May 17, 2020 10 PM Update

Good evening! Cloudy and 67 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a east breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 50 degrees. The skies will clear Tuesday around 1 am.

For all the commotion earlier it looks like the fire 🚒 is out or whatever all the emergency vehicles were reporting too. Maybe I’m a bit paranoid about the plastics plant blowing up but I’m well aware of toxic chemicals they use at SABIC plastics and it sure seemed like a lot of emergency response heading that way. 👮 Probably safer at home at any rate and who knows their is rain pushing this way shortly.

It’s not like I sat home and eat twinkies all day. 🍛 I did have a bowl of tuna fish salad for dinner but it probably has a quarter pound of peas and broccoli besides the noodles, mayonnaise and tuna fish. 🐠 I did hold back on the mayonnaise a bit.

Walking out to Five Rivers this afternoon was nice. 🐸 Spent several hours studying nature with the binoculars my parents lent me. It’s really fascinating to watch the birds up close and even just study squirrel and chipmunk behavior. Next up I need to get a better knowledge of bird 🐦 species – I know the common ones but especially the migratory birds are a bit of a mystery to me. I thought about Black Creek Marsh at dusk but I decided to hold off because it was getting late – after seven o’clock when I started walking home from Five Rivers.

To be honest, my plan for visiting Black Creek Marsh at dusk 🌆 wasn’t just for bird watching 🐦 or photos 📷 but in part because I was curious how effective the Permethrin would be in really buggy weather – that is with DEET on the face and arms. People swear by it and while I haven’t found any ticks on me yet and saw a mosquitoes collapse after crawling on my jeans 👖 I’m not totally convinced of the hype. I did spray my hat yesterday too. Unlike DEET I might also be able to safely apply it to the hammock which would help with the bugs when I’m lying there.

Tonight will be scattered sprinkles before 11pm, then showers likely, mainly after 3am. Cloudy 🌧, with a low of 53 degrees at 5am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around June 2nd. Maximum dew point of 50 at 9pm. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies. It got down to 46 degrees. The record low of 29 occurred back in 1981.

Tonight will have a Waining Crescent 🌘 Moon with 19% illuminated. The darkest hour is at 12:53 am, followed by dawn at 4:59 am, and sun starting to rise at 5:32 am in the east-northeast (62°) and last for 3 minutes and 16 seconds. Sunrise is 57 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 6:13 am with sun in the east-northeast (69°). Tonight will have 9 hours and 16 minutes of darkness, a decrease of one minute and 57 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have showers likely, mainly before 9am. Mostly cloudy 🌦, with a high of 65 degrees at 3pm. Five degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around May 2nd. Maximum dew point of 50 at 10am. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 73 degrees. The record high of 94 was set in 2017. 2.2 inches of snow fell back in 2002.❄

In four weeks on June 14 the sun will be setting in the west-northwest (303°) at 8:34 pm,🌄 which is 21 minutes and 28 seconds later then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 68 and 53 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 78 and 56 degrees. The record high of 96 degrees was set back in 1892.

So the Gas Up tractor and agricultural festival is canceled for June. 🚜 I think that was kind of expected during the pandemic although they’re considering trying to reschedule for mid August. Could be hot then I’m thinking though. Assuming it’s even an option then – they didn’t seem too hopeful. 😔

Looking ahead, Strawberry Moon 🌕 is in 3 weeks and Fathers Day 👨 is in 4 weeks.

🇺🇸🦅Only 5 days remain until the start of Memorial Day Weekend!🦅🇺🇸

I was doing some reading on the internet and found out that the lower part of Piseco Powley Road is still not fully rebuilt from the October 2019 storm and that the road is closed. ⛺ So I guess that’s out for the weekend. Hopefully soon though they’ll finish the rebuild and open the gates all the way. There are other options but with the nice weather expected and the state campgrounds closed they’ll fill up quickly.

