Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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Music in the night

Sunday evening, the last of the long, hot, 4th of July weekend, a couple friends from our community band and I were lucky enough to attend a Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert held outside at Meadowbrook Hall.

A few minutes before I left home to meet them for a quick dinner before the concert, the skies opened up and rain poured down. It was the first rain all weekend. I was discouraged, but figured at least we’d have a nice meal together and we’d see about the music later.

But even as I walked out to the car it began to clear.

So it was with high hopes and a bit of excitement that we arrived at the venue and found a place to sit in the grass high on the hill overlooking the stage. Of course just as we began to settle in the rain began again.

But once again it blew right through, and with a few gusts of wind the sky began to brighten. Then the music began.

What a wonderful evening! The crowd was happy and appreciative. The weather cooperated. The music was, of course, wonderful. Celebrating John Williams, it was filled with the scores of his many works and as the conductor talked about each piece you could hear the audience anticipate which one would be played next.

We were usually right.

As I listened I thought about Shelley, our community band music director who passed away this past February. She would have loved this concert. What’s not to love? The Detroit Symphony, a group she had season tickets for, a beautiful summer night, families enjoying the music, a beautiful sky overhead, and John Williams.

Perfect.

Toward the end of the program a lesser known score was played, the theme from Far and Away. The movie starred Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and the music starts off similar to a lot of his movie scores, fast and furious. But the last minute of the 3 minute piece, those last moments, those are sweet.

I smiled because in those moments, with fireflies twinkling and the music soaring into the evening sky, I knew somewhere maybe right overhead and not so far and away, Shelley was smiling too.

And I bet, in fact I’m 100% sure, she enjoyed the concert just as much as we did.


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Looking for stars – part 2

Camping in the woods is fun, but it’s more fun if it doesn’t rain every single day and night. I guess I should count myself lucky that it didn’t rain all day every day.

I waded a tiny bit. Too cold for me!

I had plenty of time to get out in between rain showers and explore. Since it became obvious I wasn’t going to have any cloudless nights I deicded to use my time to find good Milky Way shoot posibilities. After all it’s a Bortle 2 up near Sleeping Bear (meaning really dark with less light pollution.) and you really don’t want to waste all that night sky by not being prepared.

Just imagine the Milky Way shining above the trees!

But by Wednesday I was tired of battling the incessant mosquitoes and I was happy to head an hour further north to meet a couple friends in the little town of Northport. That’s at the tip of Michigan’s little finger. Really. Look at the map of the lower portion of Michigan and notice the mitten shape…and at the far upper left of the mitten is the little finger! Then imagine how wonderful it would be to live there!

Northport, way up there north of Traverse City, is beautiful and always fun to visit. I’m lucky I know a few people there so I have lots of excuses to go. This time I was going up specifically to buy a book at my favorite Independent bookstore.

I love to stop at Dog Ears Books when I’m in Northport, browse the books and chat with store owner Pamela Grath. And this trip was even more special because I was buying my friend, Karen’s, debut novel The Lost Woman. I’ve known Karen for a long time, and I’m so excited that her book has been published!

I’m ony on page 48, though I should find the time to sit down and just read. It’s so good. It’s almost like a very rich desert that you don’t want to gobble down too fast. You want it to last. But if I don’t find a bit of quiet to sit and enjoy the read it will likely be fall before I can tell you more about it!

Author Karen and bookstore owner Pamela.

Penny, like her sister Katie, is an anti-reading dog. No reading allowed mom!

Anyway…I meant for this post to show you all the pretty stuff I found up near Northport that day. But it’s really about good friends and good books…and that will have to suffice for now.

Because Penny is also an anti-typing dog.

Seriously, mom, get off that laptop!

And it’s time to go off on another adventure with her. More later, I suppose.


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Searching for the stars. Again.

This time last week I was in northern Michigan at one of my favorite places (You may have noticed I have quite a few favorite places in northern Michigan) intent, once again, on getting the perfect Milky Way image.

Esch Beach, near Empire MI

I had a walk-in site at Platt River Campground, reserved weeks ago, and high hopes that at least one of the three nights would be clear.

My perfect camp site.

The site was beautiful. I knew it would be because I’d camped there once before a few years ago. It’s at the end of a trail, about 1/4 mile into the woods. Along the way are three other campsites, but mine was the last one.

This was my first camping trip of the season. It took me forever to get this tent up.

The good thing about a walk-in site is that there are no RVs near you running their air conditioning all night. (Though I wouldn’t have minded having air, it was 98 F inside my tent most of the first night.) The bad thing about a walk-in site is that you have to carry everything in. So I stayed pretty minimal.

Anyway. I had high hopes for Monday night, thinking it should be clear. And it was hot and sunny when I first arrived.

Before I even went to the campsite to set up the tent I drove the Pierce Stocking drive that provides a number of opportunities to stop and explore.

It’s almost mandatory that you take this image while you’re there.

But gradually, by late afternoon, clouds had moved in and that evening there were no stars to be seen. It even rained late Monday night, which brought the temperatures down. I was conflicted, grateful for the temperature relief but disappointed that I wasn’t out under the stars with my camera.

Looking toward Sleeping Bear dunes from Empire Beach on Tuesday.

Tuesday I explored a few beaches looking for possible places to shoot the Milky Way, if the sky ever cleared. But it didn’t clear that day.

Not very promising for star photography.

So I did the next best thing. I hiked a loop through the woods where there was the possibility of lots of birds. You know how I love taking photographs of birds. I had high hopes again of capturing something special.

Because I was covered in bug spray this was a fun hike.

About 2.5 miles, the trail was supposed to be filled with song birds, particularly warblers.

I took a close up picture of the map with my phone, and I’m glad I did. The trail wasn’t always obvious.

I heard lots of birds, none of them identified by my Merlin app as warblers, but I only saw one bird for a slight second, hidden in the trees, and I have no idea what it was.

I don’t suppose any of you know what this brownish bird is, hiding behind leaves and out of focus.

Tuesday night it rained again. I don’t mind a little rain on the tent, but it meant there was no star shooting that night either.

Wednesday was predicted to be overcast as well, so I made plans to drive about an hour north and meet a couple friends in Northport, another of my happy places. It was time to spend a little bit of time in civilization.

Scenic route through Pierce Stocking park.

That was definitely fun and had a lower mosquito to human ratio, but it deserves it’s own post, so stay tuned.

Taken Monday night, while standing in the rain.


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A little levity

Penny here!

Mom says she has a whole bunch of camping pictures to sort through and she doesn’t have time to post about my day. So I’ll just do it myself. After all, I am the brilliant, beautiful, competent Unstoppable Pretty Penny!

Ahem.

Going on an adventure with my mom.

So as you probably know, since you’re all keeping track of my adventures, my school has been out for weeks. Mom is trying to keep up with my training (and if we’re honest, her own training) by herself and with a lot of help from her friend Diane. But let’s be honest. Mom isn’t always consistant, plus she’s been away having fun and taking pictures of stuff that’s not me.

So she was a little uncertain when today rolled around and it was time to go up to Flint and do a Fun Run or three. That’s when mom and I get to do a Rally course like at a Trial but we aren’t judged. It’s just for practice and mom figured we needed lots of practice.

Hey mom, hurry up, this is my school!

And guess what ? I did three runs, two at the Novice level and one at the Advanced level! Whoo Hoo! Mom asked the ladies running the show if we could try Advanced even though we haven’t trained at that level yet and they said “Sure! Why not?”

Staying chill while we were waiting for stuff to get started.

Did you know Advanced Rally is off leash? YES! OFF LEASH! I got to heel along with my mom without being attached to her! WOW! At first I was kinda excited and started to wander off but mom said “HEEL!” in her school voice when I had taken 1.5 steps away from her and I slapped myself back next to her leg. She smiled and I got a piece of cheese. After that it was all fun, I even got to do a jump! I wasn’t sure what it was at first but then she went on the other side and said “JUMP!” and I did, cause I love to jump over stuff at home! This was fun too. I got more cheese.

I love school cause mom’s a cheese dispenser there.

So anyway…mom is a happy camper and she hopes we are able to get my very first Rally title in a couple weeks. I say of course I can do it, the quetion is, as it always is, can mom?

I deserve this nap with my elephant, I worked hard and did good!

Stay tuned!


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HGTV – is it only for straight white folks?

From a People Magazine post – so you have to take it with a grain of salt…

  • The hosts of four HGTV programs announced on Instagram that their shows had allegedly been canceled
  • Bargain Block, Married to Real Estate, Farmhouse Fixer and Izzy Does It have allegedly not been renewed by the network

I watch HGTV all the time, not because I’m that into renovating a house (which is pretty much all any of the shows do now days) but because it isn’t stressful, always has a happy ending, nobody gets shot or cut up or run over with a car. Nothing explodes except an occasional burst pipe or electrical short. And mostly I watch because it isn’t political.

Or is it?

Take a closer look at the shows they’ve reportedly cancelled:

Bargain Block – Hosts, who happen to be a husband and husband couple, renovate delipidated homess in Detroit and have turned whole neighborhoods around. They are fun to watch, have a bit of a crazy decorating edge and are truly good guys. It’s one of my favorite shows.

Farmhouse Fixer – Host Jon Knight, a member of the singing group New Kids on the Block and one of the most sensitive men I’ve seen on TV, is gay, loves old New England houses, farm animals and his family. Jon has such a calming effect, I love to watch him pour his heart into each project.

Married to Real Estate – Hosts Mike and Egypt are a black couple who spread nothing but sunshine as they raise their daughters and renovate homes for happy clients in Atlanta. There’s much laughing on the show and what’s not to like about that?

Izzy Does It – Host Izzy is an hispanic contractor who for years managed remodel projects for the Flip or Flop HGTV show. Now he’s out on his own and though I didn’t think his show was that special I still wonder….is he cancelled because he’s hispanic or because he didn’t have enough viewers?

So…four shows gone. At least 3 of them have had pretty long runs in TV terms. So what caused these shows to be shot down and not, say, any number of similar shows that happen to have white, straight couples hosting?

One example I’ve been wondering about lately is Fixer to Fabulous with Dave and Jenny Marrs, a white, straight couple who I happen to like very much, but whom I’ve begun to realize have never had an episode featuring a gay client. Maybe I’m wrong. But I don’t remember one and the internet doesn’t provide any examples either.

HGTV has plenty of home renovation shows that are now hosted by similar straight, white couples. It’ll be interesting to see what new shows they introduce. You’ll have to let me know, because I’ve decided that I’m not watching any of it anymore.

What do you think? Do you have evidence that my theory is wrong? I hope it is.


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The drive home

Well it’s been a minute since I last posted, leaving you wondering what I saw on my drive home from Alabama a month ago. That’s because I took a few days this week to camp in northern Michigan, so I’ve been away again.

I came across these three trees that called to me.

Of course that means I have MORE photos to sort through. But let me finish up my trip south first.

Isn’t this an amazing home?

There’s this farm that I’ve noticed on several previous trips down and back, a stately home and a couple barns, very near the freeway. But I usually see it out of the corner of my eye just after the freeway exit and I’ve never tried to find it before.

While trying to get back to the farm I saw this field of soy beans. I liked the lines of it.

Until this last trip north.

It’s a stunning home, and I took several images from a couple different locations on the road. If I had to guess I’d say it was built in the late 1800’s? Or early 1900’s. What do you think?

As you can see it was a dark and stormy day.

