Tsk-Tsk Tuesday

Posted on February 26, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Note to Self: When planning to do laundry after work, write two blog posts the day before, so you only have to hit “Publish” after doing laundry.

Note back: Yeah, good luck with that.

Yes, it is another Tired Tuesday, and I knew it would be. I tried to have a Mohawk Valley adventure yesterday after work, but the exhibit I had thought to visit had closed on the 20th. Let that be a lesson to me to pay more attention to dates when I see these things in the paper. In my defense… OK, there’s really no excuse. Go ahead and make that tsk-tsk noise at me, if that’s what you were about to do.

I had thought to patronize a couple of local businesses before and after doing laundry. Doing laundry itself is, of course, always an adventure, but not always one worth writing about. We did stop by one place, but I neglected to make a note of hours, phone number or other useful things I like to include. Perhaps I could find out this information and use it in a future post.

My novel limps along. I’ve been working on that during breaks at work, rather than trying to come up with stuff to write here. I’m thinking when the novel starts to progress a little better, the blog posts will improve too. We’ll hope for the best.

In the meantime, here is another fairly ridiculous post and I feel too tired to come up with anything better. Please stay with me, dear reader. I’m sure better days are coming.

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A Treat for Tabby

Posted on February 25, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Last Saturday between my scary walk that I didn’t finish and my awesome walk that I wrote a blog post about, I took my schnoodle Tabby the the Ilion Farmer’s Market at Clapsaddle Farm, on Otsego Street in Ilion, NY.

The Ilion Farmer’s Market is one of Tabby’s favorite places. Since I had deprived her of her full walk earlier, I thought she deserved a treat.

Things were still frozen. My SUV jolted over some frozen tire tracks in the parking lot. The walk into the barn was a little hazardous, but we made it without mishap.

Tabby was very happy, sniffing everywhere and greeting people. I greeted people, too and looked around for something to buy. I studied the jars of pickles but remembered I still have pickles at home, and I don’t eat as many pickles as I used to anyways. I thought about getting some note cards with a Jim Parker print. However, with a bouncy dog pulling on my arm, I did not feel I could make a leisurely selection. The lady I’ve bought earrings from was not there.

“Where’s the jewelry lady?” I asked. Apparently she has left the area, I think to join her mother in Illinois. Oh well, my jewelry box is full of earrings anyways.

It was a short visit but enjoyable. And it was the first Mohawk Valley thing I’ve done other than take a walk in at least a week. Alas, the cold weather continues. But perhaps as the week progresses, more Mohawk Valley adventures will ensue.

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Still Strolling

Posted on February 24, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I can’t, I positively can’t do another pedestrian post. Is walking the only thing I have to do in the Mohawk Valley? Well, truth be told, when the temperature finally goes above 40 degrees, walking is about the most satisfying thing to do.

I do want to start running again. Today I went so far as to bring my mother’s mini-tram down from the extra bedroom. I had the plan to run on it while I looked at a silent movie on DVD. I felt quite clever for thinking of this plan. You see, I rarely watch silent movies, because I like to knit or crochet while I watch. For a silent movie, you miss too much if you are not glued to the screen. I figured I could run on a mini-tramp and stay pretty glued to the screen.

The movie I chose was Nosferatu (1922), possibly the scariest movie ever made. I first saw part of Nosferatu in sixth grade. My elementary school got movies from the library (real movies on a reel; this was the 1970s) and showed them on Friday nights. My mom and Mrs. Lombino were among the ladies in charge of picking the movies. One October they got “a silent version of Dracula.” They thought it would be great. Aren’t silent movies always hilarious?

Um, no. Little kids were crying. They didn’t show the whole movie, although some of us would have liked to see it. I never encountered the movie again till years later. Now I have it on not one but two DVD collections of horror movies. Sweet.

OK, that whole stroll down memory lane was just to pad out the post. I can’t write about the movie, because I only watched about two minutes of it. I was thinking of how warm it probably was outside, and my dog was looking at me sadly.

So I got off the tramp, stopped the movie and walked the dog. I could always get back on the tramp later, but I am more likely to see if Tabby wants to go for another walk. I know, it is not as good exercise, taking a strolling walk and pausing to let a cute little dog sniff the snow. I don’t care. It is better for my soul.

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Yay, Flood Boots!

Posted on February 23, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Looking back, I see I have done a number of pedestrian posts lately. Could it be that my life is so boring all I do is work, sleep and walk my dog? Well, sometimes I eat and read books. Perhaps I can write blog posts about those subjects next week.

