Good evening! Mostly clear and 73 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest. There is a north breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 53 degrees. A very nice evening, might even want a long sleeved shirt 👚 by morning. No fan tonight for me in the truck cap. ☢️

I did everything that I planned today without feeling rushed. 😊 I too often feel like I am running 🏃 from park to park 🏞 on vacation and not taking time to relax. But this year with the pandemic smoldering in the background and an otherwise busy season with work I’ve been taking it slow and doing a lot of reading 📖 and relaxing 🛏 while still enjoying the Finger Lakes. I’ve limited the number of parks I plan to visit and are staying at the same campsite ⛺ with no cell service 🔕 all eight nights to avoid set up and take down. After vacation, work is going to be non-stop as a supervisor, and I’ll be on call 📞 virtually all the time through November.

Caywood Point was interesting to explore on Seneca Lake. 🛥 I bet it’s fun to camp dorm there on a very starry night. 🌃 Some folks had tents pitched right on the shoreline – I guess you don’t have to worry about the tide on a Finger Lake. Seemed like an interesting group of people who hang out there. I should think about going back there and do some fishing 🎣 off the dock or go for a swim 🏊🏻‍♂️ there.

I hiked part of the Catherine Valley Rail Trail 🚂 through the Catherine Marsh WMA aka Bad Indian Swamp. 🌿I am sure the later is disfavored as a name, with the preference today recalling Seneca Chief Catherine Montour, although to this day there are towns that recall the first and last name, so the natives are hardly forgotten. 🐸🦆🕊️🐌🐍🐢 And I doubt the old name was referring to a Bad Indian, just that it was a large, thick area that was marshy and filled with reeds and difficult to pass until the Barge Canal and later the railroad tracks and NY 14 on the east shore. 🌾The swamp is largely reeds, probably the best views from the rail trail are of the Barge Canal. At least from the trail it didn’t stink of sewage. 💩

Then I went for a quick swim 🏊🏻‍♂️ at Watkins Glen State Park. Nobody was manning the toll booth so I didn’t have to show my Empire Passport 🛂. But the pool was open and mostly empty and lead to a nice cool way to break up the evening and cool down.

I went to Tops and stocked up on some food. 🥩 I bought some boneless chicken which I realized at camp was actually pork chops. 🐖 I have nothing against pork, it was good with the rice I bought, stuck in a nice hamburger role, washed down and with some beer 🍻. I also stopped at Glen Dairy Bar and got a large dish of soft ice cream 🍧 dipped in peanut butter 🥜. That was good.

Then before dark I went kayaking 🛶 from the Watkins Glen boat launch. I was going to paddle up to Hector Point but on the way up there I was warned by another kayaker that the water was choppy once you got beyond the bend, and after paddling a few more minutes agreed it seems a bit rough and didn’t want to get caught on open water and ended up just paddling along the south end of the lake by Clute Park. 🎣 Had my fishing pole but the lake was so rough and the south end of the lake so shallow I decided it wasn’t worth it.

Got back to camp around eight, 🏕️ cooked up the pork chops 🥩 and rice 🍚 had dinner and started a fire 🔥 and laid back in the hammock. I forgot to buy coffee ☕ today, I’ll have to get some tomorrow. Ice is not holding up well in the heat 🌡️, I may need to get more at any rate tomorrow and can get coffee at the same time.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 59 degrees at 3am. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around August 21st. Maximum dew point of 54 at 10pm. North wind 3 to 6 mph. In 2019, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It was sticky. It got down to 67 degrees. The record low of 43 occurred back in 1957.

Tonight will have a Last Quarter 🌗 Moon with 37% illuminated. The Strugeon 🐡 Moon is on Wednesday, August 26. The darkest hour is at 1:13 am, followed by dawn at 5:42 am, and sun starting to rise at 6:12 am in the east-northeast (69°) and last for 3 minutes and 5 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 3 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:51 am with sun in the east-northeast (75°). Tonight will have 10 hours of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 28 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 82 degrees at 3pm. One degree above normal, which is similar to a typical day around August 9th. Maximum dew point of 57 at 5pm. Calm wind becoming northeast around 6 mph in the afternoon. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became cloudy by afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 81 degrees. The record high of 98 was set in 1947.

While I’m not totally sure and left the kayak on my truck, I am thinking tomorrow would be a good day for hiking. 🚶🏽 I am thinking about the Dresden – Penn Yann rail trail as I’ve never explored that part of the Finger Lakes and that was recommended to me on Facebook. Apparently this trail follows the old railroad grade in the gorge along the Penn Yann outlet. 🏞 Sounds intreguing in my book but I should read up on it before making the trip in the morning.

I’ve been having a few problems uploading photos 📸 today, there was a glitch in my new phone uploader that I built but I think it’s working now. I still have to upload photos from kayaking 🛶 this evening on Seneca Lake but that will have to wait until tomorrow when I have better cell service 📶.

I was saddened to hear about the passing of Reszin Adams, 😔 who has been called the alpha activist of Albany. Not only did she bake lasagna for every Pine Bush Dinner for 35 plus years, she was involved in everything from protesting the Vietnam War to Aprahid in South Africa.

I don’t know where things stand with the documentary 📹 I was working with Cynthia Pooler on her – we cut some n roll at her birthday party 🎂 in February but when she pandemic hit everything kind of stopped except for video editing. I barely know how to use the camera but we did interview several people om Reszin. Definitely sad news for everybody in the Capital Region that cared about progress and change.

At least I got to know her a little bit more than Theresa Cooke, 👩🏼 the lady who confronted Erastus Corning and made a big difference in openness and change in the Albany County Democratic Machine.🐴 I had met Cooke at Pine Bush dinners in her late years but never knew the difference she made in the 1970s. She just struck me as some kind of activist but I never asked any questions until I learned about her history upon her death.

In four weeks on September 9 the sun will be setting in the west (277°) at 7:27 pm,🌄 which is 45 minutes and 25 seconds earlier then today. In 2019 on that day, we had mostly sunny, patches of fog and temperatures between 73 and 49 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 75 and 54 degrees. The record high of 94 degrees was set back in 1959.

Looking ahead, National Dog Day 🐩 is in 2 weeks, Corn Moon 🌕 is in 3 weeks, SORRY NO NOT NATIONAL CORN DOG DAY, Columbus Day 🛥️ is in 2 months, Average High is 55 🍂 is in 11 weeks, Day After Election Day 🛀 is in 12 weeks, Veterans Day 🇺🇸 is in 13 weeks, Earliest Sunset of the Year ⌛️ is in 17 weeks, Tea Party Day 🐍 is in 18 weeks, Festivus 🍖 is in 19 weeks, Bacon Day 🥓 is in 20 weeks, Make Your Dream Come True Day 🏡 is in 22 weeks, Inauguration Day ✅ is in 23 weeks, Clean Your Computer Day 🧹 is in 26 weeks and Presidents Day 👴 is in 27 weeks.