Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: fun stuff


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Music filled Saturday with some football too.

Heading to ‘The Big House.’

We had such a great day!  Saturday afternoon we parked near the University of Michigan’s Hill Auditorium, then walked thirty minutes south, enjoying the sunshine, the students partying in the street, the crowds, the tailgaters, to the stadium where we sat in a VIP box, guests of the School of Education, to watch Michigan beat Massachusetts.

I’ve never been in a VIP box before.  Let me tell you, that’s the way to watch football!  Of course I don’t really get football, though I do enjoy a good long run down the field.  Don’t tell anyone, but I don’t really care which team passes long or runs, it’s just fun to watch.

For me, a college football game is all about the band.  Yes, the band; that group of kids who puts everything they’ve got into providing entertainment and pumping up the crowd.

The band over on the other side kept us in the game.

While other people were chatting before the game I was watching the pregame show.  While others went to the restroom at halftime I was watching the band.  While others were cheering and booing ref calls I was watching the band across the way in the stand as they chanted, shouted, danced and blew their lips out creating excitement.  Yep.  Love football…because of the band.

The “M” marches toward the sideline.

In the middle of the fourth quarter we had to leave the game to walk the 30 minutes back up to the main campus.  We had symphony tickets.   It was the opening night of this year’s season and the Ann Arbor symphony was playing Beethoven.

Hill Auditorium.

As I settled into my seat I jokingly told my Aunt that it would probably be inappropriate to stand up, pump my fist in the air and shout “GO BLUE!” in the middle of Symphony No. 9…right? She thought probably it would not be good.  Apparently I was not the only one feeling the dichotomy of experiences that day, as during the introduction remarks the speaker actually commented on how cool it was to watch a football game then walk across town to hear a symphony.  Then he yelled  “GO BLUE!”  And the audience applauded in response.

The program opened with the National Anthem, the second time I’d heard it that day.  It was played by the full orchestra and sung loud and clear by the audience.  Then most of the orchestra stood up and left, stage left.

The symphony played Twelve Contradances next.  Twelve short pieces,played by a smaller, mostly string subset of the full orchestra.   Each movement is a slightly different version of music to keep your toes tapping..composed in 1802.  As I was listening I noticed a man sitting a couple of rows back from the conductor.  He was sitting quietly, not moving, no instrument that I could see, hands folded in his lap.  I thought maybe he had played with the full orchestra and just forgot to leave with the rest of them.    Then in movement #8 he picked up a tambourine and played it expertly till the end of the movement.  When movement #9 began he again sat, stoically, hands folded in his lap for the rest of the piece.

Ah! Perfido, Op. 65 was sung by  soprano Laura Aikin who has a beautiful and powerful voice.   The music was written to the verse of a poem written by Pietro Metastasio and was all about cruel love.

Symphony and choirs

The last half of the program was Beethoven’s Symphony #9,  Choral, or most of us think of it, Ode to Joy.  It was played by the full orchestra, and sung (in the 4th movement) by 4 soloists and a huge choir.

The first movement was full and lush, my favorite way to listen to a symphony.  The second movement was fun and fast with some amazing oboe, french horn, bassoon and tympani work.  The third movement was a sweet chorale and I was beginning to struggle to keep my eyes open.

All that was overshadowed by the drama of the fourth movement.   It began with notes you’ve all heard in commercials.  Then moved to the cellos and basses, wonderful seamless building of the familiar Ode to Joy melody, followed with the tune repeated in the violas and then the gentle violins.  By now we were all humming along as the sound built and built, bigger, more and more lush until the choir stood up and the sound became wonderfully overwhelming.

The crowd was on their feet before the last note hit the ceiling, cheering and applauding.  Sort of like at football.  We clapped till our hands ached.  The artists on stage grinned like kids.

Yes our day was full.  Full of joy.


