Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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Photo scavenger hunt

Karma, over on her blog has challenged people everywhere to a photo scavenger hunt.  I learned about it late while visiting Gerry over at her blog and though it sounded like fun I wasn’t going to do it because I didn’t think I had the time.  Plus I was intimidated by the list of things we needed to photograph:

Body of water

Train

Hood

Sprout

Bud

Basket

Bunny

…and for extra credit a clear picture of a cardinal!

Where would I find a train to photograph?  I thought about going to the zoo which I knew had a miniature train.  But that would take all day and I don’t have all day…and who knew if the train was even running so early in the season?

In the end I decided to go for it and just see how many of these things I could find in a couple of hours around here.  Want to see?  Well follow me!

Body of water:  As I was driving I thought about all the hundreds of photos I have of the Great Lakes, the ponds near here, the lake in Alabama where our summer house is.  Lots of beautiful water.  But today I was feeling more quirky and when I saw this body of water out of the corner of my eye I turned around and went back.

I liked how the sign reflected in the big puddle on this dirt road.  While I was taking photos of the mud I was startled by the sound of footsteps coming up behind me.  Turns out it was a guy that owned a business across the street.  He thought I was some sort of surveyor and wanted to know what the plans were for the land.  I have no idea, but we talked about cameras and photography for quite awhile until he had a customer and headed back to work.

Train:.  Well this one is not so easy, and the photo challenge that was the most intimidating.  But I remembered a train yard that I sometimes pass on my way to work.  I figured on a Saturday morning I might be able to get a photo before anyone told me to leave. So I stopped by, crawled through some brush and hopped over some mud filled ditches.  And there were pieces of trains!

I have to say it was a bit creepy in the train yard and I didn’t go far into it or stay more than a minute or two.

Hood:  I really wanted to find some kid on the streets of the city to photograph…but that was way too scary.  So I settled for me.

Scary enough anyway.

Sprout:  I was planning on scouting out the yard as there are lots of things sprouting in the garden.  But when I got back to the house lunch time was looming and I got motivated by this instead:

It was yummy.

Bud:  Driving through town I noticed that one of my favorite stands to buy annuals was open.  There were lots of buds there, colorful buds, pinks and reds and purples.  But I liked the color of this one.

Basket:  I saw a pretty Easter basket in a store but I had the big camera with me and felt sort of goofy taking a picture right there in the aisle.  And I figured I must have some sort of basket at home.  Of course I did, so I dug it out of the back of a cabinet where it had been long forgotten.  Look how nice the light bounces off it’s woven side.

I think it’s much prettier than the gaudy Easter baskets I was almost sucked into shooting.

Bunny:  Well this is a story.  My husband and I have a tradition of giving each other chocolate Easter bunnies each year.  So I was in a store this morning looking for one to buy him.  And of course one to photograph for this project.  I found an elegant bunny that was extravagantly expensive.  But I figured I’d get two commitments out of one bunny…the photo project and the traditional bunny to the husband thing.

But right after I left the store with my $5.00 rabbit I saw, across the street, this:

…which you have to admit is a BUNNY! Though not as elegant.  But definitely bigger!

Extra credit Cardinal:

Well….Mr. Cardinal has been illusive.  He’s been to the feeder a few times this morning, but he’s a shy one and flies off as soon as I try to get a shot.  There’s the opening of the camera, the turning it on, the setting…it’s all so much more time consuming then the point and shoot.  So you’re going to have to wait a bit for the bonus shot.  But if I ever get it, you’ll be the first to know!

 

 

 

 


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Coming clean

It rained last night.  A lot.  Sometimes there was thunder which is something that always gets little Katie going.  Where Bonnie (the sister sheltie Katie never met) would tremble and cry, then curl up in the smallest possible ball and wait a storm out, Katie takes it on.   She squares her shoulders, plants her feet and barks hysterically at the ceiling or the window, wherever she feels the danger might be coming from because she’s got a family to protect!  Nobody in this family got a lot of sleep last night.

This morning Katie and I did a bit of walking around the yard.  We got completely drenched.  Katie’s fur does the prettiest thing when it gets wet.  It gets curly! (click on the picture to make it bigger so you can see her curly fur!)  This is the closest she wants to get to a bath!

But what I really wanted to talk about was a different kind of ‘coming clean.’  The one where you’re honest about what’s really happening.  I need to tell you how it’s going with two commitments I’ve made; one is to do 30 minutes of exercise for 30 days, and the other is to write at least one letter a week every week from sometime in March (I can’t remember the exact date) until Memorial Day.

I’m happy to say the letter writing campaign is still going, though it’s become more difficult to find people to write to as the weeks go by.  I still have some ideas though and should be able to finish this challenge.  If I get a letter out today that is.  I made Wednesdays my letter writing days…but recently it’s suddenly been Saturday and I realize I have to write to someone RIGHT NOW!  Still it’s been fun.  And I’ve been using some lovely cards that Bree at “Wipe Your Paws” made for me.  They are one of a kind and I’m sure people love to receive them!

