Category Archives: personal

I Love a Parade

Posted on May 29, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I may have used that headline before.

One reason we were happy Steven had Monday off was that we could attend the Herkimer, NY Memorial Day Parade. We went last year and enjoyed it very much. I do love a parade.

The parade was at one. I spent a short time doing yard work then the rest of the morning trying to get over my latest bout of lightheadedness (allergies? the last bit of my stomach bug? Who knows). I was feeling OK by 12:45 and we set out.

The parade was to end at Meyers Park, a mere ten minute walk from our house. That was where we caught it last year. It was a beautiful day, sunny and bright. Perhaps not as warm as one might like on Memorial Day (depending on who one is), but I thought it good parade weather.

We could hear the band warming up in the pavilion. The parade was to be followed by a ceremony in the park, but we did not plan to stay for that. For one thing, I had neglected to bring a bottle of water and I was thirsty.

At first we stood under the same tree we had stood under last year. The shade had been much appreciated then. This year not so much. Eventually we moved down to a sunny spot on Park Avenue.

A lot of people and a few dogs (including ours) had turned out to watch the parade. We especially admired a Great Dane-looking hound in a yard across the street. He was big.

At last the parade started. The American Legion and the Elks were represented, as were Herkimer Now and the Girl Scouts. Herkimer County Community College’s mascot, the General was there.

“We took a picture of him last year,” Steven remembered. I waved at him and got the two finger point in return.

My favorite part was the classic cars, most notably a Cadillac convertible. It was long and white and I said, “It’s not just sweet; it’s suh-weet.” My other favorite was a group of young men playing drums.

“Dig that rhythm section,” I said, quite unable to keep myself from dancing a little.

The parade was short but very fun. I love hometown stuff like that. Perhaps they’ll do another parade for the Herkimer Days later this summer. And there’s always Ilion’s Doodah Parade. All kinds of stuff to look forward to.

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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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A Not Indestructible Movie

Posted on May 27, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Spoiler Alert! I don’t know why I bother with these, really. Yes, I’m going to give away the ending, but quite frankly, I think you can see this one coming.

I had high hopes when I DVR’d Indestructible Man (1956) with Lon Chaney. After all, Lon Chaney as a man who is brought back from the dead, what’s not to like?

The short answer is, this movie, although I’m not sure that’s strictly accurate. I didn’t hate the movie, but I was disappointed. I guess I don’t know what I expect out of these things.

The movie opens with Chaney in a jail cell, talking to his lawyer prior to execution. Apparently his lawyer set him up then talked his partners into turning him in. The lawyer says, “You know that’s not true,” largely, I think, because people are listening (not just us). Chaney is apparently having the last laugh, because he knows where the loot is. The lawyer promises to take care of Chaney’s girlfriend if only he’ll reveal the location of the dough. Chaney, however, promises to take care of his own girl and to kill his betrayers, by means unspecified at that time.

“Remember what I said,” he rumbles. I did.

My question is, how does he know? As it turns out, a mad scientist’s assistant bribes some prison guys for Chaney’s body, but this has not been planned in advance with Chaney’s collusion.

Oh, about the mad scientist, the character is really, I guess, just a dedicated researcher seeking a cure for cancer. I added the description “mad,” because, come on, experimenting on dead felons’ bodies? Is that the sort of thing they teach in regular scientist school?

So you know what’s going to happen, and they happily don’t take too long getting there. After being zapped with apparently more juice than they used in the electric chair, Chaney comes back to life with his cells reproducing madly, rending him indestructible but not visibly any different. Oh, he can’t talk, but I believe that is the result of the original execution, not the mad science.

And off he goes on his rampage, killing everybody in his path, except of course his girlfriend. Oh, yeah, she isn’t really his girlfriend (don’t they all say that once he’s indestructible and on a rampage?). She’s a burlesque dancer. To me the most striking feature of the movie is that she doesn’t do anything stupid, unless you count marrying the cop at the end (yeah, this is why I added the spoiler alert).

