March For Our Lives

Hey, Friends.

As I'm sure you have all heard by now, today is the March For Our Lives. We had our own march here in the Hudson Valley. I had mentioned it to my Mom, and she wanted to go with me. This would require some planning.

I have the worst luck when it comes to events happening all on the same day - practically at the same time. I always do the Heart Walk every year. I've done it in the snow, the pouring rain, the freezing cold, etc. What event just happened to be this morning? That's right, the Heart Walk.

Luckily for me the team walking for the library today consisted of 3 people: Me, Tonka, and her sister. That's it. We discussed ahead of time that I also wanted to do the March For Our Lives if possible. Heart Walk started officially at 10:30, and the March at 11. That wasn't going to work too well.

We got there early. I was there a little before 9 am when registration started. I registered us, we met up, and then we just went. The routes are all mapped out and signed already. We opted to skip the opening announcements and warm ups and just went on our own. He had finished our laps around the route on Marist's campus and I was ready to leave just before the walk was going to "officially" start. I'm glad my walking buddies were willing to come early to make it all work out.

Finished. Jumped in the car and drove to my parents' house. Parking was going to be hectic for the March For Our Lives, so my Dad was going to drop my Mom and I off near the starting point, and then we would call him to pick us up when we were finished.

We got there about 10:45 and joined the large group waiting. Since we got there early, we thought that was the beginning of the group forming. The event was supposed to start at 11 am. We did not move from that parking lot, and the ever-growing crowd, until almost 11:30. Could not figure out why they were waiting to start.

They hadn't been waiting.

By the time we got from the gathering place to the actual entrance to the Walkway bridge? There were already people coming across from the other side, also in March. The entire Walkway Over the Hudson, in both directions, was all people there to do the March For Our Lives. (And a couple of random joggers who were probably very frustrated by so many people in their way.)

I really can't wait to find out how many people attended. I hope someone was counting!

I'm not going to ramble on about political views, or give you a bunch of stats. I was there to participate in the March For Our Lives. Think that makes it pretty clear how I feel about the topic. I am going to share some pictures.

Sticker says 2020 voter

If you won't save us, we will save ourselves.

They were chanting so loud and so long, I'll be amazed if they can still talk.

They were playing music and singing the entire time we were waiting

Check out the banner being held by the ladies at the end of the video clip. I thought it read it wrong at first. Their group is "Old Lesbians Organizing For Change."

Keep It Poppin'

Hey, Friends.

How was your week, Friends? Mine felt like it took an eternity to get through. I got out of work last night, went to my parents' house to take care of their cats (and eat a sandwich for dinner, which I think is a fair trade for cat-sitting duties), ran some errands, and went home to collapse on the couch in a puddle of exhaustion. I got home, fed Jazz-kitty, and I'm pretty sure I was in my pajamas on the couch before 7 pm. I could lie and say that I was resting up to do some epic St. Patrick's Day partying today and tonight, but that would be a dirty lie.

Before we go any further, I think I should take a moment to welcome the new Friends joining us here, because I think we have some of them. You see, while I was very busy being a lethargic lump on the couch last night, I decided to check the stats on my blog. I don't bother to do so very often since I'm not making money off of this thing, but when I do the stats always surprise me. Some of you went deep, and I mean deep -- like finding old posts from 2014 and 2015 that haven't been looked at or linked to in ages. I hope you enjoyed them! You picked some lovely examples of the kind of ridiculous misadventures and problems I tend to write about. You should have a pretty good idea of what you will find here at this point.

Where were we?

Right. I was in my pajamas on the couch, very busy being an inactive heap at an incredibly early hour of the evening. I did nothing productive with myself -- checked social media, watched some YouTube videos, read a book. Around 9 pm or so I started to feel a little peckish. I kind of wanted a snack, but I couldn't really decide what it was that I wanted, and I was too lazy to drag my ass off the couch and go look in the kitchen to see what options were in the house. It took almost an hour for me to finally be hungry enough that I was motivated to do something about it.

Now we've reached the actual point of this whole post, Friends. I bet you were beginning to think that I didn't have one this time around. Fooled you!

It was too late to try and do real cooking and eat an actual meal. Plus, I wasn't that hungry. Popcorn would do just fine. Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks. I've been known to skip a meal before going going to the movies just to make sure I can fully enjoy the deliciousness of movie theater popcorn. And then I remembered: I bought a fancy, new-to-me, microwave popcorn at the grocery store the last time I was there. How could I have forgotten?

