Tag Archives: weather

Another Scattered Saturday

Posted on February 8, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I said last week that I thought Saturday Misadventures ought to become a feature, but on reflection, I think Scattered Saturday would be better. Two Saturdays ago I had a Scattered Saturday and I thought it made a pretty good blog post (although perhaps I flatter myself). At that time I was preparing for the busy, stressful week of Production Week for the play I am in at Ilion Little Theatre. At this time I am preparing for that play’s penultimate performance (love that word, penultimate). Next Saturday I will probably remain scattered merely because it is in my nature to do so.

Yesterday I said I planned to have a Mohawk Valley adventure without having a Mohawk Valley adventure planned. I woke up with morning with a plan. Yay me. Naturally I had coffee with my husband before implementing the plan.

The weather cooperated by being not too frigid, since the first part of my plan involved walking to the post office with my nice dog, Tabby. I had written my usual postcards. I love to write postcards. A light snow was falling, but the breeze was not bad. My thermometer said 23 degrees, which sounded about right. I could rock 23 degrees, I told myself. I could even run in 23 degrees, if I so chose. I thought with a play this evening a walk would be better. Tabby liked it, too.

Next I went to Heidelberg Bakery for breakfast (full blog post to follow). Then I went consignment store shopping (again, full blog posts to be written). I hit Cornerstone Consignments in Ilion, NY, and Gypsy’s Closet and Valley Exchange in Herkimer. Then I was tired, so I went home. Must recruit my energies, after all.

I guess Scattered Saturdays are actually Previews of Coming Attractions. With the play closing tomorrow afternoon, I may actually have time to write them. As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

Monday Misadventure

Posted on February 3, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hands up, whoever thought that with the play in production I would immediately return to making “real” posts? Heads down in shame, all of you who are pointing and laughing because you knew darn well I would not. I don’t mean you should feel ashamed because I am about to do a brilliant post about a Mohawk Valley adventure. I just don’t like it when people point and laugh.

I had thought to do a Middle-aged Musings Monday today, but a considerate co-worker brought me a copy of the new issue of Mohawk Valley Living, and I spent my lunch hour reading that instead of writing a blog post. I will instead type in a few words about the bad weather adventure I had after work today. By adventure, I’m afraid I mean misadventure.

The Mohawk Valley is having a winter storm, as is much of the northeast. It is cold and has been snowing like a sonofabitch all day (I love to say things are doing something like a sonofabitch). I suppose this made a bit of a change from the straight cold weather we have been having, but perhaps I am being too glass-half-full.

My misadventure began, as many of my misadventures do, with me thinking I am being clever. I left work and drove to my husband’s place of employment, to switch vehicles. This meant my SUV would be last in the driveway tomorrow morning, when I leave for work prior to 5 a.m. It further meant that Steven would have the 4-wheel drive for coming home after 6 p.m. After all, it was continuing to snow.

I could get the little old Stratus into the driveway. Just swing wide and power it through, right? Turns out, not so much. In my defense, I have not driven a vehicle this size since 1989, when I had a 10-year-old Pinto I fondly called Feather Car. Of course I got hung up at the end of the driveway. I felt I had a small blessing in that the car was completely out of the road at least. I turned it off, got out and grabbed a shovel.

I shoveled, tried to move the car, repeat. Things were not going well. I thought a good push would help. But there was only one of me. Then I saw my across the street neighbor shoveling his own driveway. He is a strapping young man, and a very nice one. I went over and asked his help. I wanted to ask him to drive the car while I pushed, because it is my car after all, but that seemed a little silly given our relative sizes.

He told me to back the car all the way out, which I did without getting hung up in the snowbank. Phew! He shoveled out where the car had been and told me to try it again. I felt really bad about this, because dammit, I am supposed to shovel my own driveway. Before I pulled the car back in I brushed off the windows again. I perhaps should have done that before I pulled back out of the driveway, but one does not always behave in the ideal fashion.

After my neighbor’s efforts with the shovel, I got the car in the driveway. I thanked him profusely. What a great neighbor! He asked me was I all set. I assured him that I was. I shoveled a bit more, including a short area in the back for Tabby’s business meetings.

