Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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Epic, windy, wet adventure

Our beautiful campsite!

Our beautiful campsite!

Katie here.  Mama says I’m monopolizing her blog but what’s she got to talk about anyway now that she’s retired?  Right?  Of course I’m right.  I’m a princess.

So anyway, last January mama reserved a campsite for this weekend right on the shore of Lake Michigan! It’s about five hours from home and I have to say I was an excellent traveler.  I didn’t bark at her once the whole way up there!

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

First there was the planning and the packing and the loading of the car.  I was afraid she might forget to take me so I stuck really close to her.

Don't forget me mama!

Don’t forget me mama!

She didn’t forget me but she did forget my bed!  GEEZE mama!  She must be getting old.  That’s OK…I figured I’d just sleep on hers.

This is for me - - right?

This is for me – – right?

Our campsite was really beautiful, right on the shore.  Friday afternoon mama took me for a walk along the sand by the waves.  I did not like it.  Not one bit.

Not getting any closer than this mama!

Not getting any closer than this mama!

The only water I want anything to do with is the water in my bowl and it doesn’t make scarey noises like those waves did!

Since all mama’s romantic notions of walking me on the beach were dashed we went into town.  This was more like it!  I went up and down the steps of the marina no problem.  (Mama is beginning to realize I’m scamming her about not doing steps at home.)

Buy me one of these mama!

Buy me one of these mama!

I even went out on the floating docks at the marina, and the boats were rocking and squeaking and the docks were moving and I was OK with it.  Mostly.

I guess I’m more of a city kid than a beach bum.  But I did like my tent!  Every night my mama made a campfire and settled in to read her book next to it and every night I went over and pawed at the tent door.  Cause I wanted to go to bed already.  Mama just sighed and we went to bed.

Mama made me a bed out of her pillows.

Mama made me a bed out of her pillows.

Because a princess always gets what she wants.  Don’t you know.  And every morning I got my mama up around 5:00, because even though we were on vacation I didn’t shirk my responsibilities.

Time to get up mama!

Time to get up mama!

Do you know that people in campgrounds don’t get up that early?  That was cool, we had the whole place to ourselves.  We tiptoed down the road and I did my jobs and then we tiptoed back and went back to bed.  It worked out great

We had two evenings of beautiful sunsets.  Mama made me go back out on the beach to see those.  It was OK, I was sort of getting used to the waves.

Friday night

Friday night

And in the end whatever makes mama happy makes me happy.

We were supposed to be there three nights, but there were thunderstorms coming.  The clouds were low and heavy on Sunday morning.  Mama began to worry.

Mama used the 'dramatic' button on the camera to show you the clouds.

Mama used the ‘dramatic’ button on the camera to show you the clouds better.

She talked to dad on the phone and decided we’d leave early.  Of course we had to go into town to use the phone and by the time we got back it was raining.  Mama packed up the car as fast as she could.

Hurry up mama!

Hurry up mama!

Everything was soggy.  Even me!

Can't we stay mama?

Can’t we stay mama?

We were sad to leave a day early, but we are very happy that we got to go at all!

On the way home we stopped at a little park and I got to walk on a bridge over the Au Sable River.

Still raining.

Still raining.

Mama says she used to canoe on this river when she was a little girl.  It made her smile.  And I found her a beautiful flower along the river too!  Cause I love my mama.

Along the river.

Along the river.

We had a wonderful time, but I’m glad to be home.  I missed my dad a lot.  Plus it was cold, and I don’t like cold so much.  And then there were those waves.  And the sand.  And the mud.  I got wet.  I wasn’t that thrilled about the campfire either.  Hmmmm…..maybe camping in the back yard isn’t all that bad!

Anyway…I guess that’s all for now from your friend Katie – camper extraordinaire.

Kind of.

Don't like sand in my fur mama!

Don’t like sand in my fur mama!

 

 

 


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Norwood’s star

Norwood's star reminds us how wonderful the world is.

Norwood’s star reminds us how wonderful the world is.

Katie here.

You remember when I told you about Norwood last March?  He and his mom Debi used to go out every day for a run or a walk and they shared it with all of us.  Norwood was a very cool dog who had to go to the Rainbow Bridge unexpectedly and way too soon.  Mama always called him “Dude” cause he was so cool.

Photo of Dude by Debi his mom.

Photo of Dude by Debi his mom.

Well anyway, Norwood is now a bright star way up in the sky.  His mom made a lot of his friends their own stars and asked us to put them up near our favorite trails, cause he loved to run with his mom on trails through the woods and parks.  We got our star in the mail a couple of weeks ago.  It’s been sitting on the counter where mama looked at it every day, deciding where it should be hung.

I said it was a no brainer mama!  It has to go in my park!

