Category Archives: Herkimer

Trick or Treat!

Posted on November 2, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s no secret that Steven and I love Halloween. One of the highlights of my year is to stand on my front porch October 31 with my husband and my dog, and greet the trick or treaters. Last night that is just what I did. Of course you knew I was going to write a blog post about it.

Trick or treating in Herkimer was scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. I thought I would have just enough time after work to go running, take a shower and just possibly make my blog post.

When I returned from my run, I saw that Steven had added to our outside decorations. Boney, our blow up skellington, was poised between the two trash cans (Tuesday is garbage day). Our new ghoul, a six foot tall Grim Reaper was on the porch. We purchased the Reaper recently at a garage sale for a very good price. His eyes and lamp light up, his head turns, and he says creepy things, punctuated by groans or laughter. Eerie laughter, of course. He is light or sound activated. We spent a good portion of the evening stomping on the porch.

As usual I overestimated myself, so the blog post did not get done till later. I was searching for some warm clothes. We often dress in costumes for the trick or treaters, but this year we did not have our act together. Steven wore his green gardening gloves, which look a little oogie. We put Tabby’s hot dog costume on her. She is surprisingly good natured about keeping that hot dog on. We were ready and waiting for the crowd!

And we waited. And we waited. What a slow start! It doesn’t help that they moved the silly time change to a week later, so we were in broad daylight. Who wants to go trick or treating in the daylight? I remember in the olden days, when I was a little girl. The city didn’t dictate when trick or treating began and ended, and we always went out after dark. It was exciting. We especially liked the houses that had light up doorbells.

At last the kids started coming. Once again, I admired and envied the costumes. I remember when I was a kid, store bought costumes were so dumb. You’d have a plastic mask that pretty much looked like the character, whatever it was, and a polyester jump suit with a picture of the character on the chest. I remember thinking they were extremely ridiculous. Caspar the Friendly Ghost (for example) doesn’t go around with a picture of himself on his chest! (Not that I would ever have been Caspar; I thought he was kind of dumb too.) Costumes today are awesome! Still, I love the homemade ones best. One kid was a playing card. He had a joker hat on and a cardboard front and back. His mother said, “That’s what he wanted to be! I just take requests!” Awesome mom. Another memorable costume was a kid with ripped clothes and blood on his face. So simple, yet so profound.

A number of dogs were out, some in costume. Tabby took exception to a couple of them, but we had her on the leash and nothing untoward happened. I’ve read that it is best to shut your dogs up in a separate room during trick or treating. They might be frightened of the strange costumes. For one thing, Tabby’s feeling would be very hurt if we did something so fun on the front porch and shut her up inside. For another thing, she LOVED seeing all those people in costumes. Many people complimented her on her hot dog, and many petted her. She had as good a time as we did.

Fun as it was, I was not sorry to see seven o’clock roll around. It was cold, and I didn’t even have oogie gardening gloves on. We went inside to find the cheesey Mummy’s Curse from 1964 on TCM. We gave candy to a few stragglers, and started making plans for Halloween 2012.

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Posted in dogs, Halloween, Herkimer, humor. Bookmark the permalink.

Lots of Local, with Wine

Posted on October 29, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

Friday I was delighted to have a Wine Tasting to attend at Vintage Spirits, 246 Mohawk St., Herkimer.

The tasting ran from four to seven. We arrived shortly after 4:30 when the event was in full swing. The Jones Family Farm was also there with goat cheese samples. I am not very familiar with goat cheese and I am happy to report: it’s yummy!

The Jones Family Farm is located at 753 Caldwell Rd., Herkimer. I intend to go there one day soon for a whole blog post about them. For now I’ll tell you the cheeses I tasted were delicious. I told the lady about my blog and how I’d say there was Great Cheese Lady at the tasting. She suggested I capitalize it.

Also present at the tasting was Domnhall Vineyards, also of Herkimer. I had met them at the Crusaders Wine Tasting Fundraiser at Herkimer County Community College in the spring (alas, pre-blog days, because that would have made a great post). They are located at 531 Shells Bush Rd. I asked the guy when he would have a tasting room available. I confess, I was hoping for today, because I have a couple of sisters coming over later who would love to go to a winery for a tasting. He said probably by spring. I’ll be on the look-out for that. For now, I tasted the semi-dry Vignoles and Baco Noir he was offering. Both were very tasty.