Other areas have gotten more snow than I did. Other people have bigger driveways to shovel. Other bad weather travails outweigh mine. Other people do not have nice neighbors to help them. Well, I never said I was Job. I’m just telling you a little story about my day. I hope you’ll tune in tomorrow, which will be Tuesday but I hope not Tired Tuesday.

In My Defense, It’s Cold!

Posted on February 1, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Here’s a new feature: Saturday Misadventures. It is for those numerous Saturdays when I do not have Saturday Running Commentary but instead type down a few paragraphs of what I did instead of write a good blog post.

When we got up this morning it was one degree out according to our thermostat. I don’t know where it gets this information; the thermostat came with the new furnace. I would get one of those jobs with the big numbers to hang on the garage like my parents have, but I don’t have a window handy for looking out at the garage. If I’m going to open the door anyways, what do I need a thermometer for?

Come to think of it, I did open the door, to get the newspaper (LOVE my newspaper deliverers!). Yikes! I made sure to replace the doodads under our door meant to keep the draft out (with indifferent success). Still, it was above zero. What could I possibly complain about? Got you there: I am not complaining, I am OBSERVING!

I wrote some postcards, but a walk to the post office was clearly ineligible. I know my dog would eagerly jump and bark if I picked up the leash, but I do not want a frostbitten little pooch. I’ve been limiting her outdoor activity to short business meetings in the back yard.

Still, I could not stay home under the blankets as was my inclination. I had to put air in one tire and I had to gas up. And I had to leave my vehicle in the street, because I leave for the theatre after Steven gets home tonight. I’m in a play, remember (see yesterday’s post, among others). As the temperature rose to 2 degrees, my hopes rose proportionately.

As it turns out, for no good reason. I did not do anything blogworthy. And my brain is too frozen to remember any of the blogworthy things I did previously but have not written about yet. I feel properly ashamed of myself, but I must not repine. I have a show to put on later.

Hope to see you on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

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Posted in humor, personal, Saturday Misadventures and tagged blog post, blogging, cold, dogs, Mohawk Valley adventures, play, Saturday Running Commentary, theatre, thermostat, weather, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

Maybe I Shoulda Wussed

Posted on January 29, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I know “shoulda” is not a word. For that matter, neither is “wussed.” What do you people want from me? I’m just a silly blogger who is also in a play. I thought to myself after work, “Don’t have a Wuss-out Wednesday. Take your dog for a walk and write about that.” Yes, sometimes I talk to myself as if I was a separate person. It works for me.

Tabby was beyond excited when I picked up her harness and she realized we were going for a walk. We have not been out in days, because it has been too cold. Yesterday it was snowing as well. It didn’t snow much, so you local readers who are currently saying, “Waaaait a minute!” perhaps missed it. It happened to snow in the brief window of opportunity I had to decide to walk. Also, I’ve been fighting some bugaboo. Why walk in the cold and aggravate a sinus headache?

Today was supposed to be marginally warmer than previous days. High of 21, I think. Well, 21 is in the 20s. I can walk my dog in the 20s. I can even go running in the 20s, but I’ll save that for a day I don’t have rehearsal. I forgot my scarf but had coat, hat, mittens. I still haven’t located Tabby’s coat, but she has her natural fur coat. We wouldn’t take a long walk.

I hadn’t gotten to the end of the driveway when I was questioning the wisdom of walking at all. Ice, ice, ice. Well, perhaps it was just the driveway. After all, we have dripping eaves over the driveway. The sidewalks would be better. Tabby pulled me across the street. Either side was fine with me. The sidewalk plow had done its work.

So intent was I on my walking plan that I had not bothered to change out of my steel-toed work shoes. I soon made the observation that “non-slip soles” must refer to factory floors not icy sidewalks. Yikes! I walked slowly. Tabby was eagerly trotting but nicely moderated her pace to accommodate me. When she stopped to sniff we were both happy.

I have to confess the walk was not the most pleasant I have taken. I did observe the beautifully clear blue sky when Tabby was sniffing once but other than that I mostly kept my eyes on the sidewalk watching for glare ice and poop left behind by inconsiderate dog owners (at least I think it was dog poop; I shall not indulge in further speculation). Soon I realized my face was quite cold. Well, a scarf does not always fix that, I comforted myself. Then again, the scarf would have kept the wind off the back of my neck. However I refused to repine but concentrated on remaining upright.

