Tag Archives: walking

Walking by Chester

Feeling rather dull and unmotivated this morning, I thought I would take a walk to try to pep myself up.  I have long felt that exercise is the magic elixir that can help make many things better.  Anyways, it got me off the couch and gave me a little material for a Pedestrian Post this morning.

The weather has warmed up a little, and rain seems to be getting rid of the snow.  I knew I was right not to bother shoveling my driveway!  Little did I know it was still raining when I set out.  No matter. As I like to say, I ain’t sugar; I won’t melt (wouldn’t THAT be a great weight lost plan!).  I used my phone to Map My Walk, mostly because I couldn’t find my Garmin, but also because I thought I might see some things to take pictures of.  The walk would pep me up, the pictures would pep up my post, a win-win situation!

Unfortunately, it seemed too gloomy for pictures.  Maybe I could walk by things I have pictures of in my Media Library, such as Herkimer’s Historic Four Corners.  Since I was also mapping my walk, I wanted to turn at as many corners as possible, to make an interesting shape.  I post the shape on Facebook, and my Facebook friends say what it looks like.  It is most amusing.  So I turned town Prospect Street, then decided to walk around the closed bank, in defiance of the arrow painted on the driveway.  There was no “Do Not Enter” sign (regular readers know I love to enter where those are posted), but a sign warned of video surveillance.  They could take my picture; I didn’t care.

I changed my mind when I saw a few people behind the bank, talking about something.  I did not want to intrude so walked across the adjoining parking lot to come out near the 1834 Jail.  Yes, I could walk by Chester Gilette, as I have often done!  I soon saw that I would have to take another picture, though, because Chester was being almost crowded out of the window by a Christmas tree.

Even murderers celebrate Christmas, it seems.

I had no other photo ops but continued my walk for some 33 minutes.  I must say the pep did not last very long, but I suppose you’ll have that.  At least I walked, and at least I made a blog post.  Will I get anything else useful done today?  A little uncertainty adds interest to my Tuesday.

 

Hope Your Thanksgiving Is Grand

I steal a moment away from family to make a Thanksgiving Day blog post.  It will not be a long post. It may not be a good post.  I am making it from my not so smart phone, not my favorite way of posting. But let us see what I can come up with. Oh swell, it will not let me start a new paragraph.  What’s that all about, WordPress?

I think he is cute.

This is the vegetable board which was my contribution to the Thanksgiving feast.  There were more vegetables in the fridge to replenish the tail as we ate it down.

As you can see, I figured out how to start a new paragraph. At least, I am starting new paragraphs. Quite frankly I do not know what I am doing differently to make it work.

Pretty!

I took this picture on a walk a few of us took.  I have to appreciate any remaining color.  I thought the rain had abated at least somewhat when I suggested the walk.  The precipitation increased after we had gone a couple blocks, so we did not take a long walk.

I do not see how many words I have so far, but I hope it is sufficient. Once again I will try for a better blog post tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Pre-Thanksgiving Tired

Once again, Tired Tuesday follows Monstrous Monday. I had meant to take a run for a Running Commentary post or even a walk for a Pedestrian Post.  I was afraid a Mohawk Valley Adventure was out of the question.  I have a big list of things to get done before the Thanksgiving holiday.  Does it come as a surprise to anybody that I have done very few of the things on the list?

“Happy Turkey Day!”

I am greatly looking forward to the holiday.  My house is not quite decorated for it, but that is hardly a problem since nobody is likely to come over.  The illustration above is a decoration from a previous year.

Ready to go!

This is also from a previous year, but I have a similar bag packed to go to my parents’ house tomorrow.  We may not open all the bottles in the bag, but we will be prepared.

Threatening!

After looking and looking in my Media Library, I settled on this picture of dark clouds converging over my neighborhood.  We have had a bit of rainy weather lately.  I could not take a run this morning due to pouring rain, although it stopped by the afternoon.  I did get in a walk of over a mile.