The 30 minutes for 30 days commitment?  Not going as well.  For the first 10 days I managed to get myself outside to walk at lunch or weekend mornings.  Then the world seemed to get in the way.  Horrible weather, crazy work days, lack of motivation seemed to overwhelm me.  I missed one day, and committed to adding an additional day on the back of the 30 days.  Then I missed another day.  I tell myself there are no excuses.

Now I’m working on convincing myself that a day lost should not sink the entire program.  Just like a diet, when you fall off the wagon the worst thing you can do is give up completely.  So maybe I need to make that goal a bit smaller, so that I can achieve something and not beat myself up so much.  I remind myself that in dog training we set tasks simple enough so that the dog can be rewarded.  We try not to set the dog up to fail.  That positive reinforcement works better than negative talking.  What works for my dog should work for me, right?

So I need to figure out a way to get myself into the habit of daily exercise with smaller, baby step tasks, so that I gradually make exercise a priority in my sometimes hectic life.  Any suggestions?  I welcome all ideas!

Meanwhile, soggy Katie and I are going to make time for an adventure this Easter weekend.  We hope all of you  have time for adventures too!

 


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Seize the moment

Long time apartment neighbors of Aunt Vi, Clarence and his wife were both 100 years old when I first met them last year.  Sadly, she  tripped over a curb while out doing errands several months ago and died after hip surgery.  Clarence, lost because they’d been married for more than 70 years, muddled along without her, but it became clear that he needed the additional help that living in assisted living would provide.

He moved into a lovely place three weeks ago, and Aunt V and I visited with him last week.  He looked great, and though he couldn’t hear worth a darn, even with the hearing aids in both ears, he enjoyed the company.  What man wouldn’t?  There he was with Aunt Vi, me, another woman from the apartment building and his niece.  One grinning guy surrounded by ladies.

We sat in the sunroom, with spring poking it’s shining face in the windows.  The ladies talked among themselves, then would poke Clarence and say “Tell Dawn that story about…” and after much yelling back and forth until he was sure which story they wanted, off he’d go.  His stories were long and funny, and I’m sure the others had heard them many times, but I hadn’t and I was charmed by this slight, stooped man with the twinkling eyes, sweet grin and big hands.

I asked him what he did when he was working.  He straightened up in his chair, suddenly the proud, strong man he must have been in younger days.  “I ran a gas station,” he said.  He told me where but I couldn’t place it, so I just smiled and nodded.  He talked about being a mechanic all his days, right up until he retired, which he still felt was just yesterday.

We had a really nice visit and as Aunt Vi kissed him goodbye she told him we’d be back for another.  We left him sitting in the sunny room, smiling and waving.  We were smiling too.

That’s the way I’m going to remember Clarence.  He died yesterday and I am as shocked as I would be if he were eighteen.    I just wasn’t ready, I’d had no warning.  And heck, I’m not even a relative and probably talked to him a total of 3 or 4 over the past year.  But still.

Clarence was a very cool man.  I’m sorry I didn’t get to know him better.  But I’m really glad we went to visit him last week and I got to hear his stories, laugh with him, shake his hand.

True loves just can’t be separated.  Clarence and his wife are together again.  And tonight we’ll be with Aunt Vi who clearly needs a hug.


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A walk in the Arb

 

Last night I was in Ann Arbor watching the University of Michigan’s Brigadoon with my Aunt.  This morning, before driving back to home I took myself for a walk in the arboretum, a park on the banks of the Huron River.

As I got out of the car I was met by these two.  They were welcoming me to the park.

I was looking for spring, and there were a few signs.

I was out early, and the park was full of animals and birds, but no other people.  I saw a little red squirrel chasing a bigger brown squirrel, and above them was a red tailed hawk just squawking away.  Then I heard footsteps behind me; a little herd of deer was passing me on the hill, coming up from the river.  They looked at me, I looked at them, and I think we all smiled, it was such a beautiful morning even though the sky was heavy with clouds and the threat of rain.

I moved along, looking for more signs of spring.  If you looked closely you could see quite a bit of green.

And I was thinking of Diana when I took this photo; it reminded me of snakes.

Eventually I got back to the memorial to my parents that sits near the canoe landing.

Even though it’s been there a few years now it still makes my heart beat faster when I first see it.  I wish they were walking in the Arb with me, but I guess in a sense they are.

This is the canoe landing near their stone.  Pretty, ey?

Nearby was a downed ash tree, with the pretty but fatal marks of the ash borer that killed it.

And another friendly goose.  My Mom always liked the Canadian geese that visited her dock down in Alabama.

Then I looked just down the river and saw this graffiti on the train trestle.

It seemed fitting.  So I did.


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How Katie got her name

Riley, over at his blog has a contest going where we’re to tell the story about how our dogs got their names and we’re almost late with our entry!  Katie says I should get in gear and tell her story…tell how she became our Katie.

It’s not that exciting a story…but it does go to show you how the best laid plans of …well…dog owners…sometimes just go by the wayside.