It was a struggle. When we went through Meyers Park I gave up on the path and plowed through the snow alongside. Many footprints showed I was not the first to do so. It was a great deal more effort, but I felt safer. Tabby stayed on the path, where she found herself once modifying her pace to accommodate me. After the park I saw a lovely stretch of bare sidewalk and almost wiped out getting to it.

After several other scares we made it home. I confess, there were times when only Tabby’s pulling on the leash kept me upright. Thank goodness I don’t have a smaller dog; we may have both gone flying. So now I am left with the question: was this any better than a post of me dithering about how I can’t write a post when I’m in a play? It doesn’t matter. This is today’s post. Now I must get ready for rehearsal.

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Posted in humor, Pedestrain Post, personal and tagged dogs, ice, sinus headache, Tabby, walking, weather, Wuss out Wednesday. Bookmark the permalink.

It’s Friday

Posted on January 17, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I know I have been having a lot of lame posts lately. However, I think we all know how much I treasure my Lame Post Friday. It’s Friday. Let’s be lame.

I actually had a few ideas during the day about what I could write about for my blog post. I thought I might actually write something earlier than when I sat down at the computer to start typing. I studied my lines for the play instead. Oh, and worked on a letter to my sister. OK, I also worked on a cryptogram puzzle and a crossword. Maybe if I had more breaks on my job…

The break from frigid cold temperatures in the Mohawk Valley did not last very long. This morning when we woke up it was actually pleasant, relatively speaking that is. I put on short sleeves. For a while at work, short sleeves were OK. When I left work the wind chill was back. It was… let’s just say not pleasant.

I cooked something not too bad for supper. I cooked some rice in the rice cooker which was my favorite Christmas present. While it cooked, I chopped up a pork chop (we only had one because the package had an odd number). When it was almost done I added broccoli from the freezer and mushrooms from a can. When the rice was done, I put that in along with some spices.

Anyone who has been reading this blog will know that I have had… what kind of week? Stressful, busy, not a bad week, but not a good writing week. I think this Friday post has been no better. But it’s Friday. Let’s get on with the weekend.

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Posted in humor, Lame Post Friday, personal and tagged blog post, cooking, lame post, weather, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

My Face Didn’t Crack

Posted on January 16, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought instead of Non-Sequitur Thursday I could do a Pedestrian Post. For one reason, I had not walked my beloved dog Tabby all week because of the frigid temperatures. I know I do a lot of Pedestrian Posts, but I was hoping an update on Herkimer in mid-January would be acceptable.

The weather cooperated. It was warmer and sunny. I find it ironic that I say warmer rather than warm, because it was not warm. It was less cold. So you see, warmer can mean both more warm and less warm. Just a little digression on the vagaries of the English language.

Tabby was very happy to see me when I got home, as usual. I tried not to let her catch me changing my shoes, because she always takes that as a sign that a walk is imminent. Unfortunately, she found me. OK, I wasn’t very well hidden. I wanted to get on with things. I managed to get her into her harness and we set out.

My thermostat in the house said it was 26 degrees outside. That sounded SO much better than teens and single digits. It wasn’t till we had started walking that I remembered that it is still below freezing. No matter. The sun was shining. We could rock this.

Tabby spent the first two blocks or so pulling me along at a rapid pace. I was pleased to see the sidewalk plow had been by. It still leaves some snow on the sidewalk, which is perfectly OK with me. It takes more effort to walk through snow. I can burn more calories. I soon realized why my legs have been feeling quite awful these last couple of days. It is because I need to walk as much as Tabby does. I crunched along as happily as she.

Soon she began stopping to sniff. It takes her longer to sniff in the winter, I think because the snow obstructs her sense of smell. I looked around the neighborhood as she sniffed. It looked a little boring with no Christmas decorations, but the sunshine cheered things up somewhat.

I saw a sign advertising an apartment for rent. $450 a month plus utilities. Only the plus sign was kind of screwy, so I thought at first it said $450 a month divided by utilities. Or perhaps it was a really awkward way of saying you split the utilities. These are the things I think about when I walk.

Despite her early enthusiasm, Tabby only wanted to go for a short walk. That was OK with me. I had neglected to put on a scarf and as I observed earlier, 26 degrees is still below freezing. You know that expression, “If she smiled her face will crack”? I began to feel that way.

