OK everyone, today is the official beginning of Walktober, though if you’ve gone out exploring early, we won’t argue!
But if you haven’t yet, find a place you’d like to walk, or drive, or jog, or swim, or bike, or roller-skate or hike, or canoe, or whatever and spend some time doing just that. Then write about it. It could be an essay or a poem or a run-on sentence. It can include pictures, or you can just describe it and let our imaginations run free. Alternatively you could just show us the pictures without any text if you aren’t in a writing sort of mind frame.
I seem to have missed a meal today, and I’m hungry!
You have until the end of the day October 28th to complete this adventure, though if you need a few more days just let me know. I’m flexible!
Looking for lunch in all the right places.
Help us see a part of the world we might not ever get to see without your help.
What are you looking at, lady?
Or show us around your familiar yard or neighborhood. Wherever you go, it’s all good.
Wonder what’s over here?
You could spend some time in a city…..or head out into the wilderness.
Hmmm, looks promising.
Tell us why the place you visit is special, or why you don’t think you’ll go back. It’s all part of our celebration of October!
Gotcha!
When you’re ready to post, link to this official Walktober post, and at the end of the month, probably early November, I’ll gather all the links and put them into one big post so we all can see where we all went.
Yum. My favorite.
I can’t wait to see what you decided to share with us all!
Now for desert…
Today’s photos are from a drive/walk I took at the Shiawasee Nature Preserve at the end of September. I saw so many egrets there; this series of images was just one of the hungry birds.
I like my desert rare.
I haven’t decided if that walk will be my official Walktober…I have so many other photos to share with you from that day so maybe I should use it. But I would really like to explore somewhere new. On the other hand, if time gets tight, I might just share the rest of this wonderful walk with you.
We’ll have to see how it all works out.
Burp!
Oh, and just a fyi, Penny says she’s thinking about doing her own Walktober. Since she’s only 10 months old she’ll need a little help, but so far she thinks she can do it all on her own. Silly girl.
If you have any questions about Walktober, you can email me at dawnkinster@gmail.com, or just comment here.
I was talking to my mom yesterday evening. Not literally of course, as she’s been gone since July of 2004. Not even out loud because my husband and my dog were watching football nearby and the Lions were winning.
No, I was talking to my mom because I was making an apple pie with apples I’d gotten from an orchard a couple of towns west of here. It was a last minute decision to run over to Spicers Orchards to get old fashioned baking apples, on a beautiful, crisp Sunday afternoon.
My family used to go to Spicers when we were kids, in the 60s and 70s. Back then it was a one building small place with acres of apple, pear and cherry trees. I have lots of good memories of all of us there.
But it’s not small anymore.
When I arrived, late in the day, I noticed right away all the additional parking. Most of which was filled with cars. An entire field that used to be, well, a field, was parked full of cars. Not to mention the regular lot next to the building that houses the bakery and picked fruit and jelly and stuff. And another full lot across the street.
Something told me Spicers is not the same anymore.
I hadn’t worn a coat, assuming I’d park in the lot and buzz into the store, grab some apples and go. Apparently it wasn’t going to happen like that. I tromped up and down the hills and finally made it over to the store.
For the weekend (I assume just the weekend) they had moved the sale of donuts outside and the line, double wide, stretched from the back of the building, where the tables holding the donuts were, to the winery on the other side of the huge parking lot. There seemed to be nothing left of the small local orchard I remembered. It just wasn’t the same.
Inside, where apples and cider and fudge and ice cream and jelly and cookies and bread were being sold, the line went from the cash registers (now 4 instead of 1) to the back of the store. The place was packed with people.
My first instinct was to turn and flee.
But I was there, so I found some courtland baking apples and a half gallon of cider and I got in line, trying not to feel claustrophobic as people pushed by, their arms laden with goodies. I have to say those cashiers were expedient, and I was paying and back on my way walking up and down the hills to the distant car before I could consider buying a cookie.
So I was telling mom all of this while I was peeling and slicing apples, as I was mixing and rolling the pie dough. It’s not the same, I told her, just not the same.
Then, with my head in the pantry, grabbing some sugar, I had a flashback to a pie she used to make. We called it cheesecake but it obviously wasn’t. There was cream cheese and maybe lemon pudding, in a graham cracker crust. For half an instant, probably because I’d been talking to her about Spicers, I thought I’d just ask her what was in that pie.
