Tag Archives: weather

Almost a Run

Posted on November 29, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I don’t suppose anybody has been waiting with bated breath for Running Commentary from Mohawk Valley Girl. Still, I have been unhappy about not running. However, this morning it was cold with potentially icy sidewalks. I could deal with the cold, but the sidewalks gave me pause. If I fell, I couldn’t be sure of landing where most of the padding is. More likely I would twist myself around in an effort to keep from falling and pull some muscle I didn’t even know was there.

My sister had suggested running on a mini-tramp. Easier on the knees and feet, she said. In fact, I did this for a short time some years ago. I still have the tramp. Full disclosure: it’s my mother’s and she hasn’t asked for it back yet. Thanks, Mom!

Earlier this morning I had done ten minutes’ worth of push-ups, crunches and whatever other exercises suggested themselves. Hey, you have to start somewhere and I haven’t been doing much besides walk lately. After Steven left for work, I hauled the mini-tramp out from under the bed in the second bedroom, put on running clothes and gave it a try.

My sister watches movies on her tramp. I was doing this too (in fact, I still haven’t seen the end of The Unsinkable Molly Brown)(oh, well, I’ve seen the ending, but I started watching it and didn’t run long enough… you know what I mean). I still have several horror movies on the DVR from October. I thought I’d try Devil Doll.

No, I’m not going to do a running/movie write-up. I have too much to say about this movie, and I only ran for 20 minutes.

If you could call it running.

This mini-tramp business will take some getting used to. Obviously your feet can’t move the same way. And I had a problem right away in that I wanted to make some notes from Robert Osborne’s pre-movie commentary. It’s on DVR, I reminded myself. Just don’t erase it at the end and you can watch the commentary again. Then I laughed at myself for thinking I was going to make it through an hour and a half movie on the mini-tramp.

Soon I came to the depressing conclusion that I do not find a movie as interesting to me as the outsides of other people’s houses. But I persevered. I mean, I liked the movie; I look forward to seeing the rest of it. But I would have preferred to be crocheting with pauses to make notes in the TV Journal.

Well, one can’t have everything. I did get some exercise in. A little later in the morning I took Tabby for a walk. That might be the subject of tomorrow’s blog post.

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Be Thankful the Post is Short

Posted on November 29, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

After all, I don’t HAVE to write a post every day. I CHOOSE to write a post every day.

Wouldn’t that be silly if those two sentences were my entire post?

In fact, it is Thanksgiving Day, and I don’t got much. That is, I have a lot to be thankful for, of course. But I don’t have a lot to write about. Oh, I know, I could write a post about everything I’m thankful for, including perhaps a little snippet about how we OUGHT to be thankful every day, not just the day before Black Friday. Blah, blah, blah. Let’s save the half-baked philosophy for Lame Post Friday, shall we?

I did take a walk today, which is often good for a post. It was cold. I was glad I had borrowed my father’s hat. It was like a big hood not attached to a coat. The coverage was great, head and neck.

One sister and one nephew walked with me and Tabby. I ought, perhaps, to mention that I was at my parents’ house in Rome, NY. They live in a nice quiet neighborhood, good for walking. We walked down the middle of the road in a couple of places, to avoid patches of ice. We took to the sidewalks in other places but had no mishaps. Phew!

A few people had their Christmas decorations up already. I think tomorrow is a better day to begin our Christmas celebrations, but what are you going to do? My nephew revealed that he had perhaps inadvisedly volunteered to put up the Christmas lights at his house. I believe this was before the temperature dropped and the snow fell. We discussed my previous quest for a hard plastic light-up snowman (NOT the blow-up kind!).

Yes, it was an uneventful walk, but as usual we enjoyed it. I will strive for a more adventurous post tomorrow, but it will not include Black Friday shopping. That’s not how I roll.

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Writing About Not Running

Posted on November 24, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

No, running commentary isn’t back yet; stop pursing your lips at me.

I thought about running as we walked to the post office this morning. We consisted of me; my friend Tracy, visiting from out of town; and of course my schnoodle, Tabby. My husband, Steven, was at work. I explained to Tracy how I had not really started running again yet, but intended to (if anybody mentions intentions paving a road anywhere, I’ll scream).

