Category Archives: commentary

Fanfare for Fire Departments!

Posted on July 4, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I would take today’s post to give a brief shout-out to fire departments everywhere.

Of course, I’ve always been a great admirer of firefighters. They have bravery, dedication and physical abilities that are far beyond anything I can muster.

I first started getting a tear in my eye over firefighters in the aftermath of 9-11. I heard about how firefighters far and wide just got in their cars and went to help. Just like that. To this day I get a lump in my throat thinking about it.

I came to greatly admire our Mohawk Valley fire departments a few years ago, when a fire raged on Main Street and onto Albany Street in Herkimer, NY. Several departments from surrounding communities came together and fought the blaze, saving several local businesses.

And now comes the Flood of 2013. Departments from around the state have come to help. My own basement was pumped out twice by two different departments last Saturday.

The second time my husband, Steven, and I were not even home when they started. We had run out to pick up some food, and when we returned a fire truck was in our driveway. Our neighbor had seen through our basement window that we were filling up again and flagged down the truck.

A fireman had crawled through our basement window (the first guys had taken it out, because it doesn’t open properly), turned off our little sump pump and set up their equipment. Go on,picture it: one of those little basement windows into a basement that was crappy before it flooded, and he crawls right in and gets to work.

In conclusion, I repeat: I LOVE FIRE DEPARTMENTS. From now on, whenever I see a fire department fundraiser, I am there. I’ll probably write a blog post about it.

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Sorry, Cecil and Rays

Posted on July 3, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Subtitle: “More Beastly Cheese.”

I remember mentioning that I had DVR’d two movies with “Beast” in the title. I wrote about one (The Beast from the Haunted Cave). Today I will write about the second: Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953).

Spoiler Alert! I probably won’t give away the end of the movie, but I might tell at least one dramatic development. I personally prefer to watch a movie without knowing any dramatic developments beforehand. This is why I don’t like trailers and I don’t read reviews of movies I intend to see. However, there is no real reason for any of you people to ever watch Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. If you do perceive a reason, at least you’ve been forewarned.

The reason I probably won’t give away the ending of the movie is that I don’t exactly remember it. Of course, I could always consult the TV Journal and see if I made a note about it, but I don’t have
the TV Journal handy right now. If you gather from this that the movie is not very memorable, you may congratulate yourself on your perspicacity (that is one of my favorite words).

The movie opens with yet another demonstration of how movie time has nothing whatever to do with real time. I have no problem with this — heavens, I know movies are not real life. However, when you have these military types actually counting down the seconds till they… do whatever it is they are supposed to do, I feel it is kind of slapping me in the face with it.

“We’re a movie! We don’t have to worry about the laws of time and space!”

At last the countdown is complete and we go to some stock footage of a nuclear blast. This reminded me of a wonderful scene in the marvelous movie Ed Wood where Johnny Depp, as Wood, is being shown some scenes by an old cameraman.

“Why, I could make a whole movie out of this stock footage alone!” he enthuses and goes on to outline his plot.

Of course, that doesn’t really have anything to do with this movie, because I think the blast was the only stock footage they used (unless they were a lot more clever about integrating it, in which case this is a better movie than I thought it was). I just thought I’d mention it.

That was as far as I wrote with the TV Journal unavailable. When I could consult the Journal, I found… not very extensive notes.

The movie was suggested by a story by Ray Bradbury and features effects by Ray Harryhausen. I must say I don’t think the movie took sufficient advantage of these resources, nor of the presence of actor Cecil Kellaway.

The only other note I took was that the beast has a face remarkably like Godzilla. Say what you will about the makers of cheesy movies, they reduce, reuse, recycle.

So I guess the nuclear blast wakes up the beast or creates the beast or whatever. In addition to paying more attention to these movies, it might behoove me to write about them sooner after the viewing, when I might remember those plot points I do manage to pay attention to. Then again, how long of a blog post do people actually want to read? (Seriously, I’m asking. How long do people like blog posts to be?)

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Flooded with Remorse

Posted on July 2, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Welcome back to All Flooding All The Time. I realize some people might not be entertained by a blow-by-blow description of my tribulations. It helps me to write it.