I watched this picture the afternoon of closing night of Dirty Work at the Crossroads, the play I was in at Ilion Little Theatre. Perhaps I was distracted by that and did not give the movie sufficient attention to appreciate it. As I write this post, I am still convalescent from the heinous stomach ailment that has been plaguing me, so perhaps I am still not paying sufficient attention. Then again, if the movie was as indestructible as the title character, I don’t think these things would have mattered. I say it was neither cheesy enough to horror enough to be worth your time.

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About the Bald

Posted on May 26, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Just a brief update on my soon to be bald head, and my ongoing efforts to make it more about children’s cancer research and less about me getting a haircut.

Oh, who am I kidding, this is a personal blog. It’s about me getting a haircut. I don’t really know much about what’s being done in the field of cancer research. I haven’t even read in great detail the links of “where the money goes” on the St. Baldrick’s Day website. I’m just trusting that it is a nationally known organization and they know what they’re doing.

People have been very generous. I’ve had contributions through the website as well as checks and cash given to me. No donation too small! Actually they’ve ranged from two to fifty dollars, although I’ve still never gotten over that uncomfortable feeling that I don’t like to ask people for money.

Yesterday at work, a young man hollered at me as he went by, “Eight more days!” He’s practically bald himself right now, but he’s thinking of growing his hair out just to get it shaved for St. Baldrick’s. Isn’t that delightful? I’ve inspired the younger generation (or do I flatter myself?).

In the meantime, I’m also feeling a little bit guilty about how much I’m looking forward to the shave. My hair is driving me crazy! The longer it gets, the harder it is to manage. I can’t wear it down and it won’t stay up. As it gets hotter, a ponytail isn’t good enough; I want it off my neck. All those little wispy things around my face make me want to SCREAM!

So I guess I am not a very good cancer research fundraiser. I don’t like asking people for money, and I want my head shaved for my own petty comfort and convenience. When you look at it that way, I’m a pretty low creature. Nevertheless, if any of you lovely blog readers would like to make a donation to fight children’s cancer, here is a website: http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/642777/2013.

I’m still wondering how I can post a picture of the bald me after June 2.

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I’m Back

Posted on May 25, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I just hate to forgo Lame Post Friday. I know, I know, I took up at least three posts this week being ill. It would, perhaps, behoove me to write a real post today. Unfortunately, as I sit at the keyboard typing at 5:17 p.m., I think that ship sailed. No time to compose and edit! I’ve got to write on the fly!

And as usual, I got nuthin’.

I actually considered and discarded several half-baked philosophies while at work today. I was feeling a little better for the first time. I mean the first time that lasted; since Sunday evening I would feel brief bouts of relief and think, “Ah, the worst is over.” Didn’t last. Oh dear, there I go, back to talking about my health.

Ah, here’s some half-baked philosophy I can live with: it is easy to obsess over the physical.

An example: For years I didn’t obsess over what I ate. I enjoyed food. I got hungry, I ate. Easy. Till one day I decided to go on a diet. It was the Soup Diet. It ruined my life. Suddenly, all I could think about was what I could and couldn’t eat. All I could talk about was the day on the diet I could eat beef. I couldn’t WAIT for banana day!

And I didn’t even lose that much weight.

As a side note (and this might be worth a little more half-baked philosophy): I didn’t learn my lesson about dieting either. I kept trying, usually with the same dumb diet, always without success. Till I discovered the South Beach Diet, which is really only a diet for the first two weeks, then segues into a sensible way of eating. But I digress.

What, I now ask, am I digressing from? This is Lame Post Friday, for heaven’s sake! The whole damn post is a digression! But, whatever. As with Non-Sequitur Thursday, I seem to veer more into Stream of Consciousness, but that really has less of a ring to it.

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I Wilnot Apologize Again

Posted on May 24, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

This morning, I thought I would not write a Non-Sequitur Thursday post, I would write a real post. I wrote the following:

Steven and I left the Herkimer County Humane Society and headed for Ilion Farmer’s Market.

I can’t write. I’m too ill. That was a contradiction. How much time in this blog do I spend WRITING that I cannot write? And why is cannot one word but you don’t combine “not” with other words? Didnot would be a little awkward, because of the dn, but how about willnot? You could even drop one l, wilnot, a marvelous savings over time, especially when one considers the number of things one wilnot do (or at least says one wilnot then turns around and does it anyways; don’t you just hate that?)(donot you just hate that?).