Bronson of Vintage Spirits was offering a number of reds and whites. I tried a Prosecco, a lightly oaked Chardonnay (I don’t like the heavily oaked ones), and two blends. I learned how to pronounce Dogajola, an Italian winery from which we sampled a red and a white (the j sounds like y, as opposed to h in Spanish, or, you know, j).

I decided on the Prosecco, which is bubbly, because I’m having a party tonight. I think a few of my guests would like to mimose, as we say. Bronson also told me I could add peach nectar and make bellinis. That sounded good too, but I forgot to look for the peach nectar when I was at the store this morning. I also purchased the Domnhall Vineyards Baco Noir, because I was fairly sure I would be more in the mood for a dry red. Steven had already purchased a dill cheese spread. Very good choice.

When we got to the front of the store, a lady asked us did we want to sample some vodka. I told her I was not much of a vodka drinker.

“Have you ever tried flavored?” she asked.

“I have.”

“How about some rum?”

I do like rum. One of the men at the register took the wine bottles I was carrying. “Wise man,” I said. “Don’t let me hold the bottles while I’m tasting the rum.”

It was Sailor Jerry spiced rum. Quite yummy. I sampled it straight, but I think I’d also like it in a cup of coffee.

As I was paying for the wine, the man at the register showed me a pomegranate liqueur which he said would be good in the Prosecco. I impulse bought an airplane sized bottle. In case somebody at the party feels adventurous.

We left with our wine and cheese, and headed to Ilion for the Farmers Market. Lots of local purchases! And stay tuned for future posts about the Jones Family Farm and Domnhall Vineyards.

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Posted in cheese, Herkimer, Ilion, local business, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Haunted Walk

Posted on October 27, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

In the spirit (so to speak) of making another haunted post during Halloween week, I decided to walk my schnoodle, Tabby, past a couple of buildings in Herkimer which I had read might possibly harbor ghosts.

I was a little flustered when we started out, because I had many things to do that evening and was approximately halfway through them. But I needed a blog post for Wednesday (today), and it is too early in the week to go lame (so to speak) (for new or sometime readers: that is a reference to Lame Post Fridays).

We headed to the Historic Four Corners, which holds the 1834 Jail and the Herkimer County Courthouse, both of which are reputed to be haunted. I thought I might also stroll by the other two corners, the Herkimer Reformed Church and the County Historic Society, just in case.

The Reformed Church seemed like a good bet, with the graveyard and all. Tabby was more interested in sniffing a handy patch of marigolds outside the yard. I started to pull her along, then I noticed a sign in front of the church that said, “Be still and know that I am God.” It’s one of my favorite Bible quotes, and it was so apropos for the moment. I stood still till Tabby had finished her sniff.

I saw a light on in the church, so I did not walk into the graveyard after all. I did not want to be caught creeping around gravestones looking for spooks by people doing church business.

We crossed the street and walked up the steps to the door of the 1834 Jail. I felt somebody watching me and waiting for them to ask me what I thought I was doing there. I was all ready to say, “Just checking if there was a ghost,” but nobody asked. Then when I looked, nobody was there. It was not until later that I realized the significance of that. I felt somebody watching me, but nobody was there. Hmmmm… Only,do ghosts go out onto the sidewalk in front of buildings they haunt? I suppose it would depend on the ghost.

We walked across Main Street to the courthouse, which is still in use for the purpose for which it was built. When we got to the top of the steps, I saw a couple of current notices taped to the door. Very prosaic. We walked back down the steps in time to greet a very cute little dog walking with his person. Tabby was less than thrilled when he wanted to sniff her butt. They all do.

