I Hit the Road

Posted on December 2, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Temperatures rose in the Mohawk Valley today, and I took advantage of it.

I was debating between running outside and trying the mini-tramp again but decided first to take my dog, Tabby for a walk. She was amenable. By amenable, of course I mean that as soon as she saw me putting my sneakers on she jumped and barked and ran towards the door. You know dogs.

We hadn’t gone half a block when I realized temperatures were delightful (relatively speaking, of course) for a run. Tabby only seemed interested in going around the block anyways. My concern was the sidewalks, which were by no means bare in all spots. As we turned up our street, though, I saw two runners coming down the street. Of course! I could run in the road! I generally prefer to run on the sidewalk, but I figured I could stick to less busy streets.

I kept on the long pants I was wearing. They are not running pants but are loose-fitting and had the advantage of being already partly dirty. I also kept on my toque and gloves. I found my long-sleeved ARMY t-shirt and switched to sports bras and a pair of winter running socks. I was set.

To run very slowly. I didn’t set out for a slow run, but it seemed that is what my body was up for. No matter, just keep going. I looked at the sidewalk and saw that for a long stretch it was completely bare. So I went on the sidewalk. Then I saw a patch where it didn’t look so good. I went back into the road. Damned if there wasn’t snow in the road too. No cars coming, run around it.

It was clear that this was going to be one of those “At least I did it” runs. Frankly, this was all right with me, since I have not been running at all lately, except for that stint on the mini-tramp the other day. I had been watching an old horror movie during that. I began to wonder how Lionel Barrymore was making out with that mad scientist’s formula.

Another good stretch of sidewalk. Must take advantage of that. Another patch of snow but it was right near somebody’s driveway. Good. I would run to that and go back into the road. A car was coming just as I got to the driveway. I stayed on the sidewalk, so as not to run right out in front of the car. Some would say I just should have stayed in the road to begin with.

Then I discovered it was not so bad running over the snow. I had to exercise caution, because you never know when there might be a patch of ice, but it was really not so bad. The warmer temperature made things a more melty than frozen. That was to the good; it takes more effort to run through stuff.

So I felt pretty good about myself that I ran. I hope the warmer temperatures last the week, so I can run outdoors again. If not, there’s always the mini-tramp and that Lionel Barrymore movie.

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Yet Another Pedestrian Post

Posted on December 1, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

This morning I walked to the post office with Tabby to mail a few postcards. It is one of my favorite things to do on a Saturday morning. I like the fresh air and exercise, and I get that little frisson of satisfaction for accomplishing something.

It was cold this morning. Some places in the Mohawk Valley set records. I sensibly waited till after 10 a.m., when it should have warmed up a little. At least one would think it would have. I wore an actual winter coat, hat, gloves and a scarf. As I walked I wished I had found my mittens instead, but one can’t have everything.

I have taken Tabby for a few walks in the last few days (I believe I wrote about one on Thursday). When we went for yesterday’s walks, a little snow was falling while the sun shown on it. It looked like glitter falling from the sky. This morning was bright but precipitation free. I wondered if I should have worn my sunglasses but did not feel like returning for the house for them.

I was glad I had the scarf. The worst problem I’ve had on previous cold days has been my cold face. I have been known to walk along with a hand on either cheek, like that painting, I think it’s called “The Scream,” that a lot of people have as their screensaver. Only of course I’m not screaming. That would be silly.

After mailing my postcards we continued our walk to Main Street, down around Albany and back up Prospect. When we got to Church Street, Tabby pulled me towards our street. She is a smart pooch, because I was ready to get home, too.

You know, I hope no stalkers read this blog, because I bet they could figure out where I live by my descriptions of our walks. Well, who’d want to stalk me anyways? My adorable schnoodle Tabby, on the other hand… I’d better exercise caution.

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Almost a Run

Posted on November 29, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I don’t suppose anybody has been waiting with bated breath for Running Commentary from Mohawk Valley Girl. Still, I have been unhappy about not running. However, this morning it was cold with potentially icy sidewalks. I could deal with the cold, but the sidewalks gave me pause. If I fell, I couldn’t be sure of landing where most of the padding is. More likely I would twist myself around in an effort to keep from falling and pull some muscle I didn’t even know was there.

My sister had suggested running on a mini-tramp. Easier on the knees and feet, she said. In fact, I did this for a short time some years ago. I still have the tramp. Full disclosure: it’s my mother’s and she hasn’t asked for it back yet. Thanks, Mom!

