dawnkinster

November 12, 2021
by dawnkinster 33 Comments

Sharing something magical

Do you want to join me on a magical walk? Well, come along! I’ve sorted my more than 800 images down to only a few dozen to represent the wonderful morning I spent at the Shiawasee National Wildlife Refuge this past Monday.

I knew I was late in the migration season. The herons and egrets were long gone. No pelicans to watch. I figured even the sandhill cranes should have moved on by now, though I still see them out at my favorite park. I wasn’t even sure why I was out there when the chances of seeing anything special were so slim.

*Waiting for sunrise* *from the trailhead parking lot for Fergeson Bayou Trail.*

But since it was one of our last beautiful fall days I thought I’d stand there on the observation deck in the parking lot and wait, just see what the sun would bring.

After a few minutes in the cold silence I went back to the car to get my gloves.

And right about then I heard a sound. I couldn’t quite place it. It sounded like a gentle wave was rising softly against the sand on some distant beach. It got louder. And louder. And then, squinting in the dim light, I saw them. Thousands and thousands of little birds coming across the marsh toward me in the pinking morning sky.

*Just a tiny bit of the huge swarm of little birds, the first ones up and out that morning.*

The sound swished and washed and surrounded me for only a moment and then they were gone, disappearing into the light in the east. The experience was so amazing that I thought if I saw nothing else, heard nothing else, I’d still be glad I made the hour plus drive so early in the morning.

And then I heard the cranes. (Click on the link to hear them, in fact listen to them while you read this, it will feel more like you’re really there!) It started with just a couple of those distinctive cries coming from somewhere far away. And then the sound grew.

*Already high in the sky the crains were headed out by the dozens.*

I saw the first three cranes flying out for breakfast. And then a few more. And more. And then more and more and more and more.

*The sun was still low, and it lit the undersides of the birds as they flew overhead.*

I don’t know how long I stood there, alone in an empty parking lot, fingers no longer cold, grinning like crazy trying to get the shot, the feeling, of what it was like to have so much craziness just above my head in the pink sky.

And then there was a different sound, lower, almost hidden under the screeching of the crane voices. What could that be? I lowered the camera and searched for the source.

*These two announced themselves as they flew under the chaos above.*

Trumpeter swans! Just a couple of them, making a more gutteral sound, announcing their presence. As if to say, notice us! We’re here too!

Then my attention was back on the waves of cranes still coming toward me. Wave after wave of them.

*The rising sun made the colors almost as intense as the sounds of the flying birds.*

Even with all the activity I began to wonder…how many images of flying cranes does a person need? Well, just one more.

*On their way to breakfast, they danced overhead.*

Well, I thought to myself, I could stand out here all day, but there’s more to explore. Best to get moving.

There aren’t many days left for wandering these trails before the winter sets in. In fact, there are some weeks where hiking is prohibited as the preserve allows hunting to manage the deer population. I’ve never been here this late in the season and I was startled to see the hunting blinds places strategically along the trail.

I understand the need, but I wished the couple of white-tailed deer I glimpsed good luck next week when the hunters will be back on the job.

The trail here is on top of a series of dykes, most of the time there’s water on both sides. When I’m here earlier in the season the water is filled with migrating ducks, but in November their safe places are filled with fallen leaves instead.

Almost as pretty, though less exciting for sure.

*Pretty, but quiet, without the ducks flying up out of the water as I approac*h.

Along the way, while trying to get a shot of trees in early light, I stepped on something soft that exploded around my knees in a foggy mist.

*If I didn’t know better I’d have thought this was part of a destroyed seat cushion!*

That was cool, but it reminded me to watch more carefully where I was going. And to listen better too, as this early morning walker startled me with her quiet approach.

*She was moving fast, getting her cardio.*

We smiled hello to each other and she briskly moved on past. I stayed to get this shot:

*Not so much cardio in photography I guess.*

And then I heard that distinctive low sound overhead again. I pointed the camera up and waited.

Once they did their fly over I tried to pick up my pace. I was still a distance away from the turn around point, a viewing platform out in an open wetland. By now I knew there were other people already there, the woman, her lovely husband with the English accent who followed her and another birder I’d met earlier in my walk. All three of them had passed me as I lolly-gagged along, taking photos.