So Wednesday we went over to my park to have a private memorial for Norwood.  Just my mama and me.  Mama told me I couldn’t call him Dude that afternoon, cause I needed to be respectful.  So I called him Mr. Dude instead.

We found a perfect spot, in a grove of cottonwood trees, where the gentle wind in the leaves makes a soothing sound, almost like waves on a beach.  We tucked it back into the trees a little bit, so Mr. Dude will have shade but still be able to watch the people and dogs that pass by on their walks.

 

Do you see Mr. N's star above me?

Do you see Mr. Dude’s star above me?

There was a little breeze and Mr. Dude’s star rocked gently.  Sometimes the sun would make it glow, sometimes it hid among the leaves.

We stood quiet a little bit and sent a prayer up to Mr. Dude to watch over his mom and the new puppy Seager.  Then Mama arranged for some songbirds to do a musical number and we walked slowly back toward the car.

Mama let me sniff as much as I wanted, no hurry she said.  And then a beautiful Monarch butterfly flew by and fluttered for a little bit right in front of mama’s face.  She says she thinks Mr. Dude sent it to say thank you.  You’re welcome Mr. Dude!   Sure was pretty.  And then the best thing of all!  A flock of ceder waxwings flew in formation right overhead!  Mama said that Mr. Dude had a perfect ending to his memorial — his very own fly over!

All in all it was a beautiful memorial to our friend Norwood.  Thanks to his mom for sending us the star.  People are putting their NorStars up in parks across the country.  If you see one on any of your adventures think of Mr. Dude.

Norwood–the dog that touched hearts around the world.  And made us all smile.

For you Mr. N

For you Mr. Dude!

 

 


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WordPress Photo Challenge: On the Way

If you’ve ever taken a train across a state or a country you know you’ll see a lot of small towns on the way.  Specifically you get to see the backs of a lot of small towns.

Imported Photos 01090

And that’s what I thought of immediately when I read the WordPress Photo challenge for this week which tasked us to find a photo of something ‘on the way.’  So here’s the back of my own small town.  You’ll have to imagine that I’m on a train.

You can see all the interpretations at the original post.  Or see a few of my favorites, here, here and here.

And this one made me go ‘oooooooh!”

Take a moment and go enjoy their work, leave a comment or two here and there to let them know you enjoyed their choices.  One of the best things (other than going out on the hunt) is seeing photos from all over the world, seeing things you’d never get to see without everyone’s contribution.

What do you notice on your way to somewhere else?


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Assault on safety

Most of you know that my dad was killed by a tired trucker in 2004, and that since then I’ve been working with the Truck Safety Coalition trying to make changes in the interest of safety.

Today there was a semi and tourist bus crash in Pennsylvania.  At least 3 people on the bus are dead and more are injured, some critically.  I usually like to reserve judgement until we know the cause, but photos seem to indicate the semi crossed the median and the tour bus struck the trailer of the semi in the center, breaking it in two.  There are photos showing the dark gash through the median, the front of the bus buried inside what’s left of the semi trailer.

Multiple dead, multiple injured.  People who were here from Italy just enjoying the sights on a beautiful day.  And on this same beautiful day I received an urgent message from Truck Safety to call my House Representative because the trucking industry is leading a full assault on safety in the latest appropriations bill.

Among other things they want to take away funding for a study that will determine whether the current minimum liability insurance commercial carriers are required to carry should be increased.  The minimum amount of insurance is $750,000.  That hasn’t been raised or reviewed in over 35 years.

Think about medical expenses which have skyrocketed in the past 35 years.  Then consider there hasn’t even been a cost of living increase.

Think, too, about multiple people injured in a crash who need intensive medical attention.  Did you know all claims from a crash are paid from the total available liability insurance?  So if the company has the minimum $750,000 of insurance, and there are, for example, four injuries or any other claims for that matter, they all split the total.  The minimum won’t be nearly enough, and expenses over and above have to be covered by the families.  And when the families run out of money taxpayers pick up the rest in the form of medicaid.

The trucking industry would rather all of us shoulder the cost of crashes caused by their race for profits.

So on this beautiful day people were killed and injured through no fault of their own.  And at the same time Congress is getting ready to pass a bill that will gut our ability to even get the minimum insurance requirements studied.  The trucking industry appears to be in charge of our Representatives.

But there’s an amendment that will negate the part of the bill which would defund the minimum insurance study.  It’s called the Cartwright Amendment, and it will be voted on very soon, perhaps tonight, perhaps tomorrow.  Possibly Friday.

Here’s how you can help.