It’s still a gut punch, even after nineteen years, when I realize all over again that I can’t ask her anything anymore. It’s not the same, mom, just not the same.
But the apple pie? It pretty much looks the same as the apple pies mom used to make for us decades ago. Mine isn’t as pretty as hers were, but I’m betting it tastes the same.
Some things, regardless of commercialism, never change.
As you read in a previous post, Robin is a little busy so I’ll be collecting your Walktober adventures this year.
If you’re new to the concept of Walktober, it’s pretty simple. Sometime between October 15 and the 28th go on a walk (or a bike ride, or a boat ride, or a car ride, or a jog, or a hike, or climb a mountain, or explore a town or show us your backyard!), take a few (or a lot) of pictures and show us around your part of the world by writing a post and linking it to my official Walktober post.
I’ll be posting the official start to Walktober on October 15th. But if you want to walk earlier, feel free to link it to this one! I’ll find it.
And sometime not too long after October 28th I’ll write a post with all the links to your walks, so that everyone can see where everyone else went! And if you need some more time, just let me know. I’ll wait to post that last compilation till you get yours written.
I can’t wait to see where you all go. I haven’t decided where to take my official walk. So many options, so little time!
Stay tuned!
Pictures in this post are from Shiawasee Nature Preserve, a walk taken a few years ago. I figured you wouldn’t mind seeing them again.
Long time readers know that my dad was killed by a tired trucker almost twenty years ago and I and members of my family volunteer with the Truck Safety Coalition, working to make our roads safer.
My dad and me many years ago.
TSC is based in Washington DC, but has families of volunteers all across the country. Of course it does, because truck crashes aren’t restricted to ‘somewhere else’ like we all want to believe.
Truck crashes happen anywhere and to anyone.
Flags at half mast for Senator Feinstein.
It takes money to keep our organization going, to pay our small staff, to help families come to DC for conferences or important meetings, to pay for grief counseling for those that want that help, to run the website that provides information to new families, and where we post our stories about the loved ones we lost and about the lives changed forever for those injured in crashes with trucks.
It takes money.
And it’s not so easy to raise money for our cause. Organizations that might have sympathy for our families, like truck part manufacturers, can’t be seen associating with us, because many of the truck companies they sell parts to are so often on the other side of our arguments. Trailer manufacturers sell to truck companies too and steer clear of us, as do some road safety equipment manufacturers and many others.
It’s hard to explain that we aren’t anti truck, we support safe trucking. It’s important to remember that truck drivers die in crashes too, and that driving a truck is one of the most dangerous jobs in our country.
The halls of Congress where we look for support for safety.
A lot of our funding comes from individuals who have had family or friends injured or killed as well as survivors of truck crashes. The people that have already paid the price for unsafe policies and regulations continue to pay in an effort to make things better.
Every single family will tell you they continue to tell their stories, continue to come to meetings, continue to donate because they don’t want another family to experience a truck crash. Every single family comes to TSC with the same wish in their hearts.
To make it stop.
The Washington Monument during a walk after our event.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that over 5,700 people died in truck related crashes in 2021, the latest year from which we have data. That’s a 71% increase since 2009. Truck crashes are trending the wrong way. More people are being killed every year. And injuries are going up too, over 155,000 are injured every year.
Think about that. Every single year 155,000 people are injured in truck crashes. Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions, has 65,000 seats. Every year 2.3 football stadiums of people are injured in truck crashes. And the numbers keep climbing.
So this past weekend my husband and I traveled, on our own dime, to DC where we attended an evening of celebration of those that have contributed to TSC. Donors, safety advocates, board members, friends and supporters gathered together to recognize some very special people who, during this past year, have gone above and beyond to move our mission to make our roads safer going forward.
All waiting for something. Just like us.
It was a good evening and we raised some money. We felt warm and happy with our effort, but don’t think I won’t be asking you for support this November during Giving Tuesday. Because 5,700+ people died in 2021, and it will likely be a larger number for 2022 and 2023. Whole football stadiums of people are being injured. We can’t stop now.
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton graciously speaks to our group.
Thank you in advance for supporting me, for the dollars you donate whenever I ask, for your emotional support when I’m having a meltdown, or when I’m just missing my dad. Thank you for letting me get on my soapbox once in awhile, and for not turning away when I tell you about really sad things that make me (and many of you) really angry.
The Capitol at the end of another busy day.
Last weekend was a time of celebration, but now it’s time to get back to work. We’re trying to get the speed limiter past the finish line at the DOT, and we’re working on getting Automatic Emergency Brakes in all trucks sooner rather than later. And don’t get me started on the minimum liability insurance issue. Or those companies that want longer trailers, and the ability to haul heavier loads. There are already triple trailers on some of our nation’s roads and we’re keeping watch so they don’t get permission to move onto more.
Passing a triple trailer truck on the Pennsylvania turnpike.
We need to keep holding our fingers in the truck safety dike. And we need money to do that.
Don’t worry, I’m sitting on my leash and I have no intention of going anywhere except to mom for a treat!
Mom is busy doing stuff that doesn’t involve me so I stole her laptop. I don’t think she’ll even notice unless one of you snitches on me. Which I’m sure you won’t.
This is a kayak launching dock. Pretty cool! Mom says we aren’t going kayaking though. Bummer.
So anyway, it hasn’t always been this way with her being so busy. She’s been taking me to a lot of parks lately.
Uh oh! That feather moved! I don’t think I like it!
She says the weather is just perfect, a little cooler, but sunny skies and the trees are just starting to change colors.
Yep, most of the color we found was on this limb. I don’t think that counts as fall color, mom.
She says we can’t waste days like this, so she’s been taking me to a new place almost every day, and I thought you might like to see.
This was at a different park on a different day.
Mostly she’s been training me to pose for her. I wasn’t so sure of this concept at first.
Mom thought I’d never sit on this log for her, but I can channel my inner diva just fine. When I want to.
But eventually I figured out that after I pose I get a treat, and that big black thing in front of her face isn’t really scary after all.
A girl and her shadow.
Plus I talked to my Angel Sister Katie who told me that treats were an integral part of park visiting and especially posing. I think I’m getting it!
My sister sat right here a couple years ago. Mom smiled when I didn’t argue. I think Katie smiled too.
But I could always use more practice, so I’m bugging mom every day to take me somewhere. I find that poking her hard in the knee works pretty good. If you have any other suggestions let me know.
A week or two ago I made a last minute decision to head back up into the thumb of Michigan, because the weather was going to be clear, and because I was able to book a campsite.
On the way up I, naturally, shot a few photogenic barns.
I wanted to try one more time to get that elusive Milky Way in a place that is darker than my Bortle 4/5 here at home.
My fovorite barn in the thumb, it’s located near Pigion, Michigan. Of course.
Plus, I knew I’d get to drive through those yellow soybean fields again, and I might find a barn or two or three worth stopping for.
Red barns in a yellow soybean field.
And of course I did.
Once I set up camp at the Port Crescent State Park I meandered further up into the thumb until I arrived at Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse, a place Katie and I had visited a time or two in years past.
The original lighthouse was built in 1848. In 1857 this structure was built after a fire.
There’s a campground attached to the grounds that I hoped was empty. It wasn’t, but it wasn’t as full as it would be in the summer. So I wandered around the lighthouse grounds and then waited for the sky to get dark.
Lights from the campground and the light tower lit up the other buildings.
The Milky Way, up in the Southwest early in the evening this time of year, wasn’t in a position to be over the lighthouse, but it was above the other historical structures on the grounds.
Light and shadows interfering from every angle.
The challenge, as it always is with a lighthouse, was the bright light the tower itself was projecting. I tried to time my 15 second shot to be between the beams of light, but it was hard. Plus there was the campground, with it’s green lights and cars coming and going.
If you make this bigger you might see what might be a couple of meteors above and to the right of the tree.
So, once again, I wasn’t thrilled with the Milky Way images, but shooting out over Saginaw Bay was fun. There was a tree on the top of the bluff, and the Big Dipper was just above it. Though it’s hard to see the Big Dipper because the camera sees so many more stars than our eyes do.
This meteor was more pronounced.And you can see the Big Dipper in this, darker, version of the scene.
Regardless of the results, and as always, I loved being out there. The air was warm, the stars were bright, the moon had taken a nap, there were people nearby but not too close and I could hear the waves lapping at the bottom of the bluff.
A perfect place to sleep in late the next morning.
This might have been my last attempt for this Milky Way season. October won’t have many opportunities, and we’ll have to see what the weather does. I plan to spend the winter studying the information in my Milky Way Photography class.
Change Is Hard 