Karma, over at Karma When I Feel Like It, has challenged us to a couple of photo challenges. One of them she titled “Before and After.”
For this challenge I was looking for something that changes…where I could show the before…
Before her adventure.
…and the after….
And after.
I honestly thought she’d be a bigger mess. We walked through snow and mud and leaves and puddles. Maybe she’s a Teflon dog.
She says she wants to share more about her latest walk in the woods, but she’s busy napping. Maybe someday soon she’ll be motivated to finish her post.
After the snow and cold it got warmer. Typical Michigan weather, changing all the time. But all that snow was still on the ground, and it had been cold for almost two week, so inevitably one day we woke up to fog.
Foggy farm fields.Say that fast 3 times.
So I went looking for water and trees dripping in fog. I had something specific in mind, but sometimes things don’t work out the way I plan. Eventually I gave up on the foggy lake idea and settled for foggy farmland.
A barn patiently waits for spring.
I was somewhat happy with the few foggy farmland photos I had when I remembered the National Cemetary, not far from my house. I reasoned the rows of white tombstones could look interesting in the fog.
It was kind of peaceful there, no noise, just the sound of falling rain.
And I remembered there were a few dead trees around a small lake too. Surely there would be something perfectly foggy to photograph out there.
Looking across the lake, the fog was rolling in thick.
In the end I’m really glad I stopped at the cemetery, though it had begun to rain by the time I arrived. The tombstones looked even more somber than usual in the grey light. I took quite a few photographs. They look almost black and white, but they aren’t.
So many rest here.
When I was finished photographing things near the front of the cemetery I figured I’d go to the back on the off chance I’d see the eagles that nest there. Every time I visit this cemetery I look, but I don’t always get lucky and see them.
Do you see them?
This time I did.
Meet Mr, and Mrs. Bald Eagle.
Score.
And double score on the way home when I found a red barn.
Red looks so nice against the grey of a Michigan winter.
Yep, I ended up being a happy camper, even on a dreary, foggy, rainy, winter day.
A couple weeks ago we got some real snow, the first of any significance this season. It came to us blowing from the northeast, unusual for around here, and it was wet, sticky snow.
The pond across the street.
It stuck to all the tree trunks and branches, outlining everything. From a distance most of the woods around here looked like birch trees.
Heading out to see what there was to see.
I wanted to get out to get some pictures. It was so pretty for so long. But the weather was also miserable for a long time, the roads covered in slippery snow, the wind blowing, the temps in single digits.
The roof of our township offices.
I don’t want to even talk about the wind chill temperatures.
The woods across the marsh, trees painted in snow plaster.
Still, I’d look out the back windows and it was sooooo beautiful.
Up and down hills on the way to the park.
So one afternoon, with the sun peeking out from behind the typical Michigan winter clouds, and temperatures above zero, I ventured out.
Faux plaster.
I went to a park in the next township west of here. I didn’t walk very far, but I enjoyed being out there, and I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them.
I should have brought my skies.
Those of you that live in warmer climates….this is what you’re missing!
Red, white and blue on a pretty winter day.
Now…stop laughing, and no fair sending me pictures of blue skies and golden beaches!
Hey! Did you know we got a bunch of snow a week ago? I’ve never seen so much snow in my entire life! Well, OK. My entire life has only been 13 months, but still.
OK mom!I’m ready, throw the Frisbee!
I kept bugging mom and dad to take me out to play and they kept saying it was too cold. Too cold? Are they crazy? I’m a sheltie for goodness sake! I love the cold!
I ran so fast mom had a hard time getting all of me in the frame!
But mom and dad said I didn’t understand, with the wind chill it was something like -18 degrees Fahrenheit which, for those of you in Canada is about -27.7! Mom said that is really cold and I wouldn’t want to be out there.
I said yes I would too, and I begged and begged to go outside. Mom and dad said I was quite annoying. I call it persistence.
Mostly I loved to run and jump!Some people think I’m a rabbit!
Finally mom dug around in some drawers and found my sister Katie’s boots. My feet are bigger than Katie’s feet were, but she still managed to get them on my feet. Only because I let her, I might add.
Come on mom, throw it again!
I was not amused by the boots, and she doesn’t have any still images of me wearing them. She took a short video of me, short mostly because I wouldn’t walk much wearing them. I thought they were ridiculous.
I’ve got it, mom!Notice I’m not wearing any stupid boots!
When we went outside I accidently (on purpose) lost 3 of the boots in the snow drifts. Mom had to go back out into the dark and cold to find them. She says she’ll get them on tighter next time.
