Good morning! Happy Sunday. Next Sunday is National Bird Day 🐧. Partly cloudy and 33 degrees at the Glimmerglass State Park. ⛅ Calm wind. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 6 pm. ☃️ 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 ☕. 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 ☀ 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 ⛺ 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.

Good evening! Partly clear and 22 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. Already not as bitterly cold as a day ago but I did turn up the heat because I am cold and it’s going to be mild the rest of the week. There are 3 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 11 am. 🌡️

Today was a cold and gray day ☁ but it was pretty when the sun peaked through the clouds out skiing 🎿 in the Pine Bush. It was just me and Burt Shou on the Save the Pine Bush Ski trip but then I went out for a while myself. I think I may have gotten a bit of a sun burn because of the reflection off the snow and from my photosensitive skin after taking the antibiotics for three weeks. I was glad I finished them up but I am now feeling a bit stiff in the knees and I had a bit of a headache for a while but sometimes a bit of Lyme hangs around. 🐜 Or maybe I’m injuring my knees a bit with all the time lately I’ve spent on the bike 🚲.

I did fine skiing 🎿 except the one time I crashed 💥- my skis are touring cross country skis and they are a bit fast and unstable for descending the steepest dunes. I missed a turn in the trail and ended up tangled in wild grape 🍇 vine. They’re quite old at this point but they still work great. I like to use things as long as possible as it saves money 💵 and I don’t have trash pickup so I’d have to pay to get rid of them at the transfer station. 🚮 I have more photos 📷 to upload tomorrow.

As the first day of winter it was pretty cold and gray. ☁ But it was a productive day and it’s going to be warm and sunny over the next few days, ☀ especially on Monday. Too bad I have to work that day but I’ll enjoy my lunch time walk 🚶.I’m just hoping that the nice weather will continue into the next weekend when I’m out in the Finger Lakes National Forest.

Finally took out the garbage from the kitchen. 🗑With the compost usually it doesn’t stink and I can leave it in the can for weeks — but I guess I must have scrapped something off a pan or something and it started to rot and stink. 👃🏻 I should do it more often but I don’t like to waste trash bags, and it’s not like I have a day I have to do it except when I go to the transfer station myself.

Took another sleeping pill 💊 because I was concerned about waking up in the early hours and didn’t want to have that happen again like last night. Might be a bit foggy 🌁 in the morning but without work or anything to do early tomorrow I’m fine with that.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌤, with a low of 15 degrees at 5am. Four degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 17 at 6pm; Light south wind. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 34 degrees. The record low of -8 occurred back in 1955.

Tonight will have a Waning Crescent Moon 🌘 with 10% illuminated. The moon will rise at 3:16 am. The New Moon is on Wednesday night with mostly cloudy skies. The is on Wednesday night. The sun will rise at 7:21 am with the first light at 6:49 am, which is 32 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 14 hours and 57 minutes of darkness, an increase of 3 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow 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 3 to 6 mph. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became mostly clear 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.❄

I am glad we are having a big warm up tomorrow ♨ as it will save on the heat. It will also make it easier outside for skiing and walking. I’m interested to see if the voltage switch does its job properly. I checked the connections with the Volt meter – for a while I brought it inside for future testing when something looked like the output polarity reversed but it seems fine now. ⚡ I’ll probably need to tweak the voltage thresholds but I think it will work well. I’ve learned to test and check ☑ when wiring things up and always stop and reconsider things ⛔ when I discover something isn’t working as expected.

One week from now will be my first night 🌃 winter camping ⛺ and that should be a lot of fun. I’m just hoping that it won’t be too rainy – looks to be quite mild and cloudy for sure with a chance of rain throughout the week. ☔ I almost prefer snow showers to rain although at least the roads won’t be so bad with just rain. I can’t control the weather but I can control my attitude.