Still, I felt elated that we had at last walked. I hope for warmer temperatures soon so that we may take longer excursions. Perhaps if we walk longer, something blogworthy will happen.

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Posted in humor, Pedestrain Post, personal and tagged blog post, cold, dogs, frigid temperatures, herkimer ny, sunshine, Tabby, walking, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Not Whine, WINE

Posted on January 11, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Sorry, kids, it’s Wrist to Forehead Saturday. I know, it’s supposed to be Saturday Running Commentary and Wrist to Forehead Sunday, but I worked this morning instead of going running. Wait a minute, that means Friday was not Friday but yet Saturday becomes Sunday? I make no sense.

The fact is, I feel that I am too cold to write a proper blog post. I have to laugh at myself because of that. I say to myself, Really? with that raised eyebrow look that puts a wealth of skepticism into that one word. Truly, I am too cold? What, I ask myself, what about all those blog posts I wrote all summer when I was too damn hot to write a proper blog post? Should it not follow that I can write MYRIAD blog posts when the mercury drops?

It behooves me now to link back to one of those posts, for newcomers to the blog who do not know how much Mohawk Valley Girl wilts under hot temperatures. Unfortunately, all I can think of is one titled “I’m Me-elting.” It is unfortunate because after complaining about being too hot, I go on to write a kind of a cooking post (regular readers know I am incapable of writing a real cooking post).

So, can I write a kind of a cooking post to save this post? In fact, I have some chicken wings in the oven. I love to cook things in the oven when it is cold out. It warms the house quite nicely. I put butter, honey and Dijon mustard on the wings. We will cook tater tots to go with them. I like to eat my tater tots with cottage cheese. No vegetable is planned. You may shake your finger at me if you are so inclined (or your head or your booty) (I know the song says “Shake your booty,” but I have always thought it should say “Shake your groove thing”).

By the way, I am cooking with wine.

Come to think of it, I am inclined to stop whining about how cold it is. I shall now sit on the couch and crochet, thus covering my legs with an unfinished afghan. Life, as they say, is good.

A Little Fresh Air, a Little Sunshine, a Little Lame Post

Posted on January 10, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, it is Lame Post Friday, but it is a false Friday for me, because I work tomorrow, which I don’t usually (don’t hate). However, I am feeling kind of lame. I will attempt a Pedestrian Post about a walk I took with my schnoodle, Tabby this afternoon.

It was something of a big deal to me to get the walk in, because we have not taken our usual walks this week. The reason for this is that it has been horribly cold in the Mohawk Valley. Monday was not only cold, it was snowing in a most ferocious manner (I believe the proper expression is “like a sonofabitch”) (which is actually one of my favorite expressions, but I digress). It was actually kind of OK with me to not walk, as I had rehearsal every night (actually, Monday’s was cancelled due to the weather, but a walk was clearly ineligible that day).

Today I had no rehearsal and it was supposed to be in the mid to upper 20s. As I often observe, perspective is everything. 20 degrees looks a whole lot warmer going up to it than it looked going down to it (kind of like 145 pound in opposite directions, but let’s not go there tonight). Work was warmer, so I felt confident.

As I left work I felt less confident. When I had gotten Tabby into her harness and got out the door, I was even less sanguine. However, I persevered, and we set off. Tabby was extremely happy to be going and pulled me down the sidewalk. I plowed through the snow behind her and wondered if I shouldn’t have shoveled the sidewalk in front of my house again. Several people had apparently walked that way, so I thought it was OK for now.

We walked up to German Street and turned toward Prospect. It was certainly cold. I wished I had found Tabby’s coat. Yes, I know, she has a natural fur coat. I think she could have used another layer. She trotted along quite happily, stopping to sniff the usual number of times. A car drove by and a young man yelled something out the window at me. I could not understand a word. Was he yelling at me or the lady who seemed to be waiting to cross the street up ahead? I was going to ask her if she had heard, but she avoided eye contact.

We crossed the street and continued down German. I thought Tabby was shaking a little. Her breed does shake under stress, but she had nothing to be stressed about. I was afraid somebody else would come along and say, “Why are you making your poor little dog stay out in the cold? Can’t you see she’s shaking?” She stopped to sniff a bush, seemingly more intent on that than on the weather. When she was finished, I asked, “You want to go back home?” She immediately pulled me in that direction.

