Given it’s November and I’m in Michigan there are any number of brown things to capture. And you might think this would be a perfect opportunity to capture Katie. Again. Well, I was with Katie when I saw this…
…so we ran back inside for the camera. Brown is beautiful here in Michigan, especially in November.
Trent hosts a collection of smiles each week. People post on their own blogs, describing things that made them smile that week, and link their posts to his. On Mondays, a day when we could all use a few smiles, Trent posts a recap so that we can all visit everybody else. It’s a nice way to start the week.
So this week, in Michigan, we got snow. Record breaking snow, more snow this early in the season than we’ve ever received in the history of our weather.
Sure it was pretty, but nothing to smile about.
Did we smile?
Well, not so much, not after the first “Oh it’s so pretty” wore off. My husband went out three times during the day to clear the driveway. And then he went and bought a bigger snowblower.
We all wanted to fly away.
To add more drama to our lives, this week we’re having drywall put up in the garage, so the car had to stay outside. In the accumulating snow.
Is this supposed to be fun mama?
I took his truck with four wheel drive to my morning physical therapy appointment. Driving in blowing snow, through snowdrifts, and finding out, after the appointment, that there was no snow scraper in the truck meant I was still not smiling.
My feet are cold. This is not fun.
And Thursday and Friday we had painters doing the inside of our house. Katie and I were relegated to one bedroom with the door closed so she didn’t end up a painted dog. She wasn’t smiling.
Camping makes me smile, but not in the snow!
And when Katie is unhappy everyone is unhappy. So most of Thursday and some of Friday she and I explored her parks.
About time you found me a park where they plowed the path!
And then the sun came out. Which made us all smile!
Now this is perfect weather mama!
After two long days of exploring cold, snow covered parks, we spent last night playing hide the sheltie-girl.
You can’t hide from me mama!
And the smiles continued.
What made you smile this week? Share it with us! Those of us up here in snow country could use more smiles.
Adventures always make me smile mama!
Mr. Denny was a quirky little dog with a huge heart. He didn’t trust just anyone, and was always on guard against anything scary. Even if it was only in his imagination.
Denny (the redhead) and his brother Reilly.
I met Denny a few years ago, but I’d watched him grow up on his big brother Reilly’s Cowspot Dog blog since he was an adorable puppy.
Denny loved to hang out with his brother.
When I first stayed at his house he wasn’t sure about me, barking every morning when I left the guest room, as if it was the first time he’d ever seen me. But eventually he sauntered by and sniffed the hand I’d left dangling for him. And during my next visit months later he didn’t bark at me quite as much. By our third visit he was actually letting me tickle his tummy.
Keeping track of those scary birds.
When we all went out he was ever vigilant, making sure there was nothing dangerous, ready to warn us if need be. But, just to be safe, he liked to stick close to his brother, Reilly, and to his mom and dad.
Still, even though they could be scary, he loved a good walk.
Keeping en eye on me while walking the beach with his mom and brother.
The last time I saw him was this past April. We were good buddies by then, but you could tell he wasn’t feeling very well.
Spending time on his sofa with me.
He’s had health issues, allergies, and even surgery on his knee. But the latest problem were his kidneys. And two days ago they gave out; Denny crossed the rainbow bridge in the arms of his devastated mom.
He had to leave and make the journey on his own and I can’t help but wonder if he’s scared over there without his family. But then I remember that across the bridge all things are possible, so I know that now he’s healthy and happy and curious and brave.
One of my favorite images of Reilly, Denny and Katie
And I know, for sure, that his heart is just as big as it always was.
We always imagine a dog running free when it travels over the bridge, but for Denny I want to say “run brave” little one. Be happy, find all the best things, the best food, the best tummy rubs, the best places to nap, the best beaches to run on.
On his own.
Oh, and definitely find the ice cream, sweetie…there has to be ice cream over the bridge!
Ice cream makes everything better.
More ice cream please?
