Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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Photo Challenge: On the Move

This week’s WordPress photo challenge is “on the move.”  I immediately thought of the metro system in Washington DC, the long escalators down to the train platforms, the swish of wind just before the train arrives, the lights glowing then speeding away.  But I’ve shown you all of that.  And I thought about going down to Detroit and showing you the People Mover, Detroit’s version of mass transit, and some day I will.

But for this challenge I went a bit more natural, and headed out to my favorite park – a place I used to run every weekend when I was training for an event, and a place that still holds my heart.  It was a beautiful day and I have so much to show you, but for this, a photo challenge, I’m choosing just one.

 

Moving through green hills.

Moving through green hills.

I sat in cool tall grass high on a hill and watched the runners bikers and walkers as they made their way around the base of the hill through a beautiful meadow.  I could have sat there for hours.  In fact I did.

You can see some favorite on the move entries from others here, here, and here.  These challenges are so much fun for me, especially when I get to go on little photo adventures to find something new.  You should try it for yourself.  You never know what you’ll find until you go out looking.

And soon, I promise you, I’ll show you what else I found at the park.

It was wonderful.

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Katie’s perfect day

Hi there everybody!

Hi there everybody!

Katie here.  Bet you’ve missed hearing from me haven’t you!  Sometimes my mama forgets I’m a princess and need to talk to my subjects regularly.  She’s sort of ditsy like that you know.

So anyway.  I got her up this morning at 6 a.m.  I tried to get her up at 5:30 but she told me to go away.  So I did for a few minutes.  I can be patient if I have to, but not forever, you know?  So after we were up she started getting stuff done, like she made humming bird food, and she cooked some chicken (and no I didn’t get any) and she did some laundry and she went to the grocery store and then we went out front where I supervised her while she started spring weeding.

Mama filled this cart up with weeds.

Mama filled this cart up with weeds.

Mama says she really appreciates me getting her up so early because otherwise she’d never have gotten all that done before lunch!  I figure if I get her up about 4:00 tomorrow morning she’ll be even more appreciative.

And then you know what she did in order to say thank you to me?  Yes indeed, I bet you know already!

This is my park.

This is my park.

She took me to my favorite park!  Of course I had to sit around and get my photograph taken in all the yellow flowers.  We do this every single year.  Except for last year.  Last year mama got to the park a little late and all the yellow flowers were puffy things that made me sneeze.  She says this year she’s trying to be more organized.

We had such a great time at the park!  The weather was beautiful and no one else was out there!  We walked all the way around, and I even stood on this stupid bench for her so you could see the little lake in the background.  I’m cute aren’t I.  I practice being cute all the time when they aren’t looking.

See how pretty it is here?

See how pretty it is here?

Then we got home and mama made me stay inside while she and daddy went out and did lots more weeding.  I wanted to stay inside anyway to rest my eyes you know, after being out in the park and stuff.

It’s exhausting being perfect.

OH!  And I almost forgot!  Mama bought a new tent and I helped her put it up this evening!  I don’t think we’re sleeping in it tonight, she’s just letting it ‘air out’ whatever that means.

This goes up pretty easy with my help.

This goes up pretty easy with my help.

I think it’s pretty cool, I ran right in as soon as it was up, even though none of my camping stuff, like my blankets and my pillows, are in there yet.

Did I tell you that mama and I are going to go camping at a State Park up north sometime?  She made reservations for us, I just can’t remember when.  The calendar sort of confuses me.  I think every day should be a Saturday, don’t you?

Welcome to MY tent!

Welcome to MY tent!

So that’s the story on my perfect day.  We have a whole new day tomorrow too!  I can’t wait.  But I really need to get some sleep.   I might not be able to get mama up so early tomorrow if I don’t get to bed soon.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you out there tomorrow!  We hope you have as perfect a day as we had today!  Spend it in the sun with people you love.

That’s my plan, yes it is.  See you guys later,

Katie-girl.

Made you smile!

Made you smile!


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Approaching Mother’s Day

Marsh marigold glow

Marsh marigold glow

Earlier this week the grocery store cashier offered me a coupon for wiring flowers to my mother.  The offer shocked me, not because I’m adverse to discounts, but because I hadn’t realized Mother’s Day was coming up.  And because of course no florist will wire flowers to heaven.  I absently refused the coupon offer and walked out to the car with my groceries, thinking about flowers and Mom and the festive day coming up.

Most years of late I’ve been successful at blocking Mother’s Day out, ignoring the advertisements and the rows and rows of cards with pink envelopes.   I can be genuinely happy for coworkers excitedly  talking of brunches and gifts.  Progress.

This year I recognize even more progress as I think without pain of the flowers we used to give my Mom for Mother’s Day.  Every year we (or she, I don’t remember) picked out flats of petunias and called them our Mother’s Day gift to her.

And I remember other flowers too, the springs we dug up marsh marigolds from the swamp over in the woods and lugged them home in buckets to be planted along the lake shore at home.  I don’t really know if she wanted marsh marigolds, or us covered in mud for that matter, but she always seemed happy to see them.

And then this morning I heard a radio commercial for chocolate covered strawberries that had to be ordered by tonight in order for delivery to Mom before Sunday.  It was a long ad, filled with descriptions of juicy strawberries dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with nuts.

The commercial made the strawberries sound good, but it mostly reminded me of my Mom standing in the middle of a strawberry patch, and the way that first warm, ripe strawberry tasted right from the field.  All the dark chocolate and nuts in the world will never make that advertised strawberry taste as good as the ones we ate under the hot summer sun with Mom all those years ago.

