Rosendale Mines

Starting to investigate some of the old cement mines in the Rosendale, NY area.  I'm doing this both as a personal and professional (as a geologist) interest.  I actually live in the greater township of Rosendale and have been in a few of them over the years but there are still a lot I've never entered and examined in any detail.

Scouted the area around Joppenbergh Mountain with some people today.

Entered a couple of smaller mines including this adit.

Adit ending at the water table under Joppenbergh Mountain (click to enlarge)

So, if anyone is knowledgeable about locations of old mines, drop me a line, I'd love to chat with you about them.  Even better if you have access to any of the mines.  One of the things I'm especially interested in doing is tying names to the mines so I can do some historical research.

Transit of Clouds in the Hudson Valley

Well it's highly unlikely I'll have a transit of Venus observation later today.  It's currently (1:30 pm) 100% overcast and here's the Accuweather forecast for this evening for where I was having the observation.

I'll still go in around 5:30 to see what it looks like - maybe the clouds will miraculously part allowing the Sun to shine through (or, more likely, I'll be standing forlornly in the rain looking up at gray clouds).  Goddamn Hudson Valley weather - it always seems to be cloudy when somthing interesting is going on in the sky.

You can always watch it virtually.  NASA has a live stream from Mauna Kea, Hawaii and Slooh will have live streams cohosted by Woodstock, NY resident Bob Berman.

No Internet

My Internet went down today (I'm accessing the world from Panera's free WiFi at the moment).  Fucking Time Warner said they'll come Monday sometime between 9 am and 7 pm or we can make a definite appointment next Saturday (yes, a week later!).  This was after long periods of time on the phone where they treated my wife like a moron (I refuse to call, I simply don't have the patience to deal with them).

Yes, I am a total addict.   I guess I'll have to read a book tonight (we don't have TV, just Netflix and that's down too) - not such a bad thing.

So if anyone wants to come over and fix my Internet before that, I can detail your car in the nude (see comic at right!).  No takers?  Oh well, I tried.

Mycophilia

Just finished a new book - Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms by Eugenia Bone (Rodale Books, 2011).

I have to admit to mixed feelings about this book.  While there was some interesting information about mushrooms, and fungi in general, and many of the anecdotes about people consumed by mycophilia (a love of mushrooms) were interesting, most of the book was really a personal account of the author's ever-increasing passion for finding, collecting, and eating wild mushrooms.

Problem was I found myself not liking the author.  But that's probably just me.  I have far more interest in the science of fungi (which was superficial in this book) than in the travels and experiences of a wealthy, somewhat insular, Manhattanite (she acts surprised that guys who look like mountain men with beards and flannel shirts are actually intelligent and extremely knowledgeable about mushrooms).  What, smart people outside of Manhattan?  And dressed so unfashionably too?

Much of the book is about Bone - her naked soaks in the hot tub interviewing mushroom collectors at a conference/retreat in the Pacific Northwest, her fear of going into the woods when she has her period because of bears, her shroom trip, her collecting trips in the "wilderness" to pick mushrooms, her mushroom-themed dinners in Manhattan, her experiences with eccentric mushroom collectors, etc.  Some of it was interesting in a gossipy sort of way, other stuff was boring to me.

There were also virtually no illustrations (and the illustrations that did exist were terrible quality).  A photo section would have improved the book.

On the plus side, I did want to read more about mushrooms after finishing her account.  But I want more of the science of mycology (and to learn how to identify what I see when I'm out hiking).