Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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Trent McDonald

In the world of blogging friendships are made. Some people, mostly not bloggers, don’t believe people who only know each other online can be considered friends. But I’ve been writing blog posts since 2008, and I’ve made several good friends. A few I’ve even met in person. Either way, on-line or in person, they’ve all been important to me.

Trent was one of those blog writers I’ve never met in person. But I’ve read his blog, Trent’s World, and he’s read mine, for several years. This week we learned that he died unexpectedly on October 5th. It’s a huge shock. He was only 61, will always be 61, though his 62nd birthday is today.

He ran several times a week with friends, he kayaked when he was on Cape Cod. He walked his dogs daily, and had just gotten a puppy. His beloved boxer, Fiyero, died unexpectedly on September 10th, so he was glad to have a new puppy, named Ledecky, in the house again. Though he did say puppy Ledecky was, of course, a lot of work.

Picture from Trent’s blog, Fiyero and Ledesky the new puppy.

He wrote music and books, was taking singing and drumming lessons. He played trumpet and keyboard, and probably other instruments as well. He was reading a math book for fun. Yes, a math text book.

He had retired recently and was obviously enjoying his time free from work. I wish he had had many more years to enjoy all of his hobbies, his pets, his friends and his family.

Trent was always one of the first people to comment on a new post, and he always responded when you commented on his. Last November he was the first person to donate to my Giving Thursday Facebook page, as I raised funds for the Truck Safety Coalition in honor of my dad.

Trent posted twice a week, once to talk about his week, in a “If We Were Having Coffee,” where we guessed whether he was in New Hampshire or Cape Cod, and another post to talk about a smile he had enjoyed during the week, in “The Weekly Smile.”

Trent’s last blog post was October 4th, a coffee sharing post saying he was in New Hampshire. He responded to a comment on that post early in the morning of the 5th.

Nothing about any of this prepared us to lose him, and I imagine his wife and family are having a terrible time with the shock as well.

So, even if you never read Trent’s blog, please pause for a moment and think about his friends and family. I’m sure they could all use the good thoughts. I’m hoping he is with his Fiyero now, running on a beach, perhaps along with other pets and family and friends.

And I think what we could all do in his honor is share a smile. Even if it’s not every week, let’s share the things in our lives that make us smile. Trent made us smile, let’s keep the smiles going. I think he’d like that.

The next to last sentence in his last blog post: “Anyway, that is about it, I need to be on my way.”

Now he has gone on his way, much too soon.

Rest easy, Trent. (link to his obituary) You were a good guy and we will miss your writing and singing and music and short stories and books. We’ll miss hearing about your runs and your pups. Thank you for all the support you showed us, your detailed comments, your extra input when we needed it, your donations to causes that matter to us.

We are going to miss you.


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Wordy Wordless Wednesday

I was collecting seeds from my zinnias this week, cutting spent heads, tossing them into a paper bag to dry. Slowly processing the loss of summer. Preparing for our long winter.

And then a bit of light, there at my feet, caught my eye.

The nasturium leaves, round and beautiful on their own even before the orange and yellow blossoms peek out, were glowing in the last of the day’s sun.

I stood still and thought how much I wanted to hold onto this moment, this bit of sunlight, these bright colors. How I wanted time to slow down even as, for me, it’s moving faster and faster.

I stood there watching the light on the leaves and blossoms for a few moments and then I did what every photographer does. I ran to the house for a camera.

And that’s why I take so many photographs. It’s to slow time, to help remember the thoughts and feelings of a specific moment. So that later on, when winter is getting old and we haven’t seen the sun in days, I can look at this image and remember the heat on my shoulders and the warmth in my soul.


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Only the sheltie (that’s me) knows

Penny here.

I’ve been very busy, and let me tell you, mom says it’s been a roller coaster ride. I don’t even know what a roller coaster ride is, but I’m pretty sure it’s exciting. Right? I thought so.

My park trying to scare me. It’s not going to work.

Anyway, many of you know that I’ve been training in this thing called Rally. Frankly if you ask me there’s not much to it and I don’t know why mom needs all this training. If she paid better attention we could move on to something more fun a lot sooner.

Me in my basement with all these Rally signs to figure out.

