Category Archives: commentary

Surrounded by History

Posted on June 18, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

The Herkimer County Historical Society held an Open House on Saturday in honor of Museum Day in New York State. I remember attending their open house last year (I believe I wrote a blog post about it). I was delighted at the chance to repeat the experience.

The museum is about a ten minute walk from my house, but my husband, Steven, was able to drop me off on North Main Street on his way back to work (he had an early lunch). When I walked in the front door a tour was in progress. I felt like wandering, so I sneaked upstairs.

I had seen the display of dollhouses before, but, goodness, that was a year ago. These things are often worth a second viewing. I also looked once again at the portraits on the wall, making special note of Margaret Tugor, a local educator of note. I would love to write a biography of Tugor, if only I had any idea how to research such a thing.

Back downstairs the tour had reached the Remington typewriter. I have a minor collection of typewriters myself, but nothing truly antique. I wandered over to the gift shop. I didn’t see any post cards I haven’t purchased previously, and I didn’t see anything good for a Father’s Day gift (for my father at least; I’m sure there were many things of interest to other fathers).

The third floor was open in honor of the day. This is where they house items not currently on display as well as archives. I walked along shelves of books and collections of papers. I felt surrounded by history. Some volunteers were around, but I did not have any questions.

I did chat up a volunteer and another patron about a bicycle on the second floor. It was one with the giant front wheel and tiny back wheel. A card said somebody local had ridden it all the way to the west coast. We marveled at the feat. Not only no chain and no gears on the bike. No highways. No Motel 6 or KOA Kampgrounds. What an adventure!

As always I enjoyed my visit to the museum. Wherever I’ve lived, I’ve always enjoyed checking out local history. I continued my Museum Day wanderings across the street (kitty corner, actually) at the 1834 Jail. That will form the topic of tomorrow’s post (barring accident). Stay tuned!

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I Guess They’re Not Really Suburbs

Posted on June 15, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I begin my Saturday with many things that I need to or want to do (no point in being overly dramatic and saying I HAVE to do all these things). Running and writing my blog post are near the top of the list. With the newly re-instated Saturday Running Commentary, I saw the chance to multi-task (my computer wants me to not hyphenate that, but I like the hyphen).

Of course, if I had one of them there smart phones, I could truly multi-task and post while I run. I know a fellow who at least makes Facebook posts while he runs. I am unlikely to do any such thing, even if I do ever upgrade my cellular experience. Never mind, I ran, enjoying my in-the-head narration, and now I am sitting at my computer, trying to remember the best parts for your entertainment.

I had a minor crisis before I even left the house of not being able to decide where to run. I’m not running for very long yet, so that limits my choices. I’m trying to run hills, so I can build up. Finally I decided on the hill by Valley Health, then perhaps some minor upgrades in the suburbs beyond.

At least, I call them the suburbs. It is just a purely residential area without sidewalks. None of the houses look very old. That is, not over 50 years old, I guess. That’s young in house years. I don’t really know from houses. Just that there are none of the huge old mansions I enjoy walking by in the village proper.

As soon as I left the house, I was aware of my hips. I felt like my love handles must stick out at least a foot in each direction. It made me think of some rather unsavory PSAs I sometimes hear on WVHC which postulate people’s body parts falling off due to increased exercise. I think they’re really gross. In one traffic is stopped due to somebody’s big old hips (or is it butt?) in the middle of the highway. In another a guy’s double chin falls off into the soup on a first date. That’s nasty! I know from experience that is NOT how weight loss happens. Yes, I KNOW they’re trying to make a point. Their point loses its impact by being anatomically impossible and they make at least me stop listening with these disgusting mental images (or perhaps I suffer from too vivid an imagination).

That was a long paragraph. Oh, there is one of those PSAs that I find completely realistic. A man calls a radio station to dedicate good-bye song to a relationship that didn’t last. It was with his big belly. He started doing things like taking the stairs, and they “started seeing less and less of each other.” THAT’S healthy weight loss! Thank you!

Unfortunately, thinking of all that while I ran only kept me occupied for a couple of blocks. I tried to feel happy about the definite upgrade as I ran out German Street. After all, more effort is a good thing. I ran by the turn to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC), the hill to which I aspire, and thought, maybe in a week or two. The hill by Valley Health posed no problems, and I ran on into the residential area.

I have always thought that many of these areas are laid out based on a plate of spaghetti. None of the roads are straight and they intersect each other in a strange, unpredictable fashion. It makes for an interesting run if you are not familiar with the area. Since I have not run there since last fall, that was me.

