Penny, our 4 month old sheltie, has been fully vaccinated for a couple weeks now, so it’s safe to take her beyond our neighborhood. The little girl has no idea how big the world is, but we introduced her to a tiny part of it last weekend.
Where are we, dad? Is this another vet?
On Friday evening my husband and I took her to Katie’s park. She wasn’t sure about the whole adventure thing when she emerged from the car.
I think turtles have been here, mom!
But by the time we got to the pond she was having a good old time. There were so many things to sniff!
This is kinda fun, you guys, being out here in the evening!
We just wandered around the pond, we didn’t do the whole trail. After all, she’s just a little girl, and there will be plenty of time to explore the whole park in the future. This visit was just an introduction.
What’s this down here, dad?
Of course I talked to Katie quite a bit as I took pictures of Penny and her dad. Katie says she is fine sharing her park, especially with her little sister. Of course I wish she could have been there to introduce the park to Penny herself, but I like to think there was a bit of Katie there, showing us all around.
Is there another puppy here, mom?
Then on Sunday I met a friend and her five month old cocker spaniel named Whisky for a longer walk at a park Katie had only visited once.
Ok Whisky, I’ll let you give kisses to my mom. This time. (Picture by Whisky’s mom, Karen)
We walked on a combination of cement paths, wooden boardwalks and dirt paths along a fast moving river.
These leaves smell AMAZING!
Personally I liked the woods the best, and once Penny got over the abundance of leaves on the ground, and realized she couldn’t eat them all, she settled right in trotting along the path.
This place is so cool!
She also got to see lots of other people and dogs enjoying the park. She was interested in all of them. When she sees something new she sits, very alert, and considers what it might mean. She’s a thinker, this one.
What might that be over there?
I think she had a wonderful time. It was her longest walk, and in a new environment, and she was a trooper.
This was the very first log I’ve ever jumped over!
She fell asleep in her crate on the drive home and pretty much napped the evening away. But the next day she was bored at home, now that she knows there are more exciting alternatives out there.
Hey mom! Did you know I can do zoomies in the WOODS?!!
I belong to a Michigan birding Facebook group and there have been images showing up of some loons that are currently hanging out at Kensington Metropark, only 40 minutes away from me.
The blue herons are back and nesting in their rookery, waiting on this year’s crop of little ones.
The weather hasn’t been great. And I’ve been occupied with a certain fuzzy puppy so I hadn’t made it out to the park. But we all know that loons wait for no woman.
“Hey lady! Don’t forget us in your quest to find loons!”
So Monday I headed out much later in the day than I’m usually at the park. Instead of early morning I was heading out there as the day was closing and evening was descending. It felt weird walking onto the boardwalk while most people were heading back to their cars.
“Where have you been? I have to do all the nest building around here!”
On the other hand I didn’t see too many people, and those I did see were mostly photographers there for the soft late day light. Just like me.
“If you’re not going to feed me then you’re not worth my attention.”
I ran into one photographer who was headed back to his car. He was all excited about the loons he had photographed “right near the nesting sandhill cranes.” He wanted to show me his images on the back of his camera, and I have to admit they were beautiful. I was excited for him too. “I can’t wait to get home and see these on a bigger screen,” he said, as he scampered off (there’s really no other word for how he moved but scampered!).
I knew the feeling.
Any loons out there?
But the light was fading and I hadn’t made it out to the bay with the nesting cranes and loons yet. So I left him and walked as quickly as I could until I saw the crane on her nest.
“Midway through my shift and I’m getting hungry, I wonder if I can get something delivered.”
Then I moved slowly, to a better position, and stood for a long time, another photographer nearby, silently shooting images of her as she moved around her nest.
“I need to stretch my feathers a bit.”
And, as she stood up, I gasped quietly in delight. She had an egg!
“That egg was pressing up against my breastbone!”
Then another crane on the other side of the lake began to call. Our nesting mom stretched her neck and called back…
“Hey you! Be quiet, you’re stressing the baby!”
…and then was joined by her spouse who was standing nearby.
“Hey don’t upset the Mrs! It’s quiet hours now!”
It was pretty amazing to be so close.
Then she got back to work cleaning the nest and checking her youngster, still in the shell.
“There, there, little one, mama’s got you all warm and safe.”
In between watching her I tried to see if there were any loons out in the bay. There were a lot of ducks, but they were all far away and the light was fading fast. There were probably a couple loons out there, but I couldn’t be sure. What I was sure of was the spouse of my nesting crane stalking past me headed for quieter dining.
“You can’t get a quiet meal around here.”
Eventually I moved back to the main path where I saw the spouse of the nesting pair strutting his stuff. I guess he had had enough and needed to get away for awhile.
