Walking along River Road, the plowed section before Thomas Road. It was pretty damp to start out the day with a mixature of rain, snow and ice the night before but came progressively nicer as the day went on.
Taken on Monday November 27, 2023 at Hudson River Special Management Area.I bet those people sitting in their deer stands this morning are shivering, fighting off hypothermia thinking they probably won’t get their big buck despite the statistics that show two thirds are harvested today. I’m quite okay being inside this morning, enjoying my eggs and spinach, along with the homemade bread, sweet potatoes and butternut squash that I baked starting a little after 5 AM this morning.
Good morning! Rain and 45 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ There is a north-northwest breeze at 9 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at tomorrow around midnight tonight. ☃️ Kind of a yucky morning, temperature is going to drift downwards as more sun appears later with a steady breeze to keep things good and cool for the balance of the day. That said it’s mild enough, that the heat is off, though I have plenty of warmth inside after all that cooking this morning. 👩🍳
While I don’t really need to get up at 5 AM on my day off ⏰ I wake up that hour, especially as I was asleep before 8 PM last night as it was such a dreary night and I lacked the energy to do my evening walk, 🏃♀️ though to be fair, I did get in 10,000 steps 👣 for the day, rode my bike 7 3/4 miles to work via the rail trail 🚲, walked laps at lunch time on the Plaza and then did the stairs up and down to my 18th floor office downtown. I do note that once I move to the suburban North Albany office in a few weeks though it’s going to be more difficult to do the stairs, though I am thinking I’ll probably transfer buses a the Empire Plaza and can walk laps there or days I ride in it’s a bit longer of a ride then downtown, though not the Madison Avenue Hill, though lately I’ve been using Arch Street/Warren Street past the Albany City Jail 👮♀️ and then heading up Park Avenue and Museum Road (yes, the wrong way on a one way street) to the Plaza to avoid the worse of the hill. 🤷♂️ 🤣
I was thinking blueberry pancakes this morning 🥞 👎 🍳 but ended up deciding I so love the onions, tomatoes, spinach and eggs for a more protein packed day that will keep me going all day. Also cooked up some kidney beans, I am thinking of making homemade spaghetti sauce from canned tomatoes, chop up some onions, cumin and red pepper with peas and spinach thrown over some chickpea pasta 🍝 for dinner tonight. Along with a generous side of butternut squash and maybe some of the sweet potatoes. 🍠 🍆
Lunch is going to be some leftover beef stew I got from my parents house about two or three weeks ago that’s been frozen, tossed over some peas and sweet potatoes. 😋 I need to use up some of the leftovers I keep taking home from my parents house. I often forget about left overs. Mom makes good food, even if it is more calorie dense then I would prefer, but then again maybe I’ve gotten a bit extreme with my own cooking. 👨🍳 I just don’t want slip back into the old life of being so heavy and out of shape. The left over stew should be real tasty. 🍲 I can’t complain, mom’s home cooking won’t be around forever, as she’s getting up there in the years, and it’s something you can only enjoy until you no longer can.
Having that extra pot of coffee ☕ this morning, with the cinnamon and ginger. I am not planning on heading out until a while, and only to the library, so if I spend my day pissing it away, I don’t care. I just like an extra cup or three on this cold morning, with that rich tangy taste of cinnamon and ginger. Plus yesterday when I was walking I started to feel a bit achy, 😣 first time in a long time, apparently the turmeric with the spinach, onions and eggs isn’t enough to overcome all those stairs I’ve climbed 🧗♀️ over the past week, lol. 🤣 What can I say, I’m getting ducking old 🦆 in a few weeks I’ll be 41. That means two decades have passed since I can legally drink and that first time I went out to the bar with the Young Democrats. I just remember that night at the Lionheart Cafe downtown, and how much that bar stunk of alcohol 🍻 I think because it was right after they had banned smoking at bars 🚭 and they hadn’t gotten good at cleaning all that spilled beer. Or maybe the Lionheart was more of a dive college bar back in the day.
