Tag Archives: weather

Seeing the Sights on a Sunny Monday

Posted on March 10, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

It was a perfectly beautiful day in the Mohawk Valley, sunny and warmer than it has been in a long time.  I knew I would be happy if I got outside after work to enjoy it.  I decided to take a walk with my Tablet and take pictures for a Pedestrian Post.

I did not really know what I hoped to get pictures of.  The dirt-covered remains of snow piles?  Brown grass at last uncovered?  Bare tree branches?  The last actually sounded good.  I love to see bare branches against the sky.  I have been admiring them against whit and grey skies lately.  Today the sky was a lovely blue.

But could I get the shot?  When I finally picked a tree to try, I found I could not clearly see the screen of my Tablet because of the sun.  Oh dear.  I clicked and hoped for the best.

I just think the branches look so cool!

That one didn’t turn out too bad.  This is on the path over what used to be a hydraulic canal, a favorite place to walk or run. I took a shot of the path as well.

The painted spots invite you to step or jump on them.

Next I decided to walk by my beloved Herkimer Historic Four Corners.  I took pictures of all four corners, but I will only the best shots.

The Courthouse is a handsome building.

I have not made it over to see this exhibit yet.

This was outside the Suiter House of the Herkimer County Historical Society,  obviously one of my favorite places.

Gravestones in front of the Herkimer Reformed Church

I continued down Main Street to Basloe Library.  Naturally I wanted to give the library a shout-out.

I love libraries!

It was a very pleasant walk.  I am SO looking forward to spring!

 

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I’m Late, But I Ran! And Blogged!

Posted on February 13, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

So the idea of writing while on breaks at work was not successful.  After writing and crossing out three or four phrases, I flipped back a few pages and worked on my latest attempt at a novel.  However, I had the plan that I would go running after work and could do a Running Commentary post.  Perfect!

Well, I was half right.  I ran, and it did not go too badly.  Then I was too damn tired to do anything but lounge on the couch watching Snapped and go to bed early.  Perhaps I could have forced my body and brain to do something, but I felt so deliciously relaxed and comfortable, I decided to cut myself a break.  Do I perhaps cut myself too many breaks?  That is a philosophical question better suited for Lame Post Friday.  This morning my purpose is to do a late Wuss-out Wednesday post.

The weather was not too cold (for February) and dry.  At least, the sky was dry.  The sidewalks were dreadful and the roads only really good in the middle.  I kept to streets less traveled but even so met with some traffic.  I dodged up onto the sidewalk only once, when a car was coming and I saw a bare patch of walk.  It did not last and I had to dodge over deep puddles and slushy ice to get back into the road.  Ugh.  No matter, just keep going.

My breathing was not bad.  My legs were not particularly happy, but that was to be expected after two weeks off.  Was it two weeks?  Yikes!  I’ll try not to do that again.  My legs eventually settled into it, and by the end my whole body was pretty happy I ran.  I plowed through snowy, slushy, wet sidewalks on my cool down walk, feeling fairly pleased with myself.

Oooh, look, 300 words.  I rock!  OK, not really, since this is a late post and not very descriptive of my run.  Still, I must celebrate even small wins.  Belated Happy Wednesday, everyone!

 

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Too Much Storm for Brains?

Posted on January 24, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

What theatre person wouldn’t want to be part of this great group?

Here is the post I meant to write yesterday about the efforts of LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company,  to bring Shakespeare back to Little Falls and the surrounding area in 2020.  We had a brainstorming session at Meeples Mug House last Saturday.

A great place to go, even if you’re not Brainstorming the Bard.

The weather was pretty terrible last Saturday, but we made it to Little Falls and hoped others would too.  Before we met, I put a quarter into the old fashioned gumball machine they recently installed.  At least, the machine did not contain gumballs,  but it always seems wrong to me to call it a prize machine.  Do any readers know the right name for it?

Whatever you call them, they are fun.

I got a meeple!  I declared he would be the mascot for Summer Shakespeare 2020 and put him on the table we met around.  Laura,  LiFT member extraordinaire, added a candle with a picture from a previous Shakespeare production.

Can you see Sir Meeple on top?