Earlier this morning I had done ten minutes’ worth of push-ups, crunches and whatever other exercises suggested themselves. Hey, you have to start somewhere and I haven’t been doing much besides walk lately. After Steven left for work, I hauled the mini-tramp out from under the bed in the second bedroom, put on running clothes and gave it a try.

My sister watches movies on her tramp. I was doing this too (in fact, I still haven’t seen the end of The Unsinkable Molly Brown)(oh, well, I’ve seen the ending, but I started watching it and didn’t run long enough… you know what I mean). I still have several horror movies on the DVR from October. I thought I’d try Devil Doll.

No, I’m not going to do a running/movie write-up. I have too much to say about this movie, and I only ran for 20 minutes.

If you could call it running.

This mini-tramp business will take some getting used to. Obviously your feet can’t move the same way. And I had a problem right away in that I wanted to make some notes from Robert Osborne’s pre-movie commentary. It’s on DVR, I reminded myself. Just don’t erase it at the end and you can watch the commentary again. Then I laughed at myself for thinking I was going to make it through an hour and a half movie on the mini-tramp.

Soon I came to the depressing conclusion that I do not find a movie as interesting to me as the outsides of other people’s houses. But I persevered. I mean, I liked the movie; I look forward to seeing the rest of it. But I would have preferred to be crocheting with pauses to make notes in the TV Journal.

Well, one can’t have everything. I did get some exercise in. A little later in the morning I took Tabby for a walk. That might be the subject of tomorrow’s blog post.

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Be Thankful the Post is Short

Posted on November 29, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

After all, I don’t HAVE to write a post every day. I CHOOSE to write a post every day.

Wouldn’t that be silly if those two sentences were my entire post?

In fact, it is Thanksgiving Day, and I don’t got much. That is, I have a lot to be thankful for, of course. But I don’t have a lot to write about. Oh, I know, I could write a post about everything I’m thankful for, including perhaps a little snippet about how we OUGHT to be thankful every day, not just the day before Black Friday. Blah, blah, blah. Let’s save the half-baked philosophy for Lame Post Friday, shall we?

I did take a walk today, which is often good for a post. It was cold. I was glad I had borrowed my father’s hat. It was like a big hood not attached to a coat. The coverage was great, head and neck.

One sister and one nephew walked with me and Tabby. I ought, perhaps, to mention that I was at my parents’ house in Rome, NY. They live in a nice quiet neighborhood, good for walking. We walked down the middle of the road in a couple of places, to avoid patches of ice. We took to the sidewalks in other places but had no mishaps. Phew!

A few people had their Christmas decorations up already. I think tomorrow is a better day to begin our Christmas celebrations, but what are you going to do? My nephew revealed that he had perhaps inadvisedly volunteered to put up the Christmas lights at his house. I believe this was before the temperature dropped and the snow fell. We discussed my previous quest for a hard plastic light-up snowman (NOT the blow-up kind!).

Yes, it was an uneventful walk, but as usual we enjoyed it. I will strive for a more adventurous post tomorrow, but it will not include Black Friday shopping. That’s not how I roll.

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Happy Wuss-Out

Posted on November 28, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

What a good day for a Wuss-Out Wednesday. Tomorrow (Thanksgiving) begins a four day weekend for me. Anybody who does not have a four day weekend, please don’t hate on me; I didn’t always have it.

Where was I? Nowhere in particular. I tried to write something today while at work (YES, it was on a break, HELLO!). Not so good. I wrote a half-page or a page on my novel, though. Maybe it wasn’t any good, but the relief of seeing words appear on the page is undeniable.

So I have no post and no ideas for a post. In my defense, the weather made it ineligible to go for a run or a walk after work. Don’t give me that scornful look; that’s not nice. I did not care to run on icy sidewalks. My dog does not care to walk when there is precipitation. I don’t know why I am justifying myself to you who are, after all, probably sitting indoors right now looking at a computer of some sort.

My dear husband suggested that I merely say Happy Thanksgiving and leave it at that. Really not a bad idea. Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Hanukkah, or just plain Happy Wednesday.

Was that weird that Thanksgiving is actually tomorrow while Hanukkah and Wednesday are today? I do hate to be asymmetrical. Then again it may be appropriate for a Wuss-Out Wednesday.

