Tag Archives: Veterans Memorial Park

Kind of a Memorial Day Run

Posted on May 28, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I pause the episode of Columbo I was enjoying  (a different one from the one I was watching last night) to make my Monday blog post.  Part of me feels I should make a Memorial Day post, perhaps a running commentary involving the run I took this morning.  I see that I did that last year, when I ran up to the Veteran’s Memorial Park at Herkimer College.  I did not run that far today, nor as much uphill.  However, my runs are always reminiscent of military service, because it was in Army Basic Training where I first learned how to run.  I must admit that when I ran today, I felt much as I did trying to run in Basic.  It was painful!  I wanted to stop!  I felt I Could. Not. Do. It.

Once again, I proved myself wrong.  Perhaps I did not run as far as I would have liked, nor as long (and it is NEVER what you might describe as fast), but sometimes the point is to just get out and try.  My usual method is to run a little bit faster than I strictly want to run.  Running At All fulfilled that requirement.  Never mind, I told myself.  Just persevere.  One thing I can usually do is persevered, at least for a little while.

I managed a couple minor hills along the way and defied one Do Not Enter sign.  I saw a nice dog but did not ask if I could pet him (or her; couldn’t tell from that distance).  I felt moderately pleased with myself when I had finished.

This was the sign I defied.

I spent part of my cool-down walk pondering the Pride Stride 5K in Little Falls, NY in June.  I do not feel that I am in 5K shape, but I also have faith in my own stubbornness.  If I sign up and start running it, I feel certain I will finish.  How crappy I will feel afterwards I could not predict, but sometimes that is not the important thing.  I still have not come to a decision, but if I do not decide soon, it will be taken out of my hands by registration closing.

Oh well, there is no point in bothering you nice people with my dithering and indecision.  I don’t know that this was exactly a Memorial Day post, but I am approaching 400 words.  How garrulous of me.

 

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Where Did I Put My Panache?

Posted on May 23, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

Another early morning late post.  I made myself take a walk before posting, in hopes I would be inspired or at least less grumpy.  The beauty part of that was, my coffee finished brewing while I walked.  I am mostly cheered right now because I realized I could accurately say “my coffee brewed” instead of “my coffee dripped.”  So while I am still not perky, at least I am not a drip.  Enough of that brew-ha-ha (see what I did there?).  On with the post.

I will never be this skinny.

Apparently I am not caffeinated enough, because I put that picture then went blank.  This is largely in an effort not to complain about my ongoing physical and mental ills, which I am sure are not that bad, especially in comparison with what others deal with with panache.  I need to get some of that there panache.

Regarding the upcoming three day weekend (and please allow me to be delighted about it; I spent years working holidays), I have plans with my family so will not be able to indulge in any Mohawk Valley Adventures.  Regarding that parenthetical comment, yes, I know, first responders (why is my Chromebook underlining that?), healthcare workers, and other important people work holidays.  I was never that important, but we are not talking about me. Oh wait, yes we are.  It is my blog.

A tribute to those fallen.

I put in a picture appropriate to Memorial Day, before I got bogged down in even more silliness.  This is Herkimer County Veterans Memorial Park, on the Herkimer College campus.  On past Memorial Days and Veterans Days, I have run to this park in tribute.  Sometimes I run by there just because it is a challenging run to go up College Hill and on across the campus.  I am not in shape for that run yet.

Ooh look, I am over 300 words.  I guess I will bill this as a Wuss-out Wednesday and drive on.  I will see if I can come up with something better than a Non-Sequitur Thursday post later (and by “later” of course I mean either later today or early tomorrow morning), but no promises.

 

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A Memorial Day Run

Posted on May 30, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Earlier today I took a Memorial Day Run, thinking I could do a Running Commentary Post.  Of course it is better to do these things right away, but as regular readers know,  I do not always take the better course. So, some hours after the fact, here is my post about my run.