The rest of this post is going to be about a particular product, Friends. I am not being sponsored by them, I was not given this stuff for free, and I'm not getting anything out of it. I bought it at the store, and my payoff is getting to eat the popcorn. I am not trying to influence your opinion about it one way or the other. Are we clear? If you want to go more in-depth down this path, feel free to click right over here and read all about that time someone asked me to be an "Influencer".

I needed musical accompaniment for this. Something to do with popping, since this is all about popcorn. I'll give you the two options that sprang to my mind. You can pick which way you want to go, opt to skip it all together, or choose your own musical adventure. This part of our story can be powered by your own imagination, Friends! Just know that whatever song you choose, I was bopping around in my kitchen, singing one of them to myself while watching the microwave do its thing. I'm not telling you which one -- you can decide how big a dork you think I am.

Option 1: Cute, sweet, classic.

Option 2: A different kind of classic

By now you're probably wondering a lot of things, Friends. Hopefully the biggest question is something along the lines of, "What the heck kind of popcorn got her so excited that she transformed from energy-depleted couch lump to a half-assed dance routine in the kitchen?" because that's the one I'm going to answer.

This one. This would be the popcorn in question.

Was that a bit of a let down? Sorry. We all know there are a bunch of different brands of microwave popcorn that claim to be movie theater style. I've eaten many of them, and while they are quite yummy they do not taste the same as the magically delicious popcorn in the theater. But this one? You get to pour the butter on yourself? I was intrigued. 

How was this not going to end up a gloppy disaster?  I've got a hot air popper. I've tried melting butter and pouring it on myself. It never ends well. Some pieces don't get any butter, others pieces melt into little mush balls -- like Dorothy throwing a bucket of water on the Wicked Witch of the West. And you wind up with a congealing puddle of goo in the bottom of the bowl. That was the reason I decided I should document this. Maybe it would turn out perfectly, maybe it would be a total mess. Let's find out together!

I opened the package and took out one packet with a bag and pouch inside.

You so know it's the "other natural flavors" part that's going to bring the magic

Not having tried this particular product before, I decided that I would actually read and follow all of the instructions. It's a novel idea, I know. It's not like I hadn't ever made microwave popcorn before, but now I had 2 pouches to contend with. Maybe double pouches meant you did things differently.

Poor popcorn button. It has one job that it wants to do, and now it will be denied the opportunity.

I followed the directions and left my poor little popcorn button unused, just sitting there on the microwave feeling neglected and hurt that it had been brushed aside for the more popular numbers. I listened attentively for the popping to slow. 

Okay, so I listened semi-attentively. I was also in the middle of my impromptu song and dance number.

Why yes, that is the beautiful decor on the bowl I chose to use

I chose to use a Halloween bowl. Don't judge me. I thought it would be the perfect vehicle for this event: it's wide and not too deep. I was going to have to pour butter "with other natural flavors" all over this popcorn. A wider bowl would allow me to cover more territory quickly. I figured that the faster I could pour, the less chance there was that I would end up with a gloppy mess. 

Besides, I had another job I had to do at the same time. I had to knead the butter packet. That's right, I was dancing, singing, and massaging my butter packet. And I was documenting this process! That's some serious multi-tasking right there, Friends.

No wonder they said knead. "Massaging my butter packet" sounds kind of dirty.

Okay, popcorn had slowed it's popping. Time for the next step.

See? Knead the topping pouch.

First of all, they are not joking when they say that the steam is going to be hot! I picked the bag up as directed and pulled from the corners. That steam still was hot enough that I ended up letting go with one hand and almost dropped the whole thing on the floor. Should I have let it sit in the microwave for a minute before attempting to open it? Probably, but I wanted the popcorn to be nice and warm and buttery when I finally got to eat it.

I don't want to brag, but as inattentive as my listening may have been, my popcorn came out pretty damn perfect. There was still steaming coming off of it when I poured it into the bowl, and not a single kernel left un-popped.

I have skills

Time to pour on the butter "with other natural flavors" packet. This was the moment where it could all go horrible wrong. Had I "kneaded my topping pouch" well enough? Was I about to ruin my perfect popcorn and turn it into a shriveled mess? Only one way to find out. 

Here we go!

No way! It really is like movie theater popcorn! There is no shrinking, nothing shriveled up as I poured the magic topping pouch onto it. This is nothing like trying to pour melted butter on popcorn. I mean, it's not that I expected that Orville Redenbacher had lied to me, but I also didn't really think it was going to work so well. 

The directions said to mix it well. I didn't want to use a spoon because that would just break the popcorn into pieces. I decided to go with the shaking method.