Only a few people were present, but we talked about a lot of ideas.  My idea was to do scenes from Shakespeare rather than a full-length play.  We discussed different ideas for which scenes, how to put them together, and more stuff.

Here are the brainstormers, minus me, who was taking the picture.

Since so few people had shown up to brainstorm, we decided to have another session on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 3 p.m.  In the meantime,  I undertook to start a Facebook Group as a means to communicate with interested parties.  I rather shamefacedly admit that I just got around to doing that today.  In my defense, I wanted to come up with a catchy title.

Catchy or not, the Facebook Group is called Give Shakespeare a LiFT.   My husband Steven helped me pick from a few ideas I had.

I hope more people make it to our second brainstorming session.  I hope people contact me via the Facebook Group or another method if they are interested and cannot make it.  I hope my blog readers are interested to read about our continuing Shakespeare efforts.

 

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Oh Crap! I Hit Publish Before I Thought up a Title!

Posted on January 19, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have waited till too late on a Saturday night to make anything but a short, foolish Scattered Saturday post.  Of course, it is not that late an hour for most people; 8:13 p.m. used to feel fairly early for me, too.  However, I have been up since 5:30 a.m., which, regular readers may recall, is sleeping in for me.

Where was I?  Ah yes, nowhere in particular.  I went for a pretty good run this morning, in spite of 10 degree weather (according to the blinky sign in front of Trinity Lutheran Church on German Street). I felt sufficiently bad-ass about that.  Full Disclosure: it was not a bad run at all; I wore sufficient layers that only my face was cold.

Later in the day, Kim, Steven and I went to Meeples Mug House in Little Falls for Brainstorming the Bard, an event for LiFT, the Little Falls Theatre Company.  We aim to bring summer Shakespeare back to the Little Falls area.  More about that endeavor soon!

One of my favorite spots!

The weather was rather frightful, so our event was not as well attended as we had hoped.  Also, after we met, we did not go out to dinner as I had wanted to.  Going home was the more sensible choice.

Of course I relaxed once I was home.

I took this picture to send to Kim, because she gave me the socks and I was not sure she had noticed I was wearing them.  She had noticed.

Back home, I cooked baked macaroni and cheese.  Steven and I watched a Svengoolie we had DVR’d, and now I am listening to Snapped while I type this (as Truman Capote once said, that’s not writing, that’s typing).

Now I am up to date and over 250 words.  Happy Saturday,  everyone!

 

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Was There a Spring in my Step?

Posted on January 8, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

I felt myself incapable of writing a blog post earlier.  Go ahead and judge me if you are so inclined.  I had a headache and was battling a down mood.  Oh, stop playing that miniature violin (you know who you are); I was not asking for sympathy, I was just giving you the picture.  Anyways, I thought it would be all right, because I planned to go running and could make a Running Commentary post.

It was not a particularly eventful run, but I did it, so I give myself credit for that.  It was grey but not precipitating, cold but not freezingly so.  In fact, at times I almost thought it could be March.  I felt some indefinable hint of spring in the air.  I kept asking myself why I felt that way, since it was in fact cold.  I suppose it could have been the feeling of 30 degrees instead of ten.  Or it could have been the mud.

I spent most of the run in the road, because I kept encountering ice on the sidewalk.  I stayed on the left side facing traffic, and I was wearing my road guard vest (reflective vest, to you civilians).  I would have been better served to stay on the quieter streets but unfortunately wound up on German Street for a few blocks. That was where I encountered most of the mud, because I kept as close as I could to the curb.

My legs felt pretty content to be running,  and my breathing was fine.  I am SO going to rock the Boilermaker 15K in July!  I may even be writing better blog posts by then.

 

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Pre Reindeer Run Post

Posted on December 14, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had such high hopes of NOT having Lame Post Friday.  I don’t know why; I almost always do have Lame Post Friday,  and I often do not apologize for it.  At least, I have not exactly apologized yet.  However, that line about high hopes might be so construed.

No matter.  Blog posts must be made.  At least my blog posts by me.  I have several things I could make a blog post about.  I hope to make blog posts about them in the coming days.  For right now, though, I think I have used up all my oomph for the day.  All I can do right now is worry about the Reindeer Run 5K tomorrow.

