Tag Archives: weather

I Have No Defense

Posted on December 17, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, I did it again.  I went three whole days without posting. In my defense…

The three words that best describe me are as follows, and I quote…

I guess it isn’t really a defense, but I have been running around like I have health, energy, and ambition (I bet you thought I was going to say, “like  a chicken with its head cut off”) (you know who you are).  Saturday I ran the Reindeer Run 5K on unreliable streets in Little Falls.  After returning home to shower, I went to Ilion to take a picture of the Frosty Forest at their Municipal Hall, a fundraiser for Hoffman Wellness Center.  I wrote a quick blurb for Sentinel Media (must also do a blog post), which I emailed out.  Next I went to the cookie sale at Herkimer County Historical Society, because, well, cookies.  I had a very nice visit there with a couple of my favorite volunteers.

Finally I went to the Elks Lodge where I donated a few canned goods to Feed Our Vets and watched part of the Army/Navy football game. I wore my Army shirt, just to harass a couple of Navy vets I’m friends with.  Once of them did an end run around me, though, and wore Army stuff.  He served in both branches.

Sunday I was up early and off to Herkimer High School to volunteer for the Elks Hoop Shoot, a nation-wide foul shot contest.  That was a little nerve-wracking, because I had to pay close attention as one of the score-keepers.  I am not so good with numbers.

So it has been a weekend of lots to blog about but no time to blog.  You may be tempted to point out that today is Tuesday, and I had all day Monday to write numerous blog posts.  You are, of course, at liberty to point out whatever you would like.  I did a few things Monday, as it happens, but I feel I have blathered on for long enough.  I am going to bill this as a Tired Tuesday post and feel justified in doing so.

Bunny looks interested in hearing whatever I have to say.

I close with a picture of the bunny from Herkimer County Humane Society, because I like that bunny.

 

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I Run in the Slow Lame

Posted on December 13, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hello and welcome to another Lame Post Friday post.  I went for a short run earlier this morning (ooh, it is still morning; I have not wasted away the whole day).  Am I ready for the Reindeer Run 5K in Little Falls tomorrow?  Was I ever going to be?  No matter.  I have a new theme song that goes:

We do what we can do

And if it’s not enough

Tough.

I sang it to myself during the latter part of my run.  It was quite snowy.  I meant to take a picture after the run to show what I was dealing with but was feeling rather defeated at the time and could only go in the house.  I was happy that I made the effort, though.  I am sure my body will feel better tomorrow because of it.

Preview of Coming Attractions?

That was me after I ran in 2018.  I was thinking of going to a dollar store and getting some garland to drape myself with this year but do not know if I can muster the oomph.  I find I have a very short supply of oomph these days and a whole reservoir of I Just Can’t Even.  That the hell, me?

I return to my theme song.  What I can do today, it seems, is a lame blog post.  I wonder if I can find a fun picture to close with.  Come on, Media Library, don’t fail me now!

Cheers to the season!

How about a very nice picture of my dearly missed husband, Steve.  He loved Christmas as much as I did, and he was proud of me for running a 5K, even if I was pretty slow about it.  I treasure warm memories, even as I search for a little more oomph.

 

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What Would Rudolf Do?

Posted on December 11, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh dear, I missed another day of blogging (I still think blogging is a silly verb, but then blog is a silly word) (then again, I am a particularly silly person, so everything fits in).  I have no excuse.  I did pretty much nothing all day.  Now I am up early-ish, looking at WKTV News, where Eric Gage is telling me to drive carefully.  I am going to meet friends at Java Shop for breakfast in a bit, but I intend to walk.  It will be good exercise and marginally safer than driving.

Must get a better picture of the sign.

I have not been running since Monday, which does not bode well for the Reindeer Run 5K in Little Falls this Saturday (the day after tomorrow, yikes!).  At my age, I cannot afford to take many days off.  I took a good-ish walk on Tuesday (in my defense, it was really cold!).  As I walked, I thought I should have run, because the roads were fairly bare.  They are not so now, and not likely to be so in the foreseeable future.

I can run in the snow!  I’ve done it before!

I don’t know why I feel worried.  I’ll show up, I’ll run, I’ll be slow, I’ll make jokes along the way. I’ll write a blog post about it.  It’ll be great.

As for today, I’m going to bill this as a Non-Sequitur Thursday, also known as At Least It’s A Blog Post.  As always, I thank you for tuning in.

 

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Ready for the Reindeer Run?

Posted on December 9, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I went running in the cold yesterday, thinking to make a Running Commentary Post, but then, well, got distracted.  This morning I realized, it is just about time to make this blog All Reindeer Run 5K All The Time.  The big race is THIS SATURDAY!  Am I ready?  I guess I have to be.

One of my all-time favorite pictures.

This was taken before the race in 2017.  I will probably wear that same T-shirt but do not know where my Santa hat is.  I suppose I could pick up another one at a dollar store, but I have another alternative in mind.

