Tag Archives: weather

Not Too Whiny of a Running Commentary, I Hope

Posted on March 13, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I would like to think Saturday Running Commentary is back.  However, I can’t be sure.  At least I ran this morning and I will try to write about it.

We had gotten up early for a Saturday, because I have this nagging cough that wouldn’t let me sleep (yes, more whining about my health woes, don’t judge).  Going running wasn’t even on my radar, but coffee was.  Two cups. AAaaahhhh.  I love coffee.  I also needed a shower.  Well, I didn’t want to shower and then run. One runs then showers.  So I decided to run.

By now I had been up for almost two hours.  I was quite hungry.  At this point, I would usually eat something and delay my run.  However, I had read that if you run before eating in the morning, your body will burn stored fat, not the healthy breakfast you just ate.  What a concept! I have PLENTY of stored body fat.  This was going to be great.

It has been so warm these last few days, I thought, I could probably run in shorts and short sleeves.  Um, no, my thermostat said the outdoor temperature was 30 degrees.  Leggings and long sleeves, definitely.  And my toque, of course.  After I started I wished I had searched out the extra warm running pants my sister Victoria gave me as well as a pair of gloves.  No matter.  I wasn’t going to run long.

It was 7:22 by my watch when I started out.  On a Saturday, that is still early enough for sparse traffic.  Excellent.  I could cross German Street.  I wanted to run down the path over what used to be a hydraulic canal, which begins a block beyond that sometimes difficult to cross street.  The sun was bright but still low enough in the sky that I was often in the shade of houses.  I could feel the warmth sometimes.  Ah, better.  Then not so much.  Damn.  Then I felt some breeze.  I KNOW that was not from me running fast.

After a while I could feel the wind penetrating my toque.  That was unusual, and chilly on my sweaty head.  My hands were soon stiff with cold.  No notations in the Running Journal till after my shower.  I have been quite remiss about making notes in my Running Journal.  I’ve been jotting down the date and time run on odd pieces of paper, meaning to transfer the information and, well, I just haven’t.  And now I can’t find all the odd pieces of paper. Finally I made a note in the Running Journal to that effect and once again started over.  I know, what a recurring theme for my running.  I say, at least  I DO begin again, eventually.

It wasn’t such a bad run. I started feeling tired a little more than halfway through but not too desperate to stop.  My breathing wasn’t bad, although there was no chance of doing the “in through your nose” thing.  Still, that is usually the case with me, so I tried not to let it bother me.  My throat was not best pleased with me, of course.  I did mention that nagging cough, didn’t I?

So I ended up running 25 minutes and walking for 10, the same amount I did earlier in the week.  It has perhaps been too many days between my runs, but, well, not to whine more about my health problems, but… you know.

As I was running I made the decision NOT to run this year’s Boilermaker 15K.  I do want to run more and continue to get back into shape.  I subscribe to the saying, “If you are too busy to exercise, you are too busy PERIOD.”  However, it is one thing to get exercise and quite another to train for a challenging 15K road race.  I can still get plenty of Running Commentary blog posts.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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I’m Not Stressed

Posted on March 10, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is another lovely warm day in the Mohawk Valley, and I am not in any position to enjoy it.  Much. OK, I’m loving it.  Only I would love to go running again and I cannot.

Today is the read-through for Leading Ladies, (all together now:) the play I am directing at Ilion Little Theatre.  We haven’t even started yet and I am stressed, Stressed, STRESSED!  Oh dear, mustn’t admit that.  I hope none of my cast members read this.  They might get worried and quit.  I’m thinking as soon as we get started I will be fine.  There may be one bad moment at the beginning, where everybody is looking at me expectantly and my mind will go completely blank. I’ll tell you what, the Actor’s Nightmare is nothing compared to the Director’s HeebieJeebies.

However, it will not last long, if it even occurs.  I’ll start talking, and then we’ll rehearse.  I don’t know why I’m even worried, but there it is.  And here I am in the middle of a Wuss-out Wednesday post, trying to remember what-all I thought I absolutely had to get done before heading over to the theatre.

Here’s the funny thing:  it did not even occur to me to write a blog post on a break at work today.  I had planned to work on next month’s article for Mohawk Valley Living, the deadline for which is looming.  Unfortunately, I brought the wrong notebook to work with me.  You might think that once I realized that, my thoughts would turn to what other useful writing I could do. Instead I started looking at the script, because I am still struggling with working out a rehearsal schedule.

