Gertrude J Braun Badger 8-11-1928 to 7-18-2004
Mom
Author Archives: dawnkinster
Youngster has a lot to learn
Oh…you thought this would be about Penny? Well…it is true she has a lot to learn. But so does her mom.
But no, this isn’t about her. This time anyway.
No it’s about birds, which I guess is my second most frequent type of post.
But the young birds are visiting now and some of them missed the memo about which feeder is meant for them.
On the other hand, it’s possible this young male was just making a point that we shouldn’t be segregationists, even with our bird feeders.
Regardless of what he was thinking, or not thinking more likely, I hope he got something sweet to eat!
Wordless Wednesday
Abundance
It’s that time of year again, when everything seems to be blooming all at once.
Though May is my favorite month, full of promise and hope of a bountiful summer, July runs a close second just because it’s the middle of summer.
I took a wander around the yard today and realized just how much stuff in my gardens was blooming.
On a warm sunny day with big white puffy clouds everything looks perfect.
And I realize I love being retired so that I can take a leisurely walk around the yard and discover blooms hiding among the foliage.
Stuff, that in the old days of working long hours far from home, I would have missed, only noticing spent blossoms way too late.
So today I savor my freedom and the beauty of a warm summer day. And I’m sharing it all with you.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the mini tour of my gardens. Have a wonderful day in your part of the world!
Father/daughter lunch
Walking through the living room this week I noticed two hairy woodpeckers on the feeder. That’s unusual. We don’t get hairy woodpecers often, and when we do it’s always a single bird chowing down.
I stopped to watch, from across the room so as not to startle the. Sure enough, one of them was a youngster, eating away happily while dad was on the other side of the feeder…
…but happily accepting a special morsal from dad when he offeres it.
This time of year seeing parents cater to their teenage, soon to be adult, children is pretty common. They don’t seem to notice that their kids are eating just fine and on their own when they’re not being waited on.
I’m glad I happened to wander past their special time together when I did.
Note: I’m not sure if the kid is a boy or a girl. There’s no red spot on the back of it’s head which leads me to think it’s a girl…but there IS a spot just above the beak and I don’t know what that means. If you know, please comment below!
Another boyfriend?
Hi everybody! It’s me, Penny!
You know there are three boy dogs in my neighborhood that walk by my driveway almost every day. Personally I think they do that just to catch a glimpse of beautiful me.
And I have had a couple playdates with Lance, a very handsome sheltie-boy who is about six months older than me. I think he likes me too.
And just this week mom arranged for me to meet Levi, a four year old sheltie who lives about an hour away from me.
Levi and I met at a fenced in dog playground in his neighborhood. The moms picked the coolest day of the week because, as you know, shelties are always wearing a heavy coat.
At first Levi and I weren’t sure about each other. He wasn’t sure he wanted me in his territory, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to be there either. He’s a lot bigger than me!
In fact mom said this is the first time I looked small!
But eventually, when mom broke out the frissbee we started to have some fun. Levi just loved my frissbee and I chased him while he chased it.
After a little bit of running around we settled in a corner where there was some shade. Even at 68 degrees it was pretty hot. While the moms were talking I’d sort of peek around from behind mom’s legs and get Levi’s attention.
Then I’d race off and hide behind the slide and just dare him to chase me. Yep, I pretended I didn’t want to play and then I’d egg him on. I’m very skilled at being a tease.
We didn’t run around too much, because of the heat, but we’re going to get together again when it’s cooler outside.
When we meet again we’ll be more comfortable, cause we’ll already know each other. Levi’s mom says he went home and took a nap. I went home and bugged my parents for the rest of the day.
I guess I got a little wound up.
Talk later, your most alluring sheltie-girl, ruler of all boy dogs…
Penny.
Camping heat wave
We had some really hot weather up here in Michigan and it seemed to last forever. Of course it didn’t last forever, but for my two nights of camping at a local state park the heat hung heavily in the air even late into the night.
I hadn’t camped at this park for a few years, not since Katie and I camped there and struggled with noisy kids partying all night just a few sites away.
This time it was much more quiet. I was in my favorite site at this campground, full shade, with lots of privacy. I went there specifically to watch the birds that hang out in the trees surrounding the site, many of which I don’t see at home around my feeders.
And I went to give Penny an opportunity to see a campground for the very first time. Her dad brought her over in the evenings and we sat around and talked.
She sat around and observed. Everything.
I didn’t ask her to get into the tent for a number of reasons, one it was too hot inside the tent, and two she isn’t really happy in the tent yet.
But she did get to watch people and dogs and kids walk by and begin to realize she didn’t have to bark at everyone.
It wasn’t easy for her. Watching dogs walk by, listening to noisy trucks as they hauled trailers past our site was hard.
But little kids on bikes? Now that deserves a big bark, mom!
We still have a lot of work to do, it was all new to her. But I can see potential.
There are, of course, a lot of memories at my favorite site, memories of camping with my Katie-girl. And I think she was there with me last week.
I miss her so much, even while little Miss Penny is bouncing around distracting me. Penny says that’s OK and I appreciate her giving me some grace.
On my last day at site 16, just before I started packing up and while I was feeling sad and missing Katie, a female cardinal arrived. She hopped around, up on the picnic table, underneath it, across the parking pad, always keeping an eye on me.
I kind of think Katie sent her. She made me smile, just like Penny does, who, I’m sure, was also sent by Katie.
There’s lots of summer left. I hope I get to take Penny to another campground before the end of the season.