I was sorry I had not started running again while the weather was good. I had my reasons. Maybe they weren’t very good reasons, but these things happen. The weather was not awful this morning, but it was cold. A fairly still cold, not a whipping wind. Still, it felt good to walk. I love to walk. I pointed out places of interest to Tracy. Tabby sniffed places that were of interest to her.

I had thought I might run at some point, but after all, I had to entertain my out-of-town guest. So instead of running anywhere, I found myself driving to Little Falls (preview of coming attractions: we went to the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts). I was wearing a nice cape that was recently given to me. As I was putting gas in my vehicle, I realized I needed a good ten degrees warmer of temperature to wear that cape. Well, suffer to be beautiful.

It was on the way home from Little Falls that the weather got interesting. I saw a few flakes in the sky as we walked to my vehicle. They were joined by more as we drove out of town. Soon the sky was white and I was driving slowly.

“Are you glad now or sorry that I drove?” I asked Tracy. She admitted to pondering that very question before I asked.

The pick up truck in front of me wasn’t moving much faster than I was, and the car behind was not catching up. I discussed my speed choices, and we speculated on if and when the road might get slippery. My feeling is: when in doubt, go slow, because mid-skid is too late to slow down.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes, or drive five miles.” It was six back to Herkimer.

Sure enough, the snow has stopped now, although there is some white stuff on the ground. No, I am not going running today. I walked, I drove in the snow, I wrote a blog post. I’m done.

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Another Dull Post

Posted on November 18, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s been another Wrist to Forehead Sunday. A dark, dull, gloomy day. I read a romance novel and watched movies. Good movies, not the cheesy kind I like to write about.

In short, I got nuthin’.

Usually I can expound upon the fact that I got nuthin’, basically making something out of nothing. Writing is kind of cool that way. Only it doesn’t always work.

Today it ain’t working.

Or should I have said “workin'”?

And what is with the bad grammar of “got nuthin'”? I know better than that. I’m such a grammar prig most of the time, it is really unbecoming when I don’t use proper English myself.

OK: I have nothing of interest to post.

Doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?

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Great Weather, Dull Post

Posted on November 17, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Today is the sort of day November sometimes gives us as a gift, a kind of a fond farewell to the warm weather. The sun was bright, the sky was blue and it was warm enough to not really need a jacket.

I walked to the post office with Tabby, to mail some postcards I had written. I started out in my rain jacket (for the large pockets), toque and sunglasses. A hat of some sort was necessary, due to a bad hair day. I told myself it didn’t matter if it was too warm for the toque; the young kids are wearing knitted hats in all kinds of weather these days. Still, after about five steps, I returned to the house, ditched the jacket and switched out the toque for my crazy old lady hat.

The combination of crazy old lady hat (it has a wide brim) and sunglasses was the way to go. What a day! After a while I was actually looking for shade. A guy was raking leaves in his front lawn. What a good job he did; that lawn was almost pristine. I told him I had to go home and do that, but I didn’t mention that my lawn will probably never look that good.

I noticed a “Beware of Dog” sign on a house, where I happen to know an adorable little pooch, smaller than Tabby, resides. I shan’t reveal where the house is, in case they are hoping to frighten prowlers with thoughts of the Hound of Baskervilles, but I had to laugh. Then I thought, it was on the driveway. Perhaps they were warning visitors not to run over their dog. I’ve never seen that pooch on a leash (in their defense, he doesn’t seem to leave the lawn and I believe the people are right there when he’s out).

After we got home from our enjoyable walk, I spent some time raking leaves, as I said I had to. I didn’t get very far. In my defense, Steven had already filled most of our yard waste bins. What a thankless job raking is. I can see why people like leaf blowers, although I find them obnoxiously loud when the neighbors use them.

This pedestrian post has been even more plodding than usual, I’m afraid. Well, one does one’s poor best. Perhaps I can do something better tomorrow. Maybe some running commentary. Or there is another Vincent Price movie I can write a post about how I can’t write a post about. I do hope you’ll stay tuned.

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Wuss-out Walk

Posted on November 14, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

For this week’s Wuss-out Wednesday, I offer a brief pedestrian post about a walk my husband and I took with our schnoodle, Tabby.