Today I TRIED to walk my schnoodle Tabby first thing in the morning. And by “first thing,” I mean, when my husband Steven left for work. I’d been up a good four or five hours by that time but hadn’t done must noteworthy or blogworthy. Well, I did finish two letters and write five postcards. That was why I wanted to walk to the post office.

Yesterday the sidewalks had been quite wet. It was supposed to continue warm today, although it had been cold overnight. I thought my winter combat boots (army issue, of course) would be good. I was picturing more ice than puddles and the combat boots offer some traction.

Um, not enough. All that water had frozen into a lovely, glare surface. Maybe cleats would have offered enough traction. Maybe ice skates would have been a better choice (mine perished in last summer’s flood, although I confess I had not worn them in years). It was scary! I don’t think I’m old enough to worry about breaking a hip, but even my fat butt doesn’t offer enough padding to make me view with complacence a fall on hard ice.

We made it two blocks. Mostly we walked in the road, which was still pretty icy, because 9 a.m. traffic in my neighborhood is not bad. Finally the thought that every step I took TO the post office I would have to repeat BACK from the post office overcame me. We went back home and drove to the post office.

I felt humiliated, because the weather had driven me back inside on the prettiest sunny day you could ask for. I had on my sunglasses, dammit! I had on my insulated sweatshirt instead of a coat! But the story has a happy ending, because the sun stayed out. About two o’clock, we tried again. This time I wore my flood boots, anticipating puddles not ice.

Oh, you can’t believe what a wonderful walk it was! The ice we encountered was melting. There were a few patches of bare pavement. Most of the sidewalks had lovely, safe, wet puddles. Not even very muddy. And can I just say, let’s hear it for flood boots. The air was warm. The sun was bright. A little voice in my head sang, “I’m in heaven! I’m in heaven!”

The only problem blog-post-wise is that I had to keep my eyes pretty much on my feet, for when we went over the ice that hadn’t all melted yet. I did not look around and appreciate the scenery as I like to do.

However, to make this a Mohawk Valley adventure, I can tell you where we walked to: The Herkimer Police Department to purchase tickets for the Beer and Wine Tasting Event on Saturday, March 8 from 6 to 10 p.m. at Francesca’s Banquet Hall, East Main Street, Ilion, NY. In addition to beer and wine tasting, hor d’oevres will be served. A 50/50 raffle and silent auction will take place. Participants will have a chance to meet officers and team members who responded to the tragic events in Herkimer and Mohawk March 13 and 14, 2013. Proceeds will be split between the Herkimer/Mohawk Special Response Team and K-9 Ape memorial.

While I bought our tickets, I took the opportunity to ask the officer if they had a stupid question department. I may have a few questions about police work for the novel I keep working on instead of writing blog posts all week. He was very gracious and said I could stop in with my questions when I was ready. That might be another blog post.

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This is Not a More Better Post

Posted on February 22, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Today is just not working out for me.

That phrase popped into my head as I finally got changed into my sweats and realized I REALLY want to start my weekend now but have not yet written my blog post. I cheer myself up with the thought, It’s Lame Post Friday. Instead of my usual random observations and half-baked philosophy, I offer the Week in Weather.

Monday I did not drive straight home but had a minor adventure. I don’t know that it was particularly a Mohawk Valley adventure, but then again, maybe it was. Winter was still on. I had to clear a layer of heavy, wet snow off my windshield and hood. It had been snowing for most of the day, so I think the snow was previously on the roof and had worked its way down. That was good, because that meant there was less on the roof to slide down while I drove.

The uneven tire pressure light in my SUV was on, so I stopped at the gas station where they have that groovy tire filler where you just punch in the pressure and it figures it out for you. It is most convenient, but one still must crouch next to one’s tires, sometimes for a long time. I wanted to kneel, but not in an inch of snow and ice. Ugh.

From the tire adventure, I went to Aldi’s to get some canned goods. Their lot was full, so I approached with trepidation. Still, I wanted beans. Apparently all the snow had fallen after they had plowed. The space I found to park in had not even been driven over. Still, a space is a space. I took it. The only adventuresome part came later, when I tried to push a full cart through the snow to get back to my vehicle. Oh well, I comforted myself, it burns more calories.

Winter waned as the week progressed. I believe I wrote about a wet walk we took with Tabby yesterday. Today I took Tabby down the sidewalk in hopes of meeting Steven as he came home from work. This time I sensibly put on my flood boots. My feet stayed dry, if not exactly warm.