Basically, she heels around a course and there’s a lot of signs with writing and yellow arrows and red stop signs and stuff and she’s supposed to follow the signs. I go along too, just to make sure she does it right.

Sometimes she reads the signs all wrong. This is not my fault.

Mom? Can you just concentrate more?

Anyway, on Friday we went to a thing called a Trial. I guess it’s a big test to see if mom has learned anything. We were entered in two runs. Mom said she hoped we’d qualify in at least one. We need three qualifying runs to earn a title at whatever level we’re working on. Right now we’re in Intermediate. At that level mom still has to be on a leash because she isn’t reliable yet.

We’re working on it but she’s pretty unpredictable.

There sure were a lot of dogs there!

Well, Friday we had to wait hours and hours for them to get to Intermediate. No exaggeration. When it was finally my turn I was pretty tired of hanging around and I didn’t want to supervise. In the ring I didn’t want to sit when mom asked me. So I stood and stared at her for awhile while she stared back at me and asked me again. Several times. Then I s.l.o.w.l.y lowered my behind. To make my point, you know, that I was in charge.

We ended up qualifying but mom said it wasn’t pretty and the judge lady was very generous. No matter, I was happy, I even got 2nd place!

These are my ribbons. I am not sharing them with mom.

The second run was similar to the first only there was more of me staring at her, pretending I had no idea what a ‘sit’ was. A couple of times I decided not to sit at all and mom sighed and moved on. We still qualified, but had an even lower score.

Mom was just relieved we had two legs toward my title.

That was Friday. Mom and I were exhausted. Saturday we were signed up to do a ‘fun run’ at another dog training facility. This is the place I go to school, so mom figured it would be OK.

Seriously, mother?!

And even though we were both tired mom packed me up and we went there and did two more runs, during which I showed my displeasure at having been rousted from my bed to follow mom around some more. I mean, if she hasn’t got it by now, I don’t think making me work on it more is going to help, do you?

Enough is enough, mother!

THEN, Saturday evening is our normal Rally class, and mom packed me up AGAIN and we went to do what is usually a fun class. But I wasn’t having it. I refused to sit AT ALL at ANY SIGN no matter what it or mom said.

Even when she pulled up on my collar or pushed down on my behind, or both.

Today mom is worried because we’re registered in a trial this coming Friday. Mom thought the hard stuff was over because we only need one leg of the two runs we’re scheduled for, and she figured, since it is in my own school, I’d do better.

Now she doesn’t know if we should even go.

I’m not worried.

Everybody has advice and it’s all different. Mom is just tired. I’m tired too. Mom says she’s going to work on repairing our relationship cause I was pretty mad at her during class last night. She says we’re not going to train this week, we’re just going to hang out together so that I remember I love her. And she loves me.

I’ll think about it.

Don’t tell her, but as she was typing this I got up off the sofa where I had been napping and came and went back to sleep on top of her foot. That’s because I already know I love her and she loves me. But I’ll let her be nice to me this week. It’s important that mom thinks she’s in charge.

As for what I’ll do next Friday? That’s the mystery, isn’t it.


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Dawn’s beachy Walktober

While I was cat sitting in northern Michigan I considered where to take you on the annual Walktober. I didn’t want to waste the fact that I was in northern Michigan, and you can’t get a better location for a Walktober than that.

Lake Michigan was pulling at me to take you on a beach walk. But many years ago I did exactly that, and if I can find it I’ll add the link to that post here. (You really should go look at it, it was an entirely different sort of day!)

I didn’t want to repeat myself. You might be bored with another walk along the same beach.

Of course back than I and the friend who lives here had wandered north. I could always take you south this year. As I stared at the lake on a warm Saturay morning that seemed like the perfect solution.

Until I got down to the dune above the lake.

A wedding was happening just to the south of me. Sure, I could walk past it. I mean people were actually swimming at the public beach right there. But I didn’t want to infringe on their moment. So I turned north.

After all, that last beachy Walktober was a long time ago. And every beach walk is different, right?

So off I went toward that point just up the way a bit.

I was immediately drawn to a footprint in the damp sand. I thought about how transient our footsteps are. How fleeting our whole lives are.

The waves were already lapping at the footprint, ready to erase it forever. I spent a long time photographing that footprint, wondering who had been there just before me.