Yes, I got a little lost. I turned down a couple of streets that had a slight upgrade then went back in the direction I thought Valley Health was. Of course nothing looked familiar. Then I realized the street I was on came out nowhere near where I thought it did. Oh dear. Try this way. At last I saw Lou Ambers Drive. Yes! I know where that goes! The funny thing was, when I got to it I realized I was on the opposite side of it from what I thought I was. How did that happen? No matter, it was pretty obvious which way to turn now. I headed for home.

I suddenly see that I am over 700 words, and I thought of a lot more things to say about this run. I even left out some stuff about what happened so far! I could make a joke about being pretty long-winded for running out of breath so easily, but I actually have not had a problem breathing when I run for a while now. Instead, I’ll just end with the image of me headed home. Good run, long post. On to the rest of my Saturday!

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Don’t Mind Me

Posted on June 13, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I delayed writing my blog post during my break at work in order to practice mindful eating. I couldn’t think of anything to write about anyways. Now that I’ve eaten and still have six minutes left on my break, I will attempt a Mid-week Middle-aged Musing on Mindfulness (enough Ms for you?).

I love to read while I eat. Or write. Or even watch television. We are told by nutrition experts (both real ones and the self-appointed kind) that this is the wrong thing to do. The theory is if you NOTICE your food while it is going in, you will feel more satisfied.

Many of us have observed the phenomenon of shoveling in food while distracted by book, computer, whatever, and suddenly realizing we’ve done away with an entire bag of chips. So the theory makes a lot of sense. I thought I’d try it. Full disclosure: I’ve tried it before and I can’t quite remember the results.

That was when my six minutes was up and I had to go back to work. I practiced mindful eating at lunch, too. It still only took me five minutes to eat my salad, but then I called Steven and talked rather than writing the rest of this blog post.

My conclusion is: if you’re eating something that tastes really good, mindful eating is the way to go. Enjoy it. I don’t imagine anybody needed me to tell them this, but, hey, I need a blog post and this is all I got.

On the brighter side, the reason I’m going with this instead of trying to come up with something more profound is that I have an authentic Mohawk Valley adventure planned. We’re going to see the Diamond Dawgs baseball team in Little Falls, NY. I’m hoping it’ll make a dandy blog post, and I’m hoping you’ll stay tuned.

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Sunday Running Commentary

Posted on June 9, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Headache gone, no rain, no ideas for a blog post, everything was encouraging me to run this morning. I was alert and ready to find stuff to comment about.

It was good running temperature when I started out, not too warm, not too cold. I wanted to cross German Street and run up the hill out Main Street. Traffic was against me. Well, two trucks, anyways. What was that all about? At quarter after seven on a Sunday morning! No matter, there’s a four way stop at the intersection of Main and German.

Hmmm… no traffic now. Should I cross in the middle of the block or wait for the crosswalk? I decided to wait. Sure enough, a car reached the intersection at the same time I did. The nice lady driving waved me across. I waved “Thank you,” and she waved “You’re welcome!” I thought as I ran on that she probably thought she should encourage a middle-aged bald lady to keep running.

Then I wondered if she had noticed my bald head at all. For anyone just tuning in, last Sunday I participated in a St. Baldrick’s Day event. They shaved my head after I went around asking family and friends to donate to children’s cancer research. My Facebook profile picture is bald now, too. My mom told me that a cousin had noticed it and asked if I was sick. Well, the hair is growing back already, so I probably won’t startle anybody else.

Up the hill at the end of Main Street. The sign says it is a dead end, but a pedestrian can get through. I continued up the hill a little longer but took the second opportunity to turn off. Phew! I am working up to running the hill at Herkimer County Community College (HCCC). That is a major hill, which I used to run on a weekly basis, just to be cool. My friend Phyllis brags on me, “She runs up the hill to HCCC!” So I think I’d better start doing it again.

Oh, downhill is nice. I enjoyed the downhill part. I saw a lady in a nightgown taking her dog out for a business meeting in the yard. She quickly turned back towards the house. I pretended not to see her, being that she was in her nightgown after all. I was distracted by a profusion of peonies in a yard across the street anyways. I love peonies.

I ran on, admiring various porches with decorations. Hanging plants, nice porch furniture, little statues. I saw a very nice carved bear in a front garden. It was chained to the porch. I didn’t blame the people for that. Ooh, there was a big lilac bush. Must get me some lilac shoots. My sister who lives in Marcy has some. It takes a few years, but eventually I, too, can smell the lilacs.

My run did not get too uncomfortable till towards the end. My strength was giving out. Well, sinus medicines often have a detrimental effect on your body, and I did take some stuff yesterday for my headache. I persevered and made the time I had set for myself (ten percent longer than I ran last weekend, per advice from the guys at The Sneaker Store in New Hartford, NY).

