Category Archives: Monday Mental Meanderings

A Pause in Writing to Blog

Posted on September 15, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s a late post week, I suppose, although it is not too late to turn things around.  Only I can’t look that far ahead.  It is early-ish Tuesday morning (these things depend a great deal on perspective), and I am taking a break from the story I am writing for the Daily Sentinel about last night’s Ilion Village Board meeting.  Sometimes these stories are an interesting challenge, because my editor does not want over 800 words.  I am at 793 right now, so that is OK, only I think my lead is a little, well, leaden.  So I hopped over here to chatter on for a bit and try to wake my brain up.  I am on my second cup of coffee, so that should help.

Where’s Juan Valdez when you need him?

As you may have guessed, this is a Monday Mental Meanderings.  I meandered so far away on Monday, I didn’t make my blog post till Tuesday.  In fact, I did little or nothing of note on Monday.  You’ll have that.  Will I improve things on Tuesday?  We shall see.

Oh, there’s a thought!

As I jumped back to my Media Library for another illustration, I saw this.  It was taken at Saturday Spreads in Frankfort, NY.  Check out the notebook, complete with purple pen!  That is what I must do today: Go someplace and write!  Yes, yes, I know, I ought to be able to stay right here and write.  Well, maybe that will work out this time.  I will try it both ways and report back.

In the meantime, I am over 250 words.  Score!  Back to my journalistic duties.

 

3 Comments

Posted in humor, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

My Monday Mood

Posted on September 1, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

I just got hit by a bout of “Here I Am! Take Me Or Leave Me!”  It actually feels pretty good.  First I posted it as my Facebook status, then, having very little else, I decided to write my blog post about it.  Let’s see if I can get 200 words.  I can bill it as a Monday Mental Meanderings.  I can’t call them Middle-aged Musings anymore, unless I live to be over 120.  If so, I will leave instructions in my will for somebody to go back and re-categorize accordingly.  Perhaps I could do it myself on my deathbed.  I probably will not have much else to do at the time.

Yes, I am feeling a little silly.

I need more bling in my life.

Regular readers may recall the Minnie Mouse ears given to me by a friend recently.  She gifted a few other friends with different colors.  We are all going to wear them to the Herkimer Elks Lodge one day soon while Jack makes ice cream drinks.  Yum!

Politics must intrude.

I got hit with my merry mood after taking a shower kind of late in the day and putting on a cute outfit (or do I flatter myself?).  I have to cover the Ilion Village Board Meeting at 5:30.  These meetings have been lively lately, because many residents have attended to protest an AI Data Center which is proposed for the former Remington Arms building.  Remington Arms, for those of you who do not know, was a large gun manufacturer for over 200 years.  It was a terrible thing for the village when they closed.  I worked there for almost 10 years.

It is nice to see people getting involved with local issues, and they are not only talking about the data center but about other issues.  However, this blog is intended to be “totally fun,” so I will probably not write about them here.  I merely mention them in passing.  I will write about them for the Daily Sentinel, a paper out of Rome, NY.  That is my side hustle, a freelance reporter.  Doesn’t that sound cool?

I see I am over 300 words.  Score!  As always, I thank you for tuning in.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

I Missed Monday!

Posted on August 18, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh no!! I am back to posting the morning after for the day before!  It is a very bad habit to get into, and eventually I just acquiesce in losing a day (ooh, according to my Chromebook, I spelled “acquiesce” right on the first try! That is the first thing I have going for me this morning!) (obviously I will take every win).

I pause to turn the fan on.  I am sipping hot tea, in deference to my bad stomach.  I do not treat it well.  I throw anything down there, with no thought as to quality or quantity.  This is why my weight loss goals remain daydreams.  Never mind that.  My goal right now is to make some semblance of a blog post, then go on to writing my article about last night’s Herkimer Town Board meeting.

Obviously not a picture taken yesterday.

I looked in my Media Library for an appropriate illustration and found something that said, “Herkimer.”  Perhaps I should have gone with the Herkimer College sign, but one is not always sure of the right thing to do in these situations (one being me).

I confess I did not have a very good day yesterday.  I was not feeling very well physically or mentally.  However, I managed to make it to physical therapy and to the meeting I had to cover.  I logged into WordPress but was attacked with a terrible case of I Just Can’t Even.  I feel sure there are other writers who are shaking their heads or their fingers in scorn, saying THEY never allow such considerations to keep them from their assigned writing duties (you know who you are).  I say shake what you like, including your booty or your groove thing (which makes for an amusing mental image). I myself am approaching 300 words. Score!  See ya on Tired Tuesday!  Oh crap, that’s today!