I was pretty proud of myself at the time.

In 2018 I visited a dollar store before the race and picked up the garland and bells to enhance my ensemble.  The hat was enhanced with a few things I had around the house.  I happen to know where the hat is but would need to search for the bells and garland.  A co-worker urged me not to wear the bells, saying it would drive my fellow runners crazy.  I argued that it would encourage them to run faster.  In fact, most of them run faster than me with no encouragement on my part.

Wardrobe suggestion for after the race.

Rather than share another race photo, I offer this from December 2016.  I still have the gold lame top.  I have the high-heeled boots, too, but question my ability to walk very far in them.  Some people would say, suffer to be beautiful.  I don’t know that I will dress up and go out after the run, having few places to go and nobody anxious to accompany me.  Then again, I am not shy about going places alone.  I usually find somebody to talk to, and it often makes a good blog post.

In the meantime, I have reached 300 words on this topic.  Score!  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.

 

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Some Semblance of a Sidewalk, Some Semblance of a Blog Post

Posted on November 29, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought of that title while I was running this morning.  More snow had fallen in the night, but I did not want to go yet another day without at least an attempt, so I got my stuff on and off I set.

Photo taken during cool-down walk.

These are my actual footsteps.  I see that it looks more like a walk than a run, but at no time do I claim to run very fast.  I looked at the plowed road askance (I don’t think I have ever used the word “askance” in a sentence.  Cool!).  It looked wet, slushy, and potentially slippery.  Snow, on the other hand, offers a bit of traction.  Additionally, plowing through the snow takes much more effort than running on a bare road.  Extra calories burned is an excellent idea on Thanksgiving weekend.

And then it got deeper.

Some of the sidewalks had been cleared yesterday and been re-covered,  so it wasn’t too bad running.  I prefer sidewalks anyways as being safer than roads.  Sometimes.  After a while I got to some sidewalks that had not been touched since the snow started to fall.  That was a little tougher to plow through.  I saw where the road had not been plowed as thoroughly and moved out, running in shallower snow.  I kept looking for more partially cleared sidewalks.  That was when the expression “some semblance of a sidewalk” occurred to me.

It was not a long run, but I was glad I went.  I thought I would look for a couple of photo ops on my cool-down walk.  When I got to the second picture, I thought I would walk in the road.  Then a snow plow turned onto the street.  Eek!  I walked back the way I came.

I should get a plant like that.

I do like the look of a dried plant with snow on it.  Then I saw that some people still want their yard waste picked up.

Stick ’em up!

I confess to still not feeling 100% from my illness, so I do not know how much I will participate in Shop Small Saturday.  The beauty part about running the morning and then blogging about it is that I can feel that I have at least accomplished something.  I hope you are all having a delightful weekend.

 

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I’m 61 and I Still Run

Posted on November 13, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought of that rhyme as I walked my cool-down walk after today’s run.  I’ve been 61 for over 11 months, and this is the first time I thought of it.  What the hell, me?  However, waste not, want not: I’m still 61 and I can use it for a headline for a Running Commentary post.

I did not run for the last two days, so I really felt obligated.  In my defense, yesterday it was snowing and I just couldn’t trust the roads.  I walked later in the afternoon and couldn’t trust all the sidewalks, but it is less of a problem for walking.  I did not trust the sidewalks today but stuck to the roads for the most part.  In general I prefer to stay on the sidewalks.  I like to give myself every advantage of not getting run over by a car.

I often run by the Court House.

Full disclosure:  This picture is from February 2021, but it shows a landmark I ran by and it shows snow.  Regular readers may recognize this as part of Herkimer’s Historic Four Corners, a favorite place for me to walk or run by.  I was on the second half of my run by this time.  I was using the Map My Run app on my phone, making a lot of turns in hopes of mapping out an interesting shape, and saw that I was just over a mile.  Go, me!

I was holding the phone in my hand, because I could not find the strap I hold it on my arm with and was too impatient to look for it.  It made it not so easy to blow my nose as I ran, but you can’t have everything.

Also not taken today.

I could not find the picture I wanted to share but came across this one.  I was wearing that headband today.  I purchased it in Niagara Falls while on my honeymoon with my beloved dearly missed husband Steve in 1990.  My hair is not that long, but it’s growing.

My run was not too bad.  I went almost two and a half miles in 33 minutes, which while slow is faster than my recent runs.  I did not pet any dogs, although I saw a couple nice ones.  I did get to pet one of my favorite doggy friends, Pugsley the morkie on my cool-down walk (it was right after I thought of today’s headline).  I may be ready for the Reindeer Run 5K in Little Falls this December.  I hope they have one.