“In that case,” the naysayers sniffs, “you should write it in your journal, that is your PRIVATE JOURNAL. Or get therapy.”

At this point in my soul searching, I realized the naysayer is actually my inner critic, for whom nothing is ever good enough. And then I remembered it is Middle-aged Musings Monday, and the above couple of paragraphs could count for that.

In my notebook (paper spiral-bound, not the computer kind), as I wrote this morning (sitting on my couch sipping coffee) (off work this week), I went on to write another page continuing my flooded basement adventures of Saturday. Then I realized I could not sit there and continue to write while my basement was NOT knee-deep in water. I had to start hauling out ruined crap while the hauling was good.

I got to work. Soon my parents and one sister showed up to help. We worked SO HARD! I CAN’T WAIT to get back to the factory next week! It will be such a relief!

And now I am just too tired to type in the page I had written, plus compose the rest of the story (I did mention in a previous post that Saturday was a long day). And I really, really do have to get back on clean-up duty. The mud from the basement has begun to take over the ground floor as well.

So this is my post for today. A short musing about whether I really ought to be writing All About My Flooded Life, a brief mention of what I did about it today (thus messing up the sequence of my blog-by-blow), and I’m afraid I’m done.

Now if only I could think of a title for this. Ooh, just thought of one. And I make it appropriate by adding: Of course I feel just terrible about writing such a lame post on a Monday.

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All in the Same Ark

Posted on June 30, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

One comfort to me is that we — that is, we in the Mohawk Valley — are all going through this. Everybody is pumping out their basements. Nobody in my neighborhood has flood insurance, I don’t think. Many people who already had sump pumps “just happened to have them and have never needed them.

Astute readers may have guessed by now that this blog is segueing over into All Flood All the Time. It is the topic of the moment in the Mohawk Valley, and quite frankly, it makes me feel better to think with each new woe, “At least I can get a blog post out of this!”

It seems to me that others are showing considerably more competence at this pumping out and cleaning up stuff than me, but I’m not sure if that is really true. When I’ve spoken to my neighbors and said, “I’m just so clueless about all this,” the usual response is, “Us, too!”

I was later than others in starting the pumping thing. Others were pumping by Friday afternoon and into Friday night. My husband Steven and I got started on Saturday. A call to a company specializing in this sort of thing got us an appointment on Wednesday. Wednesday! We headed to Aubuchon in Herkimer, NY, to see what we could do right away.

We usually go to Aubuchon for this sort of thing, because they are always so informative and helpful. They did not disappoint. We purchased a sump pump, two sixty-foot garden hoses (a better buy than one hundred-footer, because of a sale) and a heavy duty extension cord. We do own a heavy duty extension cord, but neither of us could remember if it was in the dining room under the buffet or in the basement under water) (it turned out to be the dining room, but I saved the receipt).

We could not figure out how to get a basement window out so we ran the hose up the stairs and out the door. As we were messing with it, a fireman came over and said they were pumping out the neighbor’s basement next door. We were next! Woohoo!

While they were getting set up, Steven left for work. While they were pumping, the plumber showed up.

I forgot to mention that to add to our woes, the toilet was not flushing. I feared it was due to backed up sewage, but after our guy asked Steven a few questions he said he’d be over later to check it out.

One snaking later, our toilet could flush. Yay! If there was one thing that could make me feel better about everything, that was it.

I almost feel I should end today’s narrative here, because it is such a high note. It was in fact as high as my spirits rose before being — I have to say it — damped down considerable, later in the day.

Looking back, yesterday was rather a long day. I spent it alternately buoyed up by hope (oh no, more water metaphors!) and plunged into despair. We’ll end today on hope: toilet flushing, basement being pumped out. What will happen in the afternoon? Stay tuned!

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Running from the Flood

Posted on June 29, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh, I just noticed, I did NOT do a post about Thursday’s run. Therefore I am certain a Saturday Running Commentary will be welcomed by such readers who like to read about a run (you know who you are).