Walking my cool-down with my schnoodle Tabby felt great. I had worked up a sweat while running, but the cool breeze through the stubble on my head was nice. We saw some neighbors who Tabby particularly likes setting up for a garage sale. Tabby insisted we stop and chat. At least, the people chatted, the dog got petted.

I was glad I had gone for my run. I looked at my week ahead to plan further runs. That hill up to HCCC is mine!

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Running Nose Commentary?

Posted on June 9, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

If anybody was looking forward to Saturday Running Commentary, which I restarted last week, quite frankly, so was I. Unfortunately, I’ve had a rather ghastly headache since about two this morning and running is not in the cards.

Oh, I KNOW there are people out there who run NO MATTER WHAT. Power to them. I thought I was doing pretty good running in the rain on Thursday. It wasn’t raining very hard. And no lightning. I don’t care how motivated and dedicated you are or think you are, it’s not very smart to run when there’s lightning.

So I’ve spent the morning throwing things at my stomach and head (yes, the stomach got into the act, too), and trying to clean my house. My mom and dad might stop over tonight. Oh, I KNOW they’re coming to see me, not my house. Still, I like my house to look nice for my parents of all people.

I got through the morning by promising myself I could write a blog post about it. It is really cool how narrating in your head can help you though the most heinous tasks. I must say I highly recommend this blogging hobby. It certainly enhances the quality of my life.

First I cleaned the bathroom, making mental notes about the cleaning products I used and how hard I scrubbed the various parts. I had a bit of a crisis when I couldn’t find the glass cleaner or the broom, but everything resolved itself and the bathroom doesn’t look too bad (I’ve checked it out numerous times since, as a result of my efforts to stay hydrated. Remember, when you are not feeling well, STAY HYDRATED) (a physician’s assistant told me that when I was being seen for that stomach bug I suffered recently).

My in-my-head-as-it-happened commentary was actually more detailed than that. I decided to spare my readers. In fact, I see my word count is over 300. That’s usually pretty good for a blog where I don’t really have anything to talk about.

Just a word about my title. I suspect my headache is due to sinuses, therefore the reference to runny nose. However, since I didn’t actually mention my sinuses till just now, I guess we could call this Non-Sequitur Saturday. That does sound better than Another Damn Sick Day, doesn’t it?

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I Hope I Don’t Regret This Post

Posted on June 8, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

There is a saying I’ve seen floating around for years now that I think is pretty half-baked. I would like to take my Friday Lame Post to philosophize about it, half-bakedly of course (or would it be quarter-bakedly, since it started out as half? Something else to philosophize about, done to taste).

For anyone just tuning in (I think I did just get a couple new followers. Hi, guys!), Lame Post Friday is the day I take it easy with random observations and half-baked philosophy. Lately I’ve been heavy on the half-baked, but you’ll have that at my age (middle).

The only things you regret are the things you don’t do.

On the surface of it, it’s pretty profound. I regret that I never went to college. I regret that I never traveled to Europe. I regret that I never tap-danced on Broadway.

But look a little more deeply. According to this philosophy, nobody ever does anything bad. Haven’t you ever been sorry about the hurtful thing you said or did without thinking? Yes, I heard you in the back, piping up with, “I regret that I didn’t keep my mouth shut!” That’s just arguing semantics. In some cases what you do is actually regrettable.

If you would like to see some examples, I refer you to one of my favorite guilty pleasures, World’s Dumbest on TruTV. Thrill Seekers, Partiers, Record Breakers, Motorheads and more, this show features many people doing really stupid things, most of it on purpose. Of course, a lot of those people express no regret. From their hospital bed or on the gurney being loaded into the ambulance, they’re all thumbs up and “Yeah! I went for it!” Well, to each his own, as the old lady said when she kissed the cow. Or have they just disproven my argument?

I think what bothers me is the black-and-white nature of the statement. Why don’t you say, “You often regret the things you don’t do more than the things you do”?

But as long as we’re philosophizing, let’s just throw out that that regret is a colossal waste of time and we are best served by going on from here. I am reminded of what the mother of some friends of mine used to say. When asked did she ever regret not doing some things, she said, “No, because look at all the things I’ve done.”

I wonder if anybody out there was wondering if I would make this personal (I guess it is a personal blog, after all) and share the many things from my past that I regret. Um, I mean the one or two things. Um, I mean, I don’t regret anything! It’s a colossal waste of time!

In other words, NO, I’M NOT GOING TO LIST FOR YOU ALL THE STUPID THINGS I WISH I HAD NEVER DONE! But you could probably ask my family and they would tell you a few.

