Good morning, it’s Wednesday.
Upstate New York is a mix of mountain culture and lake culture. I have experienced both, and both have a lot to offer.
I grew up in the Catskills, have spent a lot of time in the Adirondacks, and still find among my most peaceful moments deep in the woods and atop peaks. We also briefly – for a few years – owned a camp at Great Sacandaga Lake, which was a mixed experience, with moments of incredible beauty interspersed with significant frustration.
I say the camp was “at” Sacandaga because we were within walking distance of the lake, not on it. Lake frontage is very expensive and in high demand. We did have a pontoon boat, which provided many enjoyable hours on the water, though anyone who owns a boat knows that they are basically a money pit and a lot of work.
In the end, we gave up the camp because 1) we didn’t get there nearly as much as we thought we would, and 2) it was not the relaxing getaway we had envisioned, thanks in part to its close proximity to two very loud and popular bars as well as some party-happy neighbors.
While I still pine for a place on a lake, I do not miss this particular spot all that much, though I do regret not making better use of the hammock that was in the backyard. I love a good old fashioned rope hammock – they are great for naps and book reading and (if large enough) cuddling.
Unfortunately, there’s no good hammock hanging spot in my current backyard (at least not that I have found so far). I am a strong believer that hammocks should be hung between two trees and am not a fan of the stand alone models. I also do not believe in indoor hammocks, or hammocks made of nylon though I understand this might be an unpopular opinion.
These days, hammocks are generally seen as connected to leisure – a signature summer staple. But they did originate as a practical sleeping solution, enabling users to stay off the wet ground and away from dangerous bugs and creepy crawlies. Ancient people crafted these beds out of bark or plant fibers and they were “discovered” by Christopher Columbus, who wrote in his logbook of the ingenious “sleeping nets” of the indigenous people he encountered on his travels to the New World.
Hammocks were quickly adopted by sailors as cleaner and less smelly alternative to the leaf-stuffed sacks on the feces-covered floor that they had been using as beds. An added bonus: the swaying motion of a hammock in calm seas helped lull sailors to sleep. Some experts even believed that using a hammock could help quell sea sickness.
The word “hammock” is believed to be derived from the Taino word “hamaka” or “amaca”, which translates into “a stretch of cloth” or a “fish net.” The Taino were indigenous Arawakan people of the Caribbean living in the Bahamas and the Greater and Lesser Antilles, which today include Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico. Columbus and his fellow Spanish explorers altered the word slightly, using “hamaca” to describe the gently swinging suspended beds.
Hammocks have a complicated history, as they were denigrated in some (European) corners to be a hallmark of laziness. But they nevertheless have persisted and continue to be deeply popular and ingrained in the culture of several Latin American countries, namely Mexico, Brazil, and Central America.
There’s not a lot of research out there about the benefits and drawbacks of hammock sleeping, but they have been shown to reduce pressure on areas that tend to give some people trouble – including the back – and also can help induce deeper sleep, which can be beneficial to those who suffer from insomnia.
As a chronic insomniac, I find this information intriguing, but not quite sufficient to warrant getting rid of my traditional mattress and replacing it with a hammock. That would be a good way to celebrate National Hammock Day, though, so if you’re inspired, go for it.
It will be a not-bad day for hammocks, if you’re lucky enough to have access to one. There will be clouds in the morning but skies will grow clearer as the day progresses. Temperatures will peak in the high 70s.
In the headlines…
The Trump administration plans to announce today that it has reached a broad nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia that could lead to the country enriching its own fuel for nuclear reactors, U.S. officials said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States would continue to attack Iran as long as it tried to exercise control over the Strait of Hormuz, as the two sides traded another round of strikes across the Persian Gulf overnight.
While Rubio continued to leave the door open for diplomacy, he told reporters in Manila that Iran at this point was “not serious about talks,” arguing that Tehran had violated a preliminary agreement that says it should allow ships to transit the strait.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, under questioning from lawmakers, said on Tuesday that the Defense Department’s latest estimate of the cost of the Iran war was $37.5 billion.
A fourth American soldier believed to have been killed in recent Iranian attacks on US military bases has been identified as an Ozone Park resident, the Pentagon announced, as American forces bombed Iran for an 11th straight night.
Arizona voters teed up a slew of competitive races Tuesday as Republicans look to take back control of the Grand Canyon State’s executive branch in November.
Trump-endorsed Rep. Andy Biggs won the GOP primary to face Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in November, setting up a marquee governor’s race in one of America’s most competitive states.
Scandal-plagued Mark Lamb, the former Pinal County sheriff who was backed by Trump, won a messy primary against self-funding candidate Daniel Keenan in Arizona’s 5th District. He enters the general election as the frontrunner to replace Biggs in the House.
Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton fended off a challenge from his left in Arizona’s 4th CD, easily defeating organizer Kai Newkirk, who hammered the moderate over his acceptance of corporate donations as well as his vote in support of the Laken Riley Act last year.
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R), who complied with a federal grand jury subpoena and gave the FBI records pertaining to the 2020 elections, is projected to win the GOP nomination to take on Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) in November.
The Trump administration is pausing more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Tuesday that it had confirmed more than 2,500 additional cases of cyclospora infections in the United States, making 2026 the worst year for the parasitic infection on record.
Since May 1, there have been 4,173 confirmed domestic cases across 41 states, as well as 767 people who were infected during international travel. The C.D.C. is investigating more than 7,400 additional cases that are not yet confirmed.