 

2 Comments

Posted in humor, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

IT Is a Blog Post

Posted on April 20, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

The tree of existential angst.

I need to get a better picture of this tree, because it really speaks to me.  Two of its branches are posed in the universal position of “Wha-at?”  I took the picture on a recent long walk.  I had meant to make a Pedestrian Post with Pictures but am really only up to a Monday Mental Meanderings today.  Maybe I should have had coffee instead of tea.

A less evocative tree.

I have kind of a thing for dead trees.  I had walked up into Brookwood Park, which I used to refer to as The Unknown Park till somebody told me what it was called.  It ended up being a very good walk, because I took the path through the woods, and it is no myth that being near nature helps.

And still no Tim Curry!

Before I got up into the park, I saw a sewer and looked for an evil clown.  Full disclosure:  I have neither read the book  IT nor watched any of the movies (how many times has it been dramatized?).  I always associate it with Tim Curry, because I am madly in love with Tim Curry.  I hear he recently celebrated his 80th birthday.

Pretty!

I have been seeing a lot of hyacinths lately.  I must plant some in my yard for next year.  I love the smell.  This particular patch was in a kind of a weird place: on a down-slope into a parking lot.  I wondered if they had been planted or if some critter had moved the bulbs. In either case, I liked to see them.

And now I am over 250 without having said a whole lot.  The second cup of tea was not the miracle I was hoping for, but one must make do.  As always, I thank you for tuning in.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

I Quickly Type a Blog Post

Posted on March 24, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh dear, one little slip and it just snowballs.  Is that mixing metaphors?  Or merely indulging in cliche?  No matter, it is not a good beginning, but it is even worse that I missed posting two days in a row. I woke up Saturday thinking I would do a Lame Post Friday post, as I had very little brain at my disposal.  Somehow the day got away from me.  Sunday, I had rather a taxing morning and ended up spending the rest of the day on the couch feeling ill.  Today (Monday) I find myself with a short time before I need to go off and do Things, and feel sure that if I do not post now, I will never post again (that was indulging in hyperbole).

Random picture in an attempt to pep up the post.

I do not have time to search my Media Library for something appropriate or mildly connected, so I randomly share this azalea from a neighbor’s yard some few years ago.  I do not think it is there still.  The picture was, of course, taken later in the spring than we are now.  I want to look for crocuses in my yard but fear there will be none.  Winter keeps returning to the Mohawk Valley and saying, “And another thing!”

What would Truman Capote say about this?

I randomly picked a month in my Media Library and found this appropriate illustration!  I have often quoted Truman Capote, “That’s not writing, that’s typing.”  At least I have typed some 250 words.  I am a blogger once again.  I’ll work on being a daily blogger tomorrow.  I may even have something good to blog about.

 

3 Comments

Posted in humor, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

A Train of Ducks?

Posted on February 3, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’m afraid the best I can manage today is a Monday Mental Meanderings.  I am helped in this by something that showed up in my Facebook Memories:

I envy people who have a train of thought, even if it jumps the tracks. My thoughts are on a rickety cart on a muddy path, pulled by an ornery mule who sometimes just sits down and refuses to go (I made that one up myself; I’m rather proud of it).
It’s kind of like the one about ducks in a row, where you say your ducks are scattered about and one of them is possibly a pigeon.  I stole that one.

See? One’s a frog!

I went to the trouble of taking a photo of a few of my ducks so I could throw in a picture to pep things up.  These are the latest in my collection, sent to me by me by my friend Kim.  She sent me the purse, too (that’s what the ducks were in).  I don’t remember where I got the frog;  I grabbed her off the dresser to add a random touch to the photo.

As you see, I do not have much today.  I am trying to make some improvements in my life so I can get more done, but I seem to be quite resistant to change.  Oh well, one does what one can.   The Facebook meme says, if you can’t do the dishes, wash one dish.  If you can’t get your ducks in a row, at least take them out of the purse.  If your train of thought is stuck in a ditch, just don’t kick the mule!

As a side note, some of my ducks were in a row once, courtesy of my sister Diane.  There are several in my bathroom and she lined them up neatly along the bathtub, just so  I would have… you know.  And I did, till I knocked them over getting out of the shower.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Pre-Rehearsal Mental Meanderings

Posted on March 25, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I begin again as a daily blogger.  Today will be a Monday Mental Meanderings. For one reason, I am too old to do Middle-aged Musings.  It’s funny how fast you move from middle-aged to old.  Oh well, as my sister Diane says, Time is relative, not our relative.

It seems he has been there for some time.