*Still lots of color back in the woods.*

There’s all sorts of reasons you’d enjoy your time here, birding and photography are just a couple. It would be worth the walk just to see such beautiful places. But since you can’t all get there, I thought I’d share a few of them with you.

*One of my favorite places to grab an image.*

I have more, but this seems long enough. Do you wonder what I saw when I got out to that viewing platform? There’s always something to see out there.

I’ll share the rest with you in the next post. Katie demands attention now. And you know how she is.

Best to get to getting, she says.

So I will.

*Let’s just see what’s around that next corner…*

November 11, 2021
by dawnkinster 12 Comments

Veterans Day

Here in the states November 11th is a day reserved for honoring our veterans.

*“May their rememberance be as lasting as this land they honored.” – Daniel Webster*

There’s a National Cemetary near me where I sometimes wander, reading the markers and contemplating matters.

*“We don’t know them all, but we owe them all.” – Unknown*

It’s a beautiful place no matter the season, but it’s particularly beautiful when it’s decorated to honor those buried there.

*“Here men endured that a nation might live.” – Herbert Hoover*

On this Veterans Day I will remember those who served our country.

*“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” -Joseph Campbell*

I hope those of you here in the US will stop for a moment and think about them too.

Wordless Wednesday

November 10, 2021 by dawnkinster 19 Comments

November 8, 2021
by dawnkinster 17 Comments

Come on over, Canada!

The United States opened it’s borders today to all Canadians, even those with nonessential business. We’ve missed our neighbors and encourage them to come on over!

*This leaf, seen on today’s walk, reminded me of the Canada/United States border.*

There are rules, of course. Everyone coming across the border has to be fully vaccinated. And to get back into their country they’ll need a recent negative covid test.

Change is still hard.

Wordless Wednesday

November 3, 2021 by dawnkinster 19 Comments

November 1, 2021
by dawnkinster 63 Comments

Life is short, no matter how long you’ve got

Katie and I spent Halloween day wandering together under beautiful blue skies. The leaves here are finally turning, and in the early morning light they were spectacular. Walking under them, with my girl, watching the light shift and glow was special.

*On the way to our early morning adventure.*

When Katie got sick last spring we hoped we could get her to fall, when the temperatures drop and she has, in the most recent years, transformed from a middle aged, lethargic dog of summer into a youngster who throughly enjoys her walks.

*I love this rug, mama, it compliments my beauty!*

Somehow, in the fall, she turns back time and prances during her walks in the woods and around the neighborhood. But this year, the year we needed those cooler temperatures to hurry up so she could enjoy them, October held on to summer with an iron grip.

*I’ll sit here for you mama, but you better have treats!*

I enjoyed those warm days with temperatures in the 70s, but worried that Katie and I wouldn’t get our cool walks in the woods. So on the last day of October, with early morning temperatures dropping and as the sun began to creep up into the sky, Katie and I headed out in search of adventure.

*Don’t you just love this weather, mama?*

We stopped first in Milford, a town that always dresses the storefronts for fall, complete with a giant pumpkin in front of a fancy restaurant. For the past few years I’ve taken Katie there for a photo shoot.

*Hey mama! THIS is the giant pumpkin you talked about??*

This year we were disappointed, as the entire town is dug up with some sort of construction project, and the giant pumpkin was less than giant. Still, we walked around town for a little bit. Like the princess she is, she insisted on doing some window shopping, checking out every single shop doorway. That made me smile.

So I took a window shot of the two of us.

But we didnt stay in town long, we headed out to my favorite park, and to her favorite walk in that park. The color as the sun rose was spectacular.

*I was giggling like a schoolgirl it was so pretty.*

And walking there, on a service road through the trees with my girl, I contemplated the shortness of life. Though her numbers were better at the last vet visit, Katie is still near the end of her life.

She’s a happy girl, and good at hiding her discomfort. She still likes to go on adventures, she still loves her suppers. She still loves us. But sometime, maybe sooner then later, we’re going to have to make that hard decision.

And it’s not just her. I’ve been dog sitting for a neighbor whose husband had a combination of cancer and heart disease. He’s been in the hospital for the last few weeks, and this week, when she thought he was coming home, he died.

*I always feel better when I’m near water.*

He was a very nice man, loved his garden, his wife, his dogs. I’d talk to him when I was out walking Katie. He’d always tell me what he was planning for next year’s garden, “if I’m still here,” he’d say. Now his flowers are still blooming in our long, extended fall, but he isn’t here.

*A bit of fall trapped in last summer’s volleyball net.*

I dog sat for his two pups while his wife and family attended his funeral. I would have gone myself, but my time was better spent taking care of the two little dogs who have lost their man.

And another friend just had surgery, leaving her two cats at home for the duration. She had someone to come in and take care of them, but I stopped by to play with them too. They always came running for a tummy rub, or a romp through a tunnel. I enjoyed spending time with them, but they’re so much happier now that their person is back home.

And there’s my own family member who has spent the last two weeks in the hospital and had major surgery too. She has a long road ahead of her, and though she has no pets for me to take care of, she’ll still need some visits and perhaps help with some household chores.

It has seemed like trouble and tragedy is everywhere. But it’s easier to bear while walking through a beautiful woods with my girl. And someday, hopefully far in the future, when I don’t have my girl walking next to me, well, I’ll have the memories, and the pictures. And that will have to do.

I’m grateful that I have had so many years with her. I’m grateful I knew my neighbor and his gardens. I’m grateful to the friend with the cats, and the long life of my relative now recuperating at home.

But sometimes…sometimes it feels like time has flown, and life is short, and there’s just no way to slow it all down.

*Don’t try to figure it out, mama. It’s all going to be OK.*

October 30, 2021
by dawnkinster 34 Comments

A little crane conversation

Last week I ran up to the post office on my way out to Katie’s park. Katie was in the back seat. My camera was on the passenger seat. I dropped off the letters that needed to be mailed and was headed to Katie’s park when I noticed these two having an intense conversation.

Or something.

*“But I don’t WANT to talk about it anymore!”*

*“We should be able to talk about it like rational adults.”*

*“I swear, you never let anything just go!”*

Wordless Wednesday

October 27, 2021 by dawnkinster 19 Comments

October 24, 2021
by dawnkinster 45 Comments

Walktober 2021

As usual I had grand plans for Walktober. A place a couple of hours away was calling my name, but also as usual life got in the way and I can’t find a day when I can spend four hours to travel plus a couple hours of exploration.

So that adventure will have to wait for another time.

Meanwhile, it’s not that I haven’t had mini adventures right around here. Katie and I have wandered in plenty of parks this month. Any one of them would be a wonderful Walktober. But she already got to do her Walktober, and I wanted one of my own.

*“Hey mama! I should be included in EVERY adventure!”*

So I’ll share an adventure I recently had with a college friend I haven’t seen in many, many years. Since she retired from her career she’s become interested in birds; she’s joined birding groups online and is learning all kinds of cool things.

She’s seen my posts about the birds out at Kensington, and has never had a bird land on her hand before. She, like so many of you, wanted to experience that for herself. So we met out there on Wednesday.

I get such a kick, every time I take someone new out there, watching their face the first time a little bird lands on their hand. Every single person grins with such a quiet but intense joy.

The little birds weigh next to nothing, they rest so lightly on the fingertips, you’re not sure they stopped there at all. It’s magic.

So, we wandered the trails in the woods, stopping every time we heard the little ones chripping overhead, offering them special treats of peanuts and suet balls and black oilers.

Some of the birds were quite decisive, others took their time to select the perfect morsel.

It was a wonderful walk in the woods, on a beautiful, perfect day. We even saw a bird new to both of us, a juvinile red headed woodpecker! We didn’t get a close look, but we saw him (or her?) flit through the trees several times.

*Did you know a juvinile red headed woodpecker has a brown head? Me either.*

What an extraordinary bird, so beautiful when it flies, with slashes of bright white across the back of it’s wings.

So even though I didn’t get to travel to the far-off park this time, I promise I’ll share it with you when I do. Maybe it will be in November. Maybe it will be in 2022.