I was saddened, maybe even devestated to hear of John Wolcott’s passing while I was up in the wilderness, cut off from the news of the world. At one level I expected it sooner, he wasn’t well when I left for summer vacation and he hadn’t gotten better the last time I visited and I knew the end was near. And it was a cold and rainy four days, away from it all up at Piseco-Powley Road, though maybe it was good to be away from it all for four days before summer was done for good. No radio news, nothing up to date since leaving Thursday. Last summer weekend camping at least at Piseco-Powley though I might do an autumn trip and thinking Speculator for Labor Day Weekend. Can you believe it in two weeks?

Good afternoon! Partly cloudy and 74 degrees at the Herkimer Home Historical Site. ⛅ There is a west breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 62 degrees.

I would have hoped for better weather for the weekend that was 🌦️ but I’m not surprised by rain every day with the summer that’s was and the forecast that degraded as the long weekend approached. There was some breaks of sunshine ☀ but most of the weekend was cloudy with times of rain, especially after dark but also each morning after I got up including take down take down day, earlier today. Cold and rainy. Not a wash out but at times I was glad I packed the propane heater it got a fair amount of use for August camping!

Fortunately I caught the impending rain ☔ with the darkening skies and got the screen tent 🎪, flags 🎌 and tarp down before they could get very wet. 💧 Had a bit of sun today which is good for drying gear and as my starting and accessory batteries 🔋 could use a good boost this morning as it’s been cloudy and I haven’t run my engine since Thursday. It was raining while driving down to Little Falls this afternoon but now it’s getting sunny and warmer.

This afternoon will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 78 degrees at 4pm. Four degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around September 5th. Maximum dew point of 63 at 4pm. West wind around 8 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with a few breaks of sun the afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 93 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1937.

The rainy weekend did leave a lot of time for reading 📖 and playing around with cooking 🧑‍🍳 some meals coming out better than others. Been trying to come up with filling meals that taste damn good, relatively easy to cook but also have less calories but more fiber and protein, along with essential vitamins. 💊 Plus I have so much good farmers market 🌽 foods to eat up. The sweet corn 🌽 from Samdil’s was amazing as was the peaches 🍑 from Roger’s.

Took a few naps 😴 in the hammock besides reading, 📖 listening to podcasts and some bike riding 🚲 and hiking it’s been a very lazy weekend but I’m chocking it up to the weather. ☔ Honestly though if it had been nicer it would have been a lazier weekend just floating on the tube ⭕. Let’s be honest. Still every day either walked at least five miles, rode 7 ½ or a combination of both. 🚶 Do it’s not like I was just eating 🍴 and sleeping. 🔥 Had some nice fires in part because it was so cold and rainy, smokey at times due to the wet wood.

Bike 🚲 and hiked part of the way back to both the swimming hole off Old Edick Road snowmobile trail on Friday and on Saturday did Goldmine Stream Falls. Lot of water 💦 going over Goldmine Steam Falls. Thursday I rode up to Notch Mountain ⛰ and Friday also spent time at the Potholers but no swimming 🏊 due to it being very cold and the water levels dangerously high. I’ve never seen the Potholers so high in the summer months. 🏊‍♂️

Saturday night was the best night by far, stayed up until close to midnight watching the shooting stars ✨ from my hammock then listening to music 🎶 down by the campfire 🔥 for warmth. Had a second beer 🍻 and maybe a smoke 🚬 which is so uncommon these days since I’ve gotten into healthy eating in my forties. But also snacked on sweet corn 🌽 and peaches 🍑 by the fire. No more cookies these days, I go for natural fruits when I’m hungry. Greek yogurt too but not on Saturday. Switched on Country is so much funnier when your slightly stoned. 🤪

Solar noon 🌞 is at 1:04 pm with sun having an altitude of 59.5° from the due south horizon (-10.9° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.5 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:18 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (282°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (288°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:56 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 4 seconds with dusk around 8:24 pm, which is one minute and 34 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the First Quarter 🌓 Moon in the west-southwest (246°) at an altitude of 14° from the horizon, 246,018 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:03 pm. At sunset, look for partly clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 75 degrees. The dew point will be 64 degrees. There will be a west breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 47 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 40 seconds over yesterday.

Today out exploring Little Falls, Herkimer Home, Bike Path and Moss Island. 🚲 No set agenda, I’m just in the area until 6 pm or so when I’ll take NY 5S to Sprakers then down to Sloansville and US 20, maybe stop for ice cream 🍦 and sweet corn 🌽 if I see a good place. I was surprised that Green Acres dinner and ice cream stand is still open in Dolgeville, I heard it’s closing but I’m not going back that way.

Tonight will have increasing clouds ☁, with a low of 64 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 64 at 7pm. Light northwest wind. In 2022, we had mostly clear skies. It was humid. It got down to 70 degrees. The record low of 42 occurred back in 1977.

The unavoidable truth is a five 5⃣ day work week ahead in the office 🏢 as the head director is off for my unit, and as the deputy I have to step up and fill in for her role. It’s fine, but no more passing the buck, ignoring emails 📧 and not taking immediate action on staff and inter departmental requests because I don’t want to step on the toes 👣 of the director. 🙈 It means no sneaking off to the woods this week. Promised my mom next week to do a clam bake for them too. 🦪 Following weekend though probably head to Spectulator, maybe taking off that Friday or working remotely.

Need to order the bolt 🔩 and the tool to install the lost bolt on Blackie’s 🚵 rack. The zip tie was a good emergency fix but it still rattles and I’m not convinced that I should carry a lot of groceries on the rack with the loose bolt. Could fail under weight. 🍏 Rather be safe then sorry and have groceries spill all over the road.

In 2014, seventy-two people are killed in Japan’s Hiroshima Prefecture by a series of landslides ☔ caused by a month’s worth of rain that fell in one day. Reminds me of the some of the extreme rain we’ve been having lately.

I was sadden to learn of John Wolcott’s passing this afternoon 😢 while I was away from town at camp. 👼🏼 He was quite the man though I don’t know even half the story as so much of his memory had passed by the time I started interviewing him and going through his files. 📂 I do always wonder what was in his attic that burned in that fire 🔥. I know after that fire I personally made sure to keep multiple off site back ups, scan in important documents and purge a lot of the paper 📄 I owned. Never got to the really interesting stuff in his attic where the fire burned hottest. So much of the story untold. 🕯

I’m glad I blog in part because it’s a way to ensure at least part of my story is told and can get found on the Way back Machine and the Internet Archives. 🖥 You never really know how long people’s lives will last, or the institutions and things around us. Here one day, gone the next. 🕊 Honestly I thought 💭 the news 📰 would happen during summer vacation, though I’m glad I did spend a few afternoons with him at the hospital, took him around the Crossings and read to him before it was over. 🦆 🐦 🦋 🎍 I do wish I had found time to do that one more time before it was too late. 🙏 I need to do better with my parents.

Looking ahead, there are 3 weeks until 6:30 Sunrise 🌇 when the sun will be setting at 7:20 pm with dusk at 7:47 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.