Yesterday’s unrelenting rain continued through the night into the morning, causing puddles, gulleys and streams to run with mud. 60F by 9am.
© J.N. Urbanski 8am
Daily Catskills: 09/30/15
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Tag Archives: Catskills Photography
Daily Catskills: 09/29/15
A balmy 65F at 8.30am, overcast and humid. Rain and 70F at 12.30pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
Daily Catskills: 09/28/15
A hair under 70F, cloudy and humid at 9.30am. Warm, sunny with multifarious cloud cover for the rest of the day and a blazing sunset.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.40am
Evening Catskills: Super Full Blood Moon 09/27/15
© J.N. Urbanski 8.42pm
Clouds obscured the entire viewing of the lunar eclipse last night, but it was still stunning to watch. The blood moon was completely immersed in the earth’s shadow causing it to be bathed in a red glow. It was full and at its perigee, meaning it was at its closest point to the Earth at 221,753 miles (356,877 km), making it a so-called supermoon. We had a clear view until the actual eclipse began and then two distinct layers of cloud cover rolled through a high, white ripple and a lower layer of scanty black cotton wool.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.17pm
Daily Catskills: Fall Folliage and Sunrise Picks
© J.N. Urbanski 09/25/15 9.15am
It’s been a glorious week for enigmatic pictures and it seems as if today’s the day that the colors are really popping out more vividly at us. On Friday, both a black cat and mouse scurried across my path on my morning jaunt: an ancient sign of luck. The barn on Breezy Hill Road (below) has featured as an icon of Upstate Dispatch. I’ve photographed in all seasons and in all sorts of weather: covered in snow, sunny, foggy, misty and raining. Herein starts Fall Foliage Watch and we will hiking to the top of mountains to capture some of the best of it in the next few months.
© J.N. Urbanski 09/26/15 8.15am
Daily Catskills: 09/27/15
64F by noon, but hot in the sun, sunny and bright, not yet jacket weather. Wispy ribbons of cloud streak across the sky.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
Daily Catskills: 09/26/15
A crisp 57F at 8.30am with fog stuffed like cotton wool in the valleys and hazy skies. Update to come.
© J.N. Urbanski 7.40am
Daily Catskills: 09/25/15
A dewy 60F at 8.30am with wispy ribbons of cloud, rising to 70F by 1.30pm and more thickly overcast.
Chasing Honey Farms: Harvest Update
© J.N. Urbanski
Last week, I spent a morning on Chasing Honey Farms in Fleischmanns watching Chase Kruppo harvest honeycomb from his three hives. I had to beat a hasty retreat after the bees became agitated and it turns out I was correct to turn on my heel when I did. Shortly after my departure, some of the bees swarmed and stung a fellow observer, but I’m told the chap took it like a champ.
Daily Catskills: 09/24/15
64F at 8.30am, with a clear sky obscured by the usual haze, rising to 70F by noon with a scanty flotilla of clouds. Officially, the first day of autumn in the northern hemisphere.
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm
Daily Catskills: 09/23/15 Autumnal Equinox
A warm and sunny 56F at 8.30am with clear skies rising to 72F by 1.30pm. At this point in the year, the sun crosses the celestial equator from north to south. At 4.21am this morning, the sun’s rays were perpendicular to the earth’s axis, making the sun shine directly at the equator. On other days of the year, the northern or southern hemisphere tilts away or toward the sun. On the Equinox day and night are nearly exactly the same length and in the northern hemisphere this day is the official start of the Autumn. Splodges of red dot the landscape.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm
Daily Catskills: 9/22/15
52F at 8.30am, overcast and grey, rising to 65F and hot during the sunny periods by 1.30pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
A Catskills Weekend
© J.N. Urbanski
I was honoured to have been invited to a friend’s wedding on Andes’ Willow Drey Farm over the weekend and spent a gorgeous late summer day catching up with neighbors in one of the most beautiful settings in the Catskills. (It’s technically still summer until the Autumnal Equinox on September 23rd.) I already have fearsome village envy over Andes and Willow Drey Farm is not helping. It’s a stunning 65 acres of big sky country farmland with rolling hills, a grain silo, barn, lake and old-style wooden fencing throughout. See my Daily Catskill pictures here.