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The Zombie Eyes Have It

Posted on November 27, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Spoiler Alert! If you think you might want to see White Zombie (1932) with Bela Lugosi, I would advise you watch it before reading this. I think it is better enjoyed if you’re not thinking, “Oh, this is that part she was telling us about.”

According to Robert Osborne’s pre-movie commentary, White Zombie is believed to be the first movie ever made about zombies. I find it hard to believe there are no silent movies featuring zombies, but I’m not that knowledgeable about silent movies (it’s difficult to crochet or knit during a silent movie, because you have to keep your eyes glued to the screen or you’ll miss something).

First or not, it’s an atmospheric, eerie movie. The zombies are the old-timey slow moving creatures with staring eyes. They don’t eat flesh, but some of them do kill a guy and try to kill a couple of others (I did include a spoiler alert, didn’t I?) (I think it’s a bigger spoiler to let you know they only try to kill someone, don’t you?).

The movie takes place in the West Indies, home of voodoo, zombies and assorted other creepy weirdness, it seems. A Beautiful Girl and a Handsome Young Man (side note: why don’t I just refer to him as a Boy and be symmetrical?) are in a horse drawn carriage (to give you an idea of period) on their way to some rich guy’s house.

At least, I think he’s rich. Yes, my famous lack of attention is once again my undoing. Rich Guy has gotten Handsome Young Man a job back in the states and wants the couple to be married from his house. It soon transpires that he is in love with the girl and is willing to use fair means or foul to make her his.

Enter Bela Lugosi. Ah, but before he does, Rich Guy’s butler warns him to have nothing to do with that sort of person. Well, it wouldn’t be much of a movie if the characters listened to sensible advice, would it?

First Rich Guy tries fair means, by propositioning Beautiful Girl as he escorts her to her marriage ceremony. Anybody still wondering why this guy is alone? Of course it doesn’t work, although she tries to let him down easily in the limited amount of time available to her. So it is on to foul means and the zombie meat of the movie.

The nefarious plot perpetrated by Lugosi involves turning Beautiful Girl into a zombie. It is not clear to me how he does it. Something to do with carving some wax and sticking it into the flame of a streetlight. She falls dead into her new husband’s arms.

Soon she is the glassy-eyed possession of Rich Guy. Well, that’s not the chick he fell in love with. He demands Lugosi turn her back into a person even if it means losing her. I guess he’s not such a bad guy for someone who resorted to foul means to win the girl. But Lugosi will have none of this and is soon tormenting Rich Guy in ways that ought to make anybody sorry for him, even viewers who still consider him a lousy beautiful girl stealer.

Lugosi, as usual, utilizes his scary eyes to good effect. The things that especially struck me in this movie were his wild and wooly eyebrows. I think Count Dracula must have tweezed.

Eventually Handsome Young Man finds help and hurries to the rescue, as you probably figured. But can he rescue her? I guess I can’t spoil everything. This movie is recommended. I’ll look for something cheesier next time.

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Mohawk Valley Art

Posted on November 26, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Saturday afternoon I drove to Little Falls, NY, with my friend Tracy to attend an art opening at the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts (MVCA).

I’ve stopped in at MVCA before, most recently in September during the Garlic Festival. Regular readers may remember that I won two lovely pieces of art at the MVCA Art Giveaway in October. This is the first opening reception I’ve been to. I hope it will not be the last.

The exhibit was “People and Places in My Travels” by Deborah Rosato. I was enchanted by “Christmas in Old Forge,” which MVCA shared on its Facebook page. The other watercolors and pastels in the exhibit did not disappoint. Ms. Rosato was on hand to answer questions about her work. I didn’t have any questions; I just took it all in.

Tracy and I chatted up Kevin Mihaly, the executive director. He mentioned volunteer opportunities. I am interested in that, if it could work out. For one reason, I might get some blog posts out of it.

We also talked with Frank Wilcox, one of the artists who had donated work to October’s Art Giveaway. I also knew Mr. Wilcox because he was in the play Strike Story, which was presented in Little Falls’ Black Box Theatre and at Ilion Little Theatre.

I later noted in MVCA’s Calendar of Events, “Art Matters,” that he will be teaching a 10-week class in Mixed Media beginning in January. MVCA offers a number of art classes. I had said at the Art Giveaway that I was inspired to create something. Perhaps a class is in my future.

After looking at the exhibit and enjoying some of the refreshments, Tracy and I went into the retail section, The Selective Eye. Art, jewelry, clothing, postcards and more are available for purchase. I bought some postcards when I was there in September. They didn’t have any new ones this time.