That was arguably another useful thing to do, but it doesn’t help you much, does it?  Here you tuned into a blog, hoping to read something good, and what did you find?  Me.  Then again, regular readers are probably not surprised.  I guess I’m not either.  Tune in again tomorrow, and we’ll see if I resort to Non-Sequitur Thursday.

 

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I Pick Triumphant

Posted on March 9, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

As I left my house and started to run down the sidewalk, I said to myself, “Yes!  I am BACK!”  Then I thought, how many damn times have I been back?  Is there a point where one ought to be sheepish rather than triumphant?  Perhaps so. In any case, here is a Running Commentary in lieu of my usual Tired Tuesday.

I have observed many times that people who go on about their health ills are tiresome. I was feeling tiresome today, and tired of being tiresome.  I have many things I need to accomplish, some of them before tomorrow, but I decided to run anyways. I need to be physically active.  I need to lose weight.  I sternly told myself to do this one thing for me.  I know, that’s kind of a crock.  I do a lot of things for me, which is why I’m behind on all those other things I need to accomplish.  Still, I made up my mind to run.

One reason to run is that it was BEAUTIFUL!  The temperature was at least in the 50s.  I didn’t check, but it was delightful to be out running in shorts and short sleeves. Even my hands didn’t get cold. Most of the sidewalks were bare.  I leaped over or ran around any mud.  I soon attained a comfortable pace.  I felt it was slightly faster than my usual shuffle.  I pretended to myself it was the gazelle-like lope I sometimes see the young people do, but I knew it really wasn’t.  No matter.  I was enjoying it.

I decided where to run based on avoiding pedestrian and not crossing busy streets.  I turned one way rather than run into two teenage girls.  I wanted to avoid that awkward   feeling of do I go left or right?  Should I say hello? I almost always say hello. I found myself a block and a half behind a man.  Then a block.  At half a block he got to a corner.  I thought, “If he crosses the street, I’ll turn.  If he turns, I’ll cross the street.”  He crossed the street.

This had me headed down Main Street.  Lots of people on Main Street.  Why was I feeling so unsociable today?  I don’t know, but I turned onto Church.  It was really not a problem to run. Breathing was OK, legs didn’t hurt.  I didn’t use these words at the time, but I see now that I was rocking it!

As I ran down Caroline Street, a boy passed me on a bicycle.  As I was looking at his chubby legs and thinking it would be unkind to mention their chubbiness in the blog, the little jerk turned around and gave me the finger!  As I stared at him, flabbergasted, he did it again, with a big nasty grin, making sure I saw it!  Now I know enough not to take these things personally.  He probably had just learned the gesture and was trying it out.  I wondered if possibly he was psychic and knew I was thinking he had chubby legs.  Now I think maybe he had gotten picked on at school for his chubby legs and this was his way of making himself feel better. At any rate, you see that I have gotten my petty revenge by mentioning his chubby legs in my blog post.  How unkind of me.  He had chubby hands, too.

Two young men were a couple of blocks ahead of me as I turned down Park Avenue.  They turned around and looked at me. Was I making that much noise?  I didn’t think I was huffing and puffing.  A few minutes later, they looked back again.  What the hell?  Did I look weird?  They crossed the street to go through Meyers Park.  I had intended to go through the park but turned up Bellinger Street instead.  I didn’t need those guys giving me the finger as well.

A man was doing yard work.  I was just about to say I had to do that too, when he said, “The weather sure is cooperating for a run!”

“Oh, it sure is,” I said. “I’m loving it!”

I was loving it.  I hope the weather cooperates again on Thursday so I can repeat the experience.  Perhaps without the rude chubby-legged boy.

 

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Sunday Stroll in the Sun

Posted on February 29, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

In lieu of my usual Wrist to Forehead Sunday, I offer a Pedestrian Post with a heartfelt sigh of happiness about the weather.

My husband Steven had today off, so it promised to be a good day from the get-go.  We went out to breakfast at Crazy Otto’s before a quick stop at the grocery store.  It was already warmish when we left the house, but when I stepped out of Crazy Otto’s it was WONDERFUL!  I walked down the sidewalk taking deep breaths of spring air.  This was a good day for a walk.