What I mainly wussed out of today was running. I spent all day at work trying to psyche myself into a running state of mind. I pictured myself running. I thought about various streets I particularly like to run on. I anticipated with relish writing a blog post about the run. All to no avail.

Well, you can look superior all you like, but the only ones who really are superior are the ones who actually did run today. To those readers, I hang my head in shame. To all others I explain, “Shut up.”

It has gotten cold in the Mohawk Valley, as one expects it to do in November. We even had some snow. Naturally I’ve been singing “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” but not too loudly, because I don’t want to get punched in the nose.

All that long introduction is because the walk was actually short and uneventful. It was cold. I keep telling myself, not as cold as it’s going to be. I had on my insulated sweatshirt, toque and gloves, so I felt pretty comfortable. It was about to get dark, helped on by sporadic cloud cover. We could see the moon, at a little more than half.

“The full moon is Sunday,” I told Steven. “We’ll have to take a walk after dark then.”

Everybody’s Halloween decorations seem to be gone, except for a few rotting pumpkins here and there. Some scarecrows remain, as well as pots of mums, but those are appropriate for Thanksgiving and fall in general. We saw a lighted Christmas tree in one window.

“It’s too early, but it’s pretty,” I said.

Tabby trotted along in a businesslike fashion, stopping the usual amount of times to sniff. She led us down Bellinger Street to Meyers Park. We saw a few trees that still had colored leaves on them, although in the fading light it was difficult to see the color. The trees in the park were mostly bare. I love the sight of bare branches against a grey sky.

Going up Prospect Street, we passed the parking lot for Basloe Library. I had thought to go there tonight, before opting for the walk. They are open till seven Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Perhaps I’ll make it there on Saturday. I haven’t gotten my library fix in a while.

We did not take a very long walk, but we enjoyed it. Another good thing about the cold was that a hot shower felt really good. I am now feeling all cuddly in my sweats. Having written my blog post for the day, I retire to plot real Mohawk Valley adventures for the rest of the week.

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Not My Usual Sunday Run

Posted on November 11, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Pouring rain and cold outside, me coming down with a cold inside, but dammit, I wanted to run. When the rain let up, I set out.

My thermometer said it was in the 40s, but I thought it probably felt colder, what with the rain and wind. A wind warning had been issued for Oneida County, which is just a few miles down the road. I wore pants, a long sleeved t-shirt and a headband covering my ears. I was glad of all three, especially the t-shirt, whose sleeves were long and loose enough to cover my hands. Actually, I had to be careful or the cuffs started to flap in the breeze.

I had gone down German Street to Caroline when I last ran, six days ago (say it ain’t so!), so I turned right on German this time. I thought about it being Sunday, and how my previous Sunday Run included running by the high school, which is on the other end of German. Well, this would not be a usual Sunday run, I told myself.

I had thought to run almost to the end of German, but I hadn’t gone a block when I saw some people walking a dog ahead of me. It was not a small dog. I’m not afraid of dogs, especially when their people are right there, but this group seemed to take up a lot of space. I turned down Prospect Street.

That was OK. I could run to Meyers Park. It used to be a thing with me to always go through Meyers Park at some point in my run. Now I only sometimes hit it. It seemed to take a long time to make it all the way down Prospect. Well, you know my middle-aged shuffle.

Through the park and onto Park Avenue. Doesn’t Billy Joel mention Park Avenue in his song “Big Shot”? I thought the people who live on that street probably enjoy saying, “I live on Park Avenue,” in a hoity-toity tone of voice. Then I realized that if I ran all the way down Park Avenue, I would be practically at the high school. I could do my usual Sunday run in the opposite direction. Score!

It was grey and gloomy, but I didn’t mind that. When I thought it was starting to rain again, I wasn’t thrilled, but it didn’t amount to much. I admired some colored leaves still on trees. Fall isn’t quite over yet. My run was going pretty well, but I was tired by the time I reached the high school.

The few times I’ve been running lately have not included many hills, so the slight upslope to get out of the parking lot looked a little challenging (I did mention I was tired by then, right?). Don’t be silly, I told myself. That’s no hill. Back on German the continued gentle upslope made me feel even more tired. Then I reached a point where I knew it was all downhill. Not a real downslope, mind you, but aaaahhhhhh.