Today will have showers likely, mainly before 7am. Cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing 🌧 👉 🌞, with a high of 45 degrees at 6am. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 25th. North wind 9 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. The high last year was 43 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1928. 9.0 inches of snow fell back in 1980.❄
I am thinking I’ll watch and do some more of the Udemeny Course on Remote Sensing 🛰 and then shower and go down to the library 📚 so I can use the internet on my laptop this morning without working about data use at 10 AM. Then maybe check out the Bethlehem Sportsmart at 1 PM for skis, ⛷ and then in the afternoon ride out to Voorheesville, maybe visiting Indian Ladder Farms for apples. 🍎 Or I could just get apples at Price Chopper on Sunday. Also want to see if I can repair my broken vacuum cleaner. Also thinking about doing some soldering and working on an electronics project this evening. I haven’t done much electronics in a while now. 🤓
Solar noon 🌞 is at 11:41 am with sun having an altitude of 28.2° from the due south horizon (-42.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 11.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:49 pm with the sun in the west-southwest (237°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (244°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:32 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 14 seconds with dusk around 5:01 pm, which is 49 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the south (185°) at an altitude of 24° from the horizon, 227,672 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:37 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 42 degrees. There will be a northwest breeze at 11 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 43 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 3 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 31 degrees at 3am. Typical for tonight. Northwest wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light and variable. In 2022, we had 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 12 occurred back in 1972.
Pretty much typical weather for this evening. 🛌 I’ll probably head to bed pretty early as it gets dark out so early, and I prefer an earlier start. I want to get to Price Chopper tomorrow morning before the crowds 🛒 and get the groceries I need for the week with my coupons. 🎫 And then get up and going on the day. Maybe ride out to Five Rivers 🐦 to enjoy the sunshine and cold before heading out to the folks house for Sunday dinner. 🍲 They are making chilli which should be good.
Going to shop at Price Chopper come Sunday as I have two $5 off $50 coupons, 🎫 giving one to mom and one for my own use. Plus I have a $2 off $10 in meat or fish coupon to use, I’ll probably stock up on frozen salmon for the next time I decide to bake up some salmon. 🐠 I haven’t had salmon in a few weeks, and I think I don’t have any more in my freezer currently but its an excellent source of omega-3 fats. 😋
Looking ahead, next Saturday is Small Business Saturday 🛍️ when the sun will be setting at 4:27 pm with dusk at 4:56 pm. On that day in 2022, we had mostly cloudy, rain showers and temperatures between 49 and 40 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 45 degrees. We hit a record high of 64 back in 2004.
I am watching the forecast, 🌨 especially to see how much snow they get up north on Wednesday, but I’m hopeful to head up to the Adirondacks come Friday, to camp and maybe hike or possibly ski along the East Branch more likely. 🏕 I would probably take off Cyber Monday so I can have a three-day weekend, as I’ve been planning for some time now, though I am running a bit low on vacation time for the year, and don’t want to drop below 210 hours for the year if I can avoid it to maximize my roll over into next year, where I may need the extra hours to cover time spent working at the campaign committee along with trips I plan for the summer and autumn. 👩💻 That said, I’m hopeful to do remote work at times next year, so maybe I can extend some of my camping trips while working from the Spectulator Library or the hotspot and my laptop in a hammock from camp. But not until spring time, as it’s too cold and not enough solar in autumn.
It certainly was a pleasant Labor Day Weekend up at Moose River Plains. I wish I could have gotten out and done some kayaking, but with my foot in a sprain boot, that wasn't likely to happen.
Taken on Monday September 7, 2015 at Cedar River Flow.I mean I probably should have with the summer we’ve had expect rain. Going to clear out later but will be cool for the family clam bake.
Good morning! Happy Sunday. Rain showers and 65 degrees at the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. ☔ There is a north-northwest breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 60 degrees. The skies will clear around noontime.
Woke up early 🌅 and to run to the bathroom 🚽 and decided not to go back to sleep. Milled oatmeal down to a fine powder in the food processor and then added one of the fresh apples 🍏 that I got at Yonder Farms and ultimately a banana 🍌 for sweetness and consistency and a bit of water for pancakes 🥞. Black coffee ☕ and frozen fruit with sugar free syrup made for a good breakfast.