I thought I should put a time-related picture just then but could not find any clocks in my Media Library.

AAAaaand then I just sat here with nothing to say.

That is as far as I got this morning.  It is now almost four in the afternoon and I have to start thinking about getting to a dress rehearsal for Prescription: Murder, the play I am in at Ilion Little Theatre.  Friday is opening night.  I think I need to study my lines some more.

I think this is my new favorite picture of myself.

That picture was to denote the passage of time while I heated up leftover coffee from this morning.  I read my lines out loud while it heated and then while I drank it.  I have not had as easy a time learning my lines as I usually do.  Do you suppose my brain is getting too old?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!!!

Now I have blathered on for over 200 words and must deem that all right for a Monday Mental Meanderings post.  I’m afraid for the next week this blog will be All Prescription: Murder All The Time.  Oh dear.  I’d better check again to see that I have all my stuff together (no, not my act!  Regular readers know I NEVER have my act together!).

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal, pre rehearsal post and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

More Meander than Mental

Posted on April 18, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Some of the first green I’ve seen.

I have been waiting for the trees to sprout leaves again.  For one reason, when the sun gets as bright and hot as it was this past weekend, I like the shade.  No, I am NOT complaining about the heat at this early date!  Sheesh! Anyways, I took this shot of a neighborhood tree when I was out walking on Sunday.

I have noticed other trees starting to bud but have not gotten any other pictures.  I feel I should go for a walk and remedy the omission but am too tired.

Well, I just went searching for a monster that was also a tree but had no luck.

And that was as far as I got last night.  I took a walk this morning, but I can’t get good pictures in the dark and was too lazy to carry my Tablet with me.  I am temporarily without a cell phone.  I could write a blog post about no longer being able to carry connectivity around in my pocket (preview of coming attractions).

From my Media Library.

I did walk by Herkimer’s Historic Four Corners,  but not from this angle.  Still, it is a not bad picture of two of the four corners and I found it rather easily, always a concern when one is pressed for time.

I see this nonsense has gotten me over 200 words.  Score!  I think I’ll bill this as  Monday Mental Meanderings.  It has a double meaning, since I also meandered around Herkimer.  Once again, thank you for tuning in.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Writing About Not Writing Is Still Writing

Posted on March 28, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh dear, it seems I have the dreaded Type It In Backspace It Out Disease.  This is much worse than when I write it down and cross it out, because in that case I can usually read what I crossed out later and say, “Oh, that isn’t so bad.”  Unless I get really disgusted with it and obliterate it or tear it up.  That has happened.

Phew!  I just got down a whole paragraph and haven’t deleted it.  Yet.  No promises, of course.  I could save it as a draft, but then when I try to go back to it, WordPress insists I started in Block Editor and something terrible may happen if I continue with Classic Editor.  I did not, WordPress!  I haven’t used Block Editor since I figured out how to go back to Classic Editor.

But I digress.

I guess this is going to be a Middle-aged Musings Monday Post.  I haven’t done one of those in a while.  Or maybe this is more of a Monday Mental Meanderings Post.  You decide.

Or pecked in one letter at a time with the stylus.

I personally am not hung up on my writing being perfect.   I just think it should be good.  Or at least not embarrassing.  I think I need to get over that and Just Write.  I can always revise the embarrassing parts later.  Or use them as blog posts (see what I did there?).

 

1 Comment

Posted in humor, Middle-aged Musings Monday, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

W(h)ining About Monsters and Blog Posts

Posted on November 23, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

Should I do a Monstrous Monday Post or a Monday Middle-aged Musings? I have not done one of the latter in a while. In fact, I think I even changed it to Monday Mental Meanderings. Fine blogger I am; I can’t even keep my features straight. However, I confess to enjoying these foolish posts where all I do is blather on for a while.

I’m afraid she’s not that into him.

I put in a romantic picture: the monster demands a mate, according to the movie advertising. Sadly, in the movie the match does not work out. Oh dear, should I have prefaced that with a spoiler alert?

Her outfit in the movie was less sexy.

Here is more Bride of Frankenstein art work from my Media Library. I should have had a bridal gown like that, although my figure was never quite that flawless.

But I wanted to give up around four this morning.

It is increasingly clear that I have little of substance to say. Full disclosure: I already had that glass of wine. I have been rejoicing that I only have a three day week (oh do not try to shame me, any of you who do not; I have been there, in fact, I just worked two six day weeks, so shut up already!). And I just realized: one down, two to go! Happy Monday, everyone!

4 Comments

Posted in humor, Middle-aged Musings Monday, Monday Mental Meanderings, Monstrous Monday, personal and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
← Older Posts
→