Tag Archives: fall colors

Walk, then Wrist

Oh well, I thought it had been another week since I last posted, but it seems it is a matter of three days only.  I’m not sure what malaise I suffer, but let us not worry about it, shall we?  For one reason, I ought not encourage myself to whine over my real or imagined ills.

Still there! Still red!

I throw in a picture to pep things up.  I fear this will be a Wrist to Forehead Sunday post.  For one reason, it is Sunday.  For another, well, I said I ought not encourage myself to whine, but I admit I tend to do so with little or no encouragement.  I took that picture yesterday when I went for a walk.  That tree has been cheering me up for some time now.  I am impressed by how long the bright leaves have lasted.  Yesterday’s walk cheered me up, too.  Exercise is a magic elixir, I find.

A local landmark.

This was the other picture I took on yesterday’s walk.  It is now an apartment building, but it was the Margaret Tuger School, remembered by some of Herkimer’s older residents.  They brag about being paddled by Ms. Tuger.  I first heard of her when I saw her portrait at the Herkimer County Historical Society.  I was fired with ambition to write a biography about her.  Unfortunately, I had no idea how to research and write a biography.  I still don’t, but I love to read them.

In addition to my walk, I went to a rummage sale at Herkimer Reformed Church yesterday.  I thought of going to a tasting at Valley Wine and Liquor, but my steps took me in another direction.  So I did at least three blogworthy activities yesterday.  I will content myself with this Pedestrian Post, and hope to post again before another three days pass.  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.

 

Up the Ski Lift!

Wednesday my sister Cheryl and I went to Old Forge, NY and up the ski lift at McCauley Mountain.  It was awesome!  We got there early, and it was not at all crowded. It was sunny, but the wind made it cool.  Luckily we had both worn sweatshirts.

Oh deer.

We saw some deer on the way up.  I was also admiring the rocks.  I confess I enjoyed riding the ski lift almost as much as I enjoyed looking at the views.

Is that Moose Lake? I suppose I should look these things up.

The colors were not as widespread and vivid as we had hoped.  We speculated that the dry summer was to blame.  However, there was still some color to be seen, and I enjoy looking out over a wide vista whatever the time of year.

On the way back down.

Going both ways on the ski lift, I greeted everybody going the other way.  There were more people going up as we went down than coming down as we went up. They all returned my greetings in a friendly fashion.

We spent some time at the top, even hiking a short trail.  I took more pictures, but regular readers know how I like to spread these things out (preview of coming attractions).  We had a lovely time and may make it an annual fall adventure.

 

TGI Lame Post Friday

Here I am trying to get back to being a daily blogger plugging the Mohawk Valley, but yet I am going to have a Lame Post Friday post today. My excuse?  I have no excuse; there is no excuse for me.  I enjoyed Happy Hour today.  Can you tell?

Lame Post Friday is traditionally the place where I share random observations and half-baked philosophy.  I did observe things today as I walked from my house by the post office (to mail a post card), past the Town Offiices (to drop off my taxes), on to Cliff’s Local Market where I used the ATM and purchased some candy (don’t judge me), then to Valley Wine and Liquor where I tasted some of the wares of Beak and Skiff of Lafayette, NY (preview of coming attractions).  I mostly admired the cloudy sky, but I enjoyed different houses and their various decorations and gardens.

A little bit of color!

This picture is actually from October 2024, but it shows about the percentage of color we are seeing currently.  Still, every bit of color is welcome.  Does that lead into a bit of half-baked philosophy about Enjoy What You Have; Don’t Worry About What You Have Not?  Discuss amongst yourselves.

She seems to feel cheery!

I close with a picture of Witchy, who is not currently on my front porch, but I hope she soon will be. I obviously have no great philosophical points to share.  Yet I hope this will be acceptable on Lame Post Friday.  I hope you are all have a delightful opening to your weekend.

 

Looking for the Bright Spots

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.

 

Color Me Lame

Here I was, all set to make my Lame Post Friday Post ON Friday, and suddenly I have this weird, inexplicable headache.  What have I done to deserve a headache?  That was rhetorical; you are not expected to answer (don’t you just hate people who answer rhetorical questions?).

Fall color to brighten the day.

I threw in a quick picture to pep up the post.  This is from October 2022 on my street.  As you can see, there used to be two trees there.  I do not know why somebody felt the need to get rid of one.  I don’t think anybody is currently living in the house, but it is really none of my business.

With a blue sky!

I might as well throw in some more fall color, since I don’t have a whole lot to say.  The sky was about that same color yesterday.  Our stretch of beautiful weather continues, although the temperatures may have dropped a little.

Speaking of the sights of fall.

On a previous post, I remember looking for a picture of our mantle decorated by my late, wonderful husband Steve, but being unable to find one.  And here one is!  I think sometimes my Media Library plays tricks on me.  Now I am looking at this picture and saying, “Damn! where’s that?  And that?”  Oh well.  I can’t worry about these things on Lame Post Friday.  Isn’t there a wine tasting at a liquor store I should be going to?  Or Happy Hour somewhere?