There were plenty of other pretty things to photograph along the way. It must have rained the night before, or maybe even just before I left the house.

There were soft little sandy divots everywhere. It looked and felt something like a moon landscape.

It was a beautiful day, the sun was out, the cloudless sky was a deep blue. And on the beach were other signs of beings who had gotten outside to enjoy the day long before I had.

I wondered what kind of little animal had scurried across the beach that morning. And then I wondered what made it decide to go in a different direction.

I kept going straight, along the shore, noticing the way the light bounced off the water…

…and off a railing creating modern art on the beach.

Resting kayaks were waiting for another trip out on the lake this season, and I imagined them glad of the warm fall day, just like I was.

Chairs were waiting patiently for their people to rest and watch another sunset.

But mostly I was watching the water and the sand in front of me as I approached my destination, the point.

The lapping waves, sliding over the sand was making the most beautiful art.

And it had left behind sadly beautiful artifacts too.

And of course there were those footprints, always a step ahead of me, combining with the sand art, moving steadily forward.

As in life, once you reach your destination point you always see another point in the distance. Maybe instead of turning around I should head toward that new point, way up there.

There was bound to be more to see.

But as I got closer to that far away point I noticed someone playing with her dog.

And I thought maybe it was best to leave them be, just as I had let the wedding be. Bookmarked by a dog’s play and a wedding day, I was happy with what I had seen on my Walktober. I hope you enjoyed it too.

Oh…and the footprints… those I had been following on my slow walk north?

The owner of the prints came back toward me and we exchanged pleasantries about what a beautiful day it was and then she continued on her walk heading south toward home.

And I did the same.

There’s still time for you to get a walk in, post about it and link it to the Official Walktober post. I’ll gather them all up and do a recap post in early November. We can’t wait to see where you’ve been!


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Cats in Northport and other tales

I spent a week at the beginning of October in Northport Michigan. It was an idyllic week, filled with brilliant blue skies, warm temperatures, aqua water and cats.

On the way, this was the most color I saw all week.

I was there to hang out with a couple of mischievous cats that belong to friends of mine who were taking some time to travel. They were off having fun and I was having fun in their space and with their cats.

A moment of peace before the crazy.

The cats, a boy and a girl, were adorable and I have more pictures of them than the beautiful place I was living.

You’re not looking at me…are you?

I can tell you that cats are as hard to photograph as birds. You see a great image, grab your phone and by then they have moved. Multiple times.

Don’t bother me, I’m hunting.

The best and easiest time to photograph cats is when they’re asleep.

Snoring next to my buddy.

Which, if I’m honest, they did almost as much as they caused mischief.

I like to match my backdrop.

Aside from the cats I also got to enjoy the beautiful area.

Though I didn’t go on long nature walks this trip, I did wander around the village of Northport, looking for color.

Above the road on the way into downtown.

After all, this could be my Walktober, showing you the cute little town of Northport is, right?

Color, color everywhere.

There were plenty of flowers still blooming. I was particularly smitten with these California poppies, blooming away on a corner.

Hanging on into fall.

And the asters were beautiful as well. Purple and pink, blooming in front of storefronts.

Seasonal color.

Though the downtown itself is only a few blocks long I found plenty of interesting stuff to photograph.

Unsure why a skunk, but he demanded to be photographed.

It’s a tiny town, but it’s also a close knit community.

If I liked beer I would have stopped in.

I think it’s probably a town where everybody pretty much knows everybody else. I didn’t talk to anyone during my visit, I just wandered and took pictures.

Not open the day I was wandering or I definitely would have stopped in.

It was so warm it felt like a lovely summer afternoon. There were lots of people out and about, waiting in line for pizza, sitting at outdoor dining areas of restaurants.

Come sit for a minute and enjoy the October sun.

While I got images of most of the village, I know that I missed at least an entire block, as well as the marina. Of course that just gives me an excuse to go back up for another visit soon!

Come on up and sit for awhile!

I hope you enjoyed our short walk through Northport.

When I left, very early on a Tuesday morning (in order to get home in time to attend band rehearsal) it was still dark.

I was taken by the glowing orbs in the trees as I entered town.

I loved the reflections in the puddle.

And then I walked around the darkened streets and caught a few more images of Northport asleep.