So, until we meet again Mr. Denny, thanks for the cuddles, I am honored that you trusted me. Your family and I will miss you forever. You were a very very special little boy.
Watch over your brother sweetheart.
Katie here.
Welcome to Davis Lake Overlook Park! Or as I call it – Katie’s Park Two.
Boy I’ve been busy; mama says you wouldn’t know I’m going to be a teenager next month. After lolling around all summer I’m now all energy and bark. Maybe too much bark, but it gets me what I want so I’m not going to stop.
Even when mama calls me “KATE!”
Stop lolly-gagging around mama!
So when I kept barking and getting under her feet, mama gave in and took me to a local park. It was a beautiful, if a bit windy, day. Mama said that worked in our favor because no one else was out there.
The wind is taking down the last of the leaves!
She was intent on taking pictures of these yellow trees out in the wet swamp.
It was such a pretty day!
She does this every year and every year she gets her feet wet. I chose to stay up on the hill and wait for her; I haven’t forgotten how I got my feet wet following her last year.
I’ll wait here.
Then she started focusing on the light shining through this young oak tree leaf. I was bored and figured she should be focused on me and my treats, so I photo bombed her shot and she got the message. After that it was all about me.
Which is more pretty? This stupid leaf of me?
Still, this was just a local park and I thought I deserved a bigger adventure. After all, this year I’ve spent weeks and weeks at ‘camp’ and she feels quite guilty about that. I milk it for everything I can, so I kept bugging her to take me somewhere more fun and guess what?
Whatcha going to do for me next, huh mama?
She made a date with another sheltie and her mom down in Ann Arbor at Nichols Arboretum!
Meet Abby!
Abby is going to be 12 soon. She is a very elegant lady.
Mama and Amy’s mom have been Facebook friends for a long time, and it turns out Ann Arbor is sort of halfway between where we each live, so we met there yesterday.
Isn’t Abby pretty? She has a regal air about her don’t you think?
Abby and I got along just fine, mostly because we ignored each other. If I’m honest I sniffed her behind a couple times, but she was polite and didn’t try to sniff mine at all.
Abby’s mom didn’t bring her any treats, and she still posed when asked. I, of course, demanded payment after each shot.
At first we weren’t too excited to pose too close to each other, but almost right away we recognized if we just did what they asked we got to go off and sniff sooner. And there are so many good smells in the woods there!
This is Abby’s mom Shaun.
Since I had been there before I showed Abby some of my favorite places. There was one spot with lots of pretty leaves on the ground.
Abby didn’t mind hanging around getting her picture taken at all.
Then mama saw this tree. Well. You know we had to pose by that!!
“Does she always make you stop and take pictures on your walks Katie?”
We walked for a long time, but Abby and I didn’t get tired at all, mostly because mama was always stopping for more pictures. You know how mama is.
I think Abby had a good time too!
On our way back to the car I asked Abby if she wanted to come back sometime and explore more. She said she was definitely interested!
“I think this was a good idea, Katie!”
It’s a good thing we went for that walk yesterday. Cause this is what’s happening today!
Oh yea, Fall is over!
So, as you can see, I’ve had a pretty good time lately. I didn’t even tell you about the new park I explored last week with my friend Deuce!
Me and my friend Deuce as the sun set on another perfect day.
Yep, mama’s keeping me pretty busy. She says she’s trying to get me to sleep through the night. Yea. Like that’s going to happen.
Talk later, your park advisor pup, Katie-girl.
I always have fun with my friends.
April 15th of this year we had snow. It seemed way too late to be getting so much of the wet white stuff. Sure it was pretty. But really, winter around here is long enough without it lingering on.
Our back yard on October 30th.
So our warm season seemed even shorter this week when on October 31st we got the first snow of the season. Yes, Halloween night, when kids from around the neighborhood should be enjoying a house-to-house foraging for candy, we were enduring wind, sleet and snow.
The snow made the colors pop.
Needless to say no one came to our front door.
But in the morning we enjoyed the beauty the night’s storm left behind. We still have quite a bit of color here, leaves had only just turned when they were coated with snow.