Steven and I were up early, having not slept very well. Steven, because he was obsessing over how we are so clueless about flooded basements and such. Me, because the neighbors were all sump-pumping their basements. Not that it was so loud (and I would NEVER fault my neighbors for making noise for such a reason even if it was), but it got me to obsessing about how I really ought to be doing something about pumping out my own basement.

So we got up early for a Saturday and got some coffee, available to us because I had sensibly boiled some water before our gas got cut off. Oh dear, halfway through the third paragraph and I haven’t gotten to the run yet. Well, I thought I would include some background on my mood and motivations.

In the first place, I thought some endorphins might help. More importantly, we have no hot water since the gas is off. I thought that after a hot, sweaty run, a cold shower would feel pretty good. So off I went.

The sidewalks on North Bellinger are covered with mud. Well, I like to run off-road. I told myself this was just nature’s way of bringing off-road to me. I ran carefully, because mud is slippery. My middle-aged shuffle served me well. No mishaps. Oh, I know, the cold shower would wash off the mud as well as the sweat. I still didn’t want to take a header into a puddle.

Two blocks from my house the sidewalks magically cleared. I had a nice run through residential streets on bare paths. I started to get tired a little over halfway through my intended time, but I persevered.

At last it was time to head in the general direction of Bellinger Street. Oh dear, would it be muddier this way or this way? Having at last attained the bare sidewalks, I was loath to give them up. That actually may have lengthened my run considerably, if I had run around and around looking for bare sidewalks. However, I sternly told myself there was GOING to be mud, just go with it.

A little trickier was the cool-down walk with my schnoodle, Tabby. She is getting to be quite the dirty dog as it is; I didn’t want to make her too much worse. We accomplished it with some back and forth walking, utilizing the apartment building at the corner of our street. It is set up on a little hill and the sidewalks leading to the front doors are bare.

I felt better after my run, and my cold shower was an invigorating blast. As the day progresses, we are slowly dealing with our other flooding woes. At the risk of becoming tiresome, I may write about them in tomorrow’s blog post as well. As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

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Would You Like Kvetch-up With That?

Posted on June 28, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I would like to address the so-called No Whining Zone. As a well-known kvetch, this is obviously a subject near and dear to my heart. After great reflection, I have come to the conclusion that they do not work.

I understand the appeal of a No Whining Zone. It can be tiresome to listen to other people kvetch. And however much you think it will help you to express yourself, maybe it would be better sometimes, well, not to.

One must also acknowledge that many of us do not admit to whining in the first place. I think this is how I put it one other time: I have legitimate concerns, you like to complain, that one is a whiny baby. I personally will cop to being a kvetch. I just like the word.

So, having established that some of us… complain, let us address the purpose of the No Whining Zone. Is it a negative one: that is, NOT to have to listen to other people complain? Or is it a positive one: to concentrate instead on constructive thoughts and solving problems?

I know for some people it is the former; they just don’t want to hear it, and they don’t really care who may be going through what. I prefer the latter. What, in fact, does the No Whining Zone accomplish?

When I express a pain, discomfort, problem or complaint and hear, “NO WHINING ZONE!” my feelings (delicate at the best of times) are hurt. And my rebellious nature kicks in (it is a well-known human propensity to IMMEDIATELY want to do the one thing we are told not to). I might respond with something like, “I’ve got a right to kvetch!” or “The more you complain, the longer God lets you live!” etc.

However, if you present me with a viable alternative, I will take it under advisement. For example, instead of a No Whining Zone, how about a Positive Thoughts Zone? Instead of just shutting down complaints, could we transform them into solutions.

For example (I’m giving a lot of examples today), suppose I say, “I hate hot weather!” Your reply could be, “Since this is a Positive Thoughts Zone, why don’t you try to think of some things you like about summertime?”

Well, I would probably start out with, “I like it when it stays light later.” From there I would think about my container garden, evenings sitting on my deck, comfortable early morning runs. I would soon be feeling better about the whole thing. And, BONUS: You would no longer have to listen to me kvetch!

I think the real problem with a No Whining Zone is that you are trying to fight a negative with a negative. I think a better strategy is to transform the negative with a positive.

