Category Archives: Pedestrain Post

Walking by Chester

Posted on December 10, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

Feeling rather dull and unmotivated this morning, I thought I would take a walk to try to pep myself up.  I have long felt that exercise is the magic elixir that can help make many things better.  Anyways, it got me off the couch and gave me a little material for a Pedestrian Post this morning.

The weather has warmed up a little, and rain seems to be getting rid of the snow.  I knew I was right not to bother shoveling my driveway!  Little did I know it was still raining when I set out.  No matter. As I like to say, I ain’t sugar; I won’t melt (wouldn’t THAT be a great weight lost plan!).  I used my phone to Map My Walk, mostly because I couldn’t find my Garmin, but also because I thought I might see some things to take pictures of.  The walk would pep me up, the pictures would pep up my post, a win-win situation!

Unfortunately, it seemed too gloomy for pictures.  Maybe I could walk by things I have pictures of in my Media Library, such as Herkimer’s Historic Four Corners.  Since I was also mapping my walk, I wanted to turn at as many corners as possible, to make an interesting shape.  I post the shape on Facebook, and my Facebook friends say what it looks like.  It is most amusing.  So I turned town Prospect Street, then decided to walk around the closed bank, in defiance of the arrow painted on the driveway.  There was no “Do Not Enter” sign (regular readers know I love to enter where those are posted), but a sign warned of video surveillance.  They could take my picture; I didn’t care.

I changed my mind when I saw a few people behind the bank, talking about something.  I did not want to intrude so walked across the adjoining parking lot to come out near the 1834 Jail.  Yes, I could walk by Chester Gilette, as I have often done!  I soon saw that I would have to take another picture, though, because Chester was being almost crowded out of the window by a Christmas tree.

Even murderers celebrate Christmas, it seems.

I had no other photo ops but continued my walk for some 33 minutes.  I must say the pep did not last very long, but I suppose you’ll have that.  At least I walked, and at least I made a blog post.  Will I get anything else useful done today?  A little uncertainty adds interest to my Tuesday.

 

2 Comments

Posted in humor, Pedestrain Post, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Looking for the Bright Spots

Posted on November 7, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is early Thursday morning, but I shall make a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday post.  I have a hard enough time keeping track of what day it is these days, why not make it a little more difficult?  If that seems contradictory, I will point out that I have a headache this morning.  I think I have been sleeping too much, or at least spending too much time in bed trying to sleep.  But enough about my tiresome problems, let us look at some pictures I took on a recent walk.  I do take a lot of walks.

Talk about prison overcrowding!

Most people have taken down their Halloween decorations, but I still enjoy seeing them on occasion. I had seen on Facebook the suggestion for this kind of decoration, but this was the first  I have seen it in person.

He was ready for his close-up.

I have been enjoying a little remaining color on my walks as well.

Still hanging on!

I have shown pictures of this tree before, as it is close to where I live.  I always feel a little sad when I see the stump.

Another bright spot!

We must appreciate what bright spots we can find.  I suppose it would do me good to try to create a few bright spots myself.  I wonder what I could do.  Feel free to comment with suggestions.

 

5 Comments

Posted in humor, Pedestrian Post with Pictures, personal, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Another Walk, Another Post

Posted on October 23, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am daring to make two Pedestrian Posts in the same week, because we are enjoying a short stretch of the most beautiful weather.  In fact, as I type this I am sitting on my front porch, enjoying a slight breeze and the tune it plays on my wind chimes.  I ran yesterday but had less oomph today.  Finally I said, oh just go take a walk.  I hoped it would improve my disposition.

I had my phone with me, because I use the Map My Run app to track my walks and runs.   It makes a map, which I post on Facebook, so my friends and family can amuse themselves and me by saying what it looks like.  I had not thought to take any pictures till I paused right below a gorgeously colored tree.  Would a picture come out?

It did!

There were two trees, so I walked by them and took a shot of both.

Twinsies!

As I started to continue my walk, I heard a voice say, “That’ll cost you $45!”  An old man (he may actually have been my age, but I’ve been told I am old) came up the driveway and said it would cost me $45 to take the picture.

“Oh, OK, just send me a bill,”  I said.  I usually don’t argue with these things.  The man told me how he had planted the trees about six years ago.  I said I remembered seeing them when they were just small.  We agreed that they are beautiful now.

I saw other beautiful trees and some delightful Halloween decorations as I continued my walk. I would like to go for another walk when it is dark, so I can enjoy the ones with lights or glow-in-the-dark.  I did not take any more pictures, because my sister Diane called me, and I did not like to put her on hold for a photo op.

It was a very pleasant walk, and, I hope, a pleasant blog post.  As for me, I am going to continue my porch sitting for a while.  Maybe a cute dog will walk by and I can pet it!