I started to walk up the sidewalk next to the courthouse. It bordered a parking lot so did not look like any place I was not supposed to be. I did not notice anything unusual, but Tabby pulled me very insistently back to the Main Street sidewalk. She was not at all interested in checking out the Historic Society but kept pulling in the direction of home. I could not help wondering if she saw something I did not. In any case, I figured she had been nice enough to accompany me two places ghost hunting, I would let her decide where the rest of the walk took us. She took us straight home. I only made her wait for traffic when we crossed a couple of streets.

We passed one pedestrian on our own street. Tabby barked a little angrily at his ankles as we crossed paths, which is unusual for her.

“What’s that all about?” I asked her. The odor of tobacco drifted back to me, so I wondered if Tabby had taken exception to his cigar. Then I remembered that some ghosts announce themselves with a scent such as tobacco. Maybe that guy was a particularly solid looking ghost. Dogs are supposed to know these things. Unfortunately, there was nobody else around to ask if I was the only one who had seen him. That would have been another sign.

I suppose now I’m being silly. Or else really reaching to invest my little expedition with haunted excitement. Oh well, how else am I supposed to get a Halloween blog post out of a twenty minute walk?

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Posted in Halloween, haunted, Herkimer, humor. Bookmark the permalink.

Lame S****, Different Day

Posted on October 23, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

For those of you who missed Lame Post Friday as much as I did, here is some rather foolish commentary about my ride home Thursday.

When I left work on Thursday, I was on a mission to procure a special snack for my husband, Steven, and I to share when he came home for his dinner break at 5:30ish. I though I might go to Melrose Market in Frankfort and see if they had anything.

I work at a certain factory in Ilion. Now, there are a few different ways to get from Ilion to Herkimer or Ilion to Frankfort, as the case may be. The most direct route to my house is out State Route 5. That is a very busy route between 3:30 and 4, so I usually go through Mohawk. It’s kind of fascinating to me how Herkimer, Mohawk, Ilion and Frankfort kind of run into each other. You can go on one of two highways — State Route 5 or Route 5S (east or west) — or you can go through the villages. It’s fun. Or am I too easily amused?

And here’s a related question, why is there a State Route 5 and a Route 5S so close together? You can’t run out of numbers. That is a recurring theme around here. For example, Ilion has a Second Street and a Second Avenue. I can understand being just too tired to think up another street name. But numbers are infinite, and we all know the order they go in. Just move on to the next number! How hard can it be? Apparently too. If anybody out there knows the very logical, understandable reason the streets are thus named, I would be interested to hear it. But I will not feel the least bit chastened, and I will not cease to poke fun.

Now then, where was I? Ah yes, driving around the block in Ilion. I didn’t quite explain that, did I? I took a right rather than a left out of the factory parking lot when I really wanted to go left. Just go around the block, right? How hard could it be? Well, Ilion is a little like Rome: screwy. None of the streets are quite parallel, and nothing comes out where you think it ought to. “Going around the block” in this case necessitates two right turns, one left, another right, another left, and two more rights. On the brighter side, this brings you out right next to the liquor store. I stopped and got a bottle of Pinot Noir. Not Vampire Pinot Noir, which would have been seasonal, because they didn’t have any. Still, Noir is dark. But I digress.

I drove through Ilion into Frankfort, not needing to go on one of the highways. I passed a sign that said “Saranac Tasting 4 to 7.” It was 3:55, which was just as well, because I was on a time budget. Unfortunately, when I got to Frankfort, there was not a parking space to be had anywhere near Melrose Market. I love that grocery store, but the parking situation leaves something to be desired. I drove past and got onto State Route 5. From here I could go back to Ilion and try again. This would bring me near that Saranac tasting at four. I was tempted, but like I said, on a time budget. I opted to drive into Herkimer and my old stand by, Hannaford. From there, I went home and fixed roll-ups, as described in yesterday’s post.

I hope this satisfies everybody’s need for my weekly silliness quotient. It certainly satisfied mine.

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Posted in Frankfort, Herkimer, humor, Ilion, lame, Mohawk, Mohawk Valley. Bookmark the permalink.

Walk into History

Posted on October 20, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

When I took a walk with my schnoodle Tabby on Tuesday, I armed myself with a little notebook so I could write down information from any historic markers I passed. I thought it would make my walk more blogworthy.