Fall and winter, mixing it up. Unfortunately we know which will ultimately win.
It made a pretty juxtaposition, the warm colors of fall against the stark coldness of winter.
The ginkgo tree begins to lose her leaves, the maple has hardly any left.
Katie and I went out to explore the backyard. Lots and lots of pretty things there.
Kind of like a Christmas card.
She wasn’t even jealous that I wasn’t paying attention to her, she was having such a good time following smells.
Mama, I kind of like this snow.
It was pretty cold, the snow stayed around for most of the day, but by the next day it was gone. We’ll enjoy a few more days of sun before winter comes back for a longer visit.
Add a little ice to the mix.
Katie says we should get out there and enjoy every one of the good days. Cause she knows how it is when the snow is higher than she is tall.
The last hurrah.
And it’s not fun.
Sad sunflower.
When I was a little kid, maybe 7 or 8, my dad made oatmeal for all of us. It wasn’t his normal gig – mom was in the hospital with pneumonia and he was trying to feed four of us breakfast. I remember that oatmeal as being cold and grey and lumpy and awful. I haven’t eaten oatmeal since, other than those envelopes of instant that are something totally unrelated to simmering oatmeal in a pot on the stove.
This year, trying to eat healthier and noting the amount of sugar and other refined things in cold cereal, I explored overnight oats. I didn’t think I’d like them, considering my aversion to cold lumpy oatmeal, but I was surprised. I found out I enjoyed them very much, especially with agave sweetener, and other than mornings after nights when I forgot to make it before heading to bed, I ate it every day for several months.
And then we spent the summer traveling and breakfast at hotels is pretty predictable. Fake eggs, greasy bacon or sausage, cold cereal, toast. Not a lot of choices that I wanted to eat. But there was always a big pot of steamy oatmeal. And I liked the cold overnight oatmeal, right? So maybe…
Yep, it turns out I like oatmeal!
So now I’m exploring at home. The old fashioned variety which takes about 5 minutes of contemplative stirring is my favorite at the moment. There’s something so satisfying about the warm milk steaming, stirring in the oatmeal and cinnamon, maybe a tablespoon of raisins to soften. Sliding the whole thing into a bowl, adding a touch of brown sugar, some apple, maybe dried cranberries.
It’s such a peaceful way to start the day and I highly recommend trying it yourself. But those steel cut oats? Well, they’ve been taking me 45 minutes of stirring and I don’t have that much contemplation in me in the morning.
What makes you smile? Tell us about it and link it to Trent’s blog, he’ll recap the smiles on Monday. And you know it’s Mondays when we usually need a smile or two.
This coming Tuesday night is our community band’s first concert of the season, and as usual I’m worried, not about the band’s performance, but about my ability to contribute.
Band started this fall two weeks after I fell and broke my finger at the end of August. I missed the first three rehearsals because my hand was still in a splint. And even now, though my fingers are free to move, they are swollen and sluggish.
Or maybe that’s my brain.
The concert is all John Williams music – things he wrote for movies and other events. And though it’s been arranged by people to make it work for a concert band, it’s still hard. At least for me. He likes to use different meters and key signatures and switch stuff up. A lot.
Tonight, the night before our dress rehearsal tomorrow, I was intent on going through every one of the ten pieces of music, playing along with groups I found on YouTube who were playing the same arrangements.
I found this (you can opt out of the advertisement after about 4 seconds), for Schindler’s List – a high school group from a town about 30 miles south of me, the town I used to work in. This was recorded in 2014 and as I watched their faces I realized all of them would have graduated by now. I wonder where they are today, if they’re in college or out working somewhere.
I wonder if they are still playing music. I hope they are.
We will have a guest violinist on Tuesday night too. I think it will be a treat for our audience. And as for the other 9 pieces of music, well, I can play parts of all of them. We’ll sound just fine.
As long as I stay out of the way.
You sounded fine to me mama, but then I was sleeping.
Change Is Hard 