I had not thought to try to increase my run time, since I’ve been so inconsistent about getting out. However, due to where I had run, I found I had added the recommended ten percent to last week’s time. It started to rain again while Tabby and I walked my cool-down. I felt grateful that I had run. Now I contemplate the upcoming week, hoping it is not so long before I am out there again.

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A Sad Run

Posted on November 5, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yesterday I made up my mind I would run today after work then write my blog post about my run. I tried to ensure that I would do this by telling people at work that I intended to run. This technique is not as successful at this job as it has been at other jobs, because nobody there much cares whether I run or not and are unlikely to ask me about it the next day. Still, as they say, I’ll know.

I had a kind of a bad day at work. Work was fine, but I was in a sad mood I could not seem to shake. I chalked it up to Monday and hoped a run would straighten me out. I had just read another blog about a run which inspired me, http://theblogrunner.wordpress.com/. Sometimes running is just what you need.

Then I got home and checked messages. The pastor of my church is dying. He has been in bad health for some time now and in fact recently retired because of it. We had heard he was in the ICU. Today there was a message from another parishioner leaving her number if I wanted the update. He has not many days left to him. Prayers are asked for. I cried.

Full disclosure: I don’t go to church every week. I’m not very religious and sometimes I’m not even very nice. But Father Paul is a dear, sweet, wonderful man. I can’t express how sad I am. I thought a run would definitely help me now.

After a minor debate about what to wear (it’s cold, but not that cold, then again I’m not in top running shape, etc etc), I put on leggings and my long-sleeved army t-shirt. A headband to cover my ears, I was set. It turned out to be just the right amount of clothes for the temperature. I pulled the sleeves over my hands. I could rock this.

But I couldn’t rock it very fast. I soon felt that I was plodding along in a ridiculous fashion. I felt fat and middle-aged. Well, I didn’t think the run was going to instantaneously cheer me up. I kept going.

I never got any of those endorphins you hear about. I never even reached the “I can rock this” stage, although eventually I realized I could at least keep up the plod for as long as I decided to. I decided to keep it up for about as long as my last run. Maybe a little less. Definitely not more.

I didn’t mind it not being a good run. I did mind that little voice that popped into my head saying things like, “Why are you even doing this? What good is this doing you? What good does anything do anybody?” I ignored the voice as best as I could and kept going.

Then I heard a squeaky noise. Was that a dog? Or a bird? It was a puppy, on a chain outside a house.

“Hi, cute puppy!” I said. He was behind a fence, so I couldn’t pet him. I don’t like to pet strange dogs anyways, unless their people are right there to ask. The dog looked at me and started making whimpering noises. Oh dear, he was sad! He wanted to go in the house. After I was past, he returned to the door and continued his high-pitched barking. I wanted to go knock on the door and say, “Let that puppy in the house!”

I don’t know how long that puppy was out there. I don’t think it was too cold for a dog to be outside. Perhaps his owners had a very good reason for having him out there. But he wanted to go inside! I felt so sad for that little puppy, I cried when I walked my cool down with Tabby.

Sometimes when you feel a certain way, you just have to feel that way until you don’t feel that way any more. I will at least strive to not write such a downer blog post tomorrow.

And I may go for a short walk later, just to see that the puppy has been let back into the house.

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It’s Running Commentary Again!

Posted on October 27, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I started running again two weeks ago, in Vermont, then I didn’t feel so good all week. My ill health culminated in a severe headache on Saturday (perhaps you heard me kvetching about it; everybody else did), and I didn’t feel so hot all this week.

Anybody still reading? I hope so, because this is NOT a post to kvetch about feeling bad again, because I feel TERRIFIC! I went running this morning! I’m going to do a blog post about it!

My day started about 3:30 this morning, because my husband Steven had to work at 6:30 (he needs plenty of lead time). I thought it would be good to wait till the sun was up to hit the pavement. However, I didn’t want to wait too long and talk myself out of it (I can be very persuasive).

I had already walked to the post office with Tabby about 6:30, when it was still dark out. It had been surprisingly warm, but I know the temperature sometimes drops when the sun comes up (go figure) (I’m doing a lot of parentheticals today, aren’t I?)(my computer is telling me “parentheticals” is not a word). I had on some spandex leggings under my skirt (much more comfortable than pantyhose). I thought they would be suitable for a run. I sought out a long-sleeved ARMY t-shirt, which has a big reflective symbol on the back. Safety first! I knew where my toque was, because I’ve been wearing it to work. I was ready!