When we got back from Hannaford, I wrote a few postcards, as I usually do on Saturday but had not gotten to this week.  Then I picked up my script for Leading Ladies.  Many of you will remember that is the play I am directing for Ilion Little Theatre.  Auditions are tomorrow. I wanted to photocopy scenes for them.  Hummel’s Office Plus is a short walk from the post office. They have a photocopier.

I wore my crazy old lady hat and my prescription sunglasses.  I was grateful for both.  How wonderful to walk along in a mere sweatshirt (um, and the rest of my clothes, don’t get any weird ideas about me) with no bitter wind hurting my face.  The sidewalks were mostly bare, and the lawns not too squishy when we had to walk around mud or ice.

After mailing the postcards and making the copies, we walked up Main Street so Steven could purchase cigarettes at Smoker’s Choice.  We observed that Valley Exchange was open but contented ourselves with looking at the window.  That is a fun store.  Linda’s Consignment Shop, across the street, was not open, but I must get down there again soon. Also on the other side of the street we saw people working in The End Zone, a pub and grill to be opening soon.

We walked all the way up to German Street, then past our own street to take an extra turn around our block, because we were so enjoying the weather.  Snow is in the forecast in the upcoming week, but I can’t worry about that today.  I hope you are all having a lovely Sunday as well.

 

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Back on the Road

Posted on February 21, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I got up this morning with no plans at all, except for the already executed plan to sleep in.  We made it to almost 6:30, and that felt good.  We had been up a few hours.  I had eaten breakfast, written post cards and noodled around on Facebook for a while when I suddenly made the decision to go running.

The decision came about because my sister, Victoria, commented that I would probably like yoga because of the spiritual aspect of it as well as the “just you” time, although she supposed running did that for me “but with fewer distractions”.  I commented back that running was ALL about distractions.  A drill sergeant in Army Basic Training told me that was the secret to running: you just kept finding things to distract yourself from how much it sucked (I further learned that the other secret was to keep going despite the suckiness, but right now we’re talking about distractions).

Isn’t it funny how one minute you’re talking about how much a thing sucks and the next minute you’re hustling up the stairs to get properly dressed and do it.  The fact is that there are great periods of time during which running does not suck.  In fact, it is pretty enjoyable.  I hoped for one of those periods today.

One reason for my hope is that it was warmer than it has been.  It was almost warm enough for shorts and short-sleeves, although I set a lower temperature for that outfit than many others.  I went with leggings and long-sleeves because it was borderline and I have not been running outdoors.  I still wore my toque. I do like my toque.

Before I left the driveway I was questioning the wisdom of my decision.  Quite icy.  The sidewalks did not look much better.  I had taken the precaution of wearing an older pair of sneakers, because I was certain there would be puddles.  It turns out things were still pretty frozen.  It was only about 9:20 a.m.  No matter, I was outside in my toque.  I was running.

I took the nearly unprecedented step (get it, running, step?) of running in the road.  I’ve addressed this issue before. I do not like running in the road myself and I do not approve of it in others (yes, yes, I know, my approval is not necessary for anybody, so you needn’t get all hoity-toity and self-justifying).  At least I was on the left side facing traffic.  Perhaps traffic would not be too harsh at 9:20 on a Saturday morning.

And it wasn’t too bad, even on German Street.  I ran all the way down to the traffic light next to the high school.  I had originally had some thought of running up the hill by Valley Health and into the residential area beyond (what I call the suburbs).  After all, there were no sidewalks in that area, so I did not have to feel self-conscious about breaking my own rule.  Then I decided I would did not want to take such a long run.  After all, I am easing back into it.  The only runs I have taken in the past few weeks have been in place on the mini-tramp.

I was happy to get off German and into the quieter streets.  Here traffic was light enough that I could run closer to the center of the road, which was the place where I was least likely to encounter any ice.  It was kind of annoying when a car would be coming and I would have to get over to the edge of the road where there would be ice, a puddle, or an icy puddle.  However, I did not meet with any mishaps.

At a few points I noticed stretches of sidewalk that were perfectly clear.  I felt a little bad about that.  I really do prefer to run on the sidewalk.  Then again, it seemed silly to switch back and forth.  Then again, a little detour often burns more calories.  I saw a clearish patch and ran up a driveway to the sidewalk.  So far so good.  Then my foot slipped and I said, “To hell with that,” and got back on the road.

