Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: fall


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#1300

This is the 1300th post on the blog.  I wanted to write something meaningful, heartfelt, something about one of my favorite causes.  But instead let me tell you about today’s morning trip out into the 6 a.m. darkness to find the perfect spot.

I had been dreaming about my mother.  I lost the dream when I woke to find Katie standing on me asking to go out.  But I was thinking about mom when I clicked Katie’s leash onto her collar and we ventured out into the cool morning air.  The stars were out.  I glanced up and saw Orion’s belt, my representation of my mom, in the sky.   I don’t think I’ve seen it all summer and it felt good to have her overhead again.

We walked down to the end of the driveway, Katie, mom and I; Katie  sniffing her usual places where other dogs leave her messages.  I was watching the sky and thinking about mom when I realized Katie wasn’t sniffing anymore. She was staring intently over at the neighbor’s yard.  “That’s just our shadows silly girl” I told her.  And I moved a little just to prove my point.

And then we heard this;  you only have to hear the first few seconds to get the effect.  The sound was just over our property line…perhaps 20 yards away.  Katie didn’t even bark back.  She looked at me.  I looked at her and together we hustled back to the house.

We were creeped out, but not as much as if Katie’s dad hadn’t heard this last week when he was out with Katie around midnight.  He described it and found it on youtube for us to hear.  So I wasn’t so surprised once I got my heart rate back down and could think about it.  I don’t think the fox would have come toward us.  Katie wants to go back outside.  But I’m not taking any chances.

Not till the sun is up anyway.


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Four seasons

I thought you might like to see a local farmer’s field.  Really.  It’s the prettiest field, with a gentle set of hills and a fringe of trees.  I look at it each time I drive by, and it’s a little different every day.  So a year or so ago I decided to stop and photograph it once during each season.  Click on the photos to see the detail…and enjoy the seasons in Michigan.

Spring

Spring

Summer

Summer

Autumn

Autumn

Winter

Winter


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Resting. Or not.

The big Dinner is over.  I’ve cleaned and cooked and dished and served and cleaned up after.  I’ve got today off work, otherwise I would collapse in exhaustion.  On the other hand…I don’t want to waste this day sleeping.  Or vacuuming.  So I’m taking the camera and heading out.   An adventure for one.

Cause you never know what you’ll find.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA


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Winds of change

Winds strip the last of the fall color away.

I had planned to talk about the political ads we’re being inundated with, on TV, radio, the robocalls claiming our evenings, the flyers in our mailboxes.  They surround us, overwhelm us and most of all confuse us.  Yes I had planned on talking about that and my hope that the election comes soon so that we can all find a bit of peace.

But tonight  the news is full of Hurricane Sandy, and we must focus on the East Coast.  All the political jargon and angst fades away.  What’s important right now is that people have made their way to a safe place; made arrangements to safely wait out the storm.

My hope is that things are not as dire as the weather models and reporters are predicting.  That we get some or a lot of rain, maybe even snow, but everyone survives and structures withstand the elements.

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Mostly my hope is that all of you out on the East Coast, my blogging friends, my customers and all your friends and families make it through tonight with nothing more than damp shoes and windblown hair.

Stay safe, all of you.  And please be careful.


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Last flowers

Well.  Enough about baseball in October.  Let me show you the last blooms of fall in my garden.  This is monks head; or aconitum, if you’re the more scientific type.  It blooms very late in the season, often after a frost

The bluish purple end of the summer.

It’s very beautiful and I’m always glad to see some color in the garden this late in the year.  But it,and the end of baseball, mean summer is really truly without question over.

Darn. (But click on this last picture to see it up close.)

The end.


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Stars are always there

The days are getting shorter and sometimes I miss the long light filled days of summer.  But these dark early mornings, when Katie and I are outside looking for that perfect spot I’ve noticed the stars are so bright that they seem lower in the sky – almost as if we could touch them.

The past two mornings I’ve seen the Big Dipper in the north, my representation of my Dad, and Orion’s Belt in the south, my representation of my Mom.  It’s not every day that I can see them both at the same time, hanging there in the sky.  So as Katie sniffs, I watch the sky and say hello to each of them.

Yesterday it occurred to me that all summer, even when the sun had brightened the sky before Katie and I ventured out, the stars were there.  They were shining above even when I couldn’t see them.    Just like my Mom and Dad who are also there, even though I can’t see them.

So this morning as I head to DC to work once again on safety issues I know Mom and Dad are right here   even though I can’t see them.  They will always be right here.  And I’ll feel their arms around me as I fight the fight.