They totally shake it when they put butter on at the movie theater. I'm just copying the professionals.

Did it taste just like the movie theater? Pretty darn close! Bonus being that I didn't have to leave my house and pay for a movie to get it.

Even gives you that oily need for a napkin

I've got to say, I'm pleasantly surprised. I'm glad I've got another packet/pouch combo in the box so I can have it again at some point. Good job, Orville Redenbacher! I don't know what kind of butter-related sorcery you did to make this work, but I appreciate it. I suppose I could read the ingredients, but that would take away from the mystery of it all.

And thank you for reading this if you made it this far, Friends. Did it make you want some popcorn? I'm serious. You know how you don't realize you want popcorn, but as soon as you smell someone else making it you start craving it? Maybe that's just me. I might like popcorn a little more than the average person. (But really -- tell me if it made you want popcorn. And I suppose even if you do that healthy no-butter version I'll still count it. I'll question your taste judgment for sure, but I will accept you as a popcorn-loving friend.)

Sunday Explorations

Hey, Friends.

This past Sunday was a pretty nice day here, so I decided to go out and do a little exploring. Keep in mind that a nice day in early March in New York means that is was a balmy 41 and sunny outside. That might not sound too great to you, depending on where you live, but since it came after two big snowstorms with another storm looming on the horizon? It was pretty damn nice.

Daylight Savings Time pretty much kicked my ass. After a morning of lazing about and drinking coffee to try to feel like a functional human being again, I decided I should try to go out and enjoy the nice weather. Where to go? I didn't want to go anywhere I had been too recently -- it gets boring after a while. I wasn't sure exactly what trails or parks would be clear of the recent snow, either. The rail trail looked okay in some places -- the warmer (warmish? Probably still counts as too cold to be outdoors if you live someplace where it's perpetually 70 or the like.)  weather had melted a lot of the snow on paved surfaces. So...maybe someplace where there is some pavement would be okay.

I decided to head out to the Roosevelt Farm Lane Trail because I remembered a lot of it being paved.

Apparently my memory is for crap, or I really overestimated the melting abilities of the sunny days after the last storm. This is what I found upon my arrival:

Well that's more snow than I was expecting.

You can't really tell from the picture, but off to the right is the path. Clearly other souls braver than I had already been there and had hiked right on in. They probably also had the foresight to wear something other than sneakers when they set off. I did not make such a wise decision. Hiking around with cold, wet feet for a couple of hours was not on my list of things to do that day. This was as close as I got.

I got back in the car and started driving. I didn't know where I wanted to go, so I figured I would just decide on the fly. It makes it more of an adventure, right? I'm so glad we agree, Friends.

I was headed South when I saw the sign for Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel. I drive past this sign fairly frequently and always mean to stop but never do. Let me fill you in on the background.

I have been there exactly one time. A friend was having her all-in-one "Get Saved" Baptism/Communion/Confirmation celebrated there. I had never seen it done that way before, but it was for an adult so maybe that is how it works. My family always went to Holy Trinity and we had done theses things in stages: Baptism as a baby, First Communion when you were little, and Confirmation in high school. My point, and I do have one other than discussing religious ceremonies, was that I remembered the chapel being very pretty. It also had a really cool area where the Stations of the Cross were outside. I know, you might not find that to be something that should be qualified as "cool". Personally, I had never seen the Stations of the Cross anywhere other than spread out along the walls inside of a church so my mind was blown. 

Back to the original exploration story.

I saw the sign and decided that it would be a perfect time to stop and see the chapel. They have mass there, so I assume everything will be plowed and clear. 

I should probably mention that the chapel is on the property of the old Hudson River State Hospital, a former psychiatric hospital that has been abandoned for years. You can find some shots of the interiors of the buildings right over here and here. Added bonus: there are also rumors that the place might be haunted.

Feel free to call me a dumbass, Friends, but I kind of forgot about that part of it. Yeah, the place had been closed for years and the buildings abandoned, but I wasn't planning on going in to any of them. I was just going to drive through a little bit of the campus to reach the chapel. Shouldn't be anything too bad, right?

Wrong!

So very wrong, and I'm glad I had this idea in the middle of a sunny afternoon. That might have made it worse, honestly, because I could very clearly see that there was not another living soul around.

This is one of the first buildings you come to on the campus:

Rather obvious that no one has been here for a hot second.

It gets even better when you get a closer view. Yes, I did get out of the car to get a better look.

I kinda feel like the zombie apocalypse might start in a building that looks just like this.

