Tag Archives: walking

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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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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Tabby, the Snow-Faced Dog

Posted on February 16, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought of this title as I was walking with Tabby around the blog yesterday. I did not use it then, because I wrote some lame thing (it was Lame Post Friday after all), but when I walked with Tabby to the post office this morning, I thought it might be a good post to write today.

We did not make it to the post office last Saturday (sorry, post card friends) and I had a new person to sent a post card to, so I wanted to make sure I wrote and sent some cards. After Steven left for work, shortly before 10 a.m., we set out.

Steven and I had been out shoveling earlier, so I knew it was not too cold (incidentally, BIG thank you to our across the street neighbor, who came over with his snowblower and helped us). I did put on my warmest coat, because it has nice deep pockets, gloves but no scarf. I wore Steven’s fancy earmuffs, so as not to mess up my hair too much, because I had plans for later in the day.

Some sidewalks had been nicely shoveled, plowed or snowblowed. Others not so much. We jaywalked twice to get on the side of the street with the best sidewalk (which in some cases was not saying much). I guess I didn’t really have to jaywalk, but plowing through the snow that was there was getting to be quite the effort. Yes, even the parts that were nicely cleared were not completely clear. And many parts were not even nicely cleared.

And here is my rant of the post: It is not nice to completely clear a path from your door to your driveway and leave completely uncleared the rest of the sidewalk in front of your house. Yes, corner houses have more to clear than others, and, yes, some people have to make great effort to clear anything at all. But I think, and I stand by it, that when you have a wide, beautifully cleared path where you need it, it would not be unreasonable to at least make an effort where pedestrians (including middle-aged ladies and cute little doggies) have to walk.

I’m not asking for miracles! Well, I suppose I am, because I am asking some people to be considerate of other people. To expound further upon this theme would require some half-baked philosophy worthy of Lame Post Friday. We have another six days to wait for that.

In spite of our uncleared sidewalk woes (to be fair, many Herkimer residents made an effort and I am quite grateful to them all), we enjoyed our walk. Tabby, as usual, wanted to stop and sniff every few feet. Also as usual, I tried to strike a balance between indulging my pooch and not taking till spring for one walk to the post office.

It seems to take Tabby longer to sniff at each stop this time of year. Perhaps the cold temperatures make the odors less obvious. Still, she must smell something. She digs at the snow, sometimes burying her face in the drift (hence today’s title). Eventually, she is happy to move on.

I am happy to move on, too. It really is great to get out and walk. Sometimes it’s a little too cold for such adventures, but one must endure these things. I also remind myself, plowing through snow takes more effort and hence probably burns more calories. Score! Yes, there are good things about winter in the Mohawk Valley.

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Didn’t Run, Walked

Posted on January 19, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I make bold to offer another Pedestrian Post so soon, and I lament the continued absence of Saturday Running commentary. When I walked with Tabby this morning I noticed the sidewalks didn’t seem too bad. I may have ventured a run, but it started to snow again shortly thereafter. The temperature had dropped, the wind picked up. I’ll try again another day.

I felt pretty pleased about going to the post office. For one thing, I had three postcards, a birthday card and a letter to mail. I had another letter started (never mind exactly when I started it, I don’t think that’s important), but one can only write so much at a time. I wanted to walk while my husband Steven was in the shower. Thus I maximize my husband time while still getting to the post office early.

As I started out, I realized that, as is often the case in winter, my upper half was much better covered that my lower half. After all, I had on a shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, hat, gloves, scarf on the upper half. On the lower half, I had pants, socks, sneakers. One measly layer. What was I thinking? But that is almost always the case. We don’t think to add long johns or pantyhose till it gets really frigid. I’m just saying.

It certainly felt good to walk. My legs just really enjoy it. Tabby stopped and sniffed the usual number of times. Sometimes it is really obvious what she’s interested in and other times I’m just stumped. I wonder if she feels that way about my television viewing.

In the post office, she got right in a lady’s way. The lady had just finished at the window and was turning to go.

