Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.


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Expanding Horizons or Penny v.s. the Yellow Leaf

Hi everybody! It’s me again – Penny!

You know how mom is always telling me about all the adventures my sister Katie and she had? And how just because I like being home the best I might be missing out on fun stuff?

What you talkin’ about, mom?

Well, after being at dog trials the last couple of weekends I’ve decided maybe I don’t have to bark all the time when I’m in the car. And mom and dad decided that mom should build on that realization that not all car rides end up in scary places.

I guess this isn’t so bad.

So all week mom’s been taking me on what she calls ‘ventures’ and we’ve been driving further and further from home. One day she even drove me ‘up north’ to a rest stop! It was really pretty!

Rest stops have the best pee-mail!

A couple days ago she took me to TWO parks! OK, one was to get me to go to the bathroom, cause I’d been boycotting my own front yard. It was sort of rainy and mom just wanted me to do my business so we could be on our way. But there was this pretty yellow tree with all these yellow leaves under it and, well, you know mom. I had to sit in them.

Is this the pose you want, mom?

And then mom noticed as she was taking pictures with her phone (cause she forgot to bring her big camera) that I looked up at the tree. She thought it was cute.

What the heck?

But if you look close at the next image you’ll see I looked up because a leaf fell on my head! A leaf fell on my head, people, and I just sat there like a good girl, cause my mom told me to sit!

Seriously, mother?

Then I tried to walk up to my mom to get the leaf off my head! And she started to laugh at me!

This is embarrassing.

And she wanted to get a picture (she didn’t realize she already had a picture) and told me to sit again and the leaf slid down my face!

Get it off of me, mom!!

I didn’t like it, I didn’t like it one bit. Mom says she’s sorry she laughed at me and that I’m adorable and she loves me and everything. But still.

Then we went to the next park. By then it was really raining. But we went for a long walk in the woods anyway.

Remember when I was a baby and the woods scared me?

That was kind of fun. I got to sniff a whole lot of good stuff. Did you know things in the woods smell better in the rain? Part of our walk was in the woods, and part of it was on a service road.

I think these woods match me pretty good!

We didn’t see anybody else out there. Probably because it was really raining. But I didn’t care, and mom didn’t seem to care either

Bet you can’t even see me I’m moving so fast!

We had a really good time that day and I didn’t even mind that I’ve been late for supper the last two days in a row.

I think fall is my favorite season.

Yesterday I went to a park to meet a friend of mom and that lady’s two dogs. I got to run and mom couldn’t get one decent picture of my new friends and me running.

The small but mighty little guy could run really fast!

Don’t tell mom, but I think I’m starting to like this car ride thing. You just never know where you’ll end up!


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Wow

Last night as I watched mid-term election results come in I heard the talking heads use the term “Wow moments.” I didn’t watch the results late into the night, I fell asleep pretty early, even before we knew what was happening here in Michigan.

But before falling asleep I knew we were witnessing more than one wow moment. This morning I’m learning about several of them:

We here in Michigan elected the first Muslim Senator ever, Dr.Abdule El-Sayed.

Georgia elected the first Black woman governor in US history, Keisha Bottoms.

New Hampshire elected the first openly gay male as Senator, Chris Pappas.

New Mexico elected the first ever Native American governor. The first ever Native American elected as governor in the 250 years of American history.

In fact, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin and Nevada elected their first Black governors.

And there are probably other ‘firsts’ that I have missed.

I’m proud that our country has opened it’s mind and heart and found the strength to elect people that might not look or believe or be just like ourselves. Last night we elected some people that make our government more representative of all the people in our country. Our country isn’t made entirely of white males, and for years it’s been mostly white males making the decisions.

I know that some of my readers were happy with the way things were. But what makes America great is the fact that we can have differing opinions about the direction of our country and still have a civil conversation. We can still be friends.

This morning, just about half of any states’ voters are unhappy. Some are scared. It’s going to be a very big job for everyone in a position of governmental responsibility to make sure policy discussions include everyone, not just the people that look and act like themselves.

Last night proved the people of our country are stronger than the massive amounts of money spent, stronger than the gerrymandering, stronger than the divisiveness. All of that was hard. Moving forward will be even harder.