I mostly felt happy the rain had stopped. It had been raining like the proverbial sonofabitch earlier (pardon my french). I worried about my basement but since the streets didn’t seem too bad, I cravenly did not go down and check. When Steven came home he informed me that water was indeed coming up into the basement. We went down and sopped with towels and a mop. Once again, my flood boots came in handy.

At last we felt we had done all we could. I may head out somewhere tomorrow and get a more better mop and bucket (more better being the technical term). That will possibly make a more better blog post on Saturday. As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

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My Dog the Blues Singer

Posted on February 21, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Could relief be on the way? I mean from the cold weather, not from me writing silly blog posts. Today it was in the 40s. Woohoo! It felt like spring! Steven and I celebrated with a walk with our schnoodle Tabby.

I put on old sneakers, because I feared it would be wet and muddy. We did not encounter much mud, but our feet were soaked by the time we’d gone a block. No matter. As I always say, I ain’t sugar; I won’t melt (but it might be nice in the hip and stomach area if I did) (just saying).

It was, unfortunately, an uneventful and short walk. The only thing of real interest were the two cop cars we saw blocking off a portion of Church Street we probably would have walked on otherwise. Their lights were flashing. I’ll be watching Facebook to see if Herkimer Police Department posts anything about it. Maybe that’s what I can write tomorrow’s post about, although this is not exactly a news or a crime blog.

The only sad thing about the wet walk was that Tabby had just been to the groomer’s today. We take her to the Velvet Dog on South Main Street in Herkimer. Since she is part poodle, she needs to be trimmed regularly. It’s also nice to have a professional clip her toenails. Tabby did not get too dirty on our walk, though. Just some muddy paws (doesn’t that sound like a blues singer, Muddy Paws?).

I’m afraid this has been a rather boring post, even for a Non-Sequitur Thursday. In my defense… OK, I won’t say anything in my defense, because that might be construed as whining. Instead, let’s all look forward to Lame Post Friday.

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Novel Problem Solving

Posted on February 20, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

This is not going to be the usual Why I Can’t Write a Blog Post Today post. Oh, I did not write a blog post and I’m not exactly going to write one now. I’m going to tell you what I did instead.

I wrote.

I don’t know if I mentioned that my novel has hit another snag. It’s been doing that a lot lately. Then I think of something else to write and I limp along for a few more pages. And then I hit another snag. Oh dear.

I’ve read that when you run into a snag, sometimes it means there is an inherent problem in the work. Bulling your way through is not the best thing to do. Pausing and figuring out the problem is. As long as it does not become an excuse for just not writing the damn thing. Which, for many projects, is actually the right thing to do.

But I digress.

I think my problem with this novel is a problem that often plagues works of fiction: namely, there is no problem. To put that more clearly, the problem WITH the novel is that there are not enough problems IN the novel. I need some more conflict, more obstacles for my characters to overcome. I need a few other things, too, but to get into those would be to tell entirely too much of my plot, so, sorry, let’s stick with the no problem thing.

Knowing what the issue is is unfortunately only half the battle. Now I have to figure out how to solve it. I decided to (1) not beat myself up and (2) not worry if I did not write on the novel for the rest of the week as long as I thought about the novel and what it needed. A rationalization for a mental vacation? Well, who cares if it was, just listen to what happened today.

I sat at my machine at work, thinking (working too; I believe I’ve mentioned I have that sort of a job). I came up with some ideas. I thought some more. I thought I’d better write some notes on a few of these ideas. Of course, writing notes is not the same thing as writing a novel, but sometimes you do what you have to do.

And here is the amazing thing: I sat down and did NOT write notes, I wrote NOVEL! Suddenly, I was deep into an exciting scene that I hadn’t even thought about writing. I was in a character’s head I had not thought I would get into. Ooh, what would come next? Dammit, a fifteen minute break is short!

I couldn’t wait for lunch, when I wrote some more. I am aware, of course, that some of the things we feel most pleased about as we write and immediately after we have written turn out not to be as wonderful as we thought. I don’t care. I wrote on my novel. I can’t wait to see what I write tomorrow.

Although I do hope to get back to writing good blog posts eventually. As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

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Short Stroll, Scratch n Sniff

Posted on February 19, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is really difficult to have Mohawk Valley adventures during the winter. Another difficult thing: making a blog post when a cute little dog expects you to keep petting her. Naturally I do my best to oblige.

