Good morning! Happy Thursday. Next Thursday is State Fair Opens. Summer is rapidly coming to an end. Mostly sunny and 61 degrees in Delmar. Calm wind. The dew point is 53 degrees. Should be a beautiful day. Some minor traffic delays downtown but that may be because of the bus running a few minutes later then usual.

Last night’s Save the Pine Bush Dinner was good but I was tired after washing all those dishes. I actually had to sneak out before all the dishes were done to catch the bus home, but I made it. It was a bit strange waiting for the bus with the Capitol lights out, as they were dimmed for the community movie they were showing at West Capitol Park on the big projection screen. I think it’s great that the state is showing those movies, and heck, they’re probably saving money by dimming the lights at the Capitol.

Today will be sunny, with a high of 80 degrees at 3pm. One degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 56 at 6pm. Light and variable wind. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 81 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1913.

The sun will set at 7:53 pm with dusk around 8:23 pm, which is one minute and 31 seconds earlier than yesterday. At sunset, look for partly clear conditions and 76 degrees. The dew point will be 57 degrees. There will be a southeast breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 13 hours and 47 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 35 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers, mainly after 1am. Increasing clouds, with a low of 63 degrees at 5am. Three degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 63 at 6am. Southeast wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2016, we had mostly cloudy skies. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 64 degrees. The record low of 40 occurred back in 1981.

Still no decision has been made on the extended weekend. The weather sure looks nice. I kind of want to go back out to the Finger Lakes to do a re-do of the vacation in warm sunny weather, but I am also a little bored with that idea, as I did spend 9 days and eight nights out int he Finger Lakes (with very little sun and much rain) only two weeks ago.  It’s going to be so hot, so swimming would be fun. I do like sitting by Foster Pond at 1 AM, looking up in the stars. I do like Foster Dairy Bar and truck cap camping by a nice big campfire, and watching the cows chomp on the grass.

On the other hand, I would like to see some of Pennsylvania again, and Erie PA would have a somewhat better view of the Eclipse, assuming that I get eclipse glasses, which never came in the mail. I’m going to look at local retailers now. I’ve heard Walmart and Home Depot have them until they run out. I heard the library ran out — I probably should have gotten my glasses for free there, but I figured it would be easier to order them online — and they were supposed to come with a nice commemorative stamp that I could save. Tonight I will stop at Walmart and Home Depot after the Save the Pine Bush hike to check.

I could go up to the Adirondacks, but that would require more planning, as I can’t just stop at Walmart or Tops like I can if I go to Finger Lakes. But on the other hand, I haven’t spent that much time in the Adirondacks this year, and I haven’t been up to the Northern Adirondacks since 2015. Lows Lakes and St. Regis Canoe Area might be fun to at least visit in the day time, but it might be crowded in the summer. I might be better to go up there in the autumn. Also the Deer River area might be fun to camp in, like was originally the plan in the spring before I got rained out. I have have to get a paddle though for my kayak for that, and I would also have to buy food for the whole week, as grocery options are limited and expensive in the Adirondacks. But if I’m no

On this day in 1977, the Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole. And in 1982, the first Compact Discs (CDs) are released to the public in Germany. I can’t remember the last time I played a CD, I think most music is in mp3 files these days.

As previously noted, next Thursday is State Fair Opens when the sun will be setting at 7:41 pm with dusk at 8:11 pm. On that day in 2016, we had patches of fog, partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 85 and 57 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 79 degrees. We hit a record high of 95 back in 1947.