Then, trying to find my way back to the freeway I did a big country block and came across a home that looks to be from the same era. I actually had to drive further, find somewhere to turn around and go back for it.

Which way should I go?

I couldn’t leave without it!

The “city” version of the same house.

Back on the road it wasn’t long before I saw the perfect barn and once again had to get off the freeway and find a service drive that led me back to it.

It just needs a little TLC.

It was the only real ‘barn’ image I took on the trip north. I figured it was time to get home and one barn was enough. I should really stop dilly-dallying. After all how many barn pictures does one photographer need?

I always want to see what’s around the next curve.

But, then again, is any number ever truly enough?


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Favorite Alabama images

It’s been two, maybe three weeks since I was in Alabama. And you know that I took a few photos while I was there.

Arriving after 2 days of driving.

Maybe you’d want to see a few of my favorites?

Every morning I’d take a picture of the lake. Most of the time it was so quiet.

Of course who really defines the term “few?”

That red soil is a dead giveaway you’re in the South.

As it turns out most of the images I took this time revolved around birds. Why do you think that is? And are the birds much different in Alabama than they are in Michigan?

Maybe a king bird, maybe something else. Was sitting at the top of a young oak tree on an island in the lake.

But we weren’t always birders, we also took a couple boat rides on my brother’s lake. One in the middle of the day where we saw the bird above and one to see the sunset.

Sunset from behind the mimosa tree

And on our boat rides we did, of course, see birds. This was a big bird. This is the Osprey that builds a nest every year in the very tall power towers on my brother’s lake.

Osprey parent taking a sunset break from the demanding babies up in the nest.

There were very noisy babies in residence when I visited. They cried all day for mom or dad to feed them.

What are you looking at, lady?

And there was a bluebird couple remodeling the nest for their next brood, hovering around just over our heads as we sat on the back patio.

I keep telling him it’s a total gut job.

They didn’t seem worried about us at all as long as we didn’t move too quickly.

I think it’s fine the way it is. The kids will just poop all over it anyway.

And a brown thrush singing away and then scuttling along the lake shore looking for something good to eat.

I’m pretending to be a speedy roadrunner bird!

And, back at the cabin’s lake, we climbed the mountain and then the fire tower to view the large expanse of Lake Martin.

A small part of Lake Martin.

Actually, you can, even at that height, only view a small portion of this giant lake.

A fisherman was having a quiet moment when suddenly jet skies zoomed by.

And of course I went out in the kayak a couple times, not going too far, just down to the end of this bit of water, or that bit over there.

I spent a long time in the kayak trying to get these two glowing trees.

We have martin gourds at Lake Martin and this year the birds have taken up residence in at least one of them.

Incoming!

Babies there too.

You’re not my mama!

So all in all it was a good trip. I’m glad I went and I’m hoping to get down there again before this summer is over.

An orchard oriole in my brother’s back yard.

We’ll see.

Home away from home.

Oh…you ask…on my trip back to Michigan did I see anything interesting?

Well…what do you think?

Mom! That lady’s looking at me again!


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Bird bath part deux

Keeping in the theme of birds enjoying a bath, one afternoon this week I noticed two orioles in the bird bath.

By the time I got my camera and returned there was one in the bath and another observing. As you can see, Daddy was busy out on the feeder stuffing his face with grape jelly.

I don’t know if these two are this year’s juveniles or last years young ones, or maybe two females just enjoying a relaxing spa day.

But it was sure was fun to watch the one in the bath splash around.

So I’ll share the rest of these without comment. Enjoy.

I have other photos of this week’s shenanigans in my back yard, but those will have to wait for another day.

Edit: I was just outside to hang the oriole feeder up after cleaning it and refilling it with grape jelly. One of the two bathers was back, standing on the railing. He (or she) started flapping it’s wings at me, supposing that maybe I had something to feed it. So I think these two really are juveniles, and not adult females. So cute!