fun stuff | Change Is Hard

August 16, 2025
by dawnkinster 36 Comments

Camping objectives

Sometimes I go camping just to have a few days away from everyday responsibilities. Time to nap and read and snack and daydream.

Sometimes I go camping with a specific goal in mind. I’m hoping to get that perfect Milky Way image, or find a new bird to photograph, or see a part of the state I haven’t seen before.

Last week, at the last minute, I got to reserve 3 nights in my favorite campsite at the local state park. It’s a spot where Katie and I camped many times. This trip I hoped to introduce Penny to campground noises.

*“Did I hear something over there, mom?”*

She’d been there for a couple visits last year, but it was all overwhelming to her, and even with her dad and me right there she was pretty nervous about all the people and cars and noisy trucks with trailers driving by.

*“Hey! What’s my tent doing out here in the woods, mom?”*

This year she’s older and wiser and a little bit calmer. Though she still looked when noisy things including people with their dogs walked by, she didn’t automatically come undone.

She was only visiting me for a few hours each day, and while she was there we took plenty of walks around the campground, letting her sniff the vacant spots…

…and moving swiftly past those occupied.

*“Nothing to see here, just protecting my bikes.”*

She even got to walk past a couple of pitbulls and their flustered dad. She was a rockstar.

See them coming around the corner up there? Penny’s tail was already up in alarm and I didn’t notice them until they were much closer. She knew right away. She never barked, she just heeled with me right by them.

We spent about an hour on her second visit inside the tent as evening fell. I think she would have been fine spending the night in the tent if I had insisted. But she was a little restless after an hour and if I’m honest, I wasn’t looking forward to packing up in the morning with her on site.

*“I guess this is OK mom. But daddy has air conditioning and a **bed.** Just sayin.”*

It takes me an hour to pack up without the distraction of a curious dog. But next time, if she’s willing I think we’ll spend the night in the tent. Maybe she’ll begin to understand it’s all an adventure and mom’s got her back.

*“Umm, excuse me mother, let me be clear. I’m **not** taking a shower.”*

The other reason I jumped at a chance to camp at this site is the opportunity to photograph birds. Every time I’ve been at site 16 there have been birds flitting around. Their images are hard to capture, they’re not like Kensington birds, posing for treats.

*A really poor image of a cardinal that swooped in and then out.*

These birds are never happy when they stop by and you’re at their site. I sat for hours, still in my chair, camera ready, and didn’t catch a good look at one bird, though I heard redstarts and vireos and wrens all around me.

*Mostly I got bird imposters like these brown leaves.*

Then this guy bounced out of the underbrush.

After looking at me he hopped up on a vine with his back to me. In a moment, though, he turned his head to make sure I got the shot, and then he took off.

I smiled, at least I got one decent image of a bird!

And then I noticed this little red squirrel looking a bit worse for wear. She skittered around the campsite and then disappeared.

While I’m looking for her, tossing a few blueberries in the direction she ran, a opportunistic chipmunk showed up, very happy with the blueberry offering.

*“Hey lady! You got anything to spare?”*

Meanwhile Ms. red squirrel, apparently a tired mom, was up in a tree at the edge of the campsite, happily chowing down on a nut.

She was happy until she noticed the chipmunk was feasting on blueberries.

That seemed to make her very unhappy. She watched the chipmunk more carefully. I tossed a few more blueberries. She was conflicted.

*“Wait! Those blueberries were for ME!”*

And then she ran as fast as she could down that tree and back out into the site where she scored a blueberry of her own.

*“That chipmunk got one, but he’s not going to get the rest!”*

It all made me smile.

Camping generally makes me smile, even when it rains, which it inevitably does at least one day on every camping adventure. At least this time it was overnight. And in the morning the sun rose again.

Time to get packing and head home. A little fuzzy girl was waiting for me to provide her next adventure. She’s kind of demanding that way. I don’t mind.

Till next time, site 16. Thanks for the new memories.

July 28, 2025
by dawnkinster 35 Comments

Magical

Almost a week ago now we had clear skies, no moon, and moderate temperatures. It was all perfect for a Milky Way photo shoot. So a photographer friend and I along with her daughter took a run up to the thumb of Michigan to find somewhere to spend the night under the stars.

There’s a special barn up there, and I’ve always thought it might make a good Milky Way foreground.

We checked it out, both sides. The owner of the barn must have a sense of humor.