There might be some readers out there who think this is a really dumb idea that will never work, or that it is all a huge rationalization from a whiny baby. If that is the case, by all means, comment below. For my part, I will strive to come up with something nice to say back.

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More Musings on the Muse

Posted on June 25, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s not exactly Writer’s Blank, because I can think of words I might write down. Could this be Writer’s Block?

I’ve discussed the inability to write before. Some writers (and MANY non-writers) scorn such an idea. If we’re not writing, they say, we must be self-dramatizing slackers. The rest of us explain, “Shut up.”

Welcome to Wrist to Forehead Monday.

I know that just last week I wrote a post about not being able to write (the irony was not lost on me) (In fact, I wrote a half page on my novel today before turning my attention to the blog) (so you see). Can I think of something new and different to say on the subject, in order to justify another nothing post?

I’m thinking I probably can. I have an almost endless fascination with reading about writing. It is a well-known saw in the writing lexicon: Write what you like to read.

I’m also thinking, Why am I justifying anything? I write what I write. People can read it or not.

But let’s back it up even further. Why do I disparage these as “nothing” posts? I sometimes get a lot of “Likes” from fellow bloggers on my posts about the tribulations of the writing life. I like to think it is because my fellow bloggers also struggle with our avocation.

That is as far as I wrote while at work today (I really feel I need to keep saying on a break, OF COURSE) (not that I think my boss reads blogs). While working and pondering my post, I remembered: It’s Middle-aged Musings Monday! I don’t have to apologize for anything! So I slap a title on my verbal meanderings and hit Publish.

I’ll try to get back to Mohawk Valley adventures tomorrow.

One further note: the expression we explain, shut up, is a reference to S.J. Perelman, a writer of some note from the previous century.

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First Summer Run

Posted on June 23, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I hope it’s not too soon for another running post, but after all, Saturday Running Commentary.

The hot weather arrived just barely in time for summer in the Mohawk Valley, so I sensibly got out early. It’s a good time to run anyways, because of less traffic. I hoped it would be an enjoyable run, especially since I spent a good portion of yesterday feeling quite awful. I had high hopes.

It seemed to go pretty well. I almost didn’t run any hills but decided I could handle the one out Main Street. Well, that part wasn’t much fun. At one point I could have stayed sedately on the left side facing traffic, made a 90 degree turn at the proper place and continued on the left side of the street. Instead I cut across the center of the intersection, feeling like quite the rebel. In my defense, there were no cars in sight or hearing.

I passed the house where I’ve seen — and pretended not to see — the lady in her nightgown letting her dog out. Neither she nor the dog were in evidence, so I took the opportunity to admire her black wrought iron lawn furniture. Not so comfy to sit it but oh so decorative, especially with a pot of red flowers on the table.

As I ran down the hill back to civilization, I heard a vehicle behind me. I wasn’t worried, because I was left side facing traffic this time. He would be on the OTHER side of the road. Well, that (insert bad word of your choice) in a pick-up truck (to add insult to injury; I love pick-up trucks) was straddling the center line! What was his excuse for that! Early though it was, I thought it was a little late for him to be still drunk from partying last night. Then again, what do I know?

Back in the village proper I stuck to residential streets with sidewalks. Plenty of four way stops when I had to cross a street, but not much traffic anyways. When I went to cross Prospect, I started to slow down to let a car at the stop sign go, but the lady waved me on. I gave the thank-you wave and hurried across.

“You go, girlfriend!” yelled the lady in the car. I think I recognized the voice as a lady from Curves, but I kept running so did not check.

When I got closer to home I saw Nicky, one of my canine friends, out walking with his person. I picked up the pace and crossed the street.

“I have to pet Nicky,” I said. “He’s such a good dog.”

“How’s your dog?” asked his person.

“Oh, she’s a sweetie. I’ll be taking her for a walk in a bit.”

“Before it gets too hot,” she said.

I agreed and ran on. Tabby was happy to accompany me on my cool-down walk. I felt terrific. I think I sweated out all of yesterday’s light-headedness. If only I don’t get another sinus headache as the day wears on, my life will be perfect.

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Practically the Middle of the Night

Posted on June 21, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I know I’ve used the headline “Running in the Dark” before, which is too bad, because it’s what I did this morning, and I thought I’d write a blog post about it.

