I often go for walks around the, what, city of Liverpool, village of Liverpool, Town of Clay… hmmm, let me just say either Onondaga Lake or my own neighborhood, when the weather is relatively nice, which in my vernacular means it’s not raining or overly icy. This of course is both a wonderful time and, often, a horrible time of the year to go walking.


It’s a wonderful time to walk because of the changing colors and the crisp air. Even when it was in the lower 70’s, for me that’s much better than the oppressively hot summer we had, and when it’s cooler it’s even better. I love the colors of the flora and fauna, which I’m showing throughout this particular post. I love the colors of the leaves, although both in my neighborhood and at the lake there aren’t a lot of maple trees that are dropping leaves, so I only found one good shot of leaves to take on my trails.

It’s a horrible time of the year because it’s an election year, which means there’s usually all manner of signs up all over the place, which messes up the view and stirs the passion of the neighbors. After all, no matter which side you’re on, someone is against it, and these days there’s almost no comfortable conversation when it comes to the different sides and their beliefs, at least when it comes to the major elected positions that are up for grabs.


However, on my latest walk I was pleasantly surprised. There were only 3 homes with signs on their front lawns, which made me pretty happy. And along the corridor that separates Wegmans and Route 57 from the Elmcrest area, there weren’t any sign up, and at the time I’m writing this, which is about five days in advance, there still aren’t any signs up.

I hate the political season because of the bickering and lying, and I’m saying it’s both sides lying, or at least stretching some truths and making up things about the other based on votes they’ve made in Washington that don’t mean what either one says they mean. Frankly, it’s my bet that every person in American would like to have the election process squeezed into one week for every office, vote, and be done with it.


But I didn’t have to worry about that on this day. There was nothing but beautiful scenery, and a quick walk through Grenadier Village, which is often part of my longer walks, and the jaunt through the area where you can watch, hear, and if you have time sit and look at the Seneca River flowing by, is peaceful and stirring at the same time.


If you want peace, go for a walk through areas of central New York where you can see the changing of the colors and the leaves and enjoy autumn. If you want politics (why would you), just watch TV, because the next political ad will be on in just a few minutes… unless you’re watching ESPN, and I have a feeling it’s going to eventually reach there as well; sigh…