Steven suggested I use one of the mini composition books he had put in my stocking at Christmas. I have quite a fascination with notebooks, pens, index cards, binders, clipboards, and other tools of writing. Anyone who shares this interest (I know my Mom likes notebooks) will understand that my walk suddenly became even more interesting.

We walked by the 1834 Jail. The historic marker informed me that the jail had housed Chester Gilette during his trial for the murder of Grace Brown in 1906. I wrote it down, but in fact I did not need to. I know a lot about Chester Gilette. I even wrote a blog post about him once.

I think the other side of the marker told about Roxlanna Druse, who I believe was the last female executed in Herkimer County. That, I could have benefited from writing in my notebook. Unfortunately, Tabby was pulling me in the opposite direction, and since she had already nicely waited while I wrote about Chester Gilette, I followed her. I’ll find out more about Roxlanna for a future post.

No historic markers as we walked down Main Street. Tabby looked longingly at our church, Christ Episcopal, but it was not a good time to cross the street. Anyways, I didn’t know of any historic markers in that direction. Then she wanted to go through the park next to Basloe Library, which I agreed to since it was on the same side of the street. No historic markers, but a couple of interesting trees for her to sniff. So far a good walk for a schnoodle. For my purposes, not so much.

We walked through Meyers Park. I knew there were historic markers there. First I saw a stone fountain. At least, I guess it used to be a fountain. It’s dry now. It was erected in memory of Elisha Washburn in 1909. There may have been a story behind that, but the engraving did not say so. I moved on to the historic markers.

One told me the park had been the site of a burying ground. The graves had been moved to create the park. The other marker talked about Fred’ck Staring, also know as Frederick Starns on the Virginia frontier. He lost sons and grandsons in the Revolutionary War, and was the patriarch of a prominent southern family. The marker was erected by his descendents in 1998. Left unexplained was what Fred from Virginia had to do with Herkimer. I thought I might to an internet search and see if I could learn more, but, um, I didn’t. I guess if I was a dedicated blogger of local history, I would make time for such things. And so we come to the ugly truth about me. But I digress.

To exit the park we walked by a statue of some guy who lived from 1802 to 1890. The engraving said he was proud of being instrumental in women working for the government. I don’t know who it was, because they did not show his name, only his signature, which I found quite illegible.

So that was my historic walk. I’ll head in a different direction next time and see what I can find.

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Posted in dogs, Herkimer, history, walking. Bookmark the permalink.

Fall Fest on the Canal

Posted on October 11, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

Saturday afternoon we attended Fall Fest at Gems Along the Mohawk, 800 Mohawk St., Herkimer.

Gems Along the Mohawk is a fun store to visit in its own right. They gather the best of local businesses and tourist attractions. You walk around the store admiring the goods and/or saying, “Oh yeah, we have to go there!” The showpiece is a large glass display case in the center of the store full of jewelry made with Herkimer diamonds. I point out to Steven all the things he can buy me when he has lots of money. I’m sure he’s taking notes.

Saturday’s event featured various booths in the parking lot. We admired some farm animals from Salamone Farms. A little kid was petting a calf. We wanted to pet it, uh, I mean him or her, too, but by the time we got over there, he or she was laying in the shade and looked as if he did not want to be disturbed. I imagine he had been petted a lot.

There were some adorable kittens, a bunny and a couple of chickens as well. The lady told us they often went places where children had seen very few animals.

“I once had a kid ask, ‘Can I pet the sheep?'” she said. “I said, ‘You can pet him, but he’s a calf.'”

“It’s good to see animals,” I said. “It makes us more human.” She agreed.

At the other booths we sampled some mustard made with maple syrup. Yum! I foolishly did not write down the vendor. We purchased some garlic from Lifson’s Garlic Farm of Rome, NY (he gave us a card). I was glad to have the garlic, as we watched a vampire movie later.

We had missed our chance to go on a canal cruise. We were also too late for lunch at the Waterfront Grill, which is located in the same building. That’s OK, though, Denny’s is right across the street. And now we’ll just have to return to the Waterfront Grill for a future blog post.