Call or email your House Representative.  You can find out who it is by going to this site and putting in your zip code.     Tell your Member of Congress to vote for the Cartwright Amendment which will remove the provision to defund rulemaking on minimum insurance in the THUD Appropriations Bill.  Tell them that minimum insurance that hasn’t been increased or even reviewed in 35 years is not acceptable.  Tell them that anti-safe trucking measures don’t belong in an appropriations bill.

Tell them you care about safety on our roads.  That you believe they should stand up for safety rather than profits.

You can make a difference.

Thank you.

Special Dad

Special Dad


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Tracy Morgan -the reality

Tracy Morgan gave his first interview since the devastating crash a year ago that injured him and killed his friend James McNair.  If you watch the interview you’ll see he’s still struggling, both physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The Walmart truck that hit the limo Morgan and others were in was speeding and the driver may not have had enough sleep.  Their limo was hit from behind, much like the crash that killed Dad.  Walmart, says Morgan, takes full responsibility and their CEO is meeting with Tracy later this week to apologize in person.

That seemed to please Morgan and his attorney.

Yes Walmart owes Morgan and his family that apology and whatever financial support they’ve agreed to provide.  But maybe Morgan doesn’t realize they owe him and all the rest of us even more.

Morgan should be asking them what they’re going to do going forward to make sure crashes like this one don’t happen again.  An apology is nice.  Working to fix the problem would honor McNair’s memory.  Working to fix the problem of tired, distracted, and stressed commercial drivers would make the apology sincere and meaningful.

Morgan is struggling a year after the crash and I don’t have to tell many of you that he’s got a long road ahead of him.  So many families are living a similar lives after similar crashes.  He says he doesn’t know how he can be funny again.  We could all tell him that someday he will laugh unexpectedly and then feel guilty about it.  That time will bring back the funny, but no amount of time will bring back his friend.

I hope someday, when he’s ready, he’ll join us at Truck Safety in our fight to make roads safer for everyone, in honor of his friend’s memory.

And I sincerely hope that when he meets with the CEO of Walmart this week he asks what has been done since the crash to make the roads safer, and what their plans are for the future.

Because an apology is not enough.

 

 

 


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Katie’s Day 1

Katie here.

Well.

By now you all know that my mama retired.  Whatever that means.  It doesn’t seem to be about me so I’m not all that interested.  But today I’m starting to figure out that life as I knew it is over!

This is my house and I make the rules. Don't I?

This is my house and I make the rules. Don’t I?

First of all, mama was home all weekend, which is a little strange cause she usually goes to work at least some of the time.  That’s my favorite time to nap and get ready for an adventure.  When she gets home from work on the weekends we almost always go somewhere fun and she lets me sniff and sniff and sniff while she walks around sighing and daydreaming and stuff.

But this weekend was all rainy and we didn’t do anything exciting.  Mostly she napped on the sofa.  I bugged her a lot to try to get her to play but she was in some sort of coma, you know?

Anyway…today is Monday and she’s supposed to get up early, so I did my usual…and got her out of bed at 4:40 a.m.  She did not seem pleased.  But you know what she did?  She just went out to the sofa and went back to sleep!  Huh!  So I went to sleep for awhile too.  Then I woke her up again and she told me to go lay down.  So I did though I was confused.  This went on for some time till finally she got up and took me out and then we went back to sleep again!

And then she didn’t go to work!!  She just hung around all morning!  What’s with that?  I am missing my princess nap! How am I supposed to keep up my princess looks without my late morning nap?

And then she took me outside and she started weeding!

Yep that's supposed to be a garden back there.

Yep that’s supposed to be a garden back there.

Well!  I LOVE weeding cause I get to be outside a long time with my mama and I get to bark at all the cars that go by, and the jogger, and my neighbor, and a truck, and a duck, and a rabbit, and my neighbor again.

After awhile my mama said I needed to go inside.  But then she bagged up the garbage…so I just had to bark some more!  Geeze mama, if you want me to be quiet you’ve got to sit down woman!

So anyway, I think my mama’s new full time job is weeding.  She says we’re going to go outside every single morning and work on the gardens.  Or she might just mow over the top of them.  We’ll see.

I’m undecided if this retirement thingy is good for me.  So far I haven’t seen any adventures come out of it; mostly I’ve just gotten yelled at for barking too much.  I kinda liked it when she went to work, but I guess I’ll adjust.  Maybe tomorrow morning I’ll wait till 5:15 to get her out of bed.

You think she’ll like that better?

Kisses mama!

Love, your gal Katie.


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Day one

 

May 29, 2015. Last day.

May 29, 2015. Last day.

Yesterday was a long and short day – the last day of work.  I’m almost afraid to say it, afraid of jinxing it.   But it was the last day of work…

…forever.

People kept expecting me to be more excited than I appeared to be.  Mostly I was carefully maneuvering through a lot of goodbyes, a lot of memories, a lot of great potluck food.  Everyone else seemed more intensely excited about the event than I felt.