In four weeks on January 18 the sun will be setting at 4:50 pm,🌄 which is 25 minutes and 23 seconds later then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had snow showers, mostly cloudy and temperatures between 35 and 21 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 30 and 14 degrees. The record high of 59 degrees was set back in 1973.

Looking ahead, 4:30 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 1 weeks, Winnie the Pooh Day 🍯 is in 4 weeks, Martin Luther King Day 🖤 is a month away, 5 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 5 weeks, February 🌧 is in 6 weeks, Average High is 50 🌸 is in 14 weeks, Average High is 60 🌼 is in 17 weeks, Average High is 70 🐮 is in 21 weeks, Memorial Day Weekend Starts 🏕️ is in 22 weeks, Last Day of Session 🏛 is in 26 weeks and Summer ️⛱️ is in 26 weeks.

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the weekend! Next Saturday is First Day of Winter ☃️. Pine Bush Hike next too, supposed to be a ski trip from Madison Avenue Extension 🎿but I got my doubts that we will have much snow left by then. Rain, drizzle and fog 🌁 and 39 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ There is a north-northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 4 pm. ☃️

Not a real nice morning, it’s not only foggy outside but also in my head. 🌁 I woke up early again this morning and had trouble getting back to sleep until I wandered downstairs and took a pee. 🚽 Little achy in my knees too but maybe that because I’ve been spending do much time on the exercise bike. 🚲 Then I got looking at some numbers and stats in Excel and the DEC data. I do have some new data with the DEC latest dump to update a few maps but honestly my map collection 🗾is pretty complete on the blog.

Today will rain likely, mainly after 3pm. Cloudy 🌧, with a high of 46 degrees at 1pm. 10 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 21st. Northwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. Going to be a real dreary day but hopefully that will eat away at the snow. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning, remaining cloudy in the afternoon. The high last year was 45 degrees. The record high of 63 was set in 1901. 12.5 inches of snow fell back in 1956.❄

Today I am going to my parents house for their Christmas decorating party 🎄. Not going out tomorrow as I have the Save the Pine Bush benefit to go to tomorrow night. It’s kind of in the middle of the city which is annoying because there isn’t much bus service on Sunday night to take me there, so I’m going to have to drive there avoiding the red light camera intersections somehow. 🚦 I really hate driving in the city, my truck gets awful gas mileage on city streets and I might have to fuel ⛽ up tomorrow as I haven’t bought gas since the last time I was camping the week before Thanksgiving.

The sun will set at 4:22 pm with dusk around 4:54 pm, which is 12 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 42 degrees. There will be a calm wind. Today will have 9 hours and 4 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 34 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will rain likely, mainly before midnight. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 36 degrees at 5am. 15 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 30th. Breezy, with a south wind 6 to 11 mph becoming west 18 to 23 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 32 degrees. The record low of -8 occurred back in 1874.

Probably won’t be walking tonight 🚶
but instead riding the exercise bike 🚲 and watching some YouTube videos. At least I won’t have to worry about slipping and falling on the bike compared to walking on icy sidewalks. Two nights ago there was a fair amount of black ice in parts.

Today in 1994, started construction begins on the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river. ⛲ The Three Gorges Dam has been the world’s largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW) since 2012. In 2014, the dam generated 98.8 terawatt-hours (TWh) and had the world record, but was surpassed by the Itaipú Dam, which set the new world record in 2016, producing 103.1 TWh.

Also, today was a notable date in civil rights history, with the release of the Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, 379 U.S. 241 (1964), 💖a landmark United States Supreme Court case holding that the Commerce Clause gave the U.S. Congress power to force private businesses to abide by Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations.🏰

One month 📅 from now will be Coldest Week of the Year 🌬 when the sun will be setting at 4:45 pm with dusk at 5:16 pm. The average high temperature is 30 degrees, with a record high of 61 in 1895. It’s already pretty cold ❄ in my book 📙 but it could be colder and will get colder. And I’m half seriously thinking about eventually living off-grid in the much colder Wisconsin, a bit in a world where the climate has warmed a fair amount more over the next ten to 15 years.

Good morning! Happy Earliest Sunset of the Year ⌛️! The mornings now are getting progressively darker but after today we will start adding a few seconds then in a few weeks a minute each day to our evening. But tonight is expected to be pretty dark with the rain coming. 💦

I had a really nice breakfast 🍳 with a quiche made of eggs, hash, cheese and broccoli. I have to say it was good. Still have more in the fridge for dinner. 🥶 Chilled off quickly before refrigeration in the snow bank outside.♨ This way I didn’t waste electricity. Honestly, people should use the cold weather more often to keep food cold and frozen — but in our modern world — folks are lazy and use their refrigerators in their heated homes.🔌

Only a little over a week more on the doxycline. 💊 I wouldn’t mind it so much but sometimes taking the pill in the morning can make me a bit sick on an empty stomach like the doctor suggests. But I think most of the signs of the Lyme are gone, 🐜 although I did feel a bit stiff in the knees yesterday after skiing.

Cloudy, somewhat damp and 36 degrees at the Elm Ave Park & Ride – CDTA. ☁ I hope you have your umbrella with you, you’ll need it later. ☔ There is a south breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. There are 12 inches of snow on the ground but it’s melting fast with the warm dampness in the air. ☃ ️Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around 10 pm. ☃️

Today will rain, mainly after 10am. Patchy fog between 10am and 2pm. 🌧 High of 43 degrees at 4pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 26th. South wind 5 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. Not a big rain storm 💦but it will contribute to a burn down of the snow especially with even warmer weather tomorrow. Kind of a gray misty December day that is common this time of year. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 37 degrees. The record high of 62 was set in 1966. 7.3 inches of snow fell back in 2009.❄

The sun will set at 4:21 pm with dusk around 4:53 pm, which is one second earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain showers 🌧 and temperatures around 43 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 8 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 8 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 55 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will rain, mainly before 3am. 🌧 Low of 43 degrees at 6pm, pushing fifty by day break. 21 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 4th. That should save on the heat for a change. South wind 8 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 20 degrees. The record low of -4 occurred back in 1902.

I fixed the glitch in the mobile version of the blog, 📱 now I think it’s working pretty good. All it took was a change of one or two lines on the blogs code to make it perfect.

Today in 1958, the John Birch Society is founded. Businessman and founder Robert W. Welch Jr. (1899–1985) developed an organizational infrastructure in 1958 of chapters nationwide. 🐘 After an early rise in membership and influence, efforts by those such as conservative William F. Buckley Jr. and National Review led the JBS to be identified as a fringe element of the conservative movement, mostly in fear of the radicalization of the American right.

Not a particularly nice weekend on tap. 🙁 Saturday, a chance of rain. Cloudy, with a high near 42. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Sunday, a chance of rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Typical average high for the weekend is 36 degrees.

Next Monday is Tea Party Day 🐍. The day that only is kind of vaguely referenced in that Don’t Tread on Me Flag 🚩 that I have, that I believe basically means I should be allowed to burn whatever noxious garbage I want, own lots of guns, hunt, fish, junk cars and machinery and own and slaughter whatever stinky farm animals I want on my land. 🐮 Basically, a redneck. But actually that foggy 🌁 winter day when they dumped tea 🍵 from West Indies into the Boston harbor ⚓ where they still enjoy the dirty water but probably not from the tea which had long rotted away. At least it was source seperated organic waste 🐽, something you can’t say about the pollutants dumped into the ocean today. 🌊 Probably a lot like today with fewer sewer overflows.

Looking ahead for our nation’s pork 🐖 producers, not talking about the Albany, there are 3 weeks until Bacon Day 🥓 when the sun will be setting at 4:30 pm with dusk at 5:02 pm. I can smell the fermented grain and pig 🐽 shit. On that day in 2018, we had mostly cloudy, snow showers and temperatures between 33 and 23 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 32 degrees. We hit a record high of 53 back in 1984.