The Reindeer Run 5K is part of the Christmas in Little Falls.  Many sales and events are part of the day.  I hope to participate in some of them after I run.  But first I must run.

Weather reports threaten rain but with warmish temperatures.  By warmish I mean 43 degrees.  45 is my cut off for shorts and short sleeves.  What are they giving me with this 43?  I mean, 45 is obviously an arbitrary cut off. One day I apparently ran in long sleeves and leggings, sweated, and decided it should have been short sleeves and shorts.  Was it 45 degrees?  I don’t remember!

So I shall spend the rest of my Friday night dithering.  Tomorrow I shall make my decision (spoiler alert: I am leaning towards shorts and short sleeves).  I may even write a blog post about it. As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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Staying in Some Sort of Shape

Posted on December 11, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

In my defense, I have not made a late post at four in the morning in a while (OK, 4:16, according to my laptop, if you want to be didactic) (you know who you are) (and yes, I am on my laptop, ten-finger typing.  It’s fun!).  On the other hand, as regular readers know, I am too lazy (or maybe too impatient; is that better? Discuss amongst yourselves) to go back and check these things, so my defense may be a whole lot of hooey.  I can’t worry about these things now.

I felt too sick to my stomach to make a blog post last night.  I expect I ate too much at supper.  It is a sad reflection on me when I am gaining my holiday weight through a mere week-day supper of leftovers.  But it was quite tasty.  Perhaps the run I took helped burn a few calories, but the fit of my pants this morning (and I specifically washed the fat old lady pants for just such an emergency!) would refute that forlorn hope.

Yes, I took a run and fully intended to make a Running Commentary post.  The weather in Mohawk Valley is veering between bi-polar and “Go home, December, you’re drunk.”  I can’t quite remember Monday (I’m having that sort of a week, in case you couldn’t guess), but Tuesday had some relatively high temperatures: 40’s and 50’s, but was supposed to get colder in the evening.  It had rained during the day, encouraging snow melt, so I was a little concerned that it would turn to ice right about the time I wanted to run.

However, I set out around 3:30 p.m., having paused only to put on running gear and throw a load of laundry into the washer (regular readers may recall that is one of my few instances of multitasking).  I wore leggings (nylon long johns which I often wear in lieu of pantyhose, to be exact), my long-sleeved ARMY t-shirt, and a knitted headband.  It was a little warmer, after all.  No need for hat and mittens!

As I have often observed, running after an eight-hour work day is a far different activity from running after a good night’s sleep on the weekend.  Still, one must persevere.  For the main reason, the Reindeer Run 5K is THIS SATURDAY!!!  I felt prepared this past weekend.  I felt distinctly less so yesterday.  You’ll have that, I told myself (one of my favorite phrases of self-encouragement), and, well, persevered.

And it was not that bad of a run.  Some of the sidewalks were bare-ish, but I mostly stuck to the road.  My experiments with running on the sidewalk did not lead to disaster, but my feet definitely did not feel as secure.  I kept to the less busy residential roads but of course could not avoid all traffic. Parked cars were an especial annoyance, but after all, people have to park somewhere.  I hope I am not unreasonable.  I kept left side facing traffic, and stayed over as far as I could without running in deep puddles.

I ended up going for 26 minutes.  I hope that is good enough for maintaining my 5K shape for a few more days (let us not further discuss my actual shape!).  Tonight we have shopping and dinner plans, but I hope to run Thursday and PERHAPS another short run Friday.  And a pasta dinner.  That is my favorite part of a race: carbing up the night before!

 

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Great Run on a Gloomy Day

Posted on December 5, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

Here is the Running Commentary post I should have made yesterday!   I knew I had to run; I had not run for two days, and the Reindeer Run 5K is a week and a half away.  Additionally, I LIKE to run!  And I like best to run when I am in good shape to do so.  That means running on a regular basis even when I do not feel particularly inclined to do so.