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Pedestrian Post with Pictures, personal and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

A Colorful Walk

Posted on October 21, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had thought about doing a Saturday Running Commentary yesterday, but it never quite happened. Today I was too lazy to run but took a nice walk so perhaps a Pedestrian Post with Pictures is eligible.  This weekend has been quite wonderful, weatherwise, with lots of sunshine.  In addition to my run yesterday, I took a long walk.  Today I actually had a couple of photo ops.

One lone bloom bringing hope, always a good sight.

I set out to do a long-ish walk.  I paused to take a picture of one lone flower.  It just seemed so symbolic.

I gotta love it!

Part of my walk was by the construction that has been going on at the end of German Street for some time now.  They seem to be making progress.  I turned up Maple Grove and was delighted to see that someone had added to a detour sign. I’m sure a lot of people have felt this startled to see the bridge was out.

Pretty! 

Of course I had to take a picture of some fall color.  Perhaps things are not as vivid as other years, but I love what color I see!

A little more color.

I walked up behind Valley Health Center and past the Do Not Enter Sign into the parking lot.  I knew I had a picture of the sign in my Media Library but thought a picture of another autumn tree would be nicer.  Regular readers know I love to defy Do Not Enter Signs; I don’t always have to show them as illustration.

Not exactly on fire, but…

I was wondering if these were the kind of tree called the Burning Bush; I know their leaves turn all red this time of year.  In any case, is it some more color to add to my blog post.

I felt quite invigorated by my walk.  Of course I did not use the energy to do much afterwards.  It is Sunday, after all.  However, I see I have made a blog post of over 300 words.  That has to be worth something.  I hope all my readers are also enjoying fall.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Pedestrian Post with Pictures, personal and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Don’t Wuss! Walk!

Posted on May 30, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

So there I was, sitting on my couch feeling utterly exhausted.  I mean not just tired, but entirely used up.  It is a feeling I get a lot lately.  Oh, stop playing that miniature violin (you know who you are)! One thing I do not need is condescension.  My original plan for today was to go running after work.  Unfortunately, I did something to my back and it was quite painful by the end of my work day.  At first I thought I would go ahead and run anyways.  Worst case scenario:  I stopped running and walked.  Then I thought the real worst case scenario is that I wake up tomorrow with an even worse backache, so I told myself don’t be stupid.  Run tomorrow.

Picture to pep things up.

Still, a walk might help a sore back.  It probably would have been a better idea to take said walk right away, before I sat there on the couch feeling like a big lump of I Don’t Care.  It was the thought of taking a couple of pictures on the walk for blogging purposes that got me into my sneakers and out the door.  I can’t break my streak of posting daily, can I?

The first place I walked was into my own backyard, to check on my rhododendron.  I had seen some neighbors’ rhododendrons blooming and hoped mine was doing the same.  It is blooming but is being overshadowed by a pine tree that grows nearby.  A few years ago I cut a bunch of branches off the tree for that very reason.  I felt like much woman, as my sister Vicki would say.  I guess I need to do it again.  I tried to get a picture of what blooms there are, but the sun was in the wrong place, so I couldn’t get the shot.

While I was out back, I could not help but notice how badly I need to mow.  I need, in fact, to do more than mow, but do some major yard work.  I almost opened up my garage and hauled out the mower.  Once again, consideration for my back stopped me.  Even opening the garage is quite the effort, because some spring or other broke after not being in the right place to begin with (I don’t properly understand these things).  I promised myself to try it tomorrow.  Or the next day.  Saturday at the latest.

Out front, I realized I could take a picture of my daisies, once again taking over the yard.  I just can’t bear to cut them back till they stop blooming.  They are so cheerful.  I put the picture of them after the first paragraph, because I did not want to make my readers wait too long for an illustration.  Then I took a picture of the two peonies that managed to bloom.

I love the smell!

My back was still hurting, but I at least walked around the block.  There were not many photo ops, because I do not like taking pictures of people’s yards without their permission (although I have done it on occasion).  I saw a flowering tree in front of one house, and I wondered what it was.  I took a picture, zooming in so you can only see tree, nothing of the house.  That makes it anonymous enough, doesn’t it?

Perhaps one of my readers knows what it is.

I felt somewhat revived after my walk, at least enough to open the Chromebook and make the blog post.  And I believe I have successfully avoided having a Wuss-out Wednesday.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Pedestrain Post, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Wuss then Walk

Posted on May 16, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I wussed out on Wednesday by not making a blog post (except for Tuesday’s, of course).  Big surprise there.  I had hoped to make a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday post, although the only picture I had taken but not used was a cute skull in a neighbor’s yard, taken on a cool-down walk after a run.

I do enjoy skulls and skeletons.

