’s display isn’t as vibrant as many of us are used to.

The bright yellows, rich oranges and vibrant reds have largely been replaced by muddy yellows, pale reds and some leaves are just turning brown and falling off.

While there are many factors that influence fall foliage, UVM Forestry Professor Alexandra Kosiba says this year’s soggy summer likely played a big role. The wet, cloudy days reduce a tree’s capacity for photosynthesis in the summer which impacts the sugar reserves in the leaves going into the fall. She says the wet summer also created prime conditions for a fungus called anthracnose.

“So if you look at the leaves, they have brown spots on them. They might be kind of crinkled, dropping early, and that’s just because the leaves were wet for a lot of the season, and that’s a great breeding ground for leaf fungi, and if you walk in the woods, you’ll see a lot of mushrooms. It’s the same idea,” Kosiba said.