But physically it wasn’t really faced in the correct direction for a Milky Way shoot that night. Maybe earlier in the season when the Milky Way will be further to the east. I’m keeping it in mind So we headed up toward Port Austin, near the point of Michigan’s thumb. We found a little roadside park with a small sandy beach.

*The last light illuminates the log resting on the beach.*

We decided to watch the sunset from there and then decide what to do. While we were watching the sun a small flock of cedar waxwings showed up, sitting in the dead tree near us and then flying out to catch bugs. The light was low and they moved so fast it was hard to get a good image.

*A cedar waxwing keeps watch for a tasty bug.*

But they sure made me smile.

There seemed to be an unlimited source of very thin rocks, perfect for stone skipping. So my friend and her daughter skipped stones and I took pictures.

It was so much fun.

Meanwhile the sun began to set. And, though we didn’t get a great sunset it was pretty enough for us.

We went back to the car to get our real cameras and when we came out to the beach hundeds of lightening bugs rose from the beach grass. I tried so hard to get a picture of them, but it was hard.

*See the yellow fireflies? Now multiply that by 100s.*

Just imagine standing there with all these glowing lights flitting around you. It was magical.

And then it began to get dark and my friend told me there was an aurora alert and we should take a test shot to the north and see if anything was happening. And guess what.

*A pink dome, supported by a green base with a couple pillars in for good measure*.

There was!

So we spent a lot of time shooting the aurora. It wasn’t a spectacular show, but there was plenty of pink and green and light pillars.

Then we turned our cameras south to see if the dark horse was leaving the protection of the trees yet.

It was still, unfortunately, partially behind the hill. We weren’t in a prime location for Milky Way, looking to the south it was behind the trees for much of the night. But the aurora made the site worthwhile.

*The aurora was moving out further into the bay.*

Across the way you can see retangles of golden light. I think, after studying a map, that must be Tawas, a large town on the other side of Saginaw Bay. I also wondered if there’s a bank of foggy mist out there.

We looked back to the south. The dark horse in the Milky Way was moving further out from behind the trees.

So that’s how the night went. Shoot a little to the north, shoot a little to the south. There was something spectacular no matter where we looked.

*It was hard to believe we’d gotten so lucky!*

The whole night was so wonderful. Fireflies, aurora, Milky Way, stars, a slight breeze, warm temperatures, the lapping of a quiet lake. You can’t beat it. And I felt lucky that we were there.

We left the beach a little after 1 a.m. as the mist from the bay started to move over the Milky Way and the aurora had fadded.

*Notice all the light pollution from Caseville.*

We had a 2.5 hour drive back home. I smiled the whole way.

*Nothing but stars and the tail end of the Milky Way overhead.*

July 24, 2025
by dawnkinster 32 Comments

Backyard shenanigans

A long time ago I promised to show you the shenanigans going on in my backyard. Or should I call it backyardigans?

These are self explanatory, but if the participants had anything to say I’ll add that as comentary under the offender’s image.

*My morning abdominal workout might be offset by my morning snacking.*

You will note there is one pictured here that is not like the others. She knows who she is.

*I have to ask the help to fill this feeder every single day.*

Sometimes I wonder how I get anything done in the house, given all the entertainment just outside my window.

*I emptied out that birdfeeder, now my tummy doesn’t feel so good.*

Oh wait. I really don’t get much done inside. Please don’t look at the dust covering everything or the dog fur rolling across the floor.

*Somebody come help me with these two hooligans!*

But I ask you. Which would you rather do?

*I’m just going to sit here and watch the crazy in real time.*

I thought so.

*Not me, I’m eating while I can. A mom gets so little time to herself around here!*

*You are so right! Eat while you can I always say!*

*I see you lady with the camera! Could you please leave us more peanuts?*

*She always puts the peanuts at the bottom. Good thing I have short legs.*

*Seriously, I’m going to go crazy in .2 seconds.*

July 19, 2025
by dawnkinster 36 Comments

Title!

Hey Peeps! It’s me, Penny! Guess what, guess what, guess what???! Mom and I went to a Rally trial on Friday and in spite of mom I got my first AKC title!

*Where are we going mom? I’m not sure I want to go!*

It all started when mom rushed me into the car in the morning. This was unusual and I wasn’t sure it was going to be a good day. I was afraid maybe I was going to the vet. Or the groomer!

But we ended up at my school and I’m always excited there. I’ll tell you a secret. I’m not excited because I get to hang out with other dogs and do fun stuff.