So the original plan of delaying my Memorial Day Weekend for one week is back on the agenda. 🔙 That’s fine, it gives me more time to pack and potentially opens up more options as there will be fewer people camping, especially if I drive up Thursday evening or Friday morning on a non holiday weekend. I never did a spring trip this year with a long weekend so I have the time.

Come June for example, it’s likely Perkins Clearing Road and West River Road and White House in Wells will open. 🚧 But also I expect I could get that campsite up on Pumpkin Hollow Road when on a non holiday weekend. If it’s hot though it would be nice to be able to walk to water. Betty Brook or Duck Pond are good options in Schoharie County. 💭

East Branch Sacandaga River is fine but it’s noisy 🐠 and the river isn’t that great for fishing due to the fluctuating water levels. A drought in summer – as was a case a few years ago can leave the river with only a few inches of water. Right now, Cherry Ridge and Finger Lakes National Forest are closed for camping.

Maybe Moose River will be my summer vacation if Piseco Powley Road ⛺ is not rebuilt. While I assume ny mid summer that the Finger Lakes National Forest will reopen for camping if the pools and beaches aren’t open I’m sure if I’d want to do summer vacation there.

Other options include the Allegheny and Green Mountain National Forest. 🗻 The later is open but who knows if the current limits on out of state visitors will be lifted by summer. That Grout Pond beach is fun and some of sites along Forest Road 73 not only have good sun ☀ for solar but also cell reception.

View from Gravesite

Something exciting happens in town

I saw 7 police cars and 5 fire trucks roar by. I figured it was some pretentious government bureaucrat’s house must be on fire. So I started on my evening walk, not really caring.

Then I thought about it a bit more and decided well maybe the plastics plant down the road is on fire and about to douse the community in hydrochloric acid which is kind of bad to breathe in, especially during a pandemic. I decided it better to head home so I can be close to my truck if an emergency evacuation is necessary should my eyes and lungs start to burn. So far nothing.

Ain’t America a great place to live?

The Skeptics Guide #775 – May 16 2020

The Skeptics Guide #775 – May 16 2020

5/16/2020 by SGU Productions

Web player: https://podplayer.net/?id=105402582
Episode: https://media.libsyn.com/media/skepticsguide/skepticast2020-05-16.mp3

Interview with Gerald Posner; COVID-19 Update; News Items: Do Facemasks Work, Carbon Dioxide and the Pandemic, Distrust of Expertise Online, Closest Black Hole; Who’s That Noisy; Your Questions and E-mails: R-Naught; Science or Fiction

Lynne Jackson of Save the Pine Bush got me interested in this podcast. Especially since the pandemic got underway it’s become a must listen every Sunday to learn about the facts on the ground, even if I don’t agree with all of the conclusions.

Knox School House and Tiny Living

Yesterday while I was out hiking at Thacher Park I stopped by old Knox #5 one room school house that has been historically restored 🏫

The sign about the building says some time after its closure as a school in 1939 it was used as a residence. I am sure it had to have been a cool little home, much like that Fire Tower observer cabin I toured last summer on Hunter Mountain. It’s not tiny but it’s small, essentially one room heated by wood. I could see eventually owning something like that for a home, with a wood stove, and maybe a few solar panels on the roof for very basic electric needs like LED lighting or charging 5 volt devices.

You see some pretty fancy off grid homes these days on the internet but it seems like a lot to heat and light with lots to break and dispose of, lots of unnecessary costs for a good life. I’d much rather spend my money on land not building, on tractors and implements and tools to maintain the land is a sustainable fashion than an expensive home.

Decided to walk out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center to do some birding 🐦

Decided to walk out to Five Rivers Environmental Education Center to do some birding 🐦

Turned out to be a much nicer day than expected. While I wasn’t planning on driving anywhere today I’m now thinking about driving out to Black Creek Marsh Wildlife Management Area to watch birds at dusk. Quartine plus getting a nice pair of binoculars from my parents has really got me into birding.