I haven’t been getting any overtime at work lately, which means I get up at a perfectly human 5 a.m. instead of 3:30. This morning, however (Thursday), my husband Steven pulled a 6 a.m. shift, which meant he wanted to get up at four. I’ve been trying to run either Tuesday or Thursday (I do Curves Monday, Wednesday and Friday) (yes, yes, I KNOW I ought to run Tuesday, Thursday and at least a couple of Curves days; what kind of miracles of dedication do you want from me?). It was supposed to be hot on Thursday, plus we had a Mohawk Valley adventure planned.

Still, I can’t say it was a no-brainer to go running in the morning, because I actually expended quite a bit of thought on my plan. I would sneak out of bed at 3:30, leaving Steven and Tabby (our dog) (I add for the benefit of newcomers, if any) to sleep on. When I returned from running to take Tabby on my cool-down walk, that would be Steven’s 4 a.m. wake up call. Perfect!

The first thing I realized on stepping out the door was that it was cold. However, I was sure this was a relative feeling. Once I got going, I’d be fine. After all, earlier in the spring I opt for shorts and short sleeves as soon as it hits 40. This was probably somewhere in the 50s.

As I started down the sidewalk, I realized something else. 3:30 a.m. is still, for all intents and purposes, the middle of the night. What was I doing running in the middle of the night? It’s scary to run in the middle of the night! I told myself there was nothing to be afraid of, and I’m pretty sure I was right. I would stick to well-lighted streets with plenty of respectable-looking houses.

I started looking around for lights on, just to feel less lonely. After all, some people have to get up at ungodly hours (like those lucky punks at my job that are getting overtime). There was a light. Probably only somebody’s bathroom light left on all night, I thought, discouraged.

Then I remembered something I read years ago in The Autobiography of Malcolm X. It was when he was making a disreputable living breaking into houses. He said if you’re going to leave one light on all night to discourage burglars, make it the bathroom light. After all, at any point in the night somebody might possibly be up to visit the bathroom. I wondered how a burglar would know which room was the bathroom. Then I figured he had probably cased the joint.

Thinking about hypothetical burglars kept me occupied for a couple of blocks. I continued to look for lights. There was a television. That could be up early or insomnia. I almost never get out of bed when I have insomnia, although I sometimes turn on the light and read a book. A flashlight is better, because it’s not too much light. Light wakes you up, and that doesn’t really help insomnia.

I tried not to think about how early it was. I felt a little sad when I realized the sun was not going to come up while I ran. I heard a bird. That made me feel a little better.

I ended up being really happy I ran. For one thing, I felt certain I could get a a blog post out of looking for lights and that reference to Malcolm X.

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What Makes a “Real” Post Anyways?

Posted on June 20, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Having done two “real” blog posts in a row and having at least two more pretty good topics to work with, I just sat here staring at a blank piece of paper and thinking in a vague sort of way about pulling out a book to read. What’s that all about?

I’ve been busily working on my novel and writing blog posts for a number of days now (14, if I’m counting correctly) (um, that is to say, 14 on the novel. I would need to go back and look at the posts to see how many stupid ones were included) (but you see my point).

Where was I? Ah yes, when the writing is going well, you think it is never going to end. “Ah, I’ve got it now,” you say. “Obviously this is the secret: JUST KEEP WRITING. Why didn’t I think of that before?”

And then, of course, it ends.

That was when my break ended. I spent the time till the next break (my job gives me lots of opportunity to think) reflecting on how I can always seem to write about not writing. I spent the next two breaks working on my novel, thus rendering another post on Not Being Able to Write a little hypocritical, to say the least.

I can hear one of you now saying, “So just write your blog post now, what’s the problem?” Well, that’s what I’m doing! I declare today Wuss Out Wednesday. I don’t have too many of those, and I may not have a Lame Post Friday this week, because I have an awesome Mohawk Valley adventure planned for tomorrow (preview of coming attractions).

My only sticky wicket now to how to avoid making tomorrow another Non-Sequitur Thursday. After all, can’t do too many of these silly posts.

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