But for today I’d like to sit in my rose-colored world and enjoy a teardrop of hope.


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Just call me

Hi everybody, it’s me, Penny! I know I haven’t been around much, but mom and I have been really busy.

Me at school this week. Mom needed more practice.

A couple weekends ago I took mom to a dog training facility that we don’t visit very often. My Aunt Dianne trains there and she told us about an obedience trial. She and mom thought I might be ready, so mom enrolled me way back when she had confidence in us.

I am not good at waiting my turn.

As the date got closer she got a little (lot) more worried. You see we’d tried to qualify in the beginner novice three times already and we’ve only earned one leg. That means we’ve NQ’d (didn’t qualify) two times!

This is me starting my figure 8 at the trial.

Mom says I am very creative and have found new ways to NQ at trials and even at fun matches. I pride myself on being a good thinker. Yep that’s me. Always thinking.

This is me letting the nice lady judge pet me.

Anyway, mom had to make two trips out of town just before this trial and she was worried that we hadn’t practiced very much. Friday night, the night before the event, she put me on her lap and hugged me and whispered in my ear that no matter what happened on Saturday she’d always love me.

I licked her face and asked to get down.

Mom got us to the venue way too early and they were running behind so we had to wait and wait and wait until it was our turn. Toward the end of us waiting I started telling mom that I was over it and started grumbling loudly about the whole thing.

She was sure I wasn’t going to cooperate.

I knew exactly where my mom was at all times. But I didn’t move my behind. Cause mom said STAY!

But guess what? The judge was moving right along between tasks in the ring and there was no time for me to go into a deep think about what I was doing. So I just trotted along with mom.

OK, so my heeling was, as mom says, sloppy. And I moved one of my feet when the nice lady judge petted me. But I stayed still and didn’t move anything but my swivel head when I sat in the middle of the ring and mom walked (quickly) around the perimeter.

Keeping an eye on my mom while she walks around.

And my recall? It was perfect.

Waiting for mom to call me. Come on mom, CALL!

I earned a 196 out of 200 points and second place! Mom said she had tears in her eyes when we walked out of the ring.

Here I come, mom!

This weekend I’m signed up for trials on Saturday and Sunday. I only have to get one more leg for my Beginner Novice Title.

I love you, mom. Also there’s a treat, right?

Mom says she’s not counting her chickens. I don’t know what that means, we don’t even have chickens. I’m already a barking fool, if she adds chickens to our house it’s gonna get crazy!

Me and my relieved mom. And the nice judge lady too.

I’ll add a postscript to this after our runs Saturday and Sunday. Wish us well!

All the photos of me working were taken by Cathi of Cathi Winkles Photography. The images of me sitting around waiting were taken by my mom. (Who also doesn’t wait very well.)

Talk later, your beginner obedient girl, Penny.

PS: It’s Saturday evening now. Mom said I should let you know I qualified and earned my Beginner Novice Title!

Mom, me and another nice lady judge.

AND…I met my sister too!

This is Becca. She was the little one in my litter.

What a stellar day!


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Pretty boy

This pretty boy is spending his days flying from the crab apple tree to our laundry room window.

He’s been doing this for at least the last 5 days, most of the day, in all kinds of light.

I know he sees his reflection and is protecting his territory. But you’d think he’d be exhausted by now. The windows, just recently washed are covered in stripes of waxy bird grease where he’s slid, flapping his wings.

I hope he figures it out soon. Now I know where the term ‘bird brain’ comes from.


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Seasons all fold together

Last Sunday my community band played our first concert of the season, a Halloween concert, complete with us dressing in costume.

We all had a great time listening to and playing the spooky music.

Yesterday I went to a big box store to buy 50 pounds of oiler seeds for my demanding wild birds. Though Halloween itself isn’t for another couple days I was immediately struck by how Christmas festive the store was.

The forest of lit Christmas trees made me smile.

The giant Santa made me question whether people really need to spend that kind of money. I mean, you could buy a cart of groceries for the same amount! 🙂

And as I gazed over the entire area I realized just how much our seasons, Halloween to Christmas, have really been folded together.

I’m not done with the pumpkins yet, and though it was kind of cool, in a shock to the system sort of way, I’m not ready to even think about Christmas.

