It sometimes is good to break away from the ordinary, go some place new. I think it was the first time I ever went to Connecticut even if I didnโt spend much time there except for in the ever so woke country around Salisbury.
Driving home you could really smell the pungent honeysuckle along the road. Some cow manure and farm smells but not so much as manuring season has passed by in favor of planting as itโs already mid May. Ancram, Historic Farming Community the sign read. I was actually surprised how agricultural that part of Dutchess County really is โ not all gentlemen farms and suburban sprawl unlike the part of Connecticut I explored. And winding along NY 82 in Ancram I smelled somebody burning garbage, lol! What burn ban? Hell yeah. No trash fires though when I drove past that homestead on NY 9W that years ago always had something burning back in the day โ you know the folks who got in trouble with the town for having too many pigs and cows on their small acerage, even though it was pretty rural, but it just takes that one neighbor to cause trouble. Part of living rural is about freedom, and if that means a bit of stinky smoke or manure, then so be it.
Busing it to work as my bike is down for the week. With all the rain and the current going out, the Hudson River looks to have a very stiff current heading south. Glad Iโm not on a kayak on the river today. Iโve kayaked the Hudson many times before, but today would not be day to do it, probably will still some shit mats floating on the river from all the rain. I was actually surprised how dry most of the trails I hiked after all the rain weโve been having lately. It really was good hiking conditions. I think the breeze, the deep blue skies and the rock terrain of the Berkshires and Taconics meant things drained quickly.
I have all but one bolt off that disc brake on my bike. Struggling to get that one off, it is soaking in WD-40 and I will work on getting it off, hopefully not bugger it up any more. This was one of the things I was worried about, but I think I will free it up. If not, I will drill it out. Worse comes to worse, Iโll order another brake disc โ theyโre not expensive and the current one is worn. Not the first bolt Iโve ever stripped, but Iโm getting better with shit like this. Maybe Iโll work on it tonight, but itโs a fairly nice evening, so I may want to instead lead the oil soak in another night, and be careful trying to pull it. Certainly not the first I might need some more drill bits โ Iโll need them for widening the tire stem hole to the size of the Shrader valve, but then once the wheel comes in I should be able to get it installed over the weekend, and hopefully be back on road come next week.
I think Iโll go to the park after dinner, and read books on my phone until dusk. Enjoy the nice weather, closer to home, as I canโt ride anywhere. Walking isnโt a bad thing, though I do have a bit of a blister on my toe so I got to be careful how much I walk tonight. I do miss having the bike, and look forward to having it back on the road in the next week or so. Really the main issue is just waiting for the wheel to come in. I am actually kind of enjoying the change of pace, having a bike is nice but it seems like you feel like you constantly have to be riding places and that with it, walking is slow and pointless, even though walking is much more leisurely and works different parts of the body.
Looks like more rain for the coming weekend, so getting out of town doesnโt look that promising. The following weekend is Memorial Day Weekend, which is always horrific with the black flies, and my perception that all the good campsites go quickly, though Iโm not sure that is true. Sure been a lot of rainy, buggy awful Memorial Day Weekends Iโve camped and pretended it was fun, but it kind of sucked. I am not so sold on it this year, indeed some years in more recent years, Iโve just skipped on it. Can always just take another long weekend in the summer.
the pungent honeysuckle 
along the road. Some cow manure and farm smells but not so much as manuring season has passed by in favor of planting 
as itโs already mid May. Ancram, Historic Farming Community the sign read. I was actually surprised how agricultural that part of Dutchess County really is โ not all gentlemen farms and suburban sprawl unlike the part of Connecticut I explored. 
And winding along NY 82 in Ancram I smelled somebody burning garbage, lol! 
What burn ban? Hell yeah. No trash fires though when I drove past that homestead on NY 9W that years ago always had something burning back in the day โ you know the folks who got in trouble with the town for having too many pigs and cows on their small acerage, even though it was pretty rural, but it just takes that one neighbor to cause trouble. 
Part of living rural is about freedom, and if that means a bit of stinky smoke or manure, then so be it.
as my bike 
is down for the week. With all the rain and the current going out, the Hudson River looks to have a very stiff current heading south. 
Glad Iโm not on a kayak on the river today. Iโve kayaked the Hudson many times before, but today would not be day to do it, probably will still some shit mats floating on the river 
from all the rain. I was actually surprised how dry most of the trails I hiked 
after all the rain weโve been having lately. It really was good hiking conditions. I think the breeze, the deep blue skies and the rock terrain of the Berkshires and Taconics meant things drained quickly.
off that disc brake on my bike. Struggling to get that one off, it is soaking in WD-40 and I will work on getting it off, hopefully not bugger it up any more. This was one of the things I was worried about, but I think I will free it up. If not, I will drill it out. Worse comes to worse, Iโll order another brake disc โ theyโre not expensive and the current one is worn. Not the first bolt Iโve ever stripped, but Iโm getting better with shit like this. Maybe Iโll work on it tonight, but itโs a fairly nice evening, so I may want to instead lead the oil soak in another night, and be careful trying to pull it. Certainly not the first I might need some more drill bits โ Iโll need them for widening the tire stem hole to the size of the Shrader valve, but then once the wheel comes in I should be able to get it installed over the weekend, and hopefully be back on road come next week. 
and read books on my phone until dusk. Enjoy the nice weather, closer to home, as I canโt ride anywhere. 
Walking isnโt a bad thing, though I do have a bit of a blister on my toe 
so I got to be careful how much I walk tonight. I do miss having the bike, and look forward to having it back on the road in the next week or so. Really the main issue is just waiting for the wheel to come in. I am actually kind of enjoying the change of pace, having a bike is nice but it seems like you feel like you constantly have to be riding places and that with it, walking is slow and pointless, even though walking is much more leisurely and works different parts of the body.
so getting out of town doesnโt look that promising. The following weekend is Memorial Day Weekend, which is always horrific with the black flies, 
and my perception that all the good campsites go quickly, though Iโm not sure that is true. Sure been a lot of rainy, buggy awful Memorial Day Weekends Iโve camped and pretended it was fun, 
but it kind of sucked. I am not so sold on it this year, indeed some years in more recent years, Iโve just skipped on it. Can always just take another long weekend in the summer.