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The Crimness of it all

I finished this post on my old blog moments before my server crashed a couple of weeks ago.  The old blog was up for a couple of hours Friday and I copied this from the drafts because I know at least one of you has been waiting to hear about the race.  So here goes!

The last Saturday of August was the 36th running of the Crim Festival of Races in Flint Michigan.  It’s a big race, with thousands of runners, walkers and wheelers.  It brings in big name runners from all over, and it’s a spectacle to watch and even more fun if you get to participate.

This year I walked the 8K (5 miles)…though I was nostalgic as I watched friends head off for the 10 mile start, a race I have done many times.

Heading off for 10 miles of hills and heat.

My race didn’t start for an hour and forty-five minutes after the 10 milers left, and rather than stand around I went back to the car and read a book.  That saved my feet which was a good thing.  Because by the time we set off on our race the sun was high in the sky and it was HOT HOT HOT!

We start out on our own 5 miles.

As usual, this race was well organized and had lots of entertainment.  From the drum group that set the cadence at the beginning of the walk…

Drumming up the excitment.

..to the young band in the parking lot singing “GO BABY GO!”….

GO! GO! GO!

….the woman at the top of three Bradley Hills singing “I never promised you a rose garden…”

No roses were found on the Bradley Hills.

…and the preacher along the way that told us….

Run faster!

“You all are gonna have to step it up if you’re gonna catch up to those Kenyans!”  in reference to the lead runners who had finished long before we left the start line.

All along the way we had entertainment and support from both sides of the road.  Volunteers were offering water, in cups…

Grab some water!

…and from cooling hoses.

Enjoy the shower!

My feet were killing me…but there was a lot of fun distractions…

Girls cheering for us.

…and inspiration.

Inspirational…but a lie.

I’m really glad I did it.  Now I have to figure out what is going on with my feet so that I can start training for next year.  I really want to do the ten miles on the last Saturday in August next summer.

Because I’m lucky enough to be able to.

Finally on the bricks..almost at the finish line!


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Embracing fall

It was hard to let August go, to feel it slip away.  I tried to make it stay longer but it was like hugging jello.  The more I held on the faster it slid away from me.  It seems August fled from most of us; everywhere I hear people exclaiming how quickly the first days of September have arrived.

I don’t know why I struggled so much with the loss of summer this year.  It’s not as though I have children heading to school so I can’t say that I’m pensive about them growing up.  And I’m not a school employee heading back either.  My work at the bank is the same regardless of the month at the top of the wall calendar.

It’s not that I truly love hot weather, or pulling weeds, or watering, or watching trees we planted two years ago struggle.  My garden produced a handful of green beans and two or three tomatoes.  That’s it.  We bought most of our produce from the farmers’ market.  Our grass was brown for weeks on end and so prickly that even the dog didn’t want to walk on it.

Maybe it’s just that I love the long days and the evenings spent on the deck reading or watching the birds.  But I can still do that for awhile as we head into autumn.  Maybe it’s just the dread of the dark mornings heading to work followed by the dark commute home.  Maybe it’s just the thought of slippery roads, downed power lines, or quick trips out with the dog that require layers of clothes and big boots to be dragged from the closet and worn so that she can prance through the snow to find a perfect spot.

Regardless of why it was so hard for me to let August go this year today I decided to embrace the fall.  I went for my lunch walk through the neighborhood and saw maple leaves turning red and yellow and orange.  Not all over mind you, just here and there.  Hickory nuts had fallen to the sidewalk and asters were in bloom.  People with gardens more successful than mine had ripe tomatoes waiting to be picked, and miles and miles of vine covering zucchinis as big as footballs.  Children were out on the playground, swinging high or chasing a big rubber ball.  The sun shone down and warmed us all.

I admit I was sad to see August go but September has been beautiful so far.  I think I’m looking forward to the change.

Change doesn’t always have to be hard.


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Katie says – I went camping with my Mama

This is my big tent.

