The gemstone rainbow: Look for the Magnificent Six
Want to see it for yourself? It’s easy, if you can get to a place with an unobstructed sweep of sky to the west, south and southeast, like the Walkway over the Hudson.
Columns
Creature comforts
State wildlife expert Richard Thomas found that a woodchuck could (and does) chuck around 35 cubic feet of dirt in the course of digging a burrow. If a woodchuck could chuck wood, Thomas estimated, it would chuck an amount equivalent to the weight of the dirt, or 700 pounds, which is a big pile.
Kids’ Almanac (7/26-8/2)
Butterfly Festival at Stony Kill Farm; Treasure Island on stage in Rhinebeck; World Dance for Families at Rosendale Theatre; Berry Bonanza at Sam’s Point
The Great 2018 Mars Opposition
Friday night, July 27: That’s when the Sun, the Earth and the planet Mars form a straight line in space. Mars rises just as the Sun sets and it’s exceptionally brilliant. By coincidence, Friday night is also the July Full Moon.
Awkward moments in local racism
I confess I feel like a real Pollyanna being surprised by this, but a SUNY New Paltz professor’s avuncular dogwhistling honestly shocked me more than anything else in the news this week.
Kids’ Almanac (7/19-7/26)
Young People’s Concerts at Maverick | Dragon Boat Races in Poughkeepsie | Hike to Falling Waters Preserve and the Saugerties Lighthouse
Kingston After Dark: The Body/Head connection
An interview with Kim Gordon and Bill Nace ahead of their upcoming BSP Kingston back room theater appearance on Friday, July 20.
Fighting the opioid crisis: It takes a village
I was surprised at how much a few minutes of training affected me. Walking out of the event into the cool evening air, with a few dozen of my neighbors who had all been newly empowered to save a life in a crisis, I felt an unexpected rush of optimism. It’s not much, having a plastic baggie of naloxone to keep in the glove compartment in case of emergency, but it made me feel like part of the solution, not just a helpless, hand-wringing spectator.
Kids’ Almanac (7/12-7/19)
Taiko drumming in the cool confines of Rosendale’s Widow Jane Mine | Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall visits Saugerties
Instead of looking at the relative humidity, pay attention to dewpoint
Dewpoints in the 40s and 50s mean dry air, low 60s mean medium-dry air, high 60s and 70s indicate steamy conditions.