Not just abandoned, but condemned! If the big red X doesn't give you a slight case of the heebie jeebies, then the orange sign denoting some kind of danger ought to do it. I didn't feel the need to explore any closer than that at the time. A big red X generally translates to "It might fall on your head". I've also read way too many books about such uplifting subjects as the Black Death and other plagues, so my brain dredged up the fun fact that it could also denote that there were bodies inside. I know that's ridiculous and far-fetched. Doesn't stop my brain from acting like some sort of demented Filofax.

Hindsight being what it is, that little white area on the right-hand side of the door intrigues me. I didn't really notice it until looking at the picture on my phone once I was home. I honestly can't remember if that was a hole in the door and you can see inside, or if it was the only bit of shiny metal on the door and it is reflecting a shadow.

Back in the car, and the drive through the campus continues. There are plenty more abandoned and boarded buildings. You turn right and go past an area with a bunch of low buildings, and that was probably the creepiest part to me. They were far from being in the worst shape -- much better than Pilgrim Home in the shots above -- but it felt like there should have been lots of people around. 

I kept following the signs for the chapel, and on the next turn the road runs along a stone wall with a gate in it.

Gate to Nowhere

I don't know what's on the other side of the gate. Maybe it is private property. Maybe it's a cemetery. It might be a whole lot of nothing. All I could see were trees. I will note that the gate seems to be the sturdiest part of the wall, as most of it looks like it may tip over at any minute.

The road goes down a fairly steep hill, and eventually you get to the entrance to Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel.

Hello, Angel! I'm so glad you look less creepy than the rest of the property!

Continue down the road to the final curve, and you are greeted by a statue.

This is good. I feel like I could definitely find sanctuary here if zombies should come busting out of that first building I saw.

The chapel looked beautiful, situated among all of the trees. I really don't know why I didn't take a picture of the chapel itself.

Unfortunately, nothing beyond the parking lot itself seemed to have been cleared. My seasonally inappropriate choice of shoes had once again thwarted my plans. I would not be getting a close look at the Stations of the Cross on this day. This was the best shot I could manage.

You can kind of see them, along the wall in the back.

There was also a small shrine. I'm assuming it is to the Virgin Mary, since they usually are. Again, snow thwarted my attempts to get closer.

I didn't notice until I was turning the car around that there was also a big crucifix outside on the other side of the chapel. That part was still covered by snow. Clearly I will have to return again on a day when there is no snow on the ground.

I headed back up to Creepy Land and my exit from the campus. It almost felt like some kind of warning when exiting and seeing the angels' backs.

You're on your own after this point, kid.

You can sort of see the low buildings I was talking about in the background of that shot. 

This would also be the time when I realized that, at some point, I had turned off the radio in my car. Why? I have so many reasons.

-- Even though you are absolutely allowed to go to the chapel and it is open to the public, it still kind of felt like I was trespassing on the drive down there. I don't want to get busted by driving around with my radio blasting.

--It felt disrespectful. Not just to the chapel, but to the whole area. It was totally quiet beyond the sounds of traffic from the major roadways nearby. That shouldn't be a surprise since the place has been abandoned for years. It seemed wrong to disrupt that stillness with my radio.

--I don't know about you, but I always find myself turning down the radio in my car when I'm following directions, especially near the destination. It's not like music is suddenly going to impact my vision and make me unable to read road signs or numbers on buildings, but I do it anyway.

--I want to know if something is suddenly going to pop out at me. It could be wildlife scampering across the road, a security guard telling me to get the hell out of there, etc. (Like zombies! Cause that idea hasn't left my brain since seeing the first building.)

After leaving the campus and returning to civilization, blessedly filled with traffic and living people, I decided to head home. That was enough fun for me on my Sunday.

So what did we learn today, Friends?

1. I really need to learn to wear appropriate footwear on my adventures.
2. Abandoned buildings can still give off a creepy vibe, even in the middle of the day.
3. My imagination is more than happy to assume the zombie apocalypse could start at any second given even the slightest provocation.

I Didn't Say It Was a Good Decision

Hey, Friends.

It's been a while. I didn't really have much to say, so rather than bore you all to tears I just didn't post anything. You didn't miss much. We had a storm here in the North East at the end of last week. You might have heard about it. I lost power for about a day, which is nothing in the grand scheme of things. I have friends who still haven't gotten their power restored yet. I consider myself lucky that mine was restored so quickly. I think it also helps that I live in a more heavily populated area near major intersections that need functioning traffic lights. There are some pretty terrible drivers on a good day, but it gets much worse when they are free-styling how to deal with a busy intersection.

