June 16, 2020 Night

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Good evening! Clear and 71 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. ✨ The dew point is 50 degrees. Not bad for mid June. Going to be hot though the second half of the week.

Nice evening, 🌃 I went for a walk after work to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center. Saw a box turtle digging a nest 🐢, I watched for a while with binoculars but didn’t see any eggs being laid. Also observed a very much nursing doe with some nice big udders grazing on the grass and taking a dump and peeing. They’re kind of like cows, they don’t really give much thought to when and whdre they poop 💩. On the bird front lots of robbin, a pretty male cardinal, a Rose breasted Groesbeck (not a real pretty one) and several rabbits and bunnies. 🐰 That one rabbit was a real nice one.

I left Five Rivers around 7:45 I could have stayed later as the days are long but I didn’t want to walk home on the narrow shoulder of NY 443 as it got dark. 🚙 That road is so narrow as it is for walking 🚶 although I’ve done it many times before. Sure it would have been nice to work late and make more money but seeing all that nature was nice.

Tonight will have patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, clear 🌃, with a low of 52 degrees at 5am. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around June 1st. Maximum dew point of 51 at 12am. Light south wind. In 2019, we had mist in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 61 degrees. The record low of 44 occurred back in 1954.

Tonight will have a Waining Crescent 🌘 Moon with 17% illuminated. The darkest hour is at 12:57 am, followed by dawn at 4:43 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:18 am in the east-northeast (57°) and last for 3 minutes and 28 seconds. Sunrise is 4 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:01 am with sun in the east-northeast (64°). Tonight will have 8 hours and 41 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 16 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 84 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 55 at 10am. Calm wind. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. It was humid. The high last year was 80 degrees. The record high of 94 was set in 1994.

Still don’t have Big Red back 🚘, they’re having trouble figuring out the proper size tie rod I guess for the replacement. I should have it back tomorrow though. I’m annoyed but at least the shop has been keeping me in the loop about the delays it seems. Not sure if I’ll be able to get ready and leave for the Adirondacks early Thursday before work – I’d have to get shopping and to the laundromat and I don’t see that happening especially if I have to work late tomorrow. Overtime is nice but it means less free time for myself even if I am working from home. 🏡

In four weeks on July 14 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (301°) at 8:31 pm,🌄 which is 3 minutes and 41 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 86 and 69 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 83 and 62 degrees. The record high of 99 degrees was set back in 1995.

Looking ahead, Primary Day 🗳️ is in 1 week, and Election Day 2020 🗳️ is in 20 weeks.

America

One question that I’ve been thinking a lot about is how did Philip Schuyler treat his slaves?

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One question that I’ve been thinking a lot about is how did Philip Schuyler treat his slaves?

Even though today most people agree slavery to be a moral abomination, it’s hard to argue that back in the day that all slave holders treated their slaves badly. Most probably were compassionate, good people, living in the norms of the era for wealthy landowners.

Indeed there was powerful incentives to treat slaves well just like any other employee today.

  • Employees who feel respected and well cared for work harder and do a honest day’s work
  • Healthy foods and good living conditions prolong life and working years
  • Good housing keeps workers safe, dry and ready to put in a good days work either in the field or the homestead
  • Good health care ensures people aren’t coming to work sick
  • Good working conditions keep people on the job longer, discourage employees from seeking work elsewhere

I have my doubts that a well respected man like Philip Schuyler would have treated his slaves or employees badly or unfairly. Obviously if he did abuse his slaves or other employees then it should be part of his legacy, something to consider when thinking about the man.

I don’t think it’s right to hold people to today’s standards for yesterday’s accepted norms. That said if he was abusive or engaged in acts not acceptable in those days then that should be considered when looking at his legacy.

Building a healthy ecosystem

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I was out at Five Rivers Environmental Education Center earlier today and thinking about how when I own land, I would make it a major priority to eliminate invasive species and plant as many native species as possible and try to maintain a mixed successional landscape to promote healthy wildlife both for hunting, farming and observation purposes.

I doubt I would ever bother having much lawn – grass is good to grow for livestock not beauty. While I wouldn’t be afraid of chemicals and my homestead wouldn’t be organic, I would avoid excess plastic or unnecessary chemicals beyond what is necessary to make my land managent goals a success.