In any case, I am over 250 words.  I hope you all have a delightful weekend.

 

Another Walk, Another Post

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!

 

A Colorful Walk

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.

 

Sunday Stroll, Post-Pedestrian Post

I took a walk with my phone on Sunday, thinking to make a Pedestrian Post. I don’t see any reason not to makes the post now (for the record, it is early Wednesday morning and I failed to make my Tired Tuesday post) (me and my obsession with accuracy).  Sunday was perhaps the last beautiful unseasonably warm day, and I decided to take advantage of it, waiting till the sun was up to take my stroll.

I suppose it would be a stay-cation if I stayed here, but I would like to.

On a walk some time ago, I wanted to get a picture of the Grand Colonial Bed and Breakfast, to give them a shout-out, but could not get a good shot from across the street.  Sunday, I was on the right side of the road.  I have been inside there (when I wrote about them for Mohawk Valley Living magazine).  It is beautiful!  And I’ve seen the breakfast menu: Wow!

Another view.

Continuing down German Street, I turned left onto Main.  I wanted to walk up the hill, where it is only open to local and pedestrian traffic.  I like the exertion of walking up a hill, although I admit I can get too much of a good thing.

As usual, the picture does not seem as steep as it seems to me when I am walking or running up it.

They recently paved it.  I wondered if that means they are going to do something about the area on top of the hill, where the road is partially collapsed.

This section has been collapsed for some time now.

I see they added a branch to the barricade.  As usual, I interpreted it to mean it was closed to vehicular traffic, not middle-aged pedestrian ladies (other pedestrians, too, of course, but I was the only one there at the time).

Pretty!

As I continued my walk, I took care to appreciate the color that yet remains on our trees.  This time of year, I feel I must just look and look, because it lasts such a short time.

I don’t know why this caught my eye.

Bare trees and dead trees have a fascination for me, too.  I will probably share a lot of pictures of bare branches against the sky in future Pedestrian Posts.  To me, it never gets old.

I maybe should have gotten to this tree earlier in the season.

I have been admiring this particular tree for a while.  So big!  So bright!

I enjoyed my walk very much, and I see I have gotten a 400 word blog post out of it.  That’s long for Mohawk Valley Girl!  I hope my readers have enjoyed it.

 

A Colorful Post

I am tired again and disinclined to make a whiny blog post, but I remembered:  Wordless Wednesday.  I can just use some of the pictures I’ve been taking lately.  If they are truly worth 1,000 words, I will have a long blog post!

I miss the other tree!

 

This tree was the main reason I went for a walk yesterday.  I could see it from my front porch and thought it would make a nice addition to a Pedestrian Post.  I do not know why they cut down the other tree, but I am a little sad about it.

Alas, not dry enough to scuffle!

 

One of my favorite things to do in the fall has always been to scuffle through dry leaves.  We have had so much rain, on and off, this year, that the leaves are usually too soggy.

Love the color!

I think trees still look beautiful as they begin to lose their leaves.  This one had plenty of bright color left.

Another bright one!

I saw this one a little further down the road.  It even has some green leaves left on it.

I guess I was not particularly wordless.  Full disclosure:  I did not really expect to be.  However, I have used some of my pictures, and I made a blog post.  Score!

 

Past Pedestrian Pictures on Tired Tuesday

Oh it is Tired Tuesday.  I do not see why I should feel so tired, although I have a couple of educated guesses.  Never mind those, I always question self-diagnoses anyways.

I went for a nice walk earlier, snapping pictures on my smarter-than-me phone, in hopes of doing a Pedestrian Post.  I got some good ones, but then I remembered I still had a couple I had taken on a previous walk.  Under the heading Waste Not Want Not…

Some flowers still bloom!

This outside Basloe Library in Herkimer,  NY.  I have not had a container garden in the last few years, but when I see an urn of flowers, I start planning for next spring.  Then I start thinking of all the things I have to do to make the plan happen and get bogged down in discouragement and remember that my plans all go to hell anyways.  Still, I might be able to make something happen.  One must not give way to despair.

Well, this is what happens to me on Tired Tuesday:  I can’t share an innocent picture of flowers without starting to whine and cry about something.  I really need to get over myself. Quick, share another picture.

Sometimes I see red.

This was also outside the library.  I love the red against the white.  Maybe I could plant a tree like that in my yard (see, there I go making plans again).

Now that I look at it, not the best shot. Oh well.

This was in Meyers Park.  There are a lot of trees there,  in various stages of color.  I took a picture of a different tree there tonight, I mention as a preview of coming attractions.  Tomorrow I may use some of the pictures I took today’s (I think I took enough for two posts), but I have rehearsal for He Laughed Himself to Death,  so no promises.