Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.


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Last look at Christmas

Main street lit up

Main street lit up

Want to see a last little bit of holiday cheer?  Well come along with me as we visit Rochester Michigan, a small town that puts on a show you won’t want to miss.

Santa's on the roof!

Santa’s on the roof!

We visited Saturday night, an almost balmy evening which brought out the crowds and added to the festive feeling.

Doesn't the purple building look like it's smiling?

Doesn’t the purple building look like it’s smiling?

We walked up one side of the two long city blocks and then down the other side.

Street of color.

Street of color.

The shop windows were decorated for the holidays and each building glowed in a different color.

Window shopping.

Window shopping.

All the restaurants and coffee shops were full of happy people enjoying friends and family, good conversation, good food and good feelings.

Massive color.

Massive color.

It was magical.  Everywhere you looked people were smiling.  Little kids were giggling.  So were grownups.  No one was in a hurry.

Shades of fun.

Shades of fun.

Millions of lights were making lots of people happy.  Maybe we should do something similar in the summer.

Holiday sparkles.

Holiday sparkles.

Who says lights have to be confined to December?

Green light for fun.

Green light for fun.


10 Comments

Relief from winter

Katie here.  You know how I’ve been thinking that maybe my Mama didn’t love me anymore because she’s never around much?  Well I was wrong!  HA!  Mama took me to the park today!  It’s been  forever since I’ve been at my favorite park and today Mama said that since it was so warm – 44 F (6.66 C) – and there was sunshine too that we just had to take advantage of the break from winter cold and go for a walk!  WOW!  Did she say GO FOR A WALK?   I’m ready Mama!  (Mama says click on any picture to see more detail.)

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So off we went.  I just love this park.  And because it’s winter it’s not even officially open.  We have to park in a different spot and walk in, but that’s OK, just means fewer doggies are there.   Mama said there had been a big dog there earlier in the day because she saw these really big paw prints in the snow.  But we didn’t see anyone while we were there.

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Sometimes Mama let me be off leash, like when we were practicing my recall.  Which, if I do say so myself, is pretty darn spectacular.

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Other times I still had the leash but Mama got busy taking pictures of other stuff and I got to wander around a bit.  In fact once when Mama was busy taking pictures of boring grass I wandered right off the path.  She told me “NO!  Katie come HERE!” and I told her that sometimes a girl just has to explore a little bit.  Geesh.

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Anyway, we had a wonderful time.  I walked almost the whole way.  It was harder to walk in the snow than on grass, and near the end I asked my Mama to pick me up.  My Daddy says I’m a wimp.  But I didn’t see him slogging around out there in the wet snow!  When we got home I told him all about our adventure.

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Then I sat on the sofa next to my Mama.  I did not go to sleep.  I was just resting my eyes.

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Oh who am I kidding.

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I needed a nap.

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25 Comments

Holiday spirit?

I’ve heard that UPS had a problem delivering many packages that had been guaranteed for arrival by Christmas.  The story was aired all day on Christmas and is still running on CNN tonight.   When I first heard heard, listening to the media hype up the horror of gifts not arriving on time, I figured it was just a slow news day.  But here it is still in the news.

My immediate thought was of the UPS drivers; those I’ve encountered have been the nicest people I’ve ever worked with.  And they work like dogs during the holiday season, so it’s not for lack of trying that some gifts didn’t make the deadline.  Frankly, if you order something within a week of the holiday and it doesn’t make it on time you should be prepared to provide a photo of the gift or a link to a website along with a letter to your intended recipient and I bet that person will be fine with the actual item showing up in a day or so.  In the big scheme of things getting a gift a day or two or even a week late doesn’t take away from the fact that someone loved you enough to send something to you.  And doesn’t everyone really believe that Christmas is about family and friends rather than how many gifts you receive?

So why is this still news?  And why are certain government officials calling for an investigation?  Sure guarantees were not met.  That happens in life more than most people realize, but the world still turns.  It’s not as if the gifts were stolen and will never be delivered.  It’s not as though anyone intentionally cheated anyone else.  It was just a combination of honest, uncontrollable events including weather and unexpected volume.

So how about we let it go.  Let’s just enjoy the time we have with family and friends, and let the gifts fall where they may.


27 Comments

Merry Christmas!

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Katie here.  My Mama is too busy cooking and stuff so she asked me to tell you all how much she appreciates your support and all your comments on her (my) blog.

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From up here in Michigan, which currently looks like a winter wonderland, we’d like to say Merry Christmas!
We hope you all have a lovely day with family or friends, or just with your fur-kids.