Rode Blackie 🚵 out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center 🐸 for some nature observation and to get away a bit this morning, though I wasn’t expecting the rain. ☔ Not super wet but unexpected in my mind, I’m hiding our under the pavilion for now. I’ll go for a short walk 🚶 and then head home. Then shower 🚿, get a few groceries at Walmart and clams 🦪 at Market 32 🛒 then head out to the folks house by later midday. 🕛
Today will have isolated showers before 9am. Partly sunny 🌞, with a high of 76 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 11th. Maximum dew point of 62 at 11am. North wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning with more sun in the afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 81 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1948.
Yesterday afternoon at Thacher Park 🏞 was nice, though some of those trails were rougher on the bike 🚲 then expected but I try to be super gentle with Blackie not wanting to break shit but I’m also not afraid to now ride somewhat rougher trails with Blackie but I still prefer gravel. Super muddy after the summer that was. Still want to get to Charles Baker State Forest to ride before the snow 🌨 comes. Not that I probably have much of a worry this winter with El Niño and I’m not planning on doing much trail riding which closes October 31st, just road riding.
John Wolcott’s funeral is over ⛪ that chapter is closed. The whole wheat bread I made last night came out pretty good, most of it is now frozen. Last night’s dinner was commercial protein pasta you find in the supermarket with a bunch of spinach and the remaining kale I had plus mackerel for a good boost in the omega 3, healthy fats to help absorb the vitamins that make up the spinach and kale. The fats, protein and fiber fill you up quickly. 🍲
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:58 pm with sun having an altitude of 57.5° from the due south horizon (-13.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.8 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:03 pm with the sun in the west (278°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (285°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:41 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 59 seconds with dusk around 8:08 pm, which is one minute and 39 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Gibbous 🌔 Moon in the south-southeast (151°) at an altitude of 15° from the horizon, 228,020 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:45 pm. At sunset, look for mostly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 71 degrees. The dew point will be 59 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 26 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 44 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌃 with a low of 56 degrees at 6am. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 6th. Maximum dew point of 60 at 6pm. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2022, we had clear skies in the evening, which became cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It became humid as the night progressed. It got down to 59 degrees. The record low of 42 occurred back in 1982.
Now that I made bread with yeast 🍞, I’m interested in doing baking using baking powder or baking soda for those times I don’t want to mess with kneading or waiting 24 hours for the bread to rise. That’s more kind of for making biscuits but they can be a source of healthy carbs too if you limit the unhealthy fats by using olive oil or ghee and don’t use sugar. Also I was playing with my food processor this morning and will just dry oatmeal seems to do a decent job of milling whole grain oatmeal down to oat flour – and not just pancakes. 🍪
Today in 1859, Petroleum is discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania leading to the world’s first commercially successful oil well. 🛢 To this day, that town still smells like petroleum, and it floats in the creeks, but they produce much less oil today then at the peak around the turn of the century. Exploring the Oil Creek State Park is fun as is Pithole abandoned oil town but do expect a strong petroleum smell. 👃 But then again, Western PA smells like petroleum like the Black River Valley smells like cattle and manure. Just part of the country.
Looking ahead but maybe not forward to dark mornings walked or risen, there are 2 weeks until 6:30 Sunrise 🌇 when the sun will be setting at 7:16 pm with dusk at 7:43 pm. On that day in 2022, we had mostly sunny, patches of fog and temperatures between 83 and 56 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 77 degrees. We hit a record high of 96 back in 1931.
For the first time in a while I sat out back until late into the evening. After a hot day it was a very pleasant evening. Today is more cloudy and humid, a lot of rain is on tap for the next few days.
Good morning! Happy Sunday. Clouds and 70 degrees in Delmar for the morning walk out to Five. ☁ Calm wind. The dew point is 68 degrees. The skies will clear Tuesday around 2 am. But first, 4-6 inches of rain. ☔ Best to get my steps in early. 👣
Walking 🚶 out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center which may be one of the last times in the near future. Bicycling will be so much quicker, even if I take the long way to avoid traffic and hills. This morning to change it up, heading out Fisher Boulevard and will walk back Delaware Ave, though that way is a bit more narrow. Already when the sun is out I’m feeling the humidity. 😰 Really dripping in that sweat.