And now it's snowing again. It's supposed to be a pretty bad storm according to the forecast. The library even closed for the day, although I already had the day off since I have to work Saturday.

What's the point of my rambling? I'm getting there. Just chill out, have a cup of coffee (that's what I'm doing) and relax.

My parents are away for a few days, so I have to go and take care of their cats -- both indoor and the feral cats that hang out in their yard. I stopped by last night and loaded all of them up on food in case the roads were too bad to get over there this morning. (Don't worry about the outdoor cats, Friends. My parents have built them little houses in various parts of the yard, complete with warm fuzzy blankets inside to snuggle up and keep warm.)

I woke up this morning to see the alert that work was closed. I was more than a little surprised to look outside and see that the roads looked perfectly fine. Less than an inch of snow, and that was only sticking to the trees and grass. This was great though because now I could go and feed the cats at my parents' house again. I still wasn't thrilled that it was snowing again, but at least no shoveling was involved at this point.

This is my "not happy about the snow" face, taken in my parents' drive way. It's also my "I'm not putting on makeup just to go buy coffee and feed the cats" look.

All the little fur babies were happy to see me. The indoor cats were all lonely and wanted to be cuddled. The outdoor cats were stoked to see me and met me at their food bowls. One of them was giving me a look that said, "You're late. Breakfast was expected much earlier than this."

I went home, and the snow kind of tapered off to nothing. Not that I want to get all of the snow that was in the forecast, but what the hell?

I got distracted by the internet, and a couple hours later I noticed that it was snowing again. Maybe the storm is arriving now. Let's go look outside and see what's happening! I can at least fill the bird feeder. (I make my own fun. And it might be of the boring variety. Sorry if you're just figuring that out right about now.)

Nothing. There is a whole lot of not very exciting things happening.

And then the coffee kicked in and my brain decided to start coming up with ideas. Enjoy my inner monologue, Friends.

The roads still look perfectly fine. Maybe the storm is just arriving a little later than expected. It's not snowing that hard right now...and I'm kind of bored already. I'll be stuck in the house later if it gets really bad out, so why not take advantage of the situation and go out and take some pictures? That is an awesome idea, brain! But where to go? Don't want to go too far just in case the storm suddenly kicks in to high gear...but some pictures with the snow would be really pretty. Rail trail, maybe? It should still be clear and passable if the roads are clear, right? Worst case scenario it's not and a different destination will have to be chosen. Decision = made.

So I threw on some boots and a coat and headed off to one of the trail heads. In what should be a surprise to no one, I was the only person crazy enough to be there today. Shocker.

It was snowing a bit harder than when I left, but nothing too bad. I figured it would still be fine to walk around for a while and take a few pictures.

Looks fine, if a bit desolate. 

The creek looks pretty

I had just finished trying to get the above picture when I noticed that the snow had started to change. No longer was it the little flurry it had been when I left my house, or even the bigger flakes that it had been when I arrived. It had now progressed to little freaking pellets that were bouncing off of my coat and everything else. I decided that was my cue to leave.

I hadn't gotten very far on my walk at all, so it was a short trip back to my car. I tried to get a picture of the little ice/snow pellet things that were sticking to my hair and coat. It looked like some had dumped little Styrofoam balls all over me. 

The picture came out weird, Friends. That's the best description I have for it. I don't know if it's because I was wearing mostly black and everything else was very light colored. Maybe the camera (I use my iPhone, kids) couldn't focus well on the little white pellets falling in front of the white picture on my hoodie. Maybe my hand was a lot less steady than I thought it was. It came out with this white foggy thing going on in the picture -- not quite a double image, but not really a continuous streak like my hand was in motion. I have no idea what the hell I did to make this happen, and probably couldn't do it again if I tried.

Look at the little pellets!  Also, the rabbit on my hoodie might be possessed. 

I'm happy to report that even with the little pellets falling and my hoodie looking like it has it's own ghostly aura attached to it, I made it home without a problem. 

Was it the best decision to go out and try to take pictures during a snow storm? Probably not. Don't be like me, Friends. Stay inside where you are probably nice and warm. Watch the snow fall and drink a cup of hot cocoa or something.

**2:15 update**

It would seem that storm has finally decided to get serious about the snow. Good thing I headed home when I did. 

I learned nothing from my earlier adventure and went outside to shoot this for you, Friends. And then I proceeded to shut the back door hard enough on the way out that the lock flipped, and I had to trudge around to the front door to get back inside. Again, don't be like me. Stay the hell inside and take pictures from the window. I should really listen to my own advice.