I wrote a few more paragraphs about how crappy I felt, but really, the above is the only one worth reading. I admit to being amused by it myself.

So, yeah, still sick. I went to the doctor today at a thing called Convenient Care at Bassett Health in Herkimer. I suppose it would be appropriate to do a blog post on them, but the stuff they prescribed for my nausea hasn’t kicked in yet (hasnot?). Perhaps I could go on for a couple of more paragraphs about how hard it is to write when your nauseous, but I guess I’ve already touched on the irony of writing about not writing (for about the 8,347th time).

As a side note: I just completed two years of writing this blog. How cool is that?

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Books and Blooms

Posted on May 23, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

On Saturday Steven only worked till two, so we were both able to check out the Books and Blooms fundraiser at the Herkimer County Humane Society. Knowing we would encounter dog lovers there, we took our schnoodle Tabby.

The first things we saw were some lovely hanging baskets, but I was more interested in another perennial. Two years ago I had purchased a Black-eyed Susan at the Humane Society. It has been blooming ever since. Of course I love my container garden, but how delightful it is to have things come up every year.

A nice lady told us all about the various plants they had: what needed more sunlight, what did well in partial shade. We debated a little, but then I wanted to pick out books before I decided which bloom.

You know me and books. It didn’t take long for me to gather an armful. Then I picked the plant I liked best. Its name escapes me as I write this, but I’ll be able to check before I type it into the computer. It wasn’t one I was familiar with, and it wasn’t in bloom so that will be a nice surprise for me when it does.

Steven and I are always happy to support the Humane Society. When it also enhances my garden and my library, what’s not to like? For more information on the Herkimer County Humane Society, you can visit their website at http://www.herkhumane.org/ or you can like them on Facebook. They post lots of cool animal pictures.

NOTE: The plant I purchased was Coreopsis Route 66. I know I only could have edited the above paragraph to include that, but I thought it was kind of funny that I couldn’t remember what I bought.

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The Malady Lingers

Posted on May 22, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, you can all just be mad at me, because I’m taking another blogger’s sick day. And I haven’t caught a second wind, so I don’t expect to get a whole lot of words out of it.

In my defense, I did not call in sick to work today. I then spent the first two hours wishing I had. I spent the next few hours watching lunch time draw slowly closer. I felt a little better by lunch. Not better enough to eat any lunch. At least, it seemed safer not to, if you see what I mean (in the interests of over-sharing, I had a clean pair of pants and underwear in my bag in case of dire emergency). I spent the afternoon wondering if time was in fact slowing down.

I think part of my problem in the afternoon was that I knew I could not go straight home and collapse. I had to go vote on the school board and library budget. I had a blog post to write. The further away bed time is, the more tired I feel. And if I don’t think I’m going to get my full eight hours, YIKES!

When I spoke to Steven on my lunch, I told him I would probably write the three sentence post I had thought to write Monday: “I’m sick. I can’t write a post. Sue me.” But now I see I am over 200 words. How did that happen?

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Pre-Party Post

Posted on May 19, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, it is not Wrist to Forehead Sunday. I had at least three Mohawk Valley adventures yesterday as well as watching a fairly cheesy movie so I indeed have things I could write about about. And yet. And yet.

Last night was closing night of Dirty Work at the Crossroads, the play I was in at Ilion Little Theatre. I’m tired.

Just as an aside: there was a moment in the play where I actually put my wrist to my forehead. My line was, “Oh shame! Oh degradation!” It was a melodrama. I got a little melodramatic.

Steven (my husband and the play’s director) and I spent this morning running around, trying to get ready for the cast party at one (my gyrations cooking refreshments may form the basis of a blog post later this week) (preview of coming attractions). We have a little over an hour before we have to head out.

I can just hear one of you (oh, all right, it probably isn’t one of you, it’s probably that pesky critic in my head) saying, “Well, there, that’s sixty minutes you have to be writing something brilliant, or at least readable, or at least NOT yet another post about Why I Can’t Write a Post Today.”