Today will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2pm, then rain and thunderstorms likely between 2pm and 5pm, then rain likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 5pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a high of 81 degrees at 3pm. Three degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around June 23rd. Maximum dew point of 72 at 11am. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 80 degrees. The record high of 103 was set in 1936.
After I do my walk 🚶 I’ll probably cook up the chicken 🐔 for the week and lunch. Hot day for turning on the oven but I figure I’ll take a cold shower after cooking and then I’m heading out to the folks house in the evening which with the rain should give time for everything to cool down. 🍲 Home cooked chicken breast are so much healthier than the frozen ones and I can refreeze them. Also will toast the remaining chickpeas I have soaked. 🍘
Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:01 pm with sun having an altitude of 69.8° from the due south horizon (-1.1° vs. 6/21). The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:53 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (295°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (302°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 8:36 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 25 seconds with dusk around 9:09 pm, which is 25 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:54 pm. At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and thunderstorms 🌩 and temperatures around 69 degrees. The dew point will be 69 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 15 hours and 11 minutes of daytime, a decrease of one minute and 8 seconds over yesterday.
Yesterday besides getting a bicycle 🚲 and going shopping 🛒 it was a very hot and humid kind of quiet day. Besides the morning walk around the park I ended going back to the town park 🏞 to watch the sun set and went to the library 📚 for a few hours to heat the heat. I thought about plinking down the seven or eight bucks to swim in the town park pool 🏊♂️ but being do hot and humid you never know when a thunderstorm ⛈ would come rolling through. One clap of thunder and the pool closes for a half hour. 💸 I tried making hummus and that was a disaster after buying expensive Tanani sauce. I paid good money for the ingredients, I’m going to have to try again. 😖
Tonight will rain and possibly a thunderstorm before 8pm, then rain and thunderstorms between 8pm and 11pm, then rain and possibly a thunderstorm after 11pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. 🌧 Low of 66 degrees at 12am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 70 at 6pm. 🏖️ West wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 52 degrees. The record low of 47 occurred back in 1963.
Looking, next Sunday is Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆 with dusk at 9:04 pm. On that day in 2022, we had a rather hot day, that was mostly sunny and temperatures between 88 and 60 degrees. Did I spend it at the Potholers? Yes. Typically, the high temperature is 84 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1900.
There is this campsite on lower Jessup River Road, up on Hartwick Hill which offers a nice view of the mountains when camping there. Not a lot of shade in the campsite proper, and it’s kind of exposed to the elements, but it offers a fantastic view and cellphone service to boot.
I ended up spending the weekend up there during Labor Day Weekend 2018, it was a nice place to camp, despite only modestly nice weather. But with the bright open area, the view and the good cellphone reception, I think i might go back there next June once the road opens for the summer.
There is some traffic on Jessup River Road, especially in the morning when people are heading out to the mountains to hike, or as with Labor Day Weekend, people heading up to camp. Traffic means noise and dust, but I didn’t find it overly bothersome.
I can’t say enough about the great views for sure. Too bad when I camped most of the weekend was trapped in fog and rain, but next time I go up I expect the weather would be nicer. I would probably go up there in June, when I’m on-call for work, as I could sit up there, do work business using my phone, while sipping a cold beer or leaning back in the hammock.
The great thing about the big open campsite, is it makes for a great place for looking at the stars, and of course having a great big ol’ fire into the night.
Still a few more weeks until June but I sure look forward to those nice nights come the summer.
Those clouds look scary, although we got no more rain for the rest of the day. Also, notice the beautiful COR-TEN guard rail, which is rapidly becoming an endangered species, as the DOT is going back to stainless. Maybe at specifically scenic locations, like here, they will choose painted stainless guard rail, as used on the bridge rails here (but not the guardrail).
Taken on Saturday May 21, 2011 at Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest.