Hey! Is this what I think it is?
What’s in here mama?
It is! It is! Let me help you!
I know you need my help!
Can we go camping right now? I’m so excited!
I’ll run for camping! No treats needed!
Can’t wait, can’t wait, can’t wait!
Eureka!
Hey. It’s not going to be cold out tonight…is it mama?
Might need an extra blanket. Or two. Mama.
Katie here. Guess what, guess what, guess what?
At my park last night.
It finally got warm! And our grass is green! And sometimes I get to sit in my kennel and watch the birds and bark at anyone on my street! It’s amazing. This weekend my mama even said she might put up the tent! That means it’s summer, right?
Well, maybe not quite summer cause she never did put the tent up and we had to sleep inside the boring old house. She said she was too tired. I swear, that mama is always too tired to do fun stuff.
Well, I take it back, she did come home Sunday evening from somewhere all dressed up and she rushed out of her good clothes and put on her park clothes and we got to go to my park just as the sun was going down!
She said we had to get my dandelion photo, whatever that is. And something about the park people mowing the grass if we didn’t hurry up. So we rushed over there so fast she forgot my treats…and she marched me out to the middle of the field and guess what? Apparently dandelions close up when the sun goes down! Who knew? So she found a little patch of them in the last bit of sun and said that would have to do for this year.
Boooorrrring
I found the whole thing terribly boring. But then she and I walked all the way around the park and it was just wonderful. Don’t you think the sun makes my coat look good? I hear I’m going to the groomer Friday. Maybe if you all tell her how beautiful I already look she won’t make me go. It’s worth a shot, right? I’d give you her private cell number to call her, but she won’t tell me what it is.
Golden sun on my golden coat.
So anyway. We also got to do weeding this weekend. I’m not sure what that is either, but it seems to mean I get to lie out in the soft grass while my mama digs around in the dirt and gets all smelly. She is definitely not a princess. Sometimes I wonder why I hang out with her at all.
Then tonight after supper she and dad went back outside to weed some more. I loved it because I got to sit in the grass again and watch my road. I kept them safe from two marauding joggers and a couple of trucks. Good thing I’m around.
But when the sun started going down mama said that was enough and now she and I are hanging out on the deck!f The sky is getting all apricot, and there’s a big pink puffy cloud to the south. AND…best of all mama saw the green herons come back for the summer! All three of them flew over and made a big production of landing in our trees. Boy they are noisy! She seemed awfully glad to see them though.
AND we just saw a humming bird! Mama put the feeder up yesterday cause she figured they’d be around by now and sure enough, just a few minutes ago a little hummer flew around our heads and went to the feeder! He seems more skittish then he was when he left last fall, but he’ll get used to me. I never bark at hummingbirds. They are so cool and they make my mama happy.
So anyway, I almost forgot…mama says that by Friday it’s supposed to be hot here! And if there aren’t any storms for sure we’re going to go camping in the back yard! I almost can’t remember what that means, but I’m sure when I help her put up the tent I’ll be all excited again.
This was me last year!
So all of that means it’s summer. Right? I think it is. Princess Katie proclaims that summer has arrived. I don’t care about stupid calendars and official dates. I can’t count anyway.
Everybody enjoy this beautiful weather! I hope no one has storms and you all get to go out for walks with your peoples or your dogs or (I suppose) even your cats.
Now I need a nap. This weeding thing gets a girl exhausted.
See you soon in my tent!
Come camping with me!
I ran across this documentary today, and though I can’t say I identify with every person in it, and I don’t necessarily think the government is deliberately creating fear and demanding that we buy more stuff for some evil purpose, I do identify with those in this piece that value their freedom enough to learn to live with less in order to enjoy it.
I recognize that everyone has different dreams and that sometimes practicality wins over any dreams at all. But I don’t think a person should give up on the dream, and in the end that’s what this documentary is all about.
It’s 50 minutes, and for me the best parts were scattered throughout. If you’ve got the time, watch. And then think about what stuff you would be willing to live without if you could trade all your stuff for the ability to do what you love every day.
Even if what you love doesn’t include living in a van off the grid in the wilderness.
Katie here. Hey! Did you know I got to go camping with my mama? A lot? I bet you saw it on Facebook. I swear, she needs to get me my own page, she’s always letting the cat out of the bag on that thing. And I hate cats! All cats should stay in the bag, I’m sure there’s a law about that somewhere.
Another of my favorite parks!
So anyway, today I got her to take me to a park, because daddy said she owed me cause she went to work this morning and Saturday’s are supposed to be about me! I used to go to school and everything and now she says I’m ‘retired’ whatever that means so I don’t get to do anything! You believe me, right? That I’m a poor abused ignored dog? They never feed me and I have to stay at home all the time. You should probably send help.
Oh. You don’t believe that? Well it was worth a shot.
Soaking up a little shade on my walk today.
So today I made my mama feel guilty and she took me to a big park nearby. We walked down the bike path and I was very good, didn’t bark at any bikes or cars or anything. OK. One car that was hauling a noisy trailer…but really who could resist barking at that!
Not worried about that bike in back of me.
But I bet what you really want to hear about is the camping my mama and I did a couple of weeks ago! We went to a real park and I got to sleep in my tent for two nights! There were lots of kids there and mostly I sat in our camp site and watched them go around and around and around the campground on their bikes and scooters. And I did not bark at any of them! Not even once!
Watching the kids go by.
The best part of our camping trip was when my friend Peep came to visit and we went on a long walk through the woods. Actually Peep and I don’t care particularly if the other one is there, we just like that when our mamas get together we get to go on long walks!
Peep and me.
Sometimes one or the other of us finds a particularly good smell and then the other one of us will go check it out, but mostly we walk our own walk. We’re very good together because we pretty much ignore each other. Mostly Peep went ahead and I brought up the rear. I like to take really long sniffs of stuff you know. Plus I have this big heavy coat to drag around.
Anyway, mama and I had a really good time. She read a bunch of books over the weekend and I got to go on a bunch of walks. Sometimes we walked on trails in the woods and sometimes we walked around the campground. Lots of people said I was pretty. And cute. And really good. Cause I am.
We went on lots of trails.
The mosquitoes weren’t as bad as our last big adventure, but there were still enough that sometimes we retreated to the tent. That was OK, just meant another nap. Naps are a very important part of camping. I take my napping responsibilities very seriously.
zzzzzzz
The weekend was perfect!
Then last weekend mama and I camped out three nights in a row in the backyard! The moon was full and she didn’t put the rain fly up and we got to sleep under it and stars. It was wonderful! I only barked once when that mama deer snorted at us. It was her fault for waking us up anyway. A dog has to to what a dog has to do. Right?
What’s out there?!
So all in all I guess my mama really does love me. And yes my daddy loves me too, he feeds me right on schedule and sometimes early if I make my sad dog eyes at him. And I get to go on adventures almost every weekend. So I guess my life’s not so bad, but don’t tell them I said so, OK? I like to keep them feeling guilty.
I get more treats that way.
Love,
Katie (The Adventuring Sheltie-girl)
This is our little secret!
Katie here. My mama was going to have me show you around the yard today cause some stuff is really blooming pretty. But she got busy trying to clean up the basement and forgot. She even forgot that I was upstairs (I don’t do stairs, it is not princess-like) and she was downstairs for a long time. But then I howled. That brought her right up and she took me down there with her while she finished up. I guess she made a nice bedroom down there but it isn’t really my taste. I like a king sized bed. With lots of pillows. Of course.
But I digress (I get my wandering mind from my mama). While she was down in the basement doing basement stuff I started barking hysterically and jumping around trying to see out the front window, and my mama could tell I was serious! So she ran up the stairs and guess what? I was right! There had been someone on my front porch! And the evil mail truck had been in my driveway! HA! I scared it away, yes I did, before she got all the way up the steps. But the mail guy left a box! For me and mama!
Something smells good!
Well, we had to open it right away because it was from my boyfriend Reilly’s mom. And whenever we get a box from her it’s full of good stuff!
I’ll share some with you mama. Maybe.
Look at all the loot I scored! OK. Some of it is for my mama, but it’s mostly for me! ME ME ME ME! Reilly’s mom sent us some stuff to take on our next camping trip! Bug spray and treats and food and stuff! And she sent my mama some beautiful music to listen to on her way to that job thing she goes to every day! AND a shirt to wear that says she’s a Sheltie MOM! So everyone will know when we’re camping. Not that I ever let her out of my sight when we’re on an adventure, but in case she gets lost they’ll know to return her to me!
So I just wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU to Reilly’s mom Bree. Check out her website, or her Etsy store. She makes the most pawsome stuff! My mama just loves everything there!
Thank you Bree! And hug that Mr. Reilly for me too, so he remembers he’s mine!
Love,
Katie.
My own cow! Thank you Reilly!
A few weeks ago, while driving north for the Great Camping Adventure with Katie, I noticed a car. We passed each other a few times. It was the same make and model and even color as my car. But that’s not what made me notice it. What was special about the car was this:
Adventure mobile
Perched on the top were two kayaks, on the back hung two bicycles. It seemed to epitomize the kind of retirement I hope my husband and I have. The kind where you explore and enjoy and especially stay active.
I glanced at the couple in the car once when they passed me. Seemed to be people pretty much like myself. I wished them well and forgot about them. Until I pulled into a fast food drive through line and saw the car parked next door at another fast food restaurant. So once I got my taco I swung over there, parked, walked over and snapped the picture. Turning I realized the couple was sitting at an outdoor table looking alarmed.
So I walked over to them, smiling, and told them I wanted to be them when I grew up. Old enough to be retired, young enough to enjoy it and off on adventures every weekend with your life partner. She smiled, pointed at her companion and said “Him? We just met a few months ago!” Then we all had a good laugh.
But in my heart I still hope I get to have that kind of retirement. The kind with two kayaks on the roof, two bikes on the back, two voices laughing in the front seats.
Happy trails everyone.
Follow the road.
Who you lookin at?
Today was a busy day as volunteers, including some of you, made phone calls to Senators in Washington, asking them to consider safety before profits — to strike down the Collins Amendment that would gut the Hours of Service Rule just instituted last summer, and to watch out for amendments that would prohibit any attempt at raising trucking company’s minimum liability insurance requirements. And as the day went on some Senators stood up and voiced concern over trucking regulations. In particular there is now another amendment, the Booker-Menendez Amendment (both are Democratic Senators out of New Jersey) that would strike down the dangerous part of the Collins amendment; the part that would cause the hours truckers are allowed to work to increase back to 82 a week. The Booker-Menedez Amendment would allow a study of the ‘unintended effects of two consecutive nights off’ for drivers who work 70 hours or more a week but would not make changes in the rule until after that study was complete. Seems like a good compromise to me. I called my Senators again late this afternoon and asked them to cosponsor that amendment. We’ll see.
I’ll keep you posted. I truly appreciate all your support, in all its different manifestations, from calls to writing, to hugs, to concern. It’s all important. And the more you talk about it with friends the better chance we have of making our politicians understand the importance of not letting profits compromise safety.
Scoping the lay of the land.
Meanwhile. I came home to find a Blanding Turtle (no I didn’t know the name, but a friend on Facebook did!) in my driveway. You know those things can move pretty fast when they want to. By the time I got inside and hooked the dog up for a walk to the mailbox it was nowhere to be seen. But I knew where it was, under some shrubs along the edge of the driveway. Because Katie wanted to go over there really bad. But I wouldn’t let her and we high tailed it back inside. Almost instantly I noticed it had moved up to the garage and was looking around. I think she’s trying to decide where to lay eggs. I watched and took pictures through a tiny bit of beveled glass in the front door.
She walked all the way up the driveway, along the garage door, then back past the front porch and under the car. Who knows where she went after that, but there’s a lot of garden for her to choose from. Katie and I went out on the deck to watch and listen to the birds. I fell asleep until the frogs began to sing. It would be a good night to camp out but sheer exhaustion precludes me from lugging the tent out and setting it up. Plus tomorrow is another day.
I hope Capital Hill sees fit to make the right decisions tomorrow. I hope they aren’t like my wandering turtle, just exploring and looking and ending up headed right back where they came from. Or hiding under a metaphoric car.
Wandering off to look for better places.
I’ll let you know. For tonight I’m pulling my head into my shell and getting some shuteye.
Katie says night too.
But Mama, I don’t want to go to bed yet!
Katie here. Mama says she’s had a very long and emotional week and she’s exhausted and too tired, she says, to write a blog about our camping adventure last weekend. But I know that many of you are waiting impatiently to read all about it, so I have taken over the blog! It should be my blog anyway if you ask me; I can not imagine what would be more interesting or more important than yours truly. I am, of course, the center of the universe.
Ahem.
Mama took last Friday off so that we could go way up north and set up camp for a two night stay at a luxury state park. I thought it was luxury anyway, as mama gave me my regular big pillow and then two of hers just so I could see out the little vent in the front of the tent any time I thought I heard something. I like to know what’s going on. That way I don’t have to bark at stuff. And I don’t get yelled at. It works out.
My princess bed.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Our drive up north took about 4 hours and I was an incredibly wonderful traveler! Mama put my crate on the back seat and I could see her all the time which made me very happy. Plus she stopped at all these wonderful rest stop places that had really cool smells. I never wanted to get back in the car after I did my job, so mama let me walk around for awhile.
Vacations are like that you know, no reason to rush. Right? The best rest stop was the one only a couple of miles from the exit for the state park. It had this little path going back into the woods from the dog run area and it was so green and wonderful in there! Except for the mosquitoes. And the fact that mama put her foot into a gopher hole and fell and hurt her hand. But other than that it was all fun!
We’re up north now!
Mama says she knows she’s ‘up north’ when she starts to see the ferns on the forest floor along the freeway. They make her smile. And when my mama smiles, I smile too. It’s sort of contagious. You’ll notice I smiled a lot on this trip.
We got to our campsite a little early but that was OK, it gave us time to set up camp and blow up mama’s bed without annoying anyone with the noisy pump. Then we walked around the campground. It was pretty empty that first afternoon. In fact, all weekend I bet the campground wasn’t half full, which worked out fine for us! We had a cozy site tucked back into the woods which would have been really cool. Did I mention mosquitoes?
Friday evening we tried to go do one of the hikes that are in the park, through old pine trees, and we got about 100 feet in and had to race out of there. We were getting eaten alive and mama was wearing bug spray! Mama says I looked like a bug cloud in the shape of a sheltie. There were several short hikes we would have liked to do during the weekend but the bugs were ferocious.
Luckily mama had plans Saturday for us to go over to Elk Rapids, a town about an hour west of where we were staying, to visit her blogger friend Gerry who gave us a tour of the town. We saw old houses and churches and we walked through town and let people admire me. I even got to go inside a store because the owner thought I was beautiful. What can I say? I get that a lot. This is a bridge over to the library in town, isn’t it cool?
The princess goes to the library.
We went down to the beach too, and watched a bunch of guys in a big canoe replicate an historical landing. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I knew I was hot, so I took my mama over to the river to get a drink.
Ah…..
This was a big deal for me as I don’t generally get my feet wet and I never drink out of a river. It’s just not something a princess does. But you gotta do what you gotta do…right?
Then we went to a park that a lot of beautiful and interesting sculpture in it. I liked it because there was shade on most of it, except those that were out on the beach. It was all interesting and I got to sniff a lot of new stuff!
Shade and color is good.
Then we went to Gerry’s house and I got to meet her duo…Cowboy and Sadie. I didn’t like that my mama kept saying how adorable Cowboy was and what beautiful eyes Sadie had. She’s my mama and I want her all to myself. Plus I had a hard time keeping track of them, they were so fast and there were two of them and only one of me. So I got up on my mama’s lap while she and Gerry sat and talked a little bit. Mama was really glad she got to meet Gerry and the gang. I liked Gerry a lot but I’m not so sure about those furry ones…maybe next time I won’t be so nervous about the whole thing.
The duo.
I slept all the way back to camp, and when we got there we escaped into the tent where I slept some more. All this traveling wears a girl out!
Zzzzzzz…..
Sunday morning we did a little walking around the campground and then mama piled everything into the car as fast as she could to get us away from the mosquitoes. I really didn’t want to go home.
Where did my pillow go mama!?
I stood in our empty camp site a long time until she made me get in the car. But then I slept a lot on the way home.
And where did my tent go?!!
Once I made it into my house I was the old Katie girl — full out barking for a long time just letting my mama know I had a good time and thanking her for taking me with her on the big camping adventure. I was a really really good girl. I didn’t bark once on the trip up or the trip back. I slept all night both nights, though I did get my mama up by 5:30 every morning. But then we went back to bed for a bit. I sat around the camp while she was working on stuff and didn’t whine, and when she asked me to do something I did it right away. Sometimes.
Can we go again soon mama?
Yep, I’m hoping my mama makes reservations for us at another campground soon! Maybe one that doesn’t have so many mosquitoes though. This is way more fun than sleeping in the back yard and I can’t wait to go again! Mama failed two nights at making a campfire, she blames the wood. I think she needs more practice. What do you think?
Where should we go next?
Me and my mama.
Change Is Hard 