I was really happy I had made it to the art opening. I was also pleased I had picked up the Art Matters Calendar of Events, so that I can take advantage of other events. For more information on MVCA, you can call 315-823-0808, visit their website at www.MohawkValleyArts.org, or Like their Facebook page.

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To Encourage? Or Just to Blog?

Posted on November 25, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook, “To blog or not to blog, that is the question.” I replied, “To blog! Always to blog!”

The sad part to me is that I seem to be the only one to have said to. Perhaps she does not have enough Writing Friends on Facebook. I count on my writing friends to encourage me. Sometimes my non-writing friends encourage me as well.

Oh dear, I feel a bout of half-baked philosophy coming on. That is for Lame Post Friday and today is Wrist to Forehead Sunday. Oh well, as I often observe, sometimes I can only write what I do. So I’ll just get on with it.

We all need encouragement at one time or another (don’t pretend you don’t; we won’t believe you). However, there is a school of thought that encouragement is not always the best thing. Some people, this school of thought goes, should cut their losses and stop striving for what they will never achieve. An example they point to is Zelda Fitzgerald, who apparently drove herself crazy with the physical demands of her quest to become a prima ballerina at the age of thirty-something.

I say this is too complicated a question to get into on Wrist to Forehead Sunday. I’m going to cut to the chase, answer the original question with “To blog,” and hit publish. Anybody got a problem with that?

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Writing About Not Running

Posted on November 24, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

No, running commentary isn’t back yet; stop pursing your lips at me.

I thought about running as we walked to the post office this morning. We consisted of me; my friend Tracy, visiting from out of town; and of course my schnoodle, Tabby. My husband, Steven, was at work. I explained to Tracy how I had not really started running again yet, but intended to (if anybody mentions intentions paving a road anywhere, I’ll scream).

I was sorry I had not started running again while the weather was good. I had my reasons. Maybe they weren’t very good reasons, but these things happen. The weather was not awful this morning, but it was cold. A fairly still cold, not a whipping wind. Still, it felt good to walk. I love to walk. I pointed out places of interest to Tracy. Tabby sniffed places that were of interest to her.

I had thought I might run at some point, but after all, I had to entertain my out-of-town guest. So instead of running anywhere, I found myself driving to Little Falls (preview of coming attractions: we went to the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts). I was wearing a nice cape that was recently given to me. As I was putting gas in my vehicle, I realized I needed a good ten degrees warmer of temperature to wear that cape. Well, suffer to be beautiful.

It was on the way home from Little Falls that the weather got interesting. I saw a few flakes in the sky as we walked to my vehicle. They were joined by more as we drove out of town. Soon the sky was white and I was driving slowly.

“Are you glad now or sorry that I drove?” I asked Tracy. She admitted to pondering that very question before I asked.

The pick up truck in front of me wasn’t moving much faster than I was, and the car behind was not catching up. I discussed my speed choices, and we speculated on if and when the road might get slippery. My feeling is: when in doubt, go slow, because mid-skid is too late to slow down.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes, or drive five miles.” It was six back to Herkimer.

Sure enough, the snow has stopped now, although there is some white stuff on the ground. No, I am not going running today. I walked, I drove in the snow, I wrote a blog post. I’m done.

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Who Says You Don’t Learn Anything from Television?

Posted on November 23, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Today’s post is in the nature of a PSA.

Many of us are always on the lookout for ways to earn a little extra cash. Some folks have a talent that way. They tap into that entrepreneurial spirit, look around with creative eyes, and the next thing you know, they’re pocketing a few extra bucks.

If you are one of those people, I express admiration and envy. However, I will make bold to proffer a piece of advice gleaned from years of attentive television and movie viewing:

Never blackmail a murderer.

I suppose it seems like such a good idea at the time. You see something you are not supposed to see. What do you do with this knowledge? True civic-minded sorts go to the police. Some people never say a word to anybody. Gossipy types probably tell a few trusted friends or perhaps post a Facebook status (although personally I have never seen such a status) (a source of some disappointment to me). Your true entrepreneur thinks, “How can I use this to make money?”

Well, I can tell you one really bad way up front: going to the murderer and asking him or her to pay for your silence. Think first! This is somebody who is not afraid to kill. They’ve done it once; they know how. Why in the world would they pay good money for the privilege of not killing you?

I’m just saying.

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