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Posted in Autumn, Community Events, Herkimer. Bookmark the permalink.

Rummaging Around

Posted on October 8, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

While walking with Tabby one day this week, I noticed signs for a rummage sale at Herkimer Reformed Church. The church is on the historic four corners. I’ve blogged about it before.

I made a mental note and kept walking. Tabby directed me toward our church, where she always looks for nice people to pet her.

“There’s no one there, honey,” I told her, but I was surprised to see the door open and a light on. Tabby insisted on going in. They were setting up for a rummage sale there. This is where I confess that I have not been attending church, or I would have known about it.

The sale at Herkimer Reformed Church ran till 6 pm Friday night, so Steven and I thought we’d seize that opportunity. We weren’t sure, though, because two signs said till 6 Friday, one said till 4. Steven was pretty confident, though, with the signs running two to one.

When I got home from work Friday, I remembered I had not sent post cards to my soldiers this week. Scandalous omission; I had been sending two per week. Steven pointed out that I only had two post card stamps left, which worked out, because I’m currently sending to two soldiers.

“The post office closes at five. We can get there by five and buy more stamps,” I said. Of course we had to walk to the post office. Tabby had seen me writing the post cards, and she knows post cards mean walk to post office.

When we left the post office, it was an easy matter to walk home by way of the historic four corners and confirm the rummage sale was still open. It was. We got our schnoodle home and hurried back to rummage.

The Herkimer Reformed Church is such a handsome building. It is a pleasure just to walk through to the basement where the sale was going on. We did not peek into the sanctuary, as we sometimes do at church sales, but I will do that one day.

I made a beeline for the books (actually, that’s a funny word: beeline. Most of the bees I see make kind of an erratic pattern). I found a true crime book by Ann Rule I had not read. She’s the best. I also grabbed a couple of biographies. Then I saw a John D. MacDonald. I could tell by the title it was not a Travis Magee mystery, but MacDonald is always worth a read. When I picked up the book, I saw it was a 75 cent paperback with a pulp fiction cover. I collect those, so I was quite delighted.

Another lady was looking at the books with equal delight. She told me she was stocking up for the winter. Good thought. She showed me a history of Lawrenceville she had found, an old book.

“If I had seen that first, you wouldn’t be getting it,” I told her, to express my envy. She immediately offered it to me, which I thought was very gracious of her. I refused with thanks. There is no reason to be greedy.

Steven found a shot glass for his collection, a tin and a wooden box. We got everything for two dollars. What a deal!

“It’s Friday night,” the lady working the sale said. She invited us back for Saturday’s bag sale. Steven has to work, but I am tempted.

It would be a good idea if I went to the bag sale at my own church today. I’m writing this Saturday morning as Steven prepares for work. Will I go? As they say, time will tell. That time certainly is a blabbermouth.

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Posted in church, Community Events, dogs, Herkimer, Mohawk Valley, rummage sales, walking. Bookmark the permalink.

A Run and Two Walks

Posted on October 8, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

As I sit here pondering that it’s Lame Post Friday, I am forced to come to the conclusion: I got nuthin’ (not even a g).

I have not run since Sunday. Sunday was a good run in Vermont, where we were visiting Steven’s family. I reached the “Oh yeah, I can rock this” stage. Of course, I even realized at the time that the feeling had something to do with the fact that I was on a gentle down slope. Let’s hear it for gravity.

Where my sisters-in-law live, the run is scenic but can be a little nerve wracking, because for the most part there are no sidewalks and the road has no shoulder. The posted speed limit is 25 mph, which should help, but, well, you know speed limits. Most people see them as a mere suggestion and others insist upon regarding them as a minimum. (True story: when we lived in Georgia, the paper had a call-in comment line. One yahoo called in and said, “When the speed limit is 45, I should be able to do at least 45.”)

Anyways, advantage Herkimer, for lots of sidewalks and a nice wide shoulder on the road to Herkimer County Community College, my favorite hill.