Heck, I haven’t even enjoyed my turkey dinner!


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World Series memory

Tonight is the first game of the 2026 World Series. It’s being played in Milwaukee and that fact brings up a distant memory for me. Last time Milwaukee played in the World Series was 1982. Forty-four years ago. I know because I looked it up to confirm my memory.

I don’t know this because I ever lived in Wisconsin, or because I’m any kind of baseball fan.

A fall evening in Alabama.

It’s just that on that day in 1982 I was driving from my parents’ home in Alabama to my home in Hancock, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and traveling through Wisconsin. It’s a long drive, between Alabama and the UP, but for some reason I was feeling good and got into Wisconsin while it was still reasonably early. I figured I’d make it up to Green Bay before I stopped for the night.

Crisp Lighthouse on Lake Superior.

Trust me. I was young and foolish.

I arrived in Milwaukee about two hours before the start of the first game of the World Series. I had no idea the World Series was starting that night. Even if I had known that, there’s no way I had any idea who was playing and I definitely didn’t know the game was a ball toss from the freeway I was on. The traffic was horrendous and I spent hours moving through game traffic before I could exit the north side of the city.

Katie visiting the Alabama House in 2018

So when I hear where game one is tonight I can’t help but be transported back in time. I wonder if any of the other folks caught in that traffic remember that day in 1982. Probably not.

I have no baseball related images to insert into this post. So I’ll go find a couple images of Alabama and the UP.


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Around the neighborhood

You probably read my less than conventional Walktober a few days ago. I enjoyed seeing all those birds and sharing them with you.

In my neighborhood, just down the street.

But yesterday I was running errands and the sun was out and the sky was blue and the color in the trees was ….well…very Walktober-ish.

One of my favorite fields in all seasons.

So I’ve decided to show you around my neighborhood and yard on this beautiful October day.

Crabapples, reminding me of July’s cherries.

We have had some spectacular days here in lower Michigan and it would be a shame if you didn’t get to enjoy it all with me.

One of my favorite country roads.

I drove around a few country blocks first, those tree lined dirt roads are always quintessentially Michigan fall, especially if you happen to run into (not literally) a horse.

I pulled over and let them go by me.

Then I went to Katie’s park, because from the road, which is quite a bit higher than the parking lot, I could see the hills across the way were showing off their gold and rust oak trees.

She met me as soon as I got out of the car at Katie’s park.

I figured there would be a spot in the park that would look out across the wetlands and showcase the hill.

Bittersweet. Which was how I was feeling on my walk in Katie’s park.

Turns out there wasn’t a view of the hills as I should have known because Katie and I have walked that trail hundreds of times.

Next year’s milkweed.

So since I was there I walked the trail anyway, with her in my heart, remembering all the things she loved about being out there. I thought I’d just walk a little bit of it, didn’t think I’d go all the way out to her viewing platform because my heart was hurting too much.

But I did.

The view from one of Katie’s favorite spots in her park.

She was definitely there with me.

I always used to set her up under these big trees for a photo.

And on the way back to the parking lot I walked up to the road and shot that hillside that had lured me to the park in the first place.

Back at home as the sun was going down I got the last shot of my last 2026 Walktober.

This one turned out to be for Katie, my girl who will forever be at her park and in my heart.


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Getting my mojo back

I’ve been feeling disinterested in painting lately. A sort of murky glum feeling. I mean, how many cards for nursing home residents can a person paint?

This batch was fall related. Most of the leaves were from my own yard and made good traceables for me.

I’ve probably painted a few hundred.

They’re all (mostly) different. It’s a good way to try something new, doing it small scale, being sent away regardless of whether or not I like it. Someone will like it.

Pumpkins feel like fall, right?

Well, to be honest, there’s been a few I haven’t sent. After all, nursing home patients don’t really need to be subjected to everything.

But we’ve had lots of sunny fall days and the color outside my window is beautiful right this minute, so there’s no time to lose.

Just need to add a cheery howdy inside and these are ready to be shipped.

Next up? Christmas cards for folks in nursing homes. Yep. It’s right around this painter’s corner.

Hurry up, mom. I smell snow coming.