Friday, July 31, 2020
Friday, July 31, 2020
Thursday, July 30, 2020
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Monday, July 27, 2020
Sunday, July 26, 2020
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Friday, July 24, 2020
Thursday, July 23, 2020
RACCOON RUMBLE
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Something of an insomniac night last night, not helped by what sounded like something being brutally murdered in the backyard at 2 AM. I was pretty sure it was raccoons fighting (though I wasn't sure if they were fighting each other or something else) and this recording confirms it - this is very similar to what I heard (except what I heard was a lot louder and lasted a lot longer.)
https://musicofnature.com/raccoon-fight/
They were up in the trees at least part of the time and never visible in my backyard (I was shining a light out the window to try to see them.)
Thursday, July 23, 2020
Something of an insomniac night last night, not helped by what sounded like something being brutally murdered in the backyard at 2 AM. I was pretty sure it was raccoons fighting (though I wasn't sure if they were fighting each other or something else) and this recording confirms it - this is very similar to what I heard (except what I heard was a lot louder and lasted a lot longer.)
https://musicofnature.com/raccoon-fight/
They were up in the trees at least part of the time and never visible in my backyard (I was shining a light out the window to try to see them.)
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Monday, July 20, 2020
Sunday, July 19, 2020
Friday, July 17, 2020
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
RACCOON RUMPUS
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Woke up at 3 AM to something rattling the squirrel corn cob bungee and sure enough, there was a raccoon out there when I turned on a light - actually, from the sounds there were several and I just saw the slowpoke.
Heard it rattling again around 5:30, when it was light enough to see, and found a whole family of raccoons. 4-5 youngsters and (a little bit later) an adult, presumably mom. The youngsters pulled the empty cob off the bungee, then continued to play with the hanging screw that holds the cob, as well as wrestling with each other and digging stuff up. Another one climbed the fence and worked at the corn cob mounted next to the squirrel feeder. They rattled around out there for a while before mom presumably indicated that it was time to go and took her group of ruffians off to get into trouble somewhere else.
Unfortunately I didn't have any of my cameras handy, and I didn't want to move too much and potentially scare them off, so no pictures 😞
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Woke up at 3 AM to something rattling the squirrel corn cob bungee and sure enough, there was a raccoon out there when I turned on a light - actually, from the sounds there were several and I just saw the slowpoke.
Heard it rattling again around 5:30, when it was light enough to see, and found a whole family of raccoons. 4-5 youngsters and (a little bit later) an adult, presumably mom. The youngsters pulled the empty cob off the bungee, then continued to play with the hanging screw that holds the cob, as well as wrestling with each other and digging stuff up. Another one climbed the fence and worked at the corn cob mounted next to the squirrel feeder. They rattled around out there for a while before mom presumably indicated that it was time to go and took her group of ruffians off to get into trouble somewhere else.
Unfortunately I didn't have any of my cameras handy, and I didn't want to move too much and potentially scare them off, so no pictures 😞
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Monday, July 13, 2020
BURCS CRAZY-STUPID CIRCADIAN CHALLENGE - NIGHT
3.9 Mile Run Through Crescent-Halfmoon Park
4.6 Mile Walk on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
6.1 Mile Walk on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, July 12, 2020 & Monday July 13, 2020
Tackling the night portion of the Circadian Challenge required an important consideration - where could I go after dark and not be too concerned about my car being ticketed or towed? The Pine Bush was a definite possibility but I can no longer navigate the trails there after dark without a light. I was also pretty sure I wanted to avoid too many hills, given that my legs were already tired from 14+ miles on my feet.
I ran the path through Crescent Halfmoom Park along the northern shore of the Mohawk River a number of months ago, so I decided that would be an easy start. Surprisingly I was able to run (slowly) most of the time I was there. From there I headed to Lock 7 Rd where the bike path crosses the road, and walked the path 1st to Blatnick Park at the top of the old landfill. There were fireflies everywhere and the frogs in the river were quite vocal, and while walking up the hill wasn't much fun, the view from the top made up for it. When I got back to Lock 7 Rd, it was easy enough to keep heading east for another half mile to get in all the distance I wanted for the evening.
While I had hoped to get a couple of hours of sleep before finishing up in the morning, that didn't happen. I was lucky in that a friend from work wanted to come along for the 5:30 AM morning walk - the company helped both the drive out to the park n ride at the end of 890 and the walk along the bike path go by more quickly, and along the way we saw wood ducks and ducklings, a muskrat, an egret, and a beaver (and numerous of the ubiquitous bunnies). 30 min before the 8 AM deadline I was back at the car to complete the challenge, having covered 14.6 miles in just under 4 1/2 hours.
Now I just have to survive today on no sleep. Circadian challenge indeed!
JMH
3.9 Mile Run Through Crescent-Halfmoon Park
4.6 Mile Walk on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
6.1 Mile Walk on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Sunday, July 12, 2020 & Monday July 13, 2020
Tackling the night portion of the Circadian Challenge required an important consideration - where could I go after dark and not be too concerned about my car being ticketed or towed? The Pine Bush was a definite possibility but I can no longer navigate the trails there after dark without a light. I was also pretty sure I wanted to avoid too many hills, given that my legs were already tired from 14+ miles on my feet.