It was not a super long run, but I felt it was long enough to count as a run.  I also took a cool-down walk almost all the way around the block.  As I walked, I felt elated.  I did not think I had run hard enough or long enough to get any of those endorphins I keep hearing about, but a joyous voice in my head declared, “This was a GOOD idea!”  As I cut through the parking lot of the apartment building on the end of my street (remember, I said almost all the way around the block), I realized that running in the road had been a good idea too.  If I had tried even a shuffley jog there I would have landed on my tuckus or a less padded  part.

I felt pretty bad-ass after my run.  I felt, as I often do, “Yeah, I’m back.”  I hope I stay back this time.  For me, it’s a good idea to keep running.

 

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And the Killer Is…

Posted on January 29, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Just kidding.  This is a Pedestrian Post masquerading as a Non-Sequitur Thursday.

I have been having trouble re-starting my run regimen (I use a most generous definition of “regimen”).  My knees have been bothering me.  Not horribly, but they do ache.  It is sometimes less than pleasant to go up or down stairs.  I have a dreadful suspicion that it is age-related.  I feel sure that if I lost more weight, that would help. Running may bother my knees,but it will help me lose weight, which will  be good for my knees. It’s kind of circular.

Monday I went for a nice walk with my husband.  Tuesday I ran.  Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I woke up with my left knee THROBBING!!!  I couldn’t go back to sleep at first because it hurt so bad.  Oh, crap!  I limped through work on Wednesday and neither ran nor walked afterwards (as you may remember, it was Wuss-out Wednesday).  However, if I don’t use my legs, they start to feel really crappy.

My knee felt better today, but I was not sure running was the best idea.   Additionally, it was Steven’s day off and you know how I love to maximize my husband time.  I made up my mind I would either run in place on the mini-tramp, while chatting with Steve, or go for a walk with Steve. Obviously, a walk was the more attractive option.

It was warmer earlier in the week, but it was not at all bad today.  We had to walk around some puddles, but surrounding grass was not too muddy.   There were a few patches of ice, which Steven boldly walked over.  I mostly skirted them.   We noted a few houses that still had their Christmas decorations up.  We like Christmas.

It was a very pleasant walk, and my legs felt wonderful with the exercise.  I will attempt another walk tomorrow or Saturday, I hope.  I’ll probably write a blog post about it.

 

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Mid-Winter Wrist

Posted on January 18, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Is it the Mid-Winter Blahs, the Mid-Winter Blues, or just a common or garden Wrist to Forehead Sunday? I’m hoping it’s the third one, because tomorrow it will not be Sunday any more, but winter will last at least a couple of months more.

In other words, anybody who was hoping for a post of any substance from me today is doomed to disappointment.

I was ambitious enough earlier to drive to Chadwicks for church with some members of my family, notably my most adorable year-old great nephew.  He was quite interested in pulling my necklace.  I had taken the precaution of putting on a long strand of fairly tough beads in case of just such an emergency.

It was a fine drive over Higby Road to Graffenburg (oh dear, I’m not sure if it’s Graffenburg or Graffenberg; another reason to make the wrist-to-forehead pose).  Bare roads, not too windy.  We went to Salvatore’s in Washington Mills for breakfast after church, so my drive home was all Higby.  Nice views.  One day perhaps I’ll have a camera and can share some of the sights I see.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that before church I did the dishes, often the extent of my Sunday ambition (if in fact my Sunday ambition extends that far; it doesn’t always).  I did not dry and put them away, of course.  Waste energy drying dishes?  That’s crazy talk!  Anyways, by that time I had to get ready for church.

And now I’m over 200 words.  Hmmm…. This seems to me more like a Scattered Sunday than Wrist to Forehead. No matter, in the blogiverse (you know, like universe.  I think I’ve gotten too big for the blogosphere), 200 words is 200 words.  Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

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Hill after Headache

Posted on January 8, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I went running today so that I could do a Running Commentary blog post.  The other reasons were (1) it was warmer than it has been for the past two days and (2) I had almost no headache all day.

As I left work, I reminded myself not to go crazy.  It was a little warmer.  It was not a heat wave.  I would still need to wear leggings, long sleeves and probably a hat. Still, the sun was shining.  It was a lovely afternoon.  Could it be over 40?

According to my thermostat, the outdoor temperature was 36 degrees.  Although it was sunny, there were clouds in the sky.  It is, after all, winter.  I dressed accordingly and got going.