I usually like to wear an ARMY t-shirt on these occasions, but I could not take the time to look for one this morning.  I put on a big blue shirt I wore a few days ago.  I often grab a handy, semi-dirty shirt to run in.  It was over halfway through my run that I remembered a few years ago hearing about a thing of wear blue and run for the fallen soldiers.  So it seems I did the right thing without meaning to. That doesn’t happen very often!

My plan was to run up to Herkimer College, to the Veteran’s Memorial Park near the athletic field.  I have done that before to honor the fallen, at least in my heart.  Unfortunately,  I have not been running enough lately, especially with the Boilermaker 15K looming, and as soon as I started, I questioned my ability.

My goal. Would I make it?

Let me just pause to call bullshit on some people’s favorite snarky remark when I say I can’t do something:  “Well, not with that attitude you can’t!”  Every epic failure, and most minor failures I have had, and there have been many, I went into thoroughly convinced I could do the task at hand.  Conversely, many of my successes have surprised even me.  I said, “I’ll never be able to do this, but let me just try.”

And so it proved today.  I just ran to the bottom of the back road (I would not even attempt running up the front way) to the college, which involved going up a small hill, which was not fun, but I made it..  There was a dead end street with a further slight incline.  I thought I would run up that and back, to see how it went.  Not too bad.

Well, just start up the hill, I thought.  Make it partway and turn around.  Just make it to the path into Brookfield Park.  Then I thought to make it a little further.  Just to that curve.   Now I was so close to the college, it seemed foolish to turn around.  After all, I did not have to go all the way to the Memorial,  clear on the far side of campus, a gentler slope but still uphill.

This was taken in October, and doesn’t really show how steep.

Thus by gentle stages I coaxed my way to the Memorial.  I even went a little beyond it to go behind the athletic field and run down the other side of campus to the steeper hill back down to the village.

Another view of the park.

I felt fairly pleased with myself for persevering.  And now I feel pleased with myself for making a blog post about it.

 

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Field Hockey! Who Knew?

Posted on September 2, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

This is a late Wordless Wednesday Post. Last night Steven and I drove to Veteran’s Memorial Park in Little Falls, NY, to watch a field hockey game featuring our niece Camille. I had never seen a field hockey game before. It was fun! I took a lot of pictures, so I will share a few here.

This was my favorite.
This was just before the previous shot.
A longer shot.
The lights were on, but it wasn’t really dark yet.
Hmmm… can’t see much in this one.
We were invited to the game by Camille’s mother, my sister Diane.

OK, it was a mostly wordless post. I have even more pictures to share, and Camille has another game tonight!

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My Memorial Day

Posted on June 1, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had meant to make a Running Commentary Post. In honor of Memorial Day, I put on an ARMY t-shirt and ran up the hill to Herkimer College (previously known as HCCC) and on to the Veteran’s Memorial Park near Wehrum Stadium.

It was a long, fairly difficult run. I felt that made it a fitting tribute to my fallen comrades (yes, I am a veteran). Last year about this time, I got a little worried about my private tribute: was I just calling attention to myself? “Look at me! I’m running up a tough hill to honor soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice!” I daresay I overthink these things.

And apparently I do not know how to navigate my Media Library. To get the above image, I tried searching “May 2020” and was told nothing matched my criteria. So I patiently scrolled down to it. May 25, 2020. I tried just now to search that, because I have a couple more pictures. I only typed in “May.” It woukd not let me type further and showed me one picture from August 2019!

Ah, the troubles of a blogger who is only semi-computer-literate. I don’t really have much more to say about this morning’s run. Running Commentary Posts are best made soon after the run, when it is still fresh. As I have been saying a lot lately, I can’t always do the right thing.

I hope my readers had a good Memorial Day, however they spent it. After my run, I drove into Rome to celebrate my father’s birthday with other family members. I think time with family is an excellent way to spend any holiday,

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Remembering Their Sacrifices

Posted on May 26, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

In honor of Memorial Day, I offer a few pictures of memorials in Herkimer, NY.

As it says, freedom is not free.

In past Memorial Days, I have run up the hill to Herkimer College to this little area.  It is located right outside Wehrun Stadium.