And now I have gotten in a blog post of over 200 words.  Phew!  No promises about a better blog post tomorrow; it is a holiday week.  But I do thank you for tuning in.

 

Because I Felt Like It

AAAaaand we’re back to late blog posts.  My computer does not like the way I spelled “And,” but it is the way I said it in my head.  Also, we learned in junior high school English class never to start a sentence with “and,” “but,” or “because,” so ha ha on two counts.  I am in a kind of a rollicking mood this morning, and I intend to make a Non-Sequitur Thursday post.

It’s not hump day either.

I looked for a random photo and decided on this camel from the Utica Zoo. I guess the picture would be more appropriate for Wednesday, so you can see what a rebel I am.

These signs should be posted on my mind.

I searched for a while to find a “Do Not Enter” sign.  As regular readers know, whenever I am walking or running and encounter a sign that says “DO NOT ENTER,” I enter.  It makes me feel like a rebel.  Oh, I know, they are talking about vehicular traffic, not old ladies plodding along at whatever pace I can manage.  Give me a break; I have to get my chuckles where I can.

Herman is horrified that I am making my Thursday blog post on Friday.

I cannot make any promises about making my Lame Post Friday post on Friday.  Then again, I rarely make promises (but I often make typos) (I say that because it took me three tries to type “promises”) (but I digress).  I see I am approaching 250 words.  What, oh what, can I come up with for a headline?

 

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.

 

Sights of the Season

Just when I was about to acquiesce (holy crap, I spelled that right first try!) in a Wuss-out Wednesday, I thought to take a quick look at my phone and see that I can have a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday.  How I managed to not use these photos in my Pedestrian Post, I do not know.  And suddenly I wonder, does this make it as if I did three Pedestrian Posts this week and if so, is that a bad thing?  Discuss amongst yourselves (why does autocorrect insist that “amongst” is not a word?  And why is “autocorrect” underlined?).

Isn’t that a welcoming door?

I personally like to carve my pumpkins, when I have them (I have not purchased one this year yet), because I like to roast the pumpkin seeds.  However, I enjoy seeing painted pumpkins.  Some of them are really artistic.  I passed this group on one of my walks.

A nice variety.

I took pictures of each side, so we could see the pumpkins better.

My favorite is the one with the fangs.

This one is a little in the shade, but I think you can see the pumpkins well enough.  I am certainly enjoying all the Halloween decorations I see.  My own porch is looking a little sad and lonely, but I have another week.  At least I can plug in Witchy!

My Witchy.

I got Witchy at Pumpkin Junction in Sauquoit, NY, some years ago, just to give a shout-out to a local business.  I hope you are all enjoying the season!

 

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.

 

Once Again, The Best Lame Plans…

I really, truly meant to make my Lame Post Friday post on Friday.  They say something about the best laid plans, but my plans are almost never best laid, so never mind that.  It is early Saturday morning, earlier than I have been getting up, so that is something different.  I always say I don’t like getting up, but I like being up.

And now I have the Type It In Backspace It Out Disease!  I even backspaced out “type-it-in-backspace-it-out disease,” because I decided to capitalize instead of hyphenate.  Which is better?  Please feel free to comment or just discuss amongst yourselves if you prefer.

Weren’t we beautiful?

I threw in a picture to pep things up, one I have shared and will continue to share.  It is the cast of Fabulous and Fatal, a murder mystery we presented in 2019 to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society.  It would be a good idea if I started writing more murder mysteries, ahead of the time when I actually have to start rehearsals.

Another kind of fabulous.

In searching for another picture to help along the post, I found this one from October 2020.  For once I was not too lazy to go back and look.  It is from a post I made about a walk in Russell Park I took with my sister Cheryl and her daughter Jenna.  That is Cheryl, posing on a bridge for a photo op.  I should give Cheryl a call and see if she is up for another such walk.

This is what I’m talking about!

I see I am over 250 words, so I close with another fall photo.  I don’t think this is as good a year for color as others (this pic is from 2022), but I am enjoying what I see.  I hope to take a walk or run later and see more.