Sure mom.
Life doesn’t get any better than this!
Anyway, finally it got a little warmer, and today it was warm enough to go play in the back yard!
Mom’s artsy image of beautiful me!
Boy I had fun! Mom threw the frisbee and I chased it down, pounced on it, and brought it back to her.
Hustling back to mom with the prize!
Then, usually, I chewed on her ankle until she threw it again. You have to keep moms on their toes, you know.
Nom, nom, nom.
Then I saw a BIG STICK in the yard and I headed right over there. You all know how much I love sticks, right? Well this one looked just perfect!
Wow!The mother of all sticks. You’re mine, stick!!
But then mom called me, really loud, and I knew she had treats in her pocket, so I turned around real quick and headed back.
Coming mother!(Notice the piece of stick in my mouth!)
I scored big time for coming right back to mom when she called me!
We spent a lot of time out there in the back yard. She kept trying to get me to stay while she walked away.
I’m a happy girl!
I don’t know what that’s all about, I like to be right up next to her all the time. She backs up to get a better shot and I scoot forward the better to get a treat.
I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than run and jump!
I personally think that makes me a very smart dog. Don’t you agree?
Just throw it mom!
Anyway, mom got a few good shots of me playing in the snow. They say it will all melt next week, so it’s good I convinced her to go out with me.
I have the best yard, don’t you think?
Next week I’ll be muddy. I’m sure mom will think I’m just as cute.
Last week we got our first significant snow of the season. We’d been enjoying unseasonably warm weather for most of December and January, while at the back of our minds we worried about our landscaping that needs a blanket of snow to survive until next spring.
Mr and Mrs Cardinal dine together at our windy, snowy, deck railing.
A definite benefit of being retired is that we don’t have to worry about commuting to work in a blizzard. If we don’t want to go out we don’t go out. It’s just one great perk of getting older.
A little chickadee tries to warm up with some suet.
Sometimes we forget there are benefits to aging.
Two female European starlings unsuccessfully try to share what’s left of the suet.
Anyway, I digress.
After days of warning from the pessimistic weather folks the storm hit us very early on Friday. First there was rain, then ice, then snow.
A male downy woodpecker impatiently waits his turn.
Early Friday, while taking the dog out for her morning ritual and stepping carefully down the icy driveway in the dark, we noticed a neighbor mincing his way down the street with his dog.
Mrs Cardinal desperately tries to figure out how to get to the suet.
Of course we went out to road to talk. Penny got to kiss Oliver, (the dog) who is somewhat besotted with her. The neighbor said there were some trees down up the road. I said I hadn’t looked out back yet.
A blue jay uses his tail for balance in the wind.
As the morning filled with light I saw that we, too, had some bending trees, some limbs down, the typical damage we usually sustain in an ice storm. I sighed. Little by little our birch trees are coming to the end of their lives.
A chickadee launches after his meal.
We’ve lived here over 30 years, I guess it’s expected. Nothing lives forever, right?
A disgruntled goldfinch.
Throughout the weekend the snow came down, blowing sideways from the northeast. We made very limited trips outside, only for doggie necessities.
Mrs.Redbelly shows off her pink tummy.
Mostly I sat in my chair with a view of a couple of our birdfeeders, watching the frenzy. And eventually, over the weekend, I got a few shots of the birds frantically eating, puffed up, trying to stay warm.
You can see the purple and green in her feathers.
I had to fill all the feeders, the thistle, the oiler, the peanut, the suet, at least twice a day. I even spread extra oilers on the deck railing, and under our rocking chairs that are turned upside down for the winter.
The colors on the back of the blue jay are beautiful too.
Little birds, and bigger birds too, were everywhere. As the food ran out they waited anxiously in the trees, coming down to wait closer as soon as I’d step out the backdoor. My birds know I’ve got their backs.
Even the dark eyed junco, who usually likes to eat on the ground, was hungry enough to try the twirling suet feeder.
And I know you’ve all seen photos of my birds at the feeders before. So in this post I tried to show you more unusual shots, a little attitude, a bit of wing.
It was a busy, windy, weekend!
I feel very lucky to be able to sit in my chair by the window and watch the entertainment happening just on the other side of the glass.
When someone has been gone a long time you begin to realize you won’t ever be able to take more pictures of them.
Mom and Dad visiting his mom up in Charlevoix MI at Christmas, probably 1952 or 53.
So often when I write about my folks I wish I had something new to share with you. I think about how you must be tired of seeing the same images. But what I have is all I’ll ever have.
Right?