Yesterday we went for a walk. I thought for sure it would be warmer today so we might go for a longer one. Well, it may be warmer, but the snow is coming down in copious amounts and has been doing so all day. Tabby may enjoy plowing through the drifts up to her chest, but she does not seem to like being out while it is actually precipitating. Perhaps we could have a rousing game of That’s My Toy later on.

In the meantime, I will attempt a short pedestrian post about yesterday’s stroll. Once again I forgot to put my scarf back on (I had it when I got home from work), so my face got cold. I had not put Tabby’s coat on her, but she seemed OK with that. She certainly enjoyed sniffing many places. I don’t think the snow is conducive to dogs’ sense of smell, because Tabby kept digging and sniffing. I kept checking to make sure she wasn’t unburying some other dog’s poo.

“You don’t need to smell that dog’s poo,” I tell her. “You know what poo smells like.”

Her head perked up as we walked down Henry Street, because she saw people. One adult and three children were in front of a house. The man and little boy seemed to be shoveling. Two little girls were in a fort. I haven’t built a snow fort in a long time! We exchanged greetings. Tabby seemed inclined to go right up to them.

“My dog is so friendly,” I said.

Tabby seemed quite happy that our walk was short. She ran right for the door instead of out into the back yard when I took her off the leash. I was happy to get back into the warm house, too.

I see that as a blogger, I should have taken up some winter sports, so I would have more to write about this time of year. Hmmmm…. perhaps I could patronize some local businesses instead. Or watch another cheesy movie. Still, I’ve come up with over 1,000 posts. I can’t quit now.

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Don’t Ask Me Why

Posted on February 18, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I felt so pleased with myself for not having Wrist to Forehead Sunday. Let that be a lesson to me: don’t feel pleased with myself! Then again, how can I help my feelings? What am I beating myself up for?

As you may have guessed, I am once again writing a post about Why I Can’t Write a Post Today, sometimes known as Wrist to Forehead Whatever Day It Is (today is Monday). In my defense, it is Monday. And it has been another cold Monday. And I have a few things on my mind.

Oh, stop playing those miniature violins! I’m not whining; I am telling you WHY. But why is not really the important thing, or even a particularly interesting thing. In fact, I would submit that in many instances, “Why?” is a fairly useless question. Ooh, watch me segue into a Monday Middle-aged Musing here.

Mommy tells Junior not to touch the cookie jar. Of course he does, and the jar comes crashing down, smashing to smithereens and ruining two dozen cookies.

“Why did you do that when I told you not to?” Mommy can’t help but ask. You see, I’m not blaming her for asking, I am merely arguing that it is not a helpful question. A more pertinent question might be, “Do you know where the broom and dustpan are and how to use them?” Oh, I’m also not saying Junior shouldn’t have some comeuppance for his misdeed. That’s a whole other question I’m not even going to deal with today.

I suppose a pertinent question for me is not “Why aren’t you writing a real blog post today?” but perhaps, “What do you intend to write tomorrow?” I’ll start planning that right away. As soon as I get my wrist surgically removed from my forehead.

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There’s the Bridge!

Posted on February 17, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yesterday (Saturday) I set out with my friend, Phyllis, intent on having a Mohawk Valley adventure. I guess you could say we had one.

We headed to Little Falls, intending to visit the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts. For one thing, I knew I could purchase post cards there. I don’t often drive to Little Falls, but how hard could it be? Then again, this is me we’re dealing with.

We drove out State Route 5, which goes right into Little Falls. Perfectly familiar. And then it didn’t look so right.

“I think I’ve driven past my turn,” I said. “Oh, wait, no I didn’t.” And then I did. Oops. Well, at least I knew where it was now.

Little Falls seems to be all one way streets, but I found a place to make a left turn, went up a hill and waited at a stop light to make another left going back towards my turn. That was a steep hill. My SUV acted like it was going to roll backwards as I moved my foot from the brake to the gas, and I don’t drive a standard. Just to give me another challenge, the guy turning right from the opposite direction stopped directly in front of me to pick up a passenger. The guy couldn’t have gotten in at the light, I suppose.

No matter, we were headed towards the bridge I wanted.

“Go right where that blue car went,” Phyllis said. I couldn’t see exactly where the blue car was going because of a big truck in the way. From where I was sitting, it did not look like the turn. I was past it when I realized it was so the turn.

“Can I make a U turn here?” I asked, fully intending to do so anyways. However no signs forbid it, so I guess I was legal. I almost got in the wrong lane and missed the turn again, but Phyllis was watching and directed me.

Once I got on that bridge, everything was easy.

“I’m going to write my blog post just about the drive here,” I told Phyllis. So I did.

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