As I left work, however, I did feel inclined to run.  For one reason, it was a grey, gloomy day, whereas yesterday had been bright and sunny.  I love a grey gloomy day.  Steven says I am part Addams (Morticia, not Ansel, of course).  It was not overly cold, either.  The roads and sidewalks were just as much of a mess, but one must deal with these things.

I wore my road-guard vest (that’s a reflective vest, for you civilians), because I knew I would be running in the road where the sidewalks were not plowed, blown or shoveled.  I made sure I was on the left side, facing traffic.  I like to give myself every advantage.  As I started, I remembered the good thing about running on snowy roads and sidewalks:  it takes more effort.  That mean it burns more calories!  Of course I mostly run for entertainment and general health reasons, but a little help towards my weight-loss goals is always welcome.

The run was great.  I was able to spend most of my time on the sidewalk, but I kept mostly to the lesser traveled streets just in case.  I had told myself that 20 minutes would be an acceptable run, then caught a second wind and decided to go for 25.  Then I got confused and ended up running for 26 minutes.

Hmm… this is not the most entertaining blog post I could have written. On the other hand, it isn’t overly long.  I think I’ll chalk it up to Wuss-out Wednesday and drive on.  I hope you are all have a swell mid week!

 

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Welcome, December!

Posted on December 3, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

The view from the deck.

I think I mentioned yesterday that winter has arrived in the Mohawk Valley (too lazy to look at yesterday’s post and remind myself; what do you want from me on a Monday?).  We woke up to a winter wonderland this morning.  Mostly I wondered why I was out shoveling my driveway at 5 a.m. instead of hiring some guy with a snowplow attachment or owning a snowblower.  Full disclosure: we have my father’s old snowblower, but we have never been able to get it started.

I don’t mind the shoveling so much, really.  Most of the time it is a mere matter of pushing fluffy stuff around.  This morning things were a little heavier, especially where the street plow had filled us in. Steven helped then spent a great deal more time shoveling while I was at work.

Further disclosure: after I went to bed early, as I like to do on a Sunday, I heard a neighbor snowblowing.  I wondered if I shouldn’t get up and take a layer off my own driveway.  Of course I was too comfortable.  This morning I questioned my choice, but obviously it was to late.  What do I always say about not indulging in regrets?  I kept shoveling.

When I got home after work, I grabbed my Tablet to get a few pictures of the snow, to dress up my blog post.  First I took the above shot.  Then I wanted to get one of the remains of the Brown-Eyed Susans.  I love the look of dried plants against the snow.  Unfortunately  I was not able to zoom in (I am SO unhandy at these things!).

I couldn’t make myself walk into the snow for a close-up.

I like to have three pictures and at last decided on one of Frankentree.

He’s all decorated for Christmas!

By this time it was snowing on my Tablet.  I know it is not good to get devices wet, so I retreated back to the house.  So, three pictures,  over 300 words.  I call that an OK post for a Monday.  Tune in tomorrow, to see if I manage to go running in the snow.  After all, it won’t be that long till this blog goes All Reindeer Run All The Time.

 

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Has Wrist to Forehead Sunday Become a Cliche?

Posted on December 2, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

A winter storm, or at least winter weather started hitting the Mohawk Valley this morning.  I went running well before the precipitation, although it was frightfully cold.  It turns out I don’t mind running in cold weather. If I had gotten on here earlier and made a Sunday Running Commentary post,  I would be all set right now.  Oh well, that ship sailed, as they say (I have many times observed that one can often get away with using a cliche, if one adds “as they say” or “the proverbial”).

Where was I?  Ah yes, indulging in cliche and trying to make a blog post. I think we can legitimately call this a Wrist to Forehead Sunday. I am feeling a bit swoony on the sofa and I don’t care who knows it.

Clearly this is not me, but I know just how she feels.

I really am sorry to be making yet another post about not being able to make a decent blog post.  I’m afraid it has become the rule rather than the  exception.  On the other hand, I am making my Sunday post on Sunday. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?

Oh dear, is “has to count for something” another cliche?  I would hang my head in shame, but I am pretty sure that IS a cliche.  I bet it is also a cliche to promise to try to do better tomorrow.  How embarrassing!  I’ll have to sprinkle “the proverbial” over this post out of a salt shaker!

But Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

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