This morning, I overslept, not by much but small blocks of time can mean a lot in the morning, so decided to take my walk while my coffee dripped.  I did not take a walk yesterday due to rain.  I hate to miss a day.  I thought, I can walk by the skull and use that picture in a Pedestrian Post with Pictures (here is a Freudian typo:  I first put “Pedestrain,” because sometimes it is a strain to walk).

However, when I left the house, it was foggy.  I wanted to climb a hill to enjoy the sight of the fog so turned toward Valley Health.  It is not a huge hill, but I could get somewhat of a view.  Also, it is good exercise to walk up a hill.  I was using my phone to Map My Walk (the app is actually called Map My Run) but figured I would not have many photo ops in the dark.  My phone does not take good pictures in the dark, as I found when I tried to get a shot of the full moon.  Anyways, I reasoned to myself, how can I take a picture of the fog?  It obscures vision; how can I take a picture of what I can’t see?  I pondered how I could post a white square and pretend it was a picture of the fog by ultimately decided to use a screenshot of the map of my walk.

I walked a mile, but not in somebody else’s shoes.

The map did not come out the shape I had hoped.  I was picturing the body part narrower, like a worm or a snake.  But it was a pretty good walk.  I felt better after I had taken it than before.  I feel better yet now that I have had coffee and made my blog post.  Once again, thank you for tuning in.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Pedestrian Post with Pictures, personal, Uncategorized and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Monday Mosey

Posted on April 23, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

Earlier this evening, I sat here, logged in and looking at a blank “Add New Post” screen, with a mind equally as blank.  Finally I decided to go for a walk with my phone and take some pictures for a Pedestrian Post.  I did not have as many photo ops as I had hoped, but I did manage to get a few.

You can’t really see how lovely the green is.

 

It was a beautiful sunny evening.  Unfortunately, the sun was in a bad place for some of the pictures I would have liked to take.  Maybe I could have gotten some evocative back-lit silhouettes (holy crap, I spelled that right at the first try!), but I am not such an artsy photographer, especially with my cheap-ass phone.  I tried to capture a tree with the leaves just unfurling, with not much success.

I just now learned how to rotate a photo!

 

As I walked up Maple Grove, I saw a commemorative stone where a house used to be, till the flood of 2013.  I did not think it would be commemorating the house, which was not an historic structure.  I guess it marks the project of flood abatement.  Anyways, I took a picture.

My main purpose was to walk by the spring.  I was drinking out of a bottle of water that I wanted to finish and refill.  I am feeling rather dehydrated today.  Too much salty food, I suppose.

One of my favorite places to stop during a walk or run.

I continued my walk, trying to take a couple of different turns from previous walks I had mapped.  I like to post the map on Facebook and my friends say what they think it looks like.  Sometimes I make a psychological analysis or prediction based on what they see.  Analyses and predictions for entertainment purposes only, I hasten to add.

Things are more interesting when I go on longer walks and runs.

I went for a run this morning but did not map it.  I just re-started running on Sunday (after beginning again then stopping again etc).  I feel pretty well exercised for the day, I suppose.  And I have made a blog post of over 350 words.  I call that not bad for a Monday.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Pedestrian Post with Pictures, personal and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Nice Walk, But Little Spring in my Step

Posted on March 20, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

Monstrous Monday post on Tuesday, Tired Tuesday post on Wednesday, I’ve done it before and I will no doubt do it again.  I took a walk yesterday after work, thinking to do a Pedestrian Post with Pictures.  I took two but passed a few places I have pics of in my Media Library.  Let us see what I can come up with.

It was cold.  With Mother Nature’s macabre sense of humor, she gave us spring-like weather last week and winter weather on the first day of spring.  I dressed accordingly, wearing a lovely red cape/coat I picked up at a rummage sale but have rarely worn.  Searching for a hat worthy of it, I found one that had been crocheted for me by my dear friend Heather (I had sent her baby afghans for her beautiful newly-adopted twins) (oh, I also sent her a scarf I knitted; maybe the hat was in thanks for that) (and here I am bragging about stuff I send other people. What an ego!  What have I done for anyone lately?) (that last was a rhetoric question).

Where was I?  Ah yes, taking a walk.

Two venerable buildings.

I walked from my house to German Street, eventually turning down Main Street, where I passed my beloved Herkimer Historic Four Corners.  I continued down Main past the former Christ Episcopal Church, which I used to attend.  It is no longer a church, and the For Sale sign is gone.  I wonder what the future will bring for that lovely building.  The other building in the in the picture is the Herkimer County Courthouse.

There was a bank on the side of the road I was on.  I noted a Do Not Enter sign on the drive-thru. Regular readers know that I just love to enter when they say not to.  No cars were currently using the drive-thru, so I walked through it the wrong way.  I took a picture to commemorate the event.

I maintain my rebel cred.