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My Mama and Dad are going to have a quiet dinner here at home with Mama’s Aunt and then they’re going to go visit my Dad’s Aunt.  I guess I’m not invited to go visit Aunt V, but I’ll be under the table for dinner.  Just in case someone happens to drop something — wouldn’t want it staining the floor.  Like there’s a chance of that anyway.

So Merry Christmas to everyone!

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Love, Katie. (and her Mama and Dad too.)


12 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge – – One

This week the WordPress photo challenge is  One.   We had an ice storm Saturday night and I decided to take advantage of the sadly beautiful devastation in my own backyard to show you my interpretation.  You can click on any photo to see more detail.

Many of our trees are hanging in low curves over the bird feeder.   Sunday the birds tried hanging out on ice covered twigs only a few feet from my window while waiting their turn at the feeder.  I thought this solitary finch was perfect for the concept of one.

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I thought about stopping there, but I had a plan, even before the ice storm, to hang a single holiday ornament on a tree in the yard.  I thought I’d wait until after the storm and pick a snow or ice covered spruce.  But Sunday morning I couldn’t resist using the ice on our toppled birch tree as a foil against the red.

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The ice is beautiful, but my heart aches for the loss of our lovely birch trees.  They’ve all been damaged, most will have to be cut down this spring.  I’ll have these images as memories of how beauty can be so damaging.

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19 Comments

Dreams v.s. responsibility

Imported Photos 01584I’ve been thinking a lot about how people deal with their dreams.  Not the crazy out of control dreams in living color I often tell you about on mornings after a restless night, but the kinds of dreams we all had as kids when we thought about our futures.  Believe it or not when I was a kid I wanted to grow up to be a truck driver.  Given how my family’s life was irretrievably altered by the trucking industry I think it was an ironic dream.  But that’s another blog for another day.  As a kid I imagined the open road would be romantic, free, nomadic.  Of course I knew nothing about the reality of driving big trucks cross country.  And I wasn’t interested in the reality of it;  it was the chance to see what was around the next curve that pulled me in, that still does.

Now that I’ve spent a good number of years in one spot the restless itch has come back.  Truthfully it never really left, it’s just been stuffed down under the weight of responsibility.  My folks were nothing if not responsible and all four of us were brought up to be productive, to contribute, to be self sufficient.  Yet we were brought up to be curious too and they made sure we got to see as much of this country as they could share with us.  We traveled every summer somewhere new and these days husband and I try to travel somewhere new every year still.

So why am I so restless?  It’s not as if I never get to go anywhere – you’ve come along with me on plenty of adventures – yet as soon as I’m home I’m looking for the next opportunity to get away.  I consciously work at being satisfied where I am, but half my heart is always one step out the door.  I could throw a dart at a map and find something interesting to explore at any random location.   Often I’d like to do that.  Get up in the morning and throw a dart.  And the day after that throw another dart.

So where is the balance between dreams and responsibilities?  What makes one person stick with routine, follow the rules, maintain the status quo and be happy while another person turns away from responsibility and throws that dart?  And can a dart thrower ever be happy with routine?

Can contentment with what is be learned?  Or is a dart thrower always a restless dart thrower?

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33 Comments

What’s outside your window?

I was sitting in the living room yesterday morning, watching big flakes of snow drift down, watching the birds at the feeder, feeling the heat from the fireplace warming my toes.  Realizing how lucky I was that I had this beautiful place to call home.

Let it snow...let it snow.

Let it snow…let it snow.

And it got me to wondering.  When you look out the window…what do you see?

I’m curious…can you share with me the world outside your window?

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33 Comments

Celebrate!

Katie here.  Mama says I can have one more day on her blog because….drum roll please….today is MY 7th BIRTHDAY!  

It's snowing on my birthday!

It’s snowing on my birthday!

Mine mine mine mine mine…uh..ahem.  I’ve already made my mama take me outside six times this morning.  I don’t actually do anything out there except play in the snow…

This is my backyard.  Mama got it for me.

This is my backyard. Mama got it for me.

…and look gorgeous for my mama so that she can take more pictures.  That sort of seems like I’m giving her a birthday present doesn’t it.  I’ll have to make sure she pays me back.

My closeup turned out great.

My birthday closeup turned out great.

I’m waiting for my cake now.  Funny.  I don’t smell anything baking.  I’m sure she’ll figure it out sooner or later though.  I have to give her extra time sometimes cause she’s a bit crazy, my mama.

But I love her anyway.

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me!