Well, mostly right. There was that time that I was thinking about my folks a lot and was so surprised when I received a letter from one of their friends that held a photo I’d never seen of them taken in the early 50s, before kids. That was a treasure, and I still smile when I see it.
Mom and Dad in 1952.
Months ago my cousin, going through his mother’s things, came across some photos I’d never seen before. He sent me copies via email and to be honest I didn’t look at all of them then.
Mom, Dad and me in 1956.
Time went by and I was cleaning up emails this week when I ran across his, and remembered there were pictures attached. I thought I’d seen them all but I was in for a treat as I clicked through them.
I’m sure dad set this up on his tripod with a timer.The arm of the chair over on the bottom right is the rocker I have today.The picture on the wall is one they gave me years ago, I had no idea it was Grandma’s.
Look how young they were! Look how young I was!!
Treasures are so much more special when they come as a surprise.
My grandmother and my dad.I have only a couple pictures of her.And the rocker that sits in my living room today.
Thank you to my cousin for sending these treasures to me. They sure make me smile.
Have I complained here about our local grocery store’s lack of customer service? I know I’ve complained about it plenty on Facebook.
When we first moved to this little rural town back in 1992 we had to drive over 6 miles to a grocery store. I know that doesn’t seem like much, but one of the routes took you over the same railroad tracks 3 times, and back then there were no crossing gates which made me nervous.
I used to think about whether I really needed whatever I was out of before I’d make the trip.
Then a few years after we moved here a big brand new grocery store was built only 2 miles away. And I didn’t have to cross the railroad! I was thrilled! The new employees seemed thrilled!
Life was good.
But over the years the employees have become unhappy, complaining bitterly about their hours, their breaks, who’s working where, who got what shift, when they get to leave, who’s on break…it’s never ending. I really don’t want to hear it while I’m getting my groceries scanned and bagged.
And since Covid there’s no employees to bag the groceries, so I end up doing that myself. I’m a really bad bagger.
And most of the time there’s no cashiers either, the store forcing everybody to go through the self scanners, even with full carts. They even installed a couple of the self scanners with long chutes down to the bags so you have room to do big orders. Of course that doesn’t work well because after you scan it all you still have to go down there to bag and by the time you do that the next person is sending their groceries down the chute.
Routinely only one set of self scanners is open, they don’t have enough employees to man both sets. So that means there are a total of 3 self scanners, plus two with long shoots for big orders and most of the time no human cashier.
It’s a big store, lots of people shop there. I have no idea why.
The lines are long to use the self checking stations, often half way down the aisles. If there’s a checkout person working the lines there are even longer. I’ve tried different times of the day, tried evening shopping, tried middle of the day, middle of the week. It doesn’t matter. There’s never adequate staffing at this store, and those that are there are the most unhappy people I’ve ever met.
The last time I stood in a line with more than 10 people ahead of me, just to self scan a few items, I decided enough was enough. When I got home I logged into their silly survey and told them I’d no longer be shopping there, and don’t bother calling me to explain the shortage of people.
Then I moved my business to the grocery store in town. Same company, worse parking lot, longer drive, more traffic, but the employees are nice! They’re friendly, they’re happy, and they always have at least two cashiers working, and all 12 self scan stations open too. I haven’t been in a line there yet.
And they always thank me for shopping there.
The store is set up differently and it takes me longer to do the shopping, but I’m slowly figuring out where stuff is. Today when I emerged from the aisles a cashier was waiting in front of her empty station. She caught my eye, asked me if I was ready, and when I nodded yes she said “Good! I’ve been waiting for you!”
We chatted as she rang up my groceries. There still wasn’t a bagger available, so I did that while we talked and she scanned. She asked what I used dried cranberries for, and said the salmon looked good.
We laughed about something.
I told her I was driving out of my way to come to her store because the people were so friendly and happy. In fact, I said, look at the back of the shirt on the cashier in the next lane! It said “Fresh, Fun, Friendly!” ”Oh she said, that’s our motto!”
Well, that’s the reason I drive all the way here, I told her. She stopped bagging my groceries and looked me in the eye. ”Did you used to shop at the Davisburg Kroger?”
She nailed it.
“Yep,” I said. She nodded and said “We get a lot of their customers here.”
Give that woman a raise. Customer service is not dead, and I have hope.
I will drive further, park in a small cramped lot, endure wicked traffic, and smile while bagging my own groceries if someone smiles at me while ringing up my order.
Lesson for Kroger: It doesn’t take a lot to increase your bottom line. All you have to do is keep your employees happy. Management matters.
Change Is Hard 