At least the sidewalks were fairly bare.  I dodged some snow and ice as I ran toward German Street.  I wanted to run up to Herkimer College.  I thought it would make a better blog post.  Could I make it up that hill?  Maybe I should run up the back way.  Longer but less steep.  Maybe I should just run up the hill by Valley Health.  After all, I worked all day, and I had a migraine yesterday.

I looked at all the traffic and thought maybe I would not be able to cross German Street at all.  Well, I could just run around streets on this side of German.  There was no rule I had to run up a hill.  All I had to do was run and write a blog post about it.  It didn’t matter where.  There was a break in traffic.  I sprinted!  I made it!  But would I run to the college?  Maybe a run into Brookfield Park?

Oh, who was I kidding?  I wanted to run up to the college the front way.  It is the impressive way.  It is the way that makes my friend Phyllis say I am her hero.  I like to be somebody’s hero.  As I turned up Lou Ambers Drive, I looked longingly at Salvatore’s.  It would be nice to go out to dinner later.  However, I am trying to lose weight.  Additionally, Steven works till 6:30.  I would be hungry before that.

Sometimes I have to spit when I run.  I don’t always follow advice, but in general I heed the song that tells me to don’t spi-it in the wind.  I also don’t pull the mask off the ol’ Lone Ranger and I don’t mess around with Slim, but those situations usually do not arise when I am running.  Full disclosure:  that bit occurs to me almost every time I run, and this is the first time I used it in a blog post.

Oh, it took a long time to get up the hill.  As I’ve said before, there was no suspense.  I knew I would make it to the top.  The knowledge was no comfort.  I reflected that the bright day would make the view from the top better than the misty view on New Year’s Day.  There was more traffic than I expected.  One car slowed down and moved over.  When I gave a thank-you wave, the girl driving waved back.  I like little connections like that.

The view was very nice.  Everything around me looked nice.  I always think that sunshine is nature’s cosmetic, because almost any scene looks better in the sunlight. Then again, maybe things just looked better to me because I was at the top of the hill and I could breathe almost normally again.

My run down was not too bad.  My cool-down walk was maybe a little too cool.  The temperature was dropping by then and the wind had picked up.  By the time I finished I was cold and TIRED.  Well, why not be tired at the end of the day?  And aren’t you all happy that I’ve made a blog post of over 600 words where I did not once mention what I couldn’t write about?  I certainly am.

 

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Spoiler Alert! It’s a Two-Parter!

Posted on January 2, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Sometimes, when you want to do something, you just decide to do it, then you do it.  Some of you are rolling your eyes saying, “I’ve been TELLING you that!”  Others, perhaps also with an eye roll, are asking me if it is really, truly that easy.  My good friends (I hope you know who you are) are saying, “Oh, good for you, Cindy, what did you do?”

I have been trying, without much notable success, to keep from prosing on about my dreadful headaches (my computer seems to think “prosing” is not a word, but I’m sure I’ve seen it used elsewhere).  However, to convey my real sense of accomplishment today, I must emphasize that I have been suffering terribly from painful headaches, often accompanied by nausea.

These headaches often begin in the middle of the night, my most hated kind of headache.  I mean, if you get a headache during the day, you feel that in the last resort you can always lie down to try to get rid of it.  If you wake up with it, what are you going to do?  If you wake up with it in the middle of the night, go back to sleep with it, and wake up with it feeling even worse, I think you may be forgiven for feeling extremely ill-used.

And that is all the whining about my headaches that I have been trying so hard to keep out of the blog.  I am truly mortified. Is anybody still reading?  Should I erase the last two paragraphs and start over again?  Should I mention or refrain from mentioning that I have a pounding headache now which is making it difficult to write?  Should I further mention that I am running out of adjectives to describe my headaches?

What a big, fat baby I am.  My apologies.  At least you can all feel a frisson of virtue that YOU do not complain so much about your aches and pains

Be all that as it may, the last time I ran was Christmas Day, when I took a short run in the cold followed by, you guessed it, a worsening of my headache.  I have walked and shoveled snow for exercise since then.  I did not want to wait too long to begin running again.  When Steven left for work shortly before 9:30 this morning (New Year’s Day; ignore the date under the title), I got ready and set out.

It was snowing and just above freezing temperature, so I dressed extra warmly.  I had it in my head to run up the hill to Herkimer College (which I persist in referring to as HCCC).  I had meant to run up that hill BEFORE 2016, but one does not always meet one’s goals and I find it is best to refrain from beating oneself up but to keep striving.  I turned down German Street, picking my way down the icy sidewalk.  It was not glare ice, but thick, uneven ice, the kind you can easily turn your ankle on.