Daily Catskills: 09/21/15
43F at 7.15am, dry and breezy, with a thin film of hazy cloud, rising quickly to 49F by 8am and 60F by 11am.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
Daily Catskills: 09/20/15
64F by 10am, clear skies with overnight rain evaporating into the sun. Breezy with scattered, wispy clouds. 70F by mid-afternoon: perfect day for a Catskills wedding.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.20pm
© J.N. Urbanski 11.40am
Daily Catskills: 09/19/15
78F by 10.30am with hazy, hazy sunshine and a whisper of a breeze. Mostly sunny with flotillas of cloud moving in mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm
© J.N. Urbanski 5.30pm
The Catskill 35: Eagle Mountain
© J.N. Urbanski
When I hiked Eagle Mountain last month, I passed a group of Asian tourists sitting cross-legged in a circle, chatting excitedly while frying the contents of their bento boxes over Bunsen burners. Along with the hissing of hibachi, the clattering of chopsticks is not the sort of sound you would expect on a Catskills trail, but there’s a first time for everything. Much to their annoyance, my puppy took a keen interest in the visitors’ elaborate picnic, but I would rather eat a hiker’s sock than be impolite, so I decided not to take a picture of the lean-to where they were lunching. The picture below is one that I took last year in October, so I hope you an imagine it filled in with lush greens.
Daily Catskills: 09/18/15
A balmy, dewy 70F by 8.30am with sun rising through the mist to reveal crystal clear skies. Another gorgeous day in the making.
© J.N. Urbanski 7.30am
© J.N. Urbanski 7.30am
Daily Catskills: 09/17/15
A very dewy, misty 67F at 8.30am with clear skies above the morning haze rising to 75F by 12.30pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 11.30am
© J.N. Urbanski 6.15pm
Daily Catskills: 09/16/15
A misty 50F at 7am, rising to 80F by 1.30pm and clear skies with a layer of haze over the mountains.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
© J.N. Urbanski 8am
Daily Catskills: 09/15/15
A crisp 60F at 8am with dew underfoot and a crystal clear, azure sky. 70F by 11.30am.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
Daily Catskills: 09/14/15
50F at 7.30am, with overnight rain still drizzling and being shaken off trees, overcast and gloomy. 59F by 2pm and cloudy with periods of sunshine.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
Daily Catskills: 09/13/15
70F by 8.30am, a sunny morning, but slipping to 67F by 1pm. Cool in the shade and warm in the sun.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
Daily Catskills: 09/12/15
70F by 10am and until 1.30pm, overcast with occasional bursts of sunshine and a slightly chilly afternoon breeze. Update: heavy rain mid-afternoon and into the evening.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.40pm
Daily Catskills: 09/11/15
Overnight rain left dampness in the ground that evaporated in the morning sun. 70F by noon, an armada of cloud and a warm breeze: a perfect late summer day.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm
Daily Catskills: 09/10/15
68F at 8am, rising to 72F and cloudy with heat-relieving light rain having fallen overnight. Rain expected. Update: late afternoon/evening rain.
© Margaret Helthaler www.margaretdhelthaler.com
Happy Birthday Upstate Dispatch!
© J.N. Urbanski
It’s been another beautiful Catskills summer. In the last few weeks, red leaves have been scattered sparingly on the forest floor like clues to a treasure hunt, leading me to my autumnal prize. A spectacular show, like the forest’s own Mexican wave, a static riot of color will commence later this month. A benevolent Mother Nature now has a cool wind in the works while Old Man Winter waits behind her gleefully rubbing his hands. I hope she flicks an acorn in his eye.
It’s at the waning end of this glorious summer that Upstate Dispatch celebrates its birthday. It turns a year old tomorrow, September 9th. I would, firstly, like to thank you for reading and all your wonderful comments, feedback and admiration. Readership support means such a great deal.
Daily Catskills: 09/08/15
Misty and 69F at 7.30am with a hazy horizon, rising to 88F and mostly clear by 1pm. Update: 88F until 3pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.40am
Daily Catskills: 09/07/15
A dewy, hazy, misty 64F at 8am, rising quickly to 80F by 11am. Update: a sweltering 85F by the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.20am
Daily Catskills: 09/06/15
A blazing 80F by 10.30am, with scattered clouds rising to 82F by 1pm.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
Daily Catskills: 09/05/15
70F by 10am, breezy and partly cloudy. Another 80F scorcher, with scattered cotton wool clouds, by 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 10am
Daily Catskills: 09/04/15
65F at 7.30am with the usual fog receding into the valleys, rising to another scorcher at a hazy, breezy 79F by the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.50pm
Daily Catskills: 09/03/15
60F at 7.30am, misty and humid with a chill in the air. Update: an 84F scorcher. Theme for the week: starts out misty then turns up the heat.