Roughly 6,600 people who were not citizens were improperly registered to vote over a year-long span ahead of the 2024 election because of a software error in New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle System, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill disclosed.
Governor Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday that New York is expanding free swim lessons for children through the state’s NY SWIMS initiative.
Hochul plans to push legislation to eliminate a swath of state and local tax incentives for large-scale data centers next year – including incentives negotiated with local economic development agencies.
Hochul’s support of sprawling solar energy fields in upstate has caught the ire of three federal agencies — and one country music star — who are demanding answers about the state’s “rush” to approve projects “without fully accounting for their long term costs.”
Envious Albany lawmakers are eyeing giving themselves fat pay hikes after a similarly self-serving move by New York City Council members, insiders said.
With federal funding cuts for food stamps set to take effect in October 2027, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is pushing lawmakers to delay shifting those program costs to states and counties by two years.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani walked back his promise to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after months of doubling down on a campaign pledge to enforce an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant.
Speculation over whether Mamdani would enforce the ICC warrant when Netanyahu visited Manhattan for the UN General Assembly in September ended last night when he announced on social media that he lacks the authority to detain the Israeli leader.
Mamdani described the Israeli prime minister as a “war criminal” and said he is not welcome in New York City. He called on the federal government to enforce the ICC’s warrant and arrest Netanyahu, which Trump has already said won’t occur.
Mamdani took fire from both Jewish lawmakers and from a leading anti-Zionist activist for admitting that, despite his promises to arrest Netanyahu, he cannot actually do so.
Mamdani’s chief counsel, Ramzi Kassem, is like his boss, a longtime critic of Israel. So it might come as a surprise that Kassem holds direct ownership of stock in RTX, a multinational defense contractor that supplies Israel’s military with weapons.
After weeks of public hearings, Mamdani’s Commission on Government Efficiency — also known as COGE — has come up with five potential ballot proposals.
The mayor’s version of DOGE has sought to include public input as it formulates changes to the New York City Charter aimed at streamlining the government.
The unlicensed network of dollar vans that hustle up and down Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn is on a collision course with Mamdani’s push to speed up bus service.
Council Speaker Julie Menin bashed the Mamdani administration’s handling of the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak on Tuesday, after a fourth New Yorker died from the disease, and also penned an op-ed highlighting the city Health Department’s failures.
A fifth person has died in the Upper East Side Legionnaires’ disease outbreak, as confirmatory testing found live Legionella bacteria in 34 cooling towers at 33 buildings, city health officials said.
A corporate entity co-founded by the Council speaker’s husband, Bruce Menin, a real estate developer, owes the city more than $246,000 in back taxes.
The widow of an 88-year-old Air Force veteran who died from Legionnaires’ disease says she plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit as New York City health officials continue searching for the source of an outbreak that has sickened dozens of people.
Members of the New York City Council said that they plan to introduce new legislation to strengthen public education around Legionnaires’ disease and bolster prevention efforts amid the ongoing outbreak.
The New York State Liquor Authority withdrew charges that tied facial recognition systems at James Dolan’s MSG Entertainment to exclusionary practices and issued $30,000 in fines for an unrelated offense.
New renderings show a planned $5 billion expansion of the Big Apple’s first-full fledged casino that will transform it into the largest integrated gaming resort in the country.
Julian Wachner, the former music director at Trinity Church in New York who moved to Indianapolis when his career unraveled, has agreed to plead guilty to five counts of possession of child sex abuse material and one count of possession of cocaine.
The homeless ex-US soldier who lit a raging blaze and fired a “BB rifle” outside ICE’s New York headquarters in Manhattan first eyed other city sites for a possible “attack,” federal prosecutors said.
The brother of a rookie NYPD cop fatally shot in the eye in his family’s Harlem home was a community activist who spoke out against gun violence, colleagues said as the state AG’s office tried to determine if the new officer played a role in his sibling’s death.
A lawsuit accusing New York City of repeatedly placing a transgender woman in men’s homeless shelters can move forward despite the city’s attempt to stop it.
An MTA inspector general report published Tuesday found one of the agency’s private waste contractors trashed hundreds of tons of cardboard and paper since 2019, leading to extra fees that were covered by taxpayers and riders.
The remains of four children who were found dead last month alongside their mother and grandmother in a Mechanicville apartment were taken to Utah, where the three youngest children were born, for their funeral.
Field of Horrors Owner David Mulinio plans to rebuild the three haunted houses in Rensselaer County that were destroyed in a Monday fire and says they’ll be even better than they were before.
For months now, scientists and researchers on the campus of Albany NanoTech have been awaiting the arrival of a $400 million lithography system used to etch atomic-scale features onto silicon wafers. That day has come.
A former student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court accusing the elite engineering school of so poorly designing a piece of gym equipment that it overturned and crushed his ankle.
Nothing is taking Johan Sandoval’s eyes off the ball — not 13 days in a federal detention center, an ankle monitor, nor a potentially lengthy legal process to correct an error in paperwork that upended his immigration status.
For commuters, e-bikes and e-scooters are a convenient and cost-effective alternative to cars. But their increasing popularity among children and teens is drawing safety concerns as Capital Region emergency rooms report a rise in injuries tied to the motorized rides.
A bus carrying approximately two dozen people overturned Tuesday on the state Thruway. No life-threatening injuries occurred.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