Mostly I just wanted the day to be done.

I don’t understand it myself.  I should be happy in the New Years blowing noisemakers, wearing a silly hat, kissing strangers, reveling in confetti kind of way.  But I felt more like the happy made it to the top of the mountain at sunrise on a solitary bike ride kind of way.

You know?

They made me a beautiful, cute card that made me laugh out loud.  And they brought in food — breakfast and lunch!  And lots of people stopped by, some people that I didn’t even know that well, to say goodbye and good luck.  Shining in the eyes of  many were their own hopes and dreams of retirement.  Some people talked about their plans, some merely smiled and hugged wistfully.

This seems interesting mama

This seems interesting mama

I am so lucky.  And I know it.  There’s just a small slice of life when  we’re young enough to plan and execute adventures, but old enough to appreciate that we get to do them.

For me that’s now.

Today is day 1 of retirement.  A college friend called me last night to offer congratulations.  She says we’re too young to be retiring, it was only last week that we all lived together in the dorm.  Wasn’t it?  She asked me what I was going to do today, day 1.  I responded that I had no idea.

And that’s the beauty of it.

 

Last day wearing the badge

Last day wearing the badge

 


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Retirement practice day

Suddenly the number of days in my countdown to retirement is one; tomorrow is my last day of work.  It has been forever and just an instant all at the same time.

People ask me how I feel about retiring.  Isn’t it exciting?  What will I do with all that time?  I understand.  They’ve all been dreaming, just like me, maybe just like you, about that day when they too will walk away.  Maybe they’ve imagined the moment for years and yet it seems unimaginable.  Far away.  Unattainable.  I know how that feels, and I have to say I don’t really know how to respond.  It hasn’t sunk in yet.  Perhaps it will next Monday morning, but if today is any indication, probably not.

You see, I have today off.  I know, it’s weird, but I do.

So last night I could have stayed up as late as I wanted to but I fell asleep shortly after 8.  I could have slept the dreamless sleep of a newborn, but I tossed and turned and got up with Katie at 2 a.m. unable to sleep.  I worked on the blog, trying to fix the Goodreads widget that broke several months ago.  I spent an hour, long after Katie had gone back to bed, tinkering and only managed to get it back on the blog sort of twice with a bunch of HTML showing.  It looks like it’s in the admin sidebar twice and I can’t figure out how to delete the wrong one.  I hate this stuff.  I went back to bed at 3 a.m. defeated.

Which would mean Katie and I slept in.  Right?  Of course not right.  She was up at 5:30 exactly like any other day.  So we got up.  I did some dishes, put away some stuff from last night, read some blogs, took a shower.  Watched the news.  Noticed it was only 6:30 a.m.  Hmmm.  Puttered around a bit more then went up to the mall to walk.  I figured I could walk awhile, then look for some shorts that I can fit into when the stores open.  Buying new shorts sounds oh so much more sensible than losing the weight in order to fit into last years shorts.

I got to the mall at 8, thinking that it opened for shopping at 9 and I’d walk for an hour, find some shorts, then go to the post office to buy stamps as I knew that didn’t open until 10, and then on to the library to return a book, because the library doesn’t open till 10 either.  And guess what?  The mall stores don’t open at 9.  They open at 10 too!  What is with this retirement world?  Every work day for years and years I was at my desk between 7:30 and 8 working on the next big problem.  But the rest of the world dilly dallies around until 10?

Huh.  I’m going to have to get a new sheltie alarm, one that doesn’t go off till 8 or 9 in the morning!

I walked for awhile, around and around the mall, then got bored and went out to the car to sit and read.  By the time I went back inside the mall, shortly after 10 I was no longer motivated to find anything, so of course I didn’t.  Mostly I was tired and hot.

I gave up, went home to the local post office which turns out opens at 9.  Great.  This retired lady needs to get her facts straight.  Then on to the library which was quiet without kids, so different than being there on Saturday morning.  Lovely.  And now home to consider what to make for dinner.  And it’s barely noon.

On the whole what I’ve learned after one half day of practicing being retired is that everything is more relaxed when you don’t have to fit it into the two (or less) precious days you have free each week.  I feel less worried about wasting time, more prepared to sit and do nothing.  Sure there are huge gardens overrun with thistle, and laundry piling up, a kitchen that could use a bit of elbow grease, a dog that apparently needs entertaining, plans to make for travel, closets to sort, basement and garage to organize.

But I have time.

And that, essentially, is what I’m going to do with myself after tomorrow.  I’m going to enjoy having time.  I’ll try not to make those of you still working too jealous.

But I can’t promise.  Cause it’s going to be good!

Wanna play Mama?

Wanna play Mama?