Resting before the next round of customers.

I liked doing that as much as I had enjoyed my daylight walk.

Only the witch, the full moon and I were out and about that morning.

I hope you did too.

So..was this my Walktober? I don’t know. There’s another one to show you, but I don’t have the photos ready to go yet. We’ll see.

Meanwhile you still have a couple weeks to do your very own Walktober. Take a walk, a drive, a ride, a hop, skip or jog. Take a photo or two or three, write a post and link it to the official Walktober post (see link above) and I’ll put them all together in one place in early November.

Let’s see what you’ve been up to!

The cats want to know.

Whatcha been doing, people?


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OH NO!

I’ve been junco’d! I say that every year.

When I see the first junco my heart drops but it also fills. Which seems a thought at odds with itself, doesn’t it?

Dark eyed juncos are only here for the winter months. And they are the first harbingers of winter, so my heart drops. But they are also adorable little round birds, and they will hop around under the feeders all winter, delighting us with their antics. So my heart fills that they’ve chosen my yard again.

No matter that the red winged blackbirds, the sign of spring and summer, are still here eating me out of house and black oiler seed before their trips south. No matter that we had temps approaching 75 degrees F yesterday (23.33 C) and will most likely again today.

Winter is on the way. Proof, a junco arrived today. Time to get out the winter coats, find the snow shovel, and check the antifreeze in the cars.

Welcome Mr. (or Ms.) Junco. I’m glad to see you again, but did you have to arrive so early?

PS: The pictures aren’t in focus. I was a long way away, and this little one popped up on the driveway, almost blending in with the asphalt. Still, I can’t fool myself into thinking it’s a sparrow. Can you?


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Penny takes a walk

Hey guys, it’s Penny here! Guess what? Mom and I had the best walk ever yesterday! I’d been asking for attention for awhile.

Let’s go on a walk, mom!

Mostly she told me to go lay down cause she was busy. So I gave her my big pathetic eyes and it worked!

Mom! Hey mom!

Suddenly mom was packing me up into the back of the car and we were off to parks unknown!

This is at Davis Lake Overlook Park, or as we call it Katie’s Park II.

We went to one of Katie’s parks. I had grand plans of taking you somewhere different, somewhere you’d never been before, but mom said I needed to check reality and until I got my own drivers license I was stuck with where she was willing to take me.

Whatever mom.

Mom got all sentimental. She said Katie sat right here in a beam of light a few years ago.

Anyway, this is a very hilly and fun park that I love to explore. And we had a beautiful day for it, so I was happy to be there.

This is a pretty big hill, mom. Are you sure you’re up for it?

We were looking for autumn color. At least that’s what mom said. I wasn’t at all sure I knew what autumn color was.

Mom said the early evening light made these leaves on a brand new baby oak tree glow.

Eventually mom said I shouldn’t worry about it, that she’d find the color for me this year. But she, of course, reminded me that Katie was very good at finding beautiful things for her Walktobers and next year, when I was three, I’d be responsible for my own color search.

There might be some color over there, mom!

We’ll see mom. I’m sort of into good smells and not so much into pretty stuff. I’m a different girl, and sometimes mom forgets that.

An aster blossom just unfolding.

Anyway, we walked up and down the hills into the deep woods. Mom even tried to turn around once, way before I was ready to go back and I told her no way!

Mom wanted to turn around, but I vetoed that idea. It’s MY Walktober!

So she smiled and said, “whatever you want, sweetie,” and we wandered further into the woods. Isn’t my (um, Katie’s) woods beautiful?

I had such a good time I couldn’t stop smiling!

There wasn’t much color, but mom figured that’s because of the drought we’ve had. Most of our color is brown. I don’t really see a problem with that, cause most of my color is brown!

Look! I match!

On our way back to the car I took mom on a little diversion. A path out into the marshland that’s closed all summer was open and I wanted to go down that path real bad.

Mom dropped the leash and let me go at my own speed.

It leads to a small lake which is part of the Shiawasee River (it’s only a stream here) and on the other side of that lake is the backside of our little town. Maybe someday mom will take me on a walk downtown. I know, it’s only got one block, but you never know…right?

It’s hard to see our little town, way over there.

Anyway, mom let me walk all by myself down that grassy path toward the lake. Then I figured out she wasn’t attached to me and I lost my confidence. I’m not quite ready to wonder too far from mom yet.

Mom says that’s a good thing.

I’ll wait for you, mom.

So that was my unexpeted walk on a beautiful October Sunday afternoon. I’m calling it my official Walktober and I hope you enjoyed Katie’s park and our walk there.

After my walk. I am a happy, happy girl.

We look forward to seeing all your Walktobers when mom puts together the recap post in November. In the meantime, link your posts to the Official Walktober Post just like me! You’ve still got plenty of time to get a Walktober in! Walk, skip, hop or drive somewhere, take a picture or two (or more!) and write up a post. We all want to see where you’ve been!

Talk later,

Your park explorer girl, Penny.


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October has been busy!

Penny here. Mom has asked me to remind you all about Walktober. She says she’s too busy. What the heck? SHE’S too busy? Really? Let me tell you a little about my day today.

Everything began right here at the START.

First off, SHE set the alarm for 6:00 a.m. because, she said, we had important things to do and we needed to get a move on.

Right.

When that alarm went off I opened one eye, gave her one half of the typical sheltie glare, and went back to sleep. She just sighed and went to take a shower. I napped some more until I figured I should make sure she had made my breakfast.

Of course she had not. So I stood outside the bathroom door until she came out and attended to me. You can never assume anything. It’s important to keep on your folks about their responsibilities all the time.

Which way are we supposed to go, mom?

Then the next thing I know I’m in the back of the car and we’re driving and it’s not even light out yet! We ended up at a dog training place about an hour away from home. I wasn’t nervous, cause I’ve been there before.

Mom said we needed to work, even though this was called a “fun match.” It’s a way to practice stuff without being judged. No stress! And guess what? I did all the parts of the beginner obedience without getting any treats! I’ve never done that before.

I did gave mom several dirty looks when I did something perfectly and I didn’t get a treat right away. Mom thought a couple of times that I was going to shut down and refuse to move at all, but I grudgingly went along with the her.

This time.

At least I got a jackpot after I was done! I’m beginning to figure out that there will be a LOT of treats after we’re done, but it’s hard for me to wait that long. I’m more of an immediate gratification kind of girl.

And we got to do some Rally practice too, cause Mom registered me for TWO trials at the end of October, both of them in Rally. Mom took these pictures in the Rally ring after we had done it three times.

I even did a jump all by myself without mom asking me too, when we were practicing Rally off leash. I took off across the ring to jump over that thing, just because I think it’s fun. Mom laughed at me even though I’m pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to do that, but she said I was cute.

I’ve decided I like jumping, mom.

AND THEN…Mom took me to my regular Friday night fun night walk where I meet up with other dogs and we walk around places with distractions to get us used to scary things like other dogs or loud trucks. We walk in downtowns and parks and stuff. Tonight we went to a small town about 10 miles away from home.

There were people everywhere dressed in strange things!

Apparently they were doing some Halloweed festival and the town was full of people dressed up as witches and goblins and lords and stuff. I thought it was kinda scary. There was loud music and noisy cars and lots of little kids.

We walked up one side of town and down the other. It took us a very long time cause people kept wanting to pet me. I didn’t like many of them, they looked weird! A lot of little kids pet me too, some of them were OK, but after awhile mom just told everybody I didn’t want to be petted cause I was getting too nervous.

This lady’s hat LIT UP!!

Mom said it was a lot for me and she’s not sure she’d take me there again, even though she thought it was kind of neat and she might go without me next year.

I think that would be fine. I could use a nap!

Notice my ears are down. I was not happy.

ANYWAY, this is all to say I don’t know why mom can’t remind you about Walktober herself. I’m just as busy as her. But she says she’s having trouble downloading photos from her camera and her Walktober pictures are in there.

AND I have to remind her that we haven’t even GONE on MY Walktober walk yet! So we have a lot to do before the end of the month. Maybe you do too, but we hope you find some time to do a walk or a ride or whatever you plan to do, write a post and link it to The Official Walktober Post.

There were witches everywhere!

Mom says in early November she’ll pull it all together. I told her she has more than the Walktober post to pull together! But that’s another post.

Can we just go to bed, mom?

Your exhausted friend, Penny