Katie here!  Mama says she got a new blog!  And it took her forever to let me on.  Yes it did.  A whole week!  So anyway…I haven’t been to my school in like THREE WEEKS!  Mama has been having adventures of her own and I got left behind at a kennel!  NOT FAIR Mama!  So I told her, yes I did, I told her she better shape up or I was going to go find a better Mama.  One who took my on adventures!  And did fun things with me!  And played with me all the time!  That is not too much to expect, me being a princess and all.  No it is not.

And do you know what my Mama did?  She put up the BIG TENT!  We got to go camping!!!

Nothing but sky and trees.

She didn’t put the rain flap on because she said it would be like sleeping under the stars and it was!  It was wonderful!  Ok, there weren’t any stars because it was cloudy…but there wasn’t any rain either, so Mama and I slept really good!  I slept upside down most of the night on my pile of pillows.  Hey!  Let me show you around my tent!

Come one in!  It’s a little messy right now because Mama hasn’t made the bed yet.  You know how Mama is.

Come on in, there’s room for all of us!

Of course my spot would be right here, on the blown up bed with my own personal window.  And the good pillow of course.

My favorite spot.

Oh!  Mama says I have to get OFF the bed.  Geesh.    OK, it’s true this tent has a little window just for me.  And that Mama put lots of pillows for me next to it.  I guess it’s just as good.

Yep this window is pretty sweet.

See?  It just perfect for me!

Those tent people sure know how to please a dog!

I didn’t want to go back in the house this morning.  I’d rather stay outside and play, take a nap in my tent, then play some more.  Oh wait.  Did you say that my breakfast was inside?  Coming Mama!

Did you say SUPPER?!

Mama says we can camp out again tonight!  I can not WAIT!  But I gotta get a nap in first.   Adventures are so exhausting.


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Searching for the ends of the earth

The ends of the earth at Point Pelee in Canada.

Karma continues to challenge us with photo hunts.  She gave us extra time to find our own personal ‘ends of the earth’ and it’s a good thing she did because here I am coming in at the last second with my choices. (Make sure you click on the photos to get a better view.)

The inspiration for this hunt came from our trip to Point Pelee in Canada earlier this summer.  Point Pelee is a piece of land jutting out into Lake Ontario.  From the sky it looks like a sharp edged triangle but when you’re there it feels like a very small version of Cape Horn, South America, with waves come toward it from two directions.

While we were in Canada we also visited a more famous location – Niagara Falls – where I had another ‘ends of the earth’ experience as we stood just at the edge of the falls, looking down at the Maid of the Mist tourist boat.

The ends of the earth at Niagara Falls.

Traveling to another Great Lake two years ago we explored Lake Huron, and at one point walked through tall marsh grass, our feet getting more and more wet as we got closer to the lake.

Looking for the ends of the earth.

It was easier going at Tawas Point State Park where the ends of the earth was more evident.

The very ends of the earth at Tawas.

But since Karma’s challenge I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for some ends of the earth photo opportunities closer to home.  It wasn’t easy without being near a large body of water.

You can see the ends of the earth just past that last stand of trees.

Or maybe the ends of the earth are even closer to home.  Maybe right down at the end of our road?

Can you get to the ends of the earth from here?

But in the end I felt like I needed to find the ends of the earth in Northern Michigan, on my favorite lake, Lake Michigan.  We gazed out over the lake from a platform built above the dunes at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.

Extending the ends of the earth just a bit further.

And we traveled up to the very tip of Michigan’s little finger, the Leelanau Peninsula, to see the very ends of the earth, where someone had perfectly expressed my feelings about this part of the country.

I heart Lake Michigan.

I could go on and on talking about very special places where a person can experience beautiful ends of the earth.  But it’s getting late and Karma’s deadline looms.  Thank you once again Karma, for keeping me observant.  And for giving me another excuse to travel, always on the lookout for something special to capture.

Can’t wait for next time!