seasons - Andy Arthur.org

August

Andy | August 6, 2021

The final month of summer has arrived. It’s the warmest and most mature month, and meadows run their wildest. The nights are not as long as previous months, and while it’s often hot and humid in the day, the nights start to have little hints of a fall chill that’s certain to come next month.

August is the time of Altamont fair and many people’s vacations. It will be time of sitting out and soaking up the sun, of long days out in the canoe, and climbing mountains in the early morning. They’ll be nights sitting around the campfire drinking beer and whisky, watching flames as the burn towards the sky.

August can be a lazy month. The last of the summertime season, the last time we are laid back before our youth go to school, and before things get more serious at work as people’s vacations end. The heat makes some outdoor activities challenging, so we choose to lay back.

There will be plenty of warm days in September, but it won’t be as much summer as the month of August will be. It will be different. September will see many of the final harvests of the year, our society’s agricultural bounty, and the signs of fall. Much hope and sadness we enter that month.

Private Forestland Not Farms

Andy | July 26, 2011

When I was younger I used to think of the Tug Hill Plateau as a vast agricultural region. It really isn’t. There are farms in Black River Valley, but not so much up on the Plateau, especially as you gain elevation.

The signs going into Lewis County say “Adirondacks-Black River-Tug Hill”, and except for that relatively narrow band running along the Black River, Lewis County doesn’t have a lot of farming — much likes the rest of Tug Hill Plateau.

An elevation map of NY shows that most of the Tug Hill Plateau is between 1,000-2,000 feet elevation, but that’s high enough in NY to make agriculture unprofitable in most of state due to short growing season.

The Black River Valley, with it’s fertile soils notched between the Adirondack Foothills and Tug Hill Plateau make Lewis County a major agricultural producer, with 262 dairy farms, including some of the largest in state. The area around Lowville is excellent agriculturally, until you start back up in to the hills on both sides with their short growing seasons. Dairy farming makes up 20% of the land use in Lewis County (per 2010 USDA NASS), but almost all of that occurs in Black River Valley or slightly up the slopes of Tug Hill Plateau.

In many ways the Tug Hill Plateau is a fascinating region of the state. Unlike the Adirondack Park, only a relatively small portion of it is publically owned. About 2/3rds of it is private timber lands, with rest being public lands. It lacks any major cities or population centers, much of it is roadless, or where roads exist, they primarily service hunting camps or timberlands.

The remoteness of the Tug Hill Plateau remains a real fascination for me.

March vs April

Andy | March 4, 2011

Last year, I happened to hike Severance Hill above Schroon Lake on March 7th, and also on April 11th. Being roughly one month apart, I figured it would be an interesting study in how the seasons change between these months.

Paradox Lake, March.

Paradox Lake, April.

Southern Schroon Lake, March.

Southern Schroon Lake, April.

Deep Bay, March.

Steep Bay, April.

January

Andy | January 1, 2010

The month of January is the coldest month of the year, if the thermometer is to be believed. It’s not the grayest or snowiest month of the year, or even the most harshest month of the year (a time reserved for February). While the days are slowly getting longer in January, the growth in daylight is small compared to months to come.

We will go out skiing and snowshoeing, spending time riding snowmobiles and enjoying nature’s gift of the snow. It won’t always be perfect weather, but like every season we must make the most of it. It’s winter, and it only lasts for about half of the year in New York State.

There will be days where we will go outside, and the mercury won’t even reach 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and the wind is whipping down from the North. There will be days and weeks when the roads are covered with ice and snow. People will struggle to find parking spots in the city, as parking spots are replaced with ice covered patches and snow banks. Driving will only be nice this time of year, because the insides of cars will be toasty. It’s going to be very winter-like out there for the next month.

At the same time, there will be the much needed winter thaw. We might finally for a few days loose all of the snow, and it get up into the balmy 40 degrees range. Winter doesn’t always mean that it’s going to be supercold, and indeed, we must certainly will see a brief mud season during January for a couple of days when the sun makes us think of a false spring.

January is when we get over the Christmas Season high. The lights on the trees are taken off, the Christmas trees are dumped into the brush pile to be chipped sometime when spring comes in another five months. The colorful wrapping the presents have come in are now charred down to nothing but ash. New Years Eve celebrations are just a memory, as we wake up hung over on this first day of the year.

We will all promise ourselves to do better this year then last year. Whether or not we will live up to it in the new year, is a totally different thing. Maybe we will do good for this month of January, then fall down in subsequent months. Regardless, in many ways, January is a month of great hope that we can change and overcome our human fallacies. A benchmark, that is pretty meaningless, but one we must find ourselves embracing every year.

September

Andy | September 1, 2009

The month of September is when the summer season officially winds down. It’s also when it starts getting a bit cooler and clearer our, and when we start seeing the first hints of fall’s beauty.

It’s the time of high-harvest and a closing out of summer. Kids go back to school this month, and young adults go back to college. Primary day comes and goes, political candidates focus on their general election.

Leaves start to fall. The humidity drops even faster. Some of the nicest weather of the entire year comes about. It promises to be a pleasurable time.

Spring Really Ain’t Here

Andy | April 13, 2009

In recent days it has started to warm up. The snow has largely disappeared except from the most sheltered areas by recent warm temperatures. The ground is throughly soggy and mud is everywhere. Yet, I am not foolish enough to believe just because the calender says that we are officially in spring, that it really is spring for sure.

We can still very much so get snow fall this late in March and into April. Some of our biggest snow storms of the year occur in late March, as weather closest to 32 degrees produces the most snow. It can still get well below freezing and quite cold at night. Winter doesn’t end the middle of March in Albany.

Yet, we can all take some refreshment in knowing that within a month the world will start to regain the amazing color of spring. Light greens on the trees and the greening of the grass becomes a deep green that will last through out the summer. The warm days in the lower 50s rapidly become warm days in the 70s, where you just want to soak up as much sun.

It may say spring on the calender, but it ain’t really here. Yet, it is still just around the corner.