 

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I Stumble in my Blogging Journey

Posted on November 3, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I started my November of posting every day by, you guessed it, not posting on November 2 (today is Nov. 3 by my calendar, although my WordPress Timestamp may say Nov. 4; I don’t properly understand these things).  However, it is only a little after 5 a.m. (ah, the miracle of Fall Back).  I had quite a stretch of making my posts late, in the morning, before I left for work.  We’ll pretend this is one of those days.

As it happens, I no longer work.  Except for almost every night when I am asleep, I dream I am at work at various places.  I must find a book on dream interpretation and see what it means, although I might scare myself.  Who wants to be inside my head?

A little fall color, at least.

I throw in a picture to pep things up.  I have fallen off the running wagon for one reason and another (explanations are tiresome), but I have tried to at least walk.  This shot was from a walk I took while staying at my sister Diane’s house last weekend.  I liked the look of the dark green against the bright yellow.

The road less traveled?

This is a picture I took in Ilion last week to possibly go with my story for Sentinel Media about the Ilion Town Board meeting.  It is one of the entrances to Russell Park, a good place to take a walk.  I may go there for a walk one day before it gets too cold.

So I guess this is another nothing post, but one does what one can.  I shall try to continue with a better blog post later today.

 

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The Rest of my Pixley Pics

Posted on October 16, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I guess I can call this a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday and share the last three pictures I took at Pixley Falls, which I visited last Friday with my sister Cheryl.  As I mentioned a few Pixley posts ago, they are actually the first three pictures I took, since I felt I could keep track of them better if I shared them in backwards order.  The way my mind is (not) working lately, I have to make things easy on myself. OK, maybe it has always been that way; let us not dwell on the past.

A little stream at least!

As I mentioned, there was not as much water as we have seen previously.  I wonder if Monday’s rain made things any better.

That’s a big rock.

I like the rocks as well as the trees and waterfalls.  I’d like to have a rock garden in my back yard but do not know where I would find the rocks and am quite certain I lack the strength to transport them.

And there they are!

I close with a picture of the big falls themselves.  It would be awesome to stand under the water on a really hot day, I thought.  Last Friday I did not care to try.

Regular readers may remember that I had planned to clean my house on Friday when my sister Cheryl called and invited me to join her in a trip to Pixley Falls.  Full disclosure:  My house is still a mess but I have made some progress.  I wonder if Cheryl will interrupt my cleaning for another adventure soon.  Maybe I need to come up with something to interrupt her housework.

 

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More Pixley Pics

Posted on October 13, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

Here are a few more pictures from Pixley Falls, my Friday adventure with my sister Cheryl.  We were happy to commune with nature.

Cheryl agreed to pose a couple of times.

There were several wooden bridges, some of them not actually over streams, due to the dry weather I suppose.

Lovely!

We were happy whenever we saw water flowing.  At least when the water is down to a trickle, you can see the rocks better.  Under the heading, Make a Virtue out of Necessity.

More water, different rocks.

 

With the bright sun shining through green leaves, I could almost believe it was summer.  However, the cool temperature and lack of bugs reminded me it was October.  I did not mind the temperature and I was quite happy about the lack of bugs.

A more dramatic pose.

I should have zoomed in more on Cheryl in this shot.  She took a dramatic shot of me but has not texted it to me or shared it on Facebook, so I cannot include it in the blog.  I feel it is just as well; I am far less photogenic.

I was really happy I had forsaken housecleaning for nature walking.  Being out in the woods is good for you on so many levels.  And I am sure it makes a better blog post.

 

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Pause for a Peek at Pixley

Posted on October 12, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I pause in my Scattered Saturday gyrations to make a fast blog post about Friday’s adventure.  Fair Warning:  I took lots of pictures so will probably make multiple posts about Pixley Falls.

I had meant to spend Friday usefully employed in cleaning my house, but when my sister Cheryl called and invited me to join her in a trip to Pixley Falls, I changed my plans.  I hadn’t been there in years.  As we feared, the falls were less spectacular and the leaves less glorious due to the dry weather which has inflicted the Mohawk Valley this year.  However, we enjoyed being out in nature and had a lovely time.

I love the rocks.

I should perhaps mention that I put the pictures from my phone into WordPress in backward order, so today’s pictures are from the end of the walk.  You see, I am in kind of a hurry (more adventuring to be done and I am not properly dressed) and I am quite tired from this morning’s East Herkimer Fire Department 5K, and I just could not make myself sort through the pictures to pick the best ones.

Here’s a stairway to Heaven!

There were several upslopes on the path we walked, many of which had stairs put in with wood or stones.  We appreciated them, as well as nearby trees to grab onto.

A little falls!

I really enjoyed our walk/hike through the woods. I suppose a real hiker would call it a mere walk, but an old lady like me who is used to sidewalks will flatter myself by calling it a hike.

Stay tuned for more about Pixley Falls, and more pictures. I am hurrying back to my Saturday adventures.  Wish me luck on finding something to wear!

 

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