So as we approach this Mother’s Day I think of Mom, and how happy she was with petunias and marsh marigolds and strawberries warmed in the sun.   I bet most mothers are the same.  Show up with a handful of dandelions and they’d be happy.

To all the mothers out there, Happy Mother’s Day.  And to those of you with mothers still on this earth take a moment and thank them.  A flat of petunias might be just the thing.

Miss you Mom.

Mom 1974

 

 


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WordPress photo challenge: Spring

While I still seem unable to follow the WordPress photo challenge series, I am grateful that Heather sent me this week’s challenge.  Especially because the topic is spring.  I’ve been encouraged by the signs of spring around here in the last couple of weeks.  It’s still cold though, and today the 46 degrees (7.77 C) is augmented with rainy drizzle and clouds.  It didn’t feel much like spring, but it wasn’t winter either, and after all…anything is better than this past winter, right?

So I headed out on a photographic adventure.  I just drove a bit and thought about what things make me believe that spring is finally here.  Of course the red-winged blackbird arrival signals spring, as does the goldfinch changing from olive drab to brilliant yellow.  But I’ve shown you those before, and I wanted this to be different.

I hadn’t gotten very far along the road when I saw a bit of yellow green far off among the still leafless hardwoods.  And I knew.  Spring can sneak up on a person when they’re fully involved in their lives, commuting to and from work, filling the weekends up with chores.  And then one morning as you’re driving you see a simple willow tree turning yellow green long before the rest of the trees bud out.  And there it is.  Spring.

So this morning I headed out to a local park, hoping I’d find what I was looking for; the brilliant green of hope set against the dark trunks of tall trees still hanging onto winter.

It wasn’t long until I rounded a corner and found it.

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I spent a wonderful few minutes just enjoying the quiet and the water and the green.  Then I explored deeper into the woods and found more hints of spring.

But that’s another post.

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It’s been a busy week

Have you ever had so much to talk about that you can’t find the beginning?  Can’t sort out your thoughts, put down a linear storyline?  That’s me right now.  I can’t tell if I’m so tired I can’t think straight or if there’s just so much jumbled up in my brain that it’s tangled in on itself and is stuck there.

The last blog post was a week ago and it’s not as if I haven’t done anything since.  In fact I traveled to North Carolina for a long weekend to visit family.  A family that was celebrating a wedding.

Newlyweds

Newlyweds

It was a big day for everyone, but especially for the special couple who got married at the county courthouse on a sunny, windy Friday afternoon.

I wish them a long and happy marriage filled with joy and adventure, self reflection and growth.  I know that marriage isn’t always joyful but I think if the partners always keep the other person’s happiness in mind it’s easier.

Heading to the courthouse.

Heading to the courthouse.

So my advice is to concentrate on each other.  At this time in your lives you can afford to slow down and take the time to learn about each other, to explore the world with each other and see how differently  it looks from another person’s eyes.

Mostly just enjoy the company, the feeling that someone has your back, that someone is sharing life’s experiences with you.  That’s what it’s all about.

Go forth and love.

Celebrate

Celebrate


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Greening of the park

Katie here!  Did you have a good weekend?  A wonderful Easter?  A beautiful Passover?  Mama says she’s glad she didn’t invite anyone to dinner because she just slept and slept and slept all morning!  I could hardly make her get off the sofa until later in the afternoon when my Dad went outside and started up the lawn mower.  Well.  That got me barking and Mama decided we should go to the park.  Wonder how that’s all related.

So anyway.

Guess what?  The burned up park is already green and it’s only been a week!  We had the park almost all to ourselves…guess everyone else was home eating Easter dinner.

Mama says here’s a reason we don’t go down the hill and explore the train track:

Hey Mama! What's THAT?

Hey Mama! What’s THAT?

I didn’t like it one bit when that train went by.  I barked and barked at it until it ran away.  Got to protect my Mama that’s for sure.  I’m good like that.

Get out of here train!

Get out of here train!

The rest of our walk around the park was pretty uneventful.  My Mama made me stand on this stupid log like she does every year.  But since I get cheese I don’t mind.

I'll pose for cheese.

I’ll pose for cheese.

We practiced recall too, once.  I got cheese again…and then somehow my Mama lost my treats.  So that was that.

Cheese Mama?

Cheese Mama?

No more working for me!  I did spend some quality time in the shade under a picnic table getting a drink while my Mama watched the pond.  That was nice.

Chillin in the shade

Chillin in the shade

Then we went home and I took another nap.

Yep it was another great day!

zzzzzzz...

zzzzzzz…

 

 


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WordPress photo challenge

For quite awhile I’ve been getting photo challenge prompts from WordPress on Friday afternoons.  They have been so much fun; I looked forward to them eagerly as Friday mornings went by and I’d check while I was still at work, eager to find out what the current week’s challenge would be.  Then I’d think about it on the long commute and generally by the time I made our driveway I’d have an idea.

I haven’t received a photo prompt in two weeks, and it looks like maybe there haven’t been any.  I’ve always wondered who comes up with the challenges and where they got their ideas and how long they could keep it up.  But, still, it makes me very sad to think there will be no more ideas coming.  Especially since I couldn’t find what I was looking for on the last challenge “threshold.”

I never did post the photo I thought I might use for that challenge.  It’s a stretch, but here you go.

Imported Photos 00510I think of the sky between the old building and the new building as the threshold between time.

This was on the University of Michigan campus, I was wandering around and happened to glance over my shoulder and saw the two eras standing in the bright sunshine.

So there you have it…..’threshold.’   Sort of.

I’m going to miss the photo prompts.  I hope they come back.  In the meantime if anyone has a challenge for me…well…I’m up for it.

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