The wind picked up as I continued my walk, so I cut things short.  I went through the park by Basloe Library (must make a trip there in the near future), went by a No Not Enter sign onto Bellinger Avenue and thence home.

I KNOW they mean cars, not old ladies walking; let me enjoy my little rebellions!

I took a selfie when I got home, thinking to post it on Facebook, so Heather would know I am still wearing her lovely hat.  I take terrible selfies.  They remind me that I am not nearly as cute as I like to think I am.  Then again, we are none of us the best judges of our own looks.  And I tell myself, “For heavens’ sake, how cute does a sixty-year-old lady have to be?”

Don’t look at me; look at the hat!

My walk ended up being 20 minutes, just under one mile.  I was and am glad I took a walk.  Exercise is a potent anti-depressant, and I need all the help I can get!

 

2 Comments

Posted in humor, Pedestrian Post with Pictures, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Not a Particularly Monstrous Walk

Posted on January 23, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

How monstrous of me to be late making my Monday blog post.  I am semi-lounged on my couch, ten-finger typing on my Chromebook and sipping coffee.  Coffee is a wonderful thing to those of us who enjoy it.  I took a walk yesterday, thinking to make a Pedestrian Post instead of a Monstrous one, but took few pictures.  I was just disinclined to take any.  I eventually took two and just now tried to upload them to WordPress from my phone.  When I went to log off WP on my phone, it told me changes had not uploaded yet.  I looked at my Media Library and said, “But there they are.”  The app had no reply, not surprisingly.

Love the one, don’t know the other.

I found my first photo op as I cut through the parking lot behind Basloe Library.  I love libraries and mean to start going to them more often.  Exiled Games is a business I have never been to, but I feel as Mohawk Valley Girl, I ought to check them out and write a blog post about them.  I mainly took the picture to remind myself to do so but thought it would also be good to put in the blog post.

I like whoever shoveled this.

I came across this wiggly path towards the end of my walk.  How fun is that?  I never wiggle when shoveling my own sidewalk but may have to consider doing so in the future.

So here is my Monday blog post, brought to you Tuesday morning (although my WordPress timestamp may disagree).  For anybody who is disappointed that it was not a Monstrous Monday, cheer up, there’s always Mid-Week Monsters.  In the meantime, I will close with a monster, if I can find one in my Media Library.

I think it is a little scary.

OK, it’s not exactly a monster, but I think it is a little monstrous.  I took it on a walk last November.  Mother Nature provides us with some gruesome delights, if we will only notice them.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Pedestrian Post with Pictures, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Walking Back to the Blog

Posted on November 21, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have not posted in two weeks (I did the math: 14 days, then I looked at a calendar).  It just got easier and easier NOT to post!  And here is a philosophical question (whose answer will be half-baked, no doubt) suitable for a future Lame Post Friday post (if I can manage to keep posting that long):  why are good habits so hard to get back to and bad habits so easy?  I can go a week or two without eating chocolate (I can’t tell you the last time I actually did that, but I’m sure I can), then one little bite and I’m all, “YUM!  Why did I ever stop this?”

Full disclosure:  right now as I ten-finger type on my dining-room-table-top, I am a bit,  “This is awesome!  Why did I ever stop this?”  Yet I cannot guarantee I will be here tomorrow morning at this time doing the same thing.  But, as I said, these questions are for Lame Post Friday.

The current state of my blog.

As I often do at these times,  I throw in a picture to pep things up.  On Sunday (today is Tuesday, but the way; I mention it because my WordPress timestamp does not always jive) I took a walk with my camera, taking a few pictures, thinking to make a Pedestrian Post.  These rotting pumpkins caught my eye. I thought it was a brave smile, such as I feel myself giving these days (my teeth are in about as good shape).  At least this one has not started molding on the inside.  I once saw a really scary one with its mouth wide open to a black interior.  Alas that I had no phone or tablet with me at the time.

A nice place. I should join.

My walk continued and eventually I went past the Herkimer Elks Lodge, the site of my recent theatrical triumph (I feel I do not flatter myself as I give most of the credit to my fellow actors), Lights, Camera, Murder!  Imagine my chagrin when I discovered there were several other murder mysteries with the same title.  These things happen, I suppose, and I have heard you cannot copyright a title.

Why isn’t he in his cell? Is it a jail break?

Because I am still (let’s face it: almost always) in Halloween mode, I took a shot of the ghost of Chester Gillette peeking out of the 1824 Jail.  I guess it is not technically a ghost, but I think it has a nicely creepy air to it.

I see I am over 400 words.  That is long for one of my posts!  I hope I can get back into daily blogging. I may even waste a post detailing why I was away for so long, but as I often note, explanations are tiresome.  I sincerely thank you for tuning in.

 

4 Comments

Posted in humor, Pedestrian Post with Pictures, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
← Older Posts
Newer Posts →