When our sheltie-girl Bonnie died at age 15 we were heartbroken and we decided to take a break from owning a dog to let our hearts heal.  We lasted 2 months.    I’d been in touch with a small breeder but had told her we weren’t ready for a new puppy yet.  Then she emailed me and said she had a youngster she’d been keeping to see how she grew, intending to use her for a show dog, but that she had to find a home for her now.   The little girl was four months old.  And we were ready.

The day before we were going to go meet the newbie I made a list of all the possible names.  You know, names like Maddie and Maggie, Gracie and Gidget, Phoebe and Penny.  Girlie names.  I had maybe twenty choices and I left the list out on the counter for my husband when I left for the day.  I knew the breeder had named her Izzy and I liked that name too.

When I got home from work my husband said he wanted to name her Kate, after a dog he had when he was growing up.  Kate sounded like a nice Scottish name, appropriate for a Shetland Sheepdog, so I agreed.

When we went to “meet” her (as if there was any doubt we’d be bringing her home!) she hid behind a big chair and wouldn’t come to us.  The breeder was also a day care and the place was full of toddlers whose hands and highchair trays were full of hot dogs that Katie was more interested in than us.  Plus we’re pretty sure she wasn’t used to being around people very much, that she lived outside in the kennels.  Knowing her as I do now, the whole “meet the folks” thing was probably pretty traumatic.

The breeder watched with some worry on her face as we tried to coax Izzy to us without much luck.  I sat in the big chair and we waited quietly for her to come to us.  The breeder went into another room to get paperwork and I let my hand dangle down.  Izzy came to sniff and she let me pick her up!

When the breeder came back we were cuddling and all was right with the world.  The breeder was relieved.  We were in love.  Katie slept, upside down, in a crate in the back all the way home.  And she never cried once.

In retrospect Izzy might have been the perfect name, as it rhymes with dizzy, which she certainly is.  But now she’s our strong Katie-girl, all tough bravado and bark, and I can picture her on a cold, hard Shetland Island taking charge of the thunder and lightening just like she does here at home.  Except here she gets her own pillow (and often ours too) to retreat to when things get a bit overwhelming.

So she’s our Katie.  Named after a childhood pet, but very much her own personality.


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If it's Monday it must be obedience

So we went to week 8 of novice obedience school tonight.  Katie is much more comfortable in class now, as long as those other dogs and all those other people don’t get too close.  She’ll even stand for exam and let strangers touch her as long as I’m at the other end of the leash.

She was perfect on her sits and downs tonight.  We had a substitute teacher who did lots of distracting things.

 

Like putting a piece of cheese on the floor in front of each dog.  I  knew we were safe there as Katie won’t take treats from anyone but me.  Still, I was proud of her for not moving or even looking at it.  She was staring at me because “The lady was sort of close Mom!”

And on the long downs the lady walked back and forth in front of the dogs squeaking toys and throwing them around.  She walked behind dogs too, which I knew would totally freak Katie out…but the good news is that Katie had scooted back so far there wasn’t any room for the lady to walk behind her…so she sat still as a mouse while the lady marched back and forth in front of her.  Katie never took her eyes off of me.  I guess she knows she’s safe as long as she can see me.  That might be a problem if we ever progress past novice and I have to leave the room during the sits and downs.  But for now as long as we concentrate on each other we’re cool.

I think.

 


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The 5K

This afternoon I participated in a 5K.  I was physically alone, but spiritually with several other people across blog-land.  I first read about a 5K happening at noon on Sunday April 10 over at Gerry’s Torch Lake Views.  I think Robin participated in the 5K too.  A bit later Gerry decided to name her portion of the walk the Don Gould Memorial 5K.  I never met Don, but he seems like he was a great guy.  So on my 5K walk, miles away from the shores of Lake Michigan where Gerry walked, I thought about him, and lots of other great people I’ve known.

Soon enough though I got caught up in my surroundings.  We don’t have a lot of spring color here yet.  In fact things are pretty much the color of mud.

But it was warmer than we’ve had since last summer, and mud isn’t snow.  There were lots of sounds coming from the swamps.  Really loud sounds of peepers and blackbirds.  Funny how you can tell there are a lot of peepers only a few feet from you but you can’t see them!

I had a lovely walk through farmland and woods.

And I found a little bit of color near the end of someone’s driveway.

I’ve long given up on growing crocus in my yard.  Between chipmunks, squirrels and deer they never survive.  But it was nice to see some on my walk.

I think I went a little longer than 5K, along what used to be my favorite route when I was a runner.  I remembered where the mile markers were, but I wasn’t wearing a watch so I don’t know if I was fast or slow.  I suspect slow, but it really doesn’t matter.

What matters is that I was out on a walk, thinking about people and things and enjoying being out in the fresh air…and even out in the mud.  I think this is as good a time as any to start doing the 30 minutes of exercise every day for 30 days.  I think it’s on my 101 things to do.  So here I go…30 days…30 minutes a day.  Starting now.

Wish me luck!  And thanks Gerry, for motivating me to get out there and do more than my usual mile. I hope you had a wonderful 5K as well.

Even if you DID get rained on.