In the first place, it isn’t sixty minutes, because I have to keep running downstairs to stir the chicken wings.

The fact is, I’m drained. I feel profound relief that I no longer have to put forth the great effort it takes to be a different person on stage. While the joys of so doing are undeniable, there is also no denying, it takes a toll. The toll today is a boring Sunday post.

However, my spirits are high. I am looking forward in the coming weeks and months to devoting more time to my writing, to walking my dog, to being with my husband, just to Being.

In the meantime, I’m afraid today I am obligated to head to the theatre one more time. I must, I positively must, eat some good food, have a drink or two, hang out with some perfectly wonderful people, have a few laughs, enjoy. It is a moral obligation.

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I Was Walking, Not Stalking

Posted on May 18, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

My hope is to re-institute Saturday Running Commentary next Saturday. In the meantime, I offer a Pedestrian Post about a very pleasant walk I just took with my beloved schnoodle, Tabby.

I have felt very bad about leaving Tabby alone in the evenings when we had rehearsals and then performances for Dirty Work at the Crossroads at Ilion Little Theatre. Our last performance is tonight, so Tabby’s quality of life will improve starting tomorrow. In the meantime, I made up my mind to let her walk where she wanted to and let her stop and sniff almost as many places as she chose (no, not ALL the places; I’d still be out there!).

It was an absolutely beautiful day. The sun was shining, no humidity to speak of, just a gentle breeze. I had on the nicer of my two crazy old lady hats and my prescription sunglasses (as usual I carried my regular glasses in case it clouded up suddenly; you know Mohawk Valley weather). I had on a sweatshirt, because it was just under 60 degrees. That had the added advantage of a place to put my extra poop bag (I like to carry a spare).

We started out down Bellinger. For once Tabby did not turn and walk towards her favorite Historic Four Corners but continued towards Meyers Park. Then she didn’t seem to want to cross over to the park. Once we got almost past it, I suggested to her we cross the street and walk around the park. Otherwise we would be walking past businesses or along Route 5. We were not early enough to beat Saturday traffic.

All this time I kept thinking I smelled somebody cooking outdoors. It seemed a little early, even for lunch, so I wondered if I was smelling some leftover odors from last night. I LOVE cooking out. I must make myself an opportunity to do so soon.

Once Tabby did her business, I encouraged her to cross over and walk through the park to a trash can. I know, I said I was going to let her walk wherever she wanted to walk, but one must be flexible in these things. I assure you, Tabby did not mind. I made for the closest trash can, which took us by a guy sitting on a bench talking on a cell phone. I hoped he did not think I was purposely walking by him.

I let Tabby lead me from the trash can back toward Bellinger and Route 5. We walked in front of Herb Philipson’s. Must go there for some new sports bras. I saw the Baker’s Dozen bakery across the street and thought I could go for a bagel. I remember one thick-necked sergeant telling me once that I’d NEVER lose weight eating bagels. He was on Atkins, eating all the bacon in the world. Well, I am almost down to my target weight now, and I do eat the occasional bagel. But I didn’t have one today.

When we got to Prospect Street, the mystery of the cook-out odor was solved. The Methodist Church was having a Brooks Barbecue. The huge grill extended over the sidewalk, so I suggested we cross the road. Then I saw cell phone guy from the park just ahead of us. Now he might really think I was stalking him! I let Tabby sniff the corner of a building for an extra long time so he could get way ahead of us. Then we took a different direction.

We walked by Hummel’s Office Plus and Crazy Otto’s Empire Diner, two places I plan on visiting soon, then on up Main Street. Many closed businesses, alas. The Exclusive Barber Shop is still open. Burrito Jones has not opened yet.

I had my sweatshirt tied around my waist by now. The exercise felt really good on my legs. We turned down Park Avenue and went back toward Meyers Park. Past the Brooks Barbecue smell. MMMMmmmmm….

We had walked for almost a half hour. Still plenty of time to do something useful before Steven gets home from work. Then I am hoping to sneak in at least one Mohawk Valley adventure before tonight’s play.

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