© J.N. Urbanski 7.30am
Daily Catskills: 09/02/15
70F by 9am, with misty mountains evaporating into the hazy sunshine. Update: another 80F+ scorcher, with the haze never really evaporating.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.30am
Daily Catskills: 09/01/15
A dew-dropping, foggy 68F by 8.30am. An 80F scorcher by 1pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
Daily Catskills: 08/31/15
A dewy, balmy 60F at 7.30am with mist hovering over the mountains.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
Daily Catskills: 08/30/15
70F by 10.30am, humid with hazy sunshine, rising to 80F by 12.30pm
© J.N. Urbanski 11.30am
Daily Catskills: 08/29/15
A dewy 55F at 8am with mist hovering in the mountains and hazy sunshine, rising to 78F by 2pm. Mostly sunny with cloudy periods.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.46pm
Daily Catskills: 08/28/15
63F at 10am rising to nearly 70F by 1pm, with gunmetal grey, rolling cloud cover dominating the skies, only occasionally breaking up to reveal sunshine.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
Daily Catskills: 08/27/15
A nippy 60F at 8.30am, overcast and gloomy, with a cool breeze, only rising to 64F by noon.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
Daily Catskills: 08/26/15
59F at 8.30am with hazy sunshine, quickly rising to 72F by 10.30am with scattered clouds.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.50am
Daily Catskills: 08/25/15
66F at 8am, foggy, humid and warm as the sun rises through the hazy cloud. Dashes of red, here and there, appear as the merest of blushing hints on the landscape.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
Daily Catskills: 08/24/15
A crisp 60F at 7.30am with fog hovering in the valleys. Update: 81F, blazing sun, scattered cloud combo.
© J.N. Urbanski 7.30am
© J.N. Urbanski 10.45am
Daily Catskills: 08/23/15
72F at 9am, bright with some scattered clouds. 78F by lunchtime.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.50pm
Daily Catskills: 08/22/15
A crisp, dewy 52F at 7.45am. Cloudy with fog rolling off the mountains. Update: 75F by 2pm with scattered clouds. Hot in the sunshine.
© J.N. Urbanski 8am
© J.N. Urbanski 12.50pm
Daily Catskills: 08/21/15
74F at 9.30am with mist evaporating into the sunshine. 82F by lunchtime with scattered clouds. Heavy overnight rains had given the landscape a good soaking, and left the rivers gushing and thick with mud.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.50pm
Daily Catskills: 08/20/15
78F by 8am, breezy with forboding cloud cover. Lunchtime rain, fog, humidity, with gunmetal skies. A moody day on the mountain top.
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm
© J.N. Urbanski 4.40pm
Catskills Conversations: Kristie & Steve Burnett
© J.N. Urbanski
Kristie and Steven Burnett run Burnett Farms in Bovina, New York. Kristie also makes herbal tea and salve, using herbs grown in their greenhouse.
JN: What brought you two to the Catskills?
KB: I’ve been here for 15 years and what brought me to the Catskills was my charming Bovina farmer.
SB: I have been in the Catskills for a long time, starting in Phoenicia, where I had house and barn full of motorcycles. Then I moved to Bovina where there was a little more sunshine than up Woodland Valley and have been here since 1989. I came here also to have a weekend house, like so many people with careers in the city.
JN: So you’re both from the city?
KB: I’m still in the city. I teach third grade, so I’m up here on weekends and holidays and summers, which is more than I teach actually.
JN: Have you ever thought about getting a job up here teaching?
KB: Yes. Hopefully, that’s in the making.
JN: So you’re both born and bred in New York?
KB: I’m born and raised in New York and Steve is from…
SB: Iowa, where there are more pigs than people and we’re proud of it.
Daily Catskills: 08/19/15
79F by 10am and bright despite thick haze over the mountains. A scorcher with a few sprinkles.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.20am
© J.N. Urbanski 4pm
Daily Catskills: 08/18/15
A scorching 88F by 10am, with strong sunshine blazing through the thick morning haze. Cloud cover steals the show again, however, and high humidity leads to thunder at 4pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 3.50pm
© J.N. Urbanski 11.50am
Daily Catskills: 08/17/15
86F by 10.30am, dry with hazy sunshine. A humid scorcher with a few passing clouds.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.30pm
Daily Catskills: 08/16/15
A misty morning caused by heavy overnight rain, but 80F by 10.30am, sticky and humid. Dew rising off the flora quickly as the temperature rises. A sultry day ahead.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.02am
© J.N. Urbanski 9.12am
Daily Catskills: 08/15/15
71F at 9.30am, humid and misty, soaked by overnight rain. Bright and sunny by 11am. Update: an unexpected 90F scorcher by mid-afternoon, punctuated by a 5pm shower.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
Daily Catskills: 08/14/15
80F by 10.30am, hazy sunshine and partly cloudy.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
Daily Catskills: 08/13/15
60F at 9am with a gloomy start to a morning overwhelmed with gunmetal grey cloud cover with brief bright moments. Rising to 74F by 1.30pm and much sunnier.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.40am
© J.N. Urbanski 1.50pm