And then turned down Prospect. That was OK; it wouldn’t be a whole lot further to go around this block back home. Two kids were in front of a house playing with a brown Labrador-looking dog on a leash. The dog got away and ran across the street toward us, dragging the leash.

“Good dog, good dog,” I said, hoping that was true. Apparently it was. I grabbed the leash. The little boy ran across the street, all apologetic, and retrieved the dog. She got away again and came back to us. She sniffed Tabby till Tabby got mad and barked. Apparently Tabby is kind of “do as I say, not as I do” about sniffing.

After the boy got his dog back again, Tabby started to run toward home. Luckily for me it was not her top speed. I still had to jog to keep up. This was OK for me, because I have not been running in a while. I realize half a block will not count as going running, but I like to think every little bit helps.

I was glad when our walk was over. I will find Tabby’s coat before we go out in the frigid cold again. Still, it was good to get out. A little fresh air, a little sunshine, and a little bit of something to write a blog post about.

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Posted in humor, Lame Post Friday, Pedestrain Post and tagged dogs, Tabby, walking, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Tale of a Trip

Posted on January 3, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I go back to work on Monday, so technically this is the last day of my vacation and the next two days are a perfectly ordinary weekend. In fact, my vacation is over now, because I would be home from work by this time if in fact I had gone to work today (still feeling a little gleeful that I did not). Therefore, I will feel free to make this yet another Lame Post Friday.

In fact, I went adventuring today. First I walked my dog Tabby to the post office to mail some postcards to friends and family. It began snowing as we left, and the snow came down thicker and thicker as we went. Tabby used to take exception to precipitation. When she felt rain or snow on her back, she would stop walking and look at me, apparently expecting to be magically transported out of the situation. Wouldn’t that be nice? Today, however, she walked along nicely, stopping to sniff the usual number of times.

I found myself laughing as the snow got thicker and thicker. Big, fat flakes and lots of them. It’s just my weird thing, laughing at bad weather (OK, one of my weird things, shut up). As we passed a lady headed into M&T Bank, I said, “I heard it was supposed to snow today,” in a conversational tone, as if I was wondering if it would.

“I didn’t believe them,” she said.

“Well, those weather guys don’t always get it right,” I said.

A short time after I got back home I got into my vehicle to drive to Utica, NY. I wore my insulated sweatshirt, because my good winter coat was still wet. I put the hood up instead of looking for a dry hat. I foolishly forgot my gloves so hoped I could get away without brushing off my vehicle. I could.

My Trailblazer was set on “auto,” which is better than 2-wheel-drive but not as good as 4-wheel drive. I didn’t think I needed 4-wheel drive and, anyways, you’re not supposed to go over 45 m.p.h in 4-wheel drive. I headed for the highway. The streets in Herkimer were not very good, and people were driving surprisingly slow, and not pulling out in front of each other at the side streets. I was impressed.

Out on the highway, I felt I had best go slow myself. I could have left it in 4-wheel drive, because I did not go over 45 at all. There was a car behind me, following pretty close at first. I couldn’t worry about him. The last time I went faster than I wanted to because I was worried about the guy behind me, I spun out in a most terrifying fashion. That was on ice. At least this was just snow.

By the time I got to Schuyler, visibility was terrible. I questioned my decision to leave the house. Then I thought of the saying, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes,” to which I often add, “or drive five miles.” I decided the visibility was really no worse than nighttime. I could see directly in front of me, just not much further.

As I got closer to North Utica, things improved. There was still lots of snow, but I could see further. Now all I had to worry about was traffic on Genessee Street and the fact that I did not know where on Genessee Street my destination was. I had a house number but knew I could not count on numbers being readily visible.

Well, as usual, I persevered. I only had to circle around three times, and in Utica circling around is fun. I enjoyed looking at the houses I drove by. I felt triumph when I reached my destination. Then frustration when I realized that where I had pulled in was in fact the driveway for the house next door. Then triumph once again as I noticed the parking lots adjoined.

Perhaps tomorrow I will write about what my destination was and what I did there. Happy Friday, everybody.

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Posted in humor, Lame Post Friday, personal and tagged driving, herkimer ny, snow, Tabby, Utica NY, walking, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

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