The sun was up, but cloud cover made everything grey and gloomy, my favorite kind of day. Right away, I saw my friend Pudge the pug with his person.

“Hi there! I haven’t seen you guys in a while!” As usual, Pudge was too wiggly to pet easily, but I tried, while remarking on what a good dog he is. His guy remarked that it was cool out, to which I agreed, and we went our separate ways.

Ah, it felt good to run, which surprised me, because I haven’t done anything but walk with Tabby all week. Still, I guess the walking helped, because I could rock this! I admired some trees still full of colored leaves as I ran down German Street. I decided to go up the hill by Valley Health, just so I could get a nice view of the mountain in the distance as I came down the other side.

Some rays of sun peeked through the clouds at Valley Health, just high enough to hit trees on the top of that hill. The rising sun seems to give a more intense light than when the sun is high in the sky. Perhaps it is the angle. Or perhaps this morning’s cloud cover made it seem that way. Or perhaps I’m full of beans right down the line. In any case, I enjoyed the view.

I enjoyed being at the top of that small hill, especially knowing I probably was not going to run any other hills. The view down to the mountains on the other side of town was disappointing, I suppose because the sun was pointing in the opposite direction. Silly me.

My I Can Rock This euphoria did not last. However, by that time, I was more than half-way through how long I wanted to run. It was no problem to keep going. I admired Halloween decorations on many houses. I noticed one porch, however, that was completely bare. This porch had previously been crowded with bicycles and toys. I wondered if the people living there had moved. Or perhaps the children had abruptly grown up. I interrupted my speculations to admire a particularly cute witch on another porch.

Exciting my admiration even more are the spider webs. I didn’t put up any spider webs this year, but when I do, they end up all clumpy and bunchy. I saw many porches with webs spread smoothly and evenly, some boasting spiders, some dried leaves. Had the leaves just blown there or been artistically placed? They looked cool.

Tabby graciously walked my cool down with me, and I felt pretty damn pleased with myself. I felt even better later when we walked to the post office (again) and the bank. Let’s hear it for exercise! Now if I could only work up the ambition to clean this house…

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I Didn’t Even Mention the Fog

Posted on October 25, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

It cannot be denied that I am of a perverse disposition. I love bad weather. I drove to work this morning with the words, “I LOVE winter!” ringing in my head. It made me laugh, as did the weather itself, but I believe the sentiment has a legitimate basis.

Recently I came across the phrase, “the more sunshine, the less gumption.” I think it is true and not just a rationalization for those of us who live in a less salubrious climate (but don’t knock rationalization — oh, I’m sure I’ve covered that before). Winter is a challenge. And it can add interest to your morning.

Take this morning, for example. It is the first taste of winter in the Mohawk Valley, with snow in parts and cold temperatures for all. The newscasters on WKTV remarked that they had to scrape their cars. Well, they obviously go to work much earlier than I do. I was sure I would be fine.

When I got out to my vehicle… not so much. I wasn’t too worried, because I always leave extra early (so as to have time to write my blog post, among other reasons), but I could not find a scraper in my Trailblazer. I turned the defrost on full blast and went into the house.

“Scraper!” I called to Steven. “Where is a scraper?”

“In my car!” He grabbed his keys, which just goes to show what a nice husband he is. I could have gone to his car and found the scraper myself, leaving him to enjoy the warm house for as long as possible. I got my toque, which I had forgotten to put on earlier. Bonus!

The scraper was the one we inherited from my grandmother. It has a fur envelope around the handle. Another bonus.

In this short time the defrost had done its work. Not much scraping was required. I kept the scraper in my vehicle, thinking (a) Steven would probably not need one by the time he left for work and (b) he had time to find another one anyways.

So I drove to work feeling absurdly pleased about things. At work I asked my co-worker if she would like motivation to punch me in the face, then told her I like this weather. Luckily for me, she only indulged in a fake punch.

I indulged in a few choruses of “I Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” and sat down to write my blog post (which you are reading).

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