*Well OK mom! I love school, let’s get going!*

Nope. I’m excited about the cheese. Don’t tell mom, I don’t think she realizes, she still thinks I’m an intellectual dog that’s all invested in learning new things.

Let’s not disappoint her.

Anyway. Mom got us there way too early. We had to wait through a whole lot of people and dogs before we got to go. I mostly sat around and begged other people to share their treats.

Mom kept saying NO! Everybody said I was cute and they all wanted to share but mom was a meanie. Except once when we were all done she let me have a tiny salmon liver thing. OMG! Mom’s cheese is nothing compared to salmon liver!

*Your snack skills are severely lacking, mother.*

Anyway…once it was my turn I was a very good girl and followed mom all around that course. There were lots of circles which are not my favorite but I stuck pretty good, even though mom thought I was lagging behind sometimes.

*We had to wait for almost all these people to do their thing first. I’m in Rally Novice B.*

And we ended up with a 99 out of 100 and first place! And since that was my third leg (you have to get three qualifying runs to get a title) I got my first title too!

*Me and my first place ribbon and my TITLE RIBBON!*

Mom and I went in the back and got our pictures taken with my ribbons.

*Me and mom. She said she was very proud of me.*

But then I found out mom had entered us for a 2nd run. Mom called it insurance in case I didn’t qualify in the first run. But it meant waiting all that time all over again until it was my turn!

*I decided I’d take a nap in my crate while we waited.*

GEEZE mom, this is not fun.

But then my breeder, Mama S, showed up and I was sooooo excited to see her. She’s one of my favorite people, right up there with daddy and mom and she came to watch me! And then we waited and waited and waited…and I was soooo bored. Mom tried to keep me occupied but all I wanted to do was nap.

*While we waited mom studied the map of our next run.*

And when it came my turn, finally, I didn’t want to play the game anymore. I decided to protest by not sitting when she asked me to, until she asked four or five times. I also decided I wasn’t going to circle left at all. And I was going to walk reeaaaal slow. So mom had to keep trying to get me to move along.

I found the whole thing totally boring.

*If that comes with a snack I’ll take it!*

Lucky for us the judge was a nice lady and didn’t disqualify us. I think if we weren’t doing beginning rally we would have been kicked right out of the building! But we got an 89 and qualified and even got a third place ribbon (cause there were only 3 of us in that group) and mom was relieved.

We went in the back and got our pictures taken again, even the lady judge posed with me!

And then mom drove us home. We were both very, very tired. Mom and I took a nap when we got home and today mom’s going to go back to the school to watch the obedience trials. She says we’re going to try that next month! She says I can stay home and rest up.

Cause I’m a rock star. Or something.

*Thinking about my strategy for the next time.*

I think I better rest up!

July 11, 2025
by dawnkinster 21 Comments

But what about the pretty stuff up in Northport?

I know. It all seems quite a long time ago when I traveled over to the western side of the state to camp and watch for stars.

You all know the star thing didn’t work out. And that it rained a lot. And that my last day there I drove up to Northport to meet with friends about a new book.

*One of my favorites, I park up the road on a side street and walk back down busy M-22.*

But on the drive back to camp I did wander a bit, looking at pretty stuff. Of course.

*On a random backroad that I took to turn around for another barn..*

Because why be up there at all if you’re not enjoying all the pretty stuff!

Many of these barns you’ve seen before, but I’d have to say it was a long time ago.

*I hope to get the Milky Way over this barn someday.*

And some of you are newcomers so this will be your first glimpse of the beautiful rural landscape that sits along Lake Michigan in the upper part of our lower peninsula.

*I parked over by the house in a bike path access parking lot and walked the bike path to get this image.*

I feel like I’m jabbering too much. Maybe I should just show you a few of the pretties and let you decide for yourself if they were worth me stopping to grab the image.

*This is a famous barn on M 22. Lots of people have shot the Milky Way over it. Maybe someday I will too.*

I kind of think you’ll be in agreement with me that it was worth turning around and even driving around a really big block to capture some of these.

*Near the bike path parking lot. I liked the vintage car, the vintage house and the famous barn all together.*

Enjoy.

July 7, 2025
by dawnkinster 21 Comments

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.

July 3, 2025
by dawnkinster 24 Comments

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.

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.

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.*

June 29, 2025
by dawnkinster 17 Comments

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.

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.

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!

June 22, 2025
by dawnkinster 33 Comments

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.

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.

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.