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I’ll Say the Lights Went Out

Posted on June 7, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have always been cursed with the habit of listening to the lyrics of popular songs, at least when you can understand them. I think I’m going to instate a new feature where I talk about some of the more egregious ones. I will begin with the granddaddy of all stupid lyrics, “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.”

I will begin with the premise that the reader knows the lyrics. After all, this was one of the great hairbrush songs of the ’70s (you know, where you used a hairbrush as a microphone and sang along with the 45?). So if you don’t know the song, you might like to go listen to it, then read the rest of this.

From beginning to end, the song is ridiculous. First stanza, the guy’s been gone for two weeks and stops for a drink before going home to his wife. What kind of a marriage is that? His wife shouldn’t have cheated on him; she should have dumped his sorry ass!

His friend Andy, for reasons best known to himself, tells him his wife isn’t at home and has been seeing “that Amos boy, Sid.” Then when the guy sees red, Andy confesses he’s been with the wife himself. Excuse me, what? Why would you tell this to a man that is already seeing red? What kind of a death wish does this Andy have, anyways? Nobody is really surprised when, a few lines later, we learn that Andy doesn’t have many friends.

One thing I was never clear on: Was the wife seeing both Andy and Sid Amos or was Andy throwing an innocent man into the line of fire? If they would have made a movie of this this song (I’m a little surprised they didn’t), Sid would have had a pathetically small part.

With only a passing thought to his missing wife (“must’ve left town”), the brother goes off with murder on his mind. I believe this is the first time the singer mentions that it’s her brother. And in the first indication of how dysfunctional the family is, we learn that the only thing his father left him was a gun. Well, maybe Papa was poor. I guess he’s dead and we needn’t concern ourselves with him, but I must say he certainly didn’t raise his kids right.

Off through the woods to kill Andy, Brother sees somebody else’s tracks (only now do I wonder how he could see them in the woods with the lights out) (really, this song is the gift that keeps on giving).

Where to begin with the next event? He’s going to kill Andy, finds out Andy is already dead. Instead of saying, “Saves me the trouble” and quietly going home and getting on match.com, he calls the police. And not by picking up a phone and dialing 911 or even saying, “Operator, get me the police!” (it was the ’70s, after all) (yeah, that match.com line was an anachronism): he fires his gun. The mind boggles. How did he even find his way home from Candletown when he clearly does not have the brains he was born with.

My sisters and I speculated that the judge was riding around in the car with the sheriff, because the “make-believe trial” happened so fast. I imagine the lack of ballistics report and investigation of clues such as the small footprints saved a lot of time.

They must have strung him up pretty fast, though, to not give his little sister time to pipe up and say she done it. Kind of a disingenuous argument after all: “I didn’t have TIME to save my brother and get hung myself!” Fast as she was about shooting everybody else, I find that a little hard to believe.

Another big question I have is: how come she hid the wife’s body were it’ll “never be found” but left Andy lying “in a puddle of blood” for all to see? And come to think about it, who shoots somebody for cheating on their brother? Did I mention dysfunctional family earlier? I guess so!

And can I just say, getting cheated on is grounds for DIVORCE! And when your best friend is sleeping with your wife you FIND A NEW BEST FRIEND! And when your brother faces these problems, what a little sister should offer is a shoulder to cry on and the name of a good divorce lawyer.

I’m sure there are many good songs about cheating wives and bad friends that do not involve murder. They probably won’t make such fun blog posts, though.

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Hair Today

Posted on June 2, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, today is the day. This afternoon, I get shaved as part of a St. Baldrick’s Day event to raise money for children’s cancer research. I begged for donations and got quite a few. Now I’d like to take a few words to honor my hair while it’s still on my head.

I have almost always disliked my hair. That’s pretty typical, I think. Most of us wish we looked different from what we do. People with curly hair want straight and vice versa. Tall people long to be petite, while us shorties envy the statuesque. Oh dear, now I’m getting into half-baked philosophy and it isn’t Lame Post Friday. I’ll stop now.

As a child I had blond hair, very straight. I remember once when my hair was freshly washed and dry, my mother said, “Cindy has hair like an angel.” My dad replied, “Too bad she doesn’t have disposition to match.” The sad thing was, even my hair was not angelic on a regular basis, but let’s not continue with that memory.

In the ’80s (the 1980s, wise guy) (you know who you are), I discovered the miracle of permanents. I went curly. Recently a high school friend posted an old yearbook picture on Facebook. Look at all that hair! I’m a little sorry I don’t know how to add the picture here, but only a little. Why would I want to remind everybody that I used to be much skinnier and cuter than I am now?