“I hear there’s a new bar and grill down this way,”
I found him shortly after, having a drink at the local pub.
“And another thing, ever since she had that egg she ignores me. It’s always all about the egg!”
He was sharing tales of woe and his fear of becoming a father with the local bartender, this muskrat who was munching on bar snacks.
“I know what you mean man, sometimes it’s just easier to hang out alone.”
In the end I never did see the loons up close, though I walked all the way around the lake.
Toward the end of my walk I was focused on capturing the moon in the branches of a tree, almost back to the car, when suddenly two cranes flew low right over my head and landed on the path directly in front of me.
A nice evening was coming to a close.
That was startling, and I was kind of worried about getting past them in the growing dusk. They seemed intent on me paying some sort of passage ransom.
Notice this one is missing his or her right foot.
So I threw some seed toward them and inched by. As I was doing that I heard rustling in the reeds right behind me. Turns out there was a third crane walking back there, perhaps a distant family member of the two who had just dropped in.
“Just toss us the food, lady, and nobody gets hurt.”
Regardless I bid them all a good evening and scurried back to the car. Night was closing in on the rookery and it was time for me to head home.
Thus ends another beautiful day at the rookery.
I didn’t see the loons, but I had such a wonderful walk and saw plenty of things that made me smile. And now I hope you’re smiling too!
HEY! I know Mom said I should just lay low for awhile cause you guys have seen enough of me, but HEY! I’m right here people, and I’m pretty stinking adorable, and everyone, just everyone says they want to see more, more, MORE of me.
Right???!
Watching the neighbor and his dog Simon jog past our house.
OK, so maybe not everyone. But majority rules, so I’m going to tell you about my recent adventure anyway, cause I’m the majority and I do what I want. Mom and Daddy have begun to understand that about me.
But I digress.
My first visit to the neighbor’s pond.
Mom and Daddy are still being very protective of me, and decided I couldn’t go anywhere that had other dogs for two weeks after my last set of vaccinations. Geeze. All the other dogs get to go and I’m stuck here at home with a couple of old folks.
I swear, they can hardly get up off the floor after getting down there 5 or 6 times every morning to play with me.
Sometimes I think I should trade them in for newer models, but something tells me if I just wait a little bit longer (say, a week or so) there’s going to be all sorts of fun stuff to do!
My back yard is fun and stuff, but I want to see the WORLD, Mom!
Anyway, Mom decided that we could visit our neighbor’s pond today. It’s just across the street and no doggies go over there, so she figured it would be the perfect place for me to explore.
Mom! This place is AMAZING!
And boy was she right! We found out right away that I’m not afraid of getting my feet wet!
My very first muddy feet!
In fact I loved walking along the shore in the water even though Mom said it was really cold and wouldn’t let me explore near the deep parts.
I thought it was important to taste it too, in order to get the full effect….
Nom, nom, nom.
…but I don’t think I really like the taste. I might have to taste it again, though Mom wasn’t real keen on me drinking from the pond. She says I have nice clean ice cold filtered water at home. I said, sure Mom, but that doesn’t taste like frogs and turtles and fish and muskrats!
Moms don’t always understand stuff until it’s explained to them.
Yuck!!!
I had so much fun over there. I got water up my nose and got to shake it off, my first real doggy shake. I think this little adventure proves I’m a big girl now, and ready to take on the world, if they’ll just let me!
Nothing that a little shaking won’t fix.
And just to prove how responsible I am, when we got back to my yard I helped Mom by picking up my poop bag she’d left behind and carrying it back to the house for her. I figured it was only fair that I pick up after myself in return for having a great little mini adventure.
Mom says that pond was nothing compared to what I could see if I continue to be a good girl.
Don’t worry, Mom, I’ve got this!
I told her just watch me. They didn’t name me Unstoppable Penny for nothing.
I burned my morning oatmeal the other day, the first time I’ve ever done that. I had it bubbling away in a pot on the stovetop when I remembered I needed to find a photo for someone, and since the laptop was right there on the counter I figured I’d look the image up while I was thinking about it.
These days my memory leaves something to be desired.
But as I looked for a specific picture of my Aunt I got sucked into the file filed with images of her. She left us last October, already five months now.
I had pictures of her from many of my visits with her during that last year together, and some from before we knew cancer was growing inside her, when we took our last trip down to Alabama together.
I did a lot of fun stuff with my Aunt Becky, she was always on the go and lots of times she brought me along with her. I want to be like her when I grow up. But I hope I get to live beyond her young 87.
I miss her a lot, but sometimes it’s hard to remember she’s not here. It’s like I have to relearn the sad reality over and over. I suppose that’s normal.
But darn, I didn’t realize I’d burn my oatmeal while remembering the good times.
Change Is Hard 