“Oh, aren’t you adorable,” she said, petting Tabby. So I’m sure Tabby felt she had done the right thing.

We walked back by Basloe library, through the little park and the parking lot. No cars in the parking lot, because the library wasn’t open yet. I think Curves was, but we didn’t go in. I never renewed my membership, and I wasn’t dressed for a workout. Well, I’m sure they wouldn’t want a cute little doggy running around while I did the circuit anyways. I just always think Tabby would cheer up any setting.

She certainly cheered up my walk. Perhaps she will go on another one with me later, under the theory that two walks equals a run. If the temperature has gone down any further, I may add that extra layer on my lower half.

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Christmas Card Snow

Posted on January 17, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

For this week’s Non-Sequitur Thursday, I offer a post about a walk Tabby and I took yesterday, in which I mention last month’s holiday. I say that is non-sequitur enough.

I was a little nervous at the start of the expedition. It had warmed, rained, then cooled. I figured there was a good chance the sidewalks were icy. By the time we went the sun had set. I don’t like walking in the road at the best of times. In poor light, it seemed especially ineligible.

Still, dogs like to go for walks. I like my dog. We gave it a try.

It was snowing what I think of as Christmas card snow. Lots of gentle white flakes floated down. I kept looking up into the streetlights to watch it fall. That made me think of when I was a kid. I’d keep peeking out the front window to check out the rate of snowfall under a handily placed streetlight. I would get my hopes up for school closure, but it hardly ever happened in those days.

Most of the puddles on the sidewalk had not frozen yet, but I managed to avoid walking in too much wet. There were a couple of dicey spots. You know, mud can be slippery,too. And things were starting to freeze up again. However, I managed to stay upright, and we continued.

I was happy to see a few houses still had their Christmas lights on. It looked appropriate with the Christmas card snow falling. I especially liked a house with three small trees covered with different colored non-blinking lights. We can see those trees from our upstairs window. I enjoyed getting a closer view.

We only went around the block. Tabby didn’t seem to mind the short walk, and we were both happy to get home to Steven. Maybe he will walk with us one evening soon.

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Back on the Tabby Track

Posted on January 6, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

It has been too cold for the last few days to take Tabby for a walk. This is not my selfish, wimpy decision: I saw on the news that you should not have your dogs out in the cold for more than five minutes or so. We do not want a case of doggy hypothermia or doggy frost bite to deal with (yes, I KNOW those are the same thing as regular hypothermia and frost bite; I like to put “doggy” in front of these things).

Today the my thermostat told me it was 21 degrees out, so we ventured on a short stroll. To celebrate, I thought I’d write a pedestrian post about it.

I put Tabby’s coat on her. She is good-natured about letting me maneuver her paws through the sleeves. I wore my warmest coat, hat, scarf and mittens (the ones that are beginning to wear out; they’re still pretty warm). I wish I had little doggy boots for Tabby’s paws but am doubtful about her continuing good-nature if I attempted such a thing.

At the last minute I thought of my prescription sunglasses. The sun was high in the sky and bright. Let’s hear it for polarization!

We set off down the sidewalk, thankful for the neighbors who had shoveled or snow-blowed their sidewalks (Steven did ours). I had forgotten how much snow had fallen since our last stroll. That’s right, I reminded myself, the first day it was too cold for a walk there was also a blizzard. It had not snowed since, so unshoveled stretches of sidewalk usually had a path worn by several pairs of boots.

We also came to parts the sidewalk plow had gone through. While I am grateful for the sidewalk plow, it often leaves a layer of snow. Then again, maybe there was still ice at the bottom and the layer of snow protected me from it. In any case, it takes more effort to walk through, so I burned a few more calories. Bonus!

I sadly noticed the lack of Christmas decorations on many houses I had admired last month. There were two white metal deer with wreaths around their necks. I liked them but was soon depressed at the sight of Christmas trees at the curb. Oh well, life does go on. I must get over my post-Christmas letdown and on with January.