And I figure by next summer she just might be ready for a real adventure, even if it’s camping in our own backyard.
.
Another version of lucky to play
Hey everybody, it’s me, Penny!
I’ve been hanging around our my house a lot. I’m sort of bored, so I bug mom and dad by poking them in the knee. If mom’s on her stupid phone I jump up next to her and knock it out of her hand. That’s her cue to take me to a park.
It usually works.
But this past week while we were at a park I asked mom if we could please do something more fun. Like with friends and stuff. Because, not to be rude, but walking around in the trees with my mom all the time gets sort of…well…repetitive.
And you know what she did? She took me with her to visit my dog mom, Vivian, and her bestie, Oliva!
And even better we got to play in their yard, all three of us together! At first I wasn’t sure about the rules and I hung back on the deck observing the craziness below.
But then I figured it out. The rules are that there ARE NO RULES! So game on!
It was a warm day so we didn’t run too long, but while we were running, we were running hard!
And let me tell you, three excited shelties chasing a ball on a beautiful late spring day sure make a lot of noise! Mom was hoping the neighbors were all at work.
We went back inside after a few races around the yard, to cool off and settle down.
Well…maybe just to cool off. Three shelties don’t settle down all at once you know.
Then after our cooling break we went out one more time to have some more fun. I was an active participant from the start, cause I knew just what this game was about.
I had so much fun running free without being tethered to one of my folks. Not that I don’t love my walks with them…but seriously, I doubt they’d be able to keep up.
We were just flying around that yard!
I got close to the ball a few times, but I never did get it away from Olivia. I figure that’s OK, it was her yard, her rules, you know?
I’m just glad I got to play in a big backyard with a tree where we could rest in the shade in between bouts of running.
But mostly we just played and played and played.
It was nonstop mayhem!
In the end I didn’t really need the ball, I was just loving the chase. Vivian and Olivia were real nice hosts and let me play with them until it got too warm and we all decided to go inside again.
And then it was time to say goodbye. I had a wonderful time, and I’m so glad I get to stay in contact with my dog mom, Vivian and her bestie Olivia and of course my Mama S.
I’m a lucky girl.
And I know it too.
Signing off, all these pictures of us running have tired me out. Time for a little nap.
Your exhausted girl, Lucky Penny.
Lucky to play
This morning I got to play music with some of the members of the Clarkston Community Band at our local Farmers’ Market. It was opening day at the market and the weather was perfect. Sunny and in the 70s with, at the beginning, no breeze to blow music around.
OK, so we were sight reading most of the music. And OK, we didn’t have all the instruments of a full band. And yes, we did dissolve into giggles in the middle of one piece of music we had optimistically thought we could pull off when it became obvious we weren’t going to make it to the end even remotely together.
But hey, people stopped to listen, the Disney songs were a big hit with the little kids, and we got to spend a few more hours playing together at the end of our season.
You just can’t beat live music outside in the sunshine. I’d say it was a win for us and a win for people shopping the market on a beautiful Saturday morning.
Musical exhale
It was busy around here last week. A steady stream of contractors and appointments filled our days. I had a rehearsal on Tuesday night and a concert on Friday evening. Husband had places to be and people to see too.
The calendar (paper, and hanging on a bulletin board in the back hall) daily squares looked black with scribbled appointments.
Friday was particularly bad for me. I thought I was on edge because of the pending concert. There’s always things to worry about when a concert looms. Would we come in together on that one tricky entrance. Would we all end together, or were we supposed to fade out on that other difficult piece.
Friday we had two contractors working on things inside the house and two contractors working on stuff out in the yard. None of it went exactly as planned and I was stressed.
Even our concert venue was causing stress. We’d been booked at the local Jr. High which has a fine auditorium and where we’ve played many times. But at the last minute the school system told us we couldn’t perform there, as the school was going to be renovated, beginning on the very night we were to play!
We told them we only needed 2 hours, but we got bumped anyway.
Our director, a retired middle school band director, got us approved to play at the middle school’s cafetorium. Yep. A cafeteria with a stage, probably similar to where most of us ate lunch growing up. I hadn’t played in a cafeteria since I was in 7th grade.
It didn’t feel promising.
But our group is resilient, and in the end it wasn’t half bad. The stage was acceptable, the dusty blue velvet curtain made a pretty OK band shell, the custodians had the lunch tables put away and 200 chairs set out.
And our audience showed up.
Most importantly, after my long week, it was cathartic to sit in the middle of a group of musicians and hear the music swell around me. Of course I lost my place a couple times when I was listening instead of concentrating. Or when I was letting my neck muscles relax and forgot to count.
But last night I listened to the recording and I’m pretty sure no one will be able to tell that one third clarinet didn’t play all her notes.
Our concert was titled “Three Women and a Podium” and was filled with music composed by women. I was proud to be a part of that, and I enjoyed playing under the baton of each of our three wonderfully talented conductors.
On the drive home after the concert, the sun set in a most spectacular way. I stopped in a parking lot to watch. I thought about the week and the evening and the fact that I didn’t play everything.
And I decided I was happy with what I did play and I was very grateful that I could, finally, exhale.
I hope you all find your best way to let the stress of everyday life fall off your shoulders.
And if you’re somewhere nearby some of the Clarkston Community Band musician will be playing next Saturday at the opening of the Clarkston Farmers’ Market. I hope to see you there!
School’s out, the Farmers’ Market is open – – it’s officially summer!
Change Is Hard 