As I said, I have not taken advantage of the Herkimer sidewalks this week for running purposes. I didn’t even take my dog, Tabby, for a walk the first two days. Monday she didn’t seem to mind, but Tuesday when I went so far as to leave the house, she got a little miffed. She didn’t pee on the floor or chew anything up. She just sat on the love seat and turned her face pointedly away from me. Luckily, all was forgiven when I returned. That’s the great thing about dogs: they never hold a grudge.

So on Wednesday, I was determined to make things up to my dog by not deserting her to run and by taking her for a long walk. It was a beautiful sunny day. I put on my crazy old lady hat, because it has a nice wide brim. We walked for a good half hour.

The next night Steven was home, so we all three walked together. That walk was a little more eventful. We met up with a tiny dog that immediately started pulling on her leash to meet Tabby. They sniffed each other and got their leashes tangled. The little dog was definitely more excited to meet Tabby than vice versa, but Tabby was greatly interested in getting the dog’s owner to pet her. The owner told us the little dog’s best friend was a doberman that lived a couple of houses over. There was another big dog nearby, she said, who was also a friend. As we walked on, a dog up a driveway started barking.

“There’s a dog,” I said, although I did not actually see him. We started to cross the street, not to avoid the dog. It was the way we were headed.

“Oh, he’s a nice dog,” the little dog’s owner called after us. We did not get to meet that dog. We passed a house for sale.

“If we bought that house, Tabby could get to know all those dogs,” I said. We did not call our realtor, though.

We strolled down the path over what used to be a hydraulic canal. There are a few little stations with information and pictures. One day I’ll go for a walk carrying a notebook and put some of that in a blog post. Just warning you. Uh, I mean preview of coming attractions.

We admired some roadwork the village had done, envied some houses’ Halloween decorations and in general enjoyed the scene. And as I often blog about innocuous strolls with our schnoodle, I guess this qualifies as my Friday Lame Post.

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Posted in dogs, Herkimer, humor, lame, Mohawk Valley, walking. Bookmark the permalink.

Dressing for Dinner

Posted on October 1, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought my Friday nonsense was getting out of hand, so I determined to do something blog-worthy on Thursday. All I managed was to go to dinner at Applebee’s. Regular readers (both of them) know I don’t usually blog about chains. Still, I rationalized, this particular Applebee’s is in the Mohawk Valley. As I sit here writing this (rough draft in my notebook in the break room before work), I think: I will compromise between nonsense and business by entertaining you (I hope) with my gyrations getting ready. In other words: welcome to another Lame Post Friday.

Following my after-work shower, I looked for something to wear. I don’t have a lot of clothes that fit since I lost weight. Most of my skirts still fit. I usually wear them with long johns or leggings instead of pantyhose. However, since I no longer wear pantyhose to work, I will occasionally wear a pair after work, especially if I’m trying to keep my long johns clean for the weekend, which I am.

A side note here: I once worked with a rather obnoxious girl who would sniff, “I wear tights.” In fact, the package mine came in was labelled “Microfiber Tights.” It’s all pantyhose to me.

I grabbed a black pair at first, then noticed my sexy (or do I flatter myself?) silver pair.

“Hey, should I be sexy?” I asked my husband.

“Sure.” Of course his line should have been, “You’re always sexy,” but husbands do not always know their lines. He is a very good husband in other respects.

Pantyhose on, I searched for my black velvet skirt. It’s not a mini skirt, but at knee length, the pantyhose would show. I modeled a blouse for Steven. He approved, but I decided it needed ironing. I was not about to go that far. I settled on a green top which was not exactly low cut, then pondered my jewelry choices.

I have to say, this was the most fun I’ve had getting dressed in a long time. I even wore nice shoes, with a bit of a heel. I was ready for dinner with the hubby.

The only sad thing was we could not sit at one of my favorite tables, the tall ones in the bar area. I suggested we sit at the bar, but Steven did not want to. The hostess offered a booth in the bar area. We accepted, but I must say, it was a real compromise on my mental picture of the evening. It is difficult to look sexy, or even dignified sliding into and out of a booth, especially when the seats are real sinky downy, which these were. The sinky downy quality, while comfortable, also made the table a little taller on me than I like. However, these were minor discomforts. We were prepared to enjoy our meal.