It was only a short walk, because 21 degrees is really only comparatively warm. Of course there is the possibility for another stroll before the freezing rain is predicted to start (really, never a dull moment). I was glad I had walked. Tabby seemed pleased, too.

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Can’t Walk Away from the Letdown

Posted on December 31, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

So it got nice and warm, then it rained, then it got cold again. Oh, I’m not complaining about the return of winter temperatures; that is to be expected. But did it have to freeze so quickly after the rain? Now the sidewalks are covered with ice. It makes an attempt at a pedestrian post interesting to say the least (and when have you ever known me to say the least?).

Here I am, in the middle of my post-Christmas letdown, not inclined to do anything, let alone seek out Mohawk Valley adventures. When I got dressed I realized most of my clothes are dirty. I finally put on a rather nice-looking skirt. You would think dressing up a little would make me more inclined to leave the house, but not so much. Still, dogs like to take walks. Perhaps a little fresh air and exertion would cheer me up.

I most recently fell on the ice Christmas Eve. You would think that with my fat butt, falling on the ice would hold no terrors. Well let me tell you, all that padding does not necessarily help. But I thought, I was unprepared for that particular patch of ice at the time. I would be careful. This would work. After all, ALL the sidewalks couldn’t be bad.

Yes they could. At least they weren’t all smooth. Most of them, in fact, were pretty rough, with ripples or footprints. However, I soon found the best place to walk was in the crunchy snow beside the sidewalk. Tabby got a little confused, thinking I wanted to cross the street, but she is very adaptable and we went on.

We had a bad moment crossing the street at a four-way stop when some lady in a car did not want to come to a complete stop. It looked like she was wearing a fur coat, which kind of gave me an oh-no-wonder feeling about it. We were in the road well before she had reached the intersection. I tried giving her the thank-you wave, but I have a bad feeling that if I would have fallen on the ice just then, I would be roadkill instead of writing a blog post right now.

Tabby became a little indecisive after that.

“Do you just want to go home?” I asked her. It seems she did, and she began pulling me that way.

Then we heard a guy yell and saw a dog bounding across a lawn, making right for Tabby. Luckily, it seemed she only wanted to sniff (I think it was a girl name the guy called her). He hollered for her till she went back to him.

“Sorry about that,” he called.

“That’s all right; it just startled me.” We went back home, sticking to the crunchy snow as much as possible. A nice lady paused before entering a driveway we were about to cross. She waved us on before pulling in. That is what polite motorists do.

The whole walk did not take very long, but I felt it had been more effort than many shorter walks. The cold air did not freeze out my letdown, unfortunately, but I do not repine. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, sometimes you just have to feel a way till you don’t feel that way any more.

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Walking toward 2014

Posted on December 29, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

When I took my schnoodle Tabby for a walk earlier, I vaguely hoped for enough material for a Pedestrian Post. The main reason for the walk was not to blog, but because dogs like to go for walks. I had to leave for a few hours and I hoped she might like to nap after a stroll.

I was happy to be wearing my insulated sweatshirt instead of warmer, bulkier wear. I found the fancy not-supposed-to-mess-up-your-hair earmuffs I had given Steven some years ago. He almost never wears them. I don’t either, because in avoiding your ‘do, they tend to push dangly earrings right into your neck. Ouch! So I left off the earrings and saved the coif.

Some of the sidewalks were bare due to the recent warmer temperatures, but it was not warm enough to make a lot of messy mud. In other words, almost perfect winter walking temperature. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the walk, which is good for me, but there isn’t really a whole lot else to say about it.

I did warn you people that I might be posting nothing but foolishness until 2014. At least, I think I said something like “all downhill from here” but that was what I meant. On the brighter side, that’s only four more posts. On the duller side, why do I think things are going to get better just because the calendar changes? I remind myself, it will be Wuss-out Wednesday on January 1st.

Take heart, gentle reader, I promise to do SOMETHING blogworthy tomorrow. And if I don’t write about it right away, I can always philosophize half-bakedly on New Year’s Resolutions. What’s that? You think mine should be to do fewer foolish posts? Say it ain’t so!

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