The falling snow was pretty.  It would have been a nice day for a walk with a dog.  I felt sad all over again, missing my dear departed schnoodle, Tabby.  At least I had the happiness of knowing her.

Would I really run up the hill to the college?  I was out here running at all, I thought that was pretty good.  I could probably feel pleased with myself no matter what I did, short run, long run, no hill, little hill… hill by Valley Health?  Back way to HCCC?  I pondered as I went.  I can’t say I was rocking it as I ran, but it wasn’t too painful either.

If this was in a book, I thought, it would be very important to make it to the top of the hill.  If I made it to the top of the hill, it would mean I would meet all my goals for 2016.  I would finish my novel, do a great job directing for Ilion Little Theatre, lose 15 pounds, clean my house, grow a vegetable garden…  And if I got halfway up the hill and turned around, I would probably be homeless by March, friendless and despised.

I knew, of course, that I was being silly.  For one reason, if I started running up the hill to HCCC, I was going to make it to the top.  I pretty much always do.

Hey, I just noticed something:  I am over 700 words already.  That is a long blog post for me.  I’m going to sign off here and make this a two parter (what, parter isn’t a word either?  What’s that all about, computer?).  Did I make to the top of the hill?  Did I try?  Did I continue to get silly?  Tune in tomorrow, for the first Saturday Running Commentary of 2016!

 

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Not Wuss — Winter!

Posted on December 30, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Winter returned to the Mohawk Valley last night (Tuesday, Dec 28).  I could hear sleet hitting the windows when I woke up in the night.  When I got up I saw the back yard was covered with snow.  Well, we knew it was coming.

I had planned to go running today.  For one reason, I could make a Running Commentary blog post.  For another, I’m getting fatter.  And for just one more, I promised myself I would run up the hill to Herkimer College before the end of 2015.  Perhaps the rain would stop before I got out of work.

During lunch I left stepped outside of my place of employment briefly.  Cold rain was falling and a bitter wind blew.  Even more ominous for my running plans, the sidewalks were covered with ice and ice water.  Yikes!  I could probably talk myself into running in the cold, POSSIBLY the rain (although I don’t usually).  Icy sidewalks, however, are to be assiduously avoided.  I revised my plans:  I would run in place on the mini-tramp while looking at a movie.  I might still have a Boris Karloff flick on my DVR.

I was feeling dreadfully tired by the time I got home, but rather than have a Wuss-out Wednesday post, I was going to try.  Then I saw a neighbor shoveling the snow from his front walk.  The neighbors on the other side had already shoveled their walk, as had other houses.  I felt I should be a responsible homeowner.

Shoveling snow is exercise, I assured myself.  Were the shovels on the back deck?  Yes.  I went inside only long enough to put my bag down then went out and got started.

It wasn’t long before I realized that while yesterday I had worn my work shoes home, today I had sensibly changed into my sneakers.  I told myself not to worry about it.  Even if my feet got soaked, I wasn’t going to be out there long enough for it to matter.  I would be out there maybe a half hour.  Half an hour is a good amount of exercise in the middle of the week.

I started on the sidewalk.  It was crunchy, iced-over snow, but it wasn’t too deep and it wasn’t too heavy. I had my reward right away when a nice lady came along walking her dog.  I petted the dog and chatted with the lady.  She said she had seen me walking a little white dog.

“Did you lose her?”

“Yes, she had cancer.”

She offered her condolences and I petted the dog again before they moved on.  I do hope to get another dog one day, possibly in the spring.

As I continued to clear the sidewalk, a gentleman from the apartment building next door came out and started shoveling the end of their driveway.  We chatted a bit about winter, commuting, and store-brand cottage cheese.  This shoveling wasn’t a bad gig at all.

When I started on the end of the driveway, things got a little less fun.  Between the snowplow piling more snow up and our vehicles going in and out of the driveway, the snow and ice was more stubbornly in place.  I worked away with determination.  I was rewarded with further conversation when the neighbor who lives on the other side came out and started shoveling their driveway.

I ended up shoveling for an hour.  I did not get the whole driveway done, but I cleared enough that Steven should be able to pull in and park.  I wasn’t sure I could get a blog post out of it but decided to try.  You be the judge:  is this better, worse, or about the same as one of my Wuss-out Wednesday posts?

 

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