I ran the path through Crescent Halfmoom Park along the northern shore of the Mohawk River a number of months ago, so I decided that would be an easy start. Surprisingly I was able to run (slowly) most of the time I was there. From there I headed to Lock 7 Rd where the bike path crosses the road, and walked the path 1st to Blatnick Park at the top of the old landfill. There were fireflies everywhere and the frogs in the river were quite vocal, and while walking up the hill wasn't much fun, the view from the top made up for it. When I got back to Lock 7 Rd, it was easy enough to keep heading east for another half mile to get in all the distance I wanted for the evening.
While I had hoped to get a couple of hours of sleep before finishing up in the morning, that didn't happen. I was lucky in that a friend from work wanted to come along for the 5:30 AM morning walk - the company helped both the drive out to the park n ride at the end of 890 and the walk along the bike path go by more quickly, and along the way we saw wood ducks and ducklings, a muskrat, an egret, and a beaver (and numerous of the ubiquitous bunnies). 30 min before the 8 AM deadline I was back at the car to complete the challenge, having covered 14.6 miles in just under 4 1/2 hours.
Now I just have to survive today on no sleep. Circadian challenge indeed!
JMH
Sunday, July 12, 2020
BURCS CRAZY-STUPID CIRCADIAN CHALLENGE - DAY
5.1 Mile Run Around Albany
2.0 Mile Walk At Buckingham Pond
7.1 Mile Run at Schodack Island State Park
Sunday, July 12, 2020
The BURCS (Berkshire Ultrarunning Community for Service) Circadian Challenge is the latest insane event to be dreamed up by Benn Griffin and his crazy BURCS cohorts. The concept is simple: pick a 24 hr period starting at either 8 AM or 8 PM. During the 1st 12 hours, cover at least 13.1 miles and earn the appropriate half (day or night) of the medal. During the 2nd 12 hours, cover at least 13.1 miles and earn the other half.
I went through any number of permutations of where I was going to run and walk during each 12 hour period: Minnewaska and maybe Mohonk for the day half, Jug End (thus finishing my BURCS Jug End 4.2 mile virtual race) and maybe the Egremont section of the AT for the day half... in the end I stayed close to home (literally, for the 1st run.) just because it was a whole lot easier and didn't involve lengthy drives which could potentially mess up my timing (and also wouldn't be much fun given that I expected to be on my feet for 4-5 hours of each 12 hour period and didn't expect to get much sleep during the 24 hours.
The first run actually went fairly well and felt pretty good. Walking around Buckingham Pond later in the morning started to remind me that my legs were getting tired. While I was eating lunch and resting up, the idea of finishing my day miles at Schodack Island came to me - easy trails! I probably walked a lot more than I ran there, but the whole time I was moving forward as quickly as I could (without burning my legs out and dooming my night attempt) so I'm counting the whole thing as a run.
In the end, between 8 AM and 8 PM I covered 14.2 miles in just under 4 hours (apparently the time doesn't matter) - more than enough to earn the day half of the medal. The idea to do shorter treks and rest in between was a good one - I could have finished the whole distance in one haul, but it would have involved more walking and my legs would have been more fried when I was done.
And about 90 minutes after I got home from finishing my Schodack miles - I hopped in the car to head to the Mohawk River for my night miles.
JMH
5.1 Mile Run Around Albany
2.0 Mile Walk At Buckingham Pond
7.1 Mile Run at Schodack Island State Park
Sunday, July 12, 2020
The BURCS (Berkshire Ultrarunning Community for Service) Circadian Challenge is the latest insane event to be dreamed up by Benn Griffin and his crazy BURCS cohorts. The concept is simple: pick a 24 hr period starting at either 8 AM or 8 PM. During the 1st 12 hours, cover at least 13.1 miles and earn the appropriate half (day or night) of the medal. During the 2nd 12 hours, cover at least 13.1 miles and earn the other half.
I went through any number of permutations of where I was going to run and walk during each 12 hour period: Minnewaska and maybe Mohonk for the day half, Jug End (thus finishing my BURCS Jug End 4.2 mile virtual race) and maybe the Egremont section of the AT for the day half... in the end I stayed close to home (literally, for the 1st run.) just because it was a whole lot easier and didn't involve lengthy drives which could potentially mess up my timing (and also wouldn't be much fun given that I expected to be on my feet for 4-5 hours of each 12 hour period and didn't expect to get much sleep during the 24 hours.
The first run actually went fairly well and felt pretty good. Walking around Buckingham Pond later in the morning started to remind me that my legs were getting tired. While I was eating lunch and resting up, the idea of finishing my day miles at Schodack Island came to me - easy trails! I probably walked a lot more than I ran there, but the whole time I was moving forward as quickly as I could (without burning my legs out and dooming my night attempt) so I'm counting the whole thing as a run.
In the end, between 8 AM and 8 PM I covered 14.2 miles in just under 4 hours (apparently the time doesn't matter) - more than enough to earn the day half of the medal. The idea to do shorter treks and rest in between was a good one - I could have finished the whole distance in one haul, but it would have involved more walking and my legs would have been more fried when I was done.
And about 90 minutes after I got home from finishing my Schodack miles - I hopped in the car to head to the Mohawk River for my night miles.
JMH
Friday, July 10, 2020
Thursday, July 09, 2020
Wednesday, July 08, 2020
Sunday, July 05, 2020
Saturday, July 04, 2020
Friday, July 03, 2020
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