I think my favorite way to wear my hair is short and spiky, which look I rocked from the late ’90s till about a year ago. For the past 10 months or so I’ve been growing it out in anticipation of the shave. I’m quite excited to finally have it done.

If anybody wants to make a last minute contribution in honor of my bald pate, here once again is my participant website: http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/642777/2013.

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The Return of Running Commentary

Posted on June 1, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have missed my Saturday Running Commentary. In fact, I’ve missed running. I keep picturing particular streets I used to run down and thinking, “Damn.” I have no excuse for stopping when I did. And the reason I stayed stopped for so long is simple inertia: an object at rest tending to stay at rest. In my defense, I was busy with a play, and then I got sick, and I have been going to Curves. Oh, I know, excuses, excuses. Let’s get on with the post.

That was a long first paragraph. I usually don’t do that.

Where was I? Ah yes, about to run. I got up Saturday at 4:30 a.m., actually earlier than I have to get up for work. My husband Steven has an early shift today. I thought, perfect, I’ll run as soon as he leaves. It’ll still be cool and quiet. I followed this plan.

Previously when I have written about running, I haven’t liked to say how long I run. I’m worried it’ll hurt my street cred. But today I thought, others who run similarly short times may feel encouraged. And those who are apt to point and laugh are probably going to do so regardless (you know who you are).

I hadn’t done anything week before last due to being sick. This past week, however, I returned to Curves and put in three workouts. That’s about 30 minutes of fairly intense exercise. I thought, therefore, that I could probably run for 30 minutes. After all, I do not run at an intense rate. This could work. I set out.

And almost immediately wondered if after two months off (two months? Eek!), running for a full half hour was the right thing to do. Maybe 15 minutes would be better. After all, start slow, build up. Isn’t that the right way to do it? And how about my original plan to run up the hill by Valley Health? Surely one could start out with a level run and feel good about it.

I decided to compromise. I would run the hill at whatever slow rate seemed good at the time. As for total run time, I would see what happened. 15 minutes would be acceptable. 20 would be better. If by some weird chance I made 30, well, woo hoo for me. I wouldn’t expect such miracles.

The weather report expected a scorcher today. Or maybe a steamer. You know, humidity. In any case, by 6:30 this morning the sun was up and I was soon feeling the heat. That was OK. It wasn’t too bad, especially when I could find some shade. I was going to rock that hill.

It wasn’t much fun at first. German Street goes gradually uphill as you approach Valley Health from my street. You wouldn’t think these subtle upgrades would be a problem, but I was really feeling it.

I saw another runner coming towards me, on the road. I was on the sidewalk. I prefer to run on the sidewalk away from cars, but I sometimes feel a little self-conscious about it. It seems like “real” runners run in the road. I pondered what made a “real” runner (yes, I put in in quotes in my head as I thought about it). I waved when we passed each other. The other runner said good morning in a perfectly friendly fashion.

Up the hill. Oof. I made it. Only seven minutes into the run. That was good, right? Now I was all done with hills for the day. The run got a lot more fun after that. Well, maybe not fun, but at least I reached the “I can rock this” stage.

I went for 23 minutes, followed by a 12 minute cool-down walk with my schnoodle Tabby (she won’t run with me, but she loves the cool-down walk). I thought that was pretty good. It’s a rebuilding year for me. I had no thoughts of running the Boilermaker anyways. All I really want is to be in 5K shape by the DARE run in August. I can rock that.

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Muddled Musings

Posted on May 28, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, I avoided Wrist to Forehead Sunday, but I’m going to have to have a Middle-aged Musings Monday. And I’m thinking they are not going to be any too profound.

I actually spent most of the day waiting to not feel so lightheaded. During a brief time I didn’t feel so bad, we were walking down to the park to enjoy a Memorial Day Parade (about which I hope to write tomorrow) (preview of coming attractions). I finally realized, I’ve got to write the damn post or — well, I was going to say die trying, but really what will happen is just that I won’t have a post. Can’t have that.

I wish I had something wise to say about Memorial Day. As a veteran myself, one might think I would have something valuable to add to the chorus of praise for our service members who have given their all for our freedom. Unfortunately, all I can think of to say is, “Yeah, what they said!” One feels proud and humble when one thinks of these things. One doesn’t necessarily think of anything that hasn’t already been said.

Was that the slightest bit profound? To say that I can’t think of anything to say? After many posts of writing how I can’t think of anything to write, at least it makes a change of pace.

I always say the best defense for these nothing posts is, at least they’re short. As always, let’s hope for something better tomorrow.

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