Then I backed up and took a shot of the rock and tree.

A view of the park from the road.

I like that they list the names.

Another view, to give as idea of the size.

I appreciate seeing all the names.  Each soldier has a story of why he was there, of loved ones left behind, and of all the years unlived.  To me, it is all about people.

One more shot as I left.

As I was driving through town to the other memorial I knew of, I saw one I had never noticed before.  At least,  I remember seeing all the flags, but had not really thought about why they were there.  I quickly found a parking spot and went for a closer look.

Right on Mohawk Street, a nice little spot.

And a little closer view.

And here is the stone.

I sat on the bench and took one more picture.

Next I went to a memorial I drive by many days after work, as well as on days off when I am out adventuring (when I could go out adventuring).  It is where Herkimer meets Mohawk.  I pulled into Moves Ambulance Services.

Yes, we will remember.

A full view.

Other villages have memorial parks, too.  I must visit them for future blog posts.  In the meantime, to all our fallen soldiers and their loved ones, I offer a slow salute.

 

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Not Much of a Run, Not Much of a Post, Happy Memorial Day

Posted on May 28, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I ran this morning, wearing my ARMY t-shirt so I could run in honor of our fallen veterans.  I thought I might make a blog post about it. Just now I thought I couldn’t,  but let’s give it a try.

I knew it was warm.  For one reason, I didn’t get out till 7 a.m.  However,  that meant I had some coffee before running.   That sometimes helps.  It helped today.

In previous runs to honor fallen soldiers,  I ran up to the Veterans Memorial at Herkimer College.   I was not up to that today.  Still, I thought I should make an extra effort.  I decided the hill by Valley Health would suffice.  I’m sure a greater effort would have been a greater tribute,  but one does what one can.

I actually felt it was a pretty good run.   I went for 30 minutes,  which was up ten percent  from last week (full disclosure: I ran for 30 minutes yesterday).  I stopped and petted two nice dogs.

While we’re being honest (referencing that full disclosure in the previous parenthetical comment)  it is becoming evening and I have been drinking since before noon.  In my defense,  I put in great efforts in yard work.  I don’t know that I achieved great results,  but is that really the important thing?

Is not the important thing that I have made a blog post on the third day of a three day weekend?   It has not been a Monstrous Monday and it hasn’t been a Running Commentary post.   But it has been a post.

You can judge me if you are so inclined.   As always,  I try for a better post tomorrow.   I hope you are all having a delightful Memorial Day weekend.

 

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Just a Bit about the Ball Game

Posted on June 12, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

Play ball!

On Saturday Steven and I went to Veterans Memorial Park in Little Falls to watch the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs.  The occasion was Purple in the Park for March of Dimes Mohawk Valley.  Perhaps some of you read my post about my purple outfit for the occasion.  I realized I neglected to mention two things about my ensemble:  I wore all the purple beads I got at March for Babies a few weeks ago (at the end of the event I snagged a half dozen strings nobody seemed to want) AND I put purple in my hair.  But this post is not about me; it is about the Diamond Dawgs and the March of Dimes!

Full disclosure:  All I’m really doing is sharing the pictures I took on Saturday and typing a few words about them.  I felt I should not do another Monstrous Monday after the string of foolish blogs I have been doing.  Am I not Mohawk Valley Girl?  I must write more often about the Mohawk Valley!

Note the purple beads and bracelet. The beads are like the ones I wore. I did not wear a bracelet. Missed a bet!

Information was available about the March of Dimes and the great work that they do.

We were going for a Rambo-esque pose.

Adding excitement to the event was a homemade t-shirt shooter which shot March of Dimes t-shirts into the crowd.  I particularly liked the miniature baseball bat trigger.

The woman of the hour!

 

And here is the mover and shaker behind the event: the wonderful Laura Powers.  It was her husband, Matt, wielding the t-shirt gun.

I’m going to call this post a Preview of Coming Attractions, because I have not used all my pictures.  Perhaps tomorrow I’ll add the rest and tell a little more about the game.  Go, Dawgs!

 

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