We took advantage of the “2 for $20” special. I indulged in a Perfect Margarita, while Steven had coffee. Our appetizer was Potato Twists, which was new. My entree, Bruschetta Chicken, was also new. Steven rather boringly had Chicken Tenders, which is what he usually gets. Applebee’s does make tasty Chicken Tenders. It was a satisfying dinner; for once we were too stuffed for Dessert Shooters. The food and service were both very good.

It was a fun evening. I did not feel that my glamorous outfit was wasted. As a side note, we are headed to Vermont this weekend (as soon as I finish this post, in fact), so my next few posts may not have that Mohawk Valley flair. But stay tuned; I won’t be away from home for long.

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Posted in Herkimer, humor, lame, Mohawk Valley, Restaurants. Bookmark the permalink.

Running in the Unknown Park

Posted on September 30, 2011 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yes, it is another post about running, but this time I ran someplace different.

There is a park off German Street, a couple of streets before the turn to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC), heading west, I think (I don’t know from directions). There is no sign saying the name of the park, but there is a gate between stone pillars that is sometimes closed, bearing a sign reading “Park Closed for Season.” I don’t run into the park very often, because it is merely an out and back run, and I am more into turning here and there, or at least going around the block.

The reason I turned into the park Wednesday is that I was on that side of the street. Now, crossing German Street at four in the afternoon is no easy matter. I accomplished it, because I had some vague notion of running up to HCCC the back way. My legs were instantly trying to talk me out of that. Still, I had crossed the street. Then I saw the park and my legs said, “Look! That goes uphill, and we haven’t run that way in a long time!”

The incline into the park is not what you would call a real hill, especially compared to what I had thought to run, but a little more effortful that the fairly level sidewalk I was on. As I ran on, I realized a little more effort was entailed, because the road through the park is not smoothly paved, but comprises uneven stones and gravel. Not so uneven as to put one at risk of a turned ankle, but a little more effortful. Sometimes that is the best I can accomplish: just a little more effort.

I’ve run into this park a few times and rarely encounter anybody. Wednesday I saw a sports game in progress. I was too far away at first to see which sport it was. Soccer? Rugby? Lacrosse? I couldn’t tell if they were holding sticks or kicking a ball. Then I saw white on everybody’s head. Oh, helmets. Let’s see, what sport requires helmets? Oh, football. Silly me. This from a girl who listens to Sports Box on WVHC. I ought to be ashamed. Well, embarrassed anyways (but not too embarrassed to include this in the blog for a cheap laugh).

Unfortunately as I got closer the banks were such that I couldn’t see the game any more. I did see a man in the distance, tossing a toddler in the air the way most toddlers love to be tossed. There’s a sport I could get into: the Toddler Toss. Watching, not participating. I’ll confine myself to the Toddler Lift and Carry. Any toddlers handy? By the time I reached the man and tot they were sitting in the back of a pick up truck, watching the game.

After the sports field, things got more woodsy. I remembered the problems we had with mosquitoes on Saturday, but I wanted to keep running.

“Let ’em have at me,” I thought, “I’ve got witch hazel!”

I ran by an area with a pavilion, picnic tables and hibachis. I remembered that during the DARE run we went on a path that came out on this area. I thought briefly of exploring that, but I know the other end of the path is gated off, and I was not feeling sufficiently rebellious. I ran on to the end of the park.

A man made stream flows through the area. In fact, there is a cute little footbridge to the picnic area. I call it a man made stream. It may actually be a drainage ditch, but doesn’t man made stream sound better? As I got to the end of the path the man made stream started to look more like a nature made stream. I could have explored that, but there was a forbidding looking fence with no gate. One could perhaps go around the fence, but one might be asking for trouble to do such a thing. Also, as it got more wooded, it got more mosquito-y.

As I ran back out of the park, I got to pet a cute dog briefly. He was off his leash and much more into running around than being petted. I left the park and managed to cross German Street without mishap. Another cute dog that wanted to be petted, down a couple more streets, and back home.

A different setting with different thoughts to distract myself with. Not a great run, but a good run, and a fairly lengthy blog post.

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