Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: fun stuff


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Moon over Michigan

This morning I was out early, thanks to Katie the Sheltie-girl, taking pictures of the moon.

Amazing

Amazing

Were you out in your yard looking up at the big full moon this morning too? I wondered, as I stood, feet in the damp grass and a bit of chill in the air, how many other people were out just as the sun was beginning to tip the tops of trees with golden light, all staring up at the beautiful moon shining down on us.

I was busy fiddling with the camera when I heard a flock of geese. I lifted my head just as they flew overhead and thought to myself….”Well..THAT would have been a great shot.”

Noisy moon watchers

Noisy moon watchers

Turns out I got the last couple of them, though I didn’t know it until I looked at the photos long after the sun came up. What you can’t see is that the underside of each of them was rosy with morning sun even though the moon was still hanging low in the sky.

But if you use your imagination you can see it in your heart.

Good morning moon.

Good morning moon.


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Overnight in paradise

Peaceful

Peaceful


I went north to Nortport this week, specifically to listen to Loreen Niewenhuis talk about her latest book “A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure.” This is the third in her trilogy of Great Lakes adventures — I loved the first two; the first about her walk around Lake Michigan and the second about her walk on the shores of portions of all five Great Lakes.

Her talk was excellent and I can’t wait to read the new book. I opened it at random in three places last night and laughed out loud each time. She can write! Even while you’re learning about things you may never have thought about you’re enjoying the adventure of it all in her books.

Sunset glow

Sunset glow

I love Northport, the little town at the tip of Michigan’s pinky finger. I can’t think of a place more lovely, more welcoming, more serene. Lucky for me I have a friend or two there, so I was able to camp on a lawn near Lake Michigan on Tuesday night after Loreen’s talk at the local library. The sunset that night was spectacular.

Beautiful water.

Beautiful water.

I didn’t take a lot of photos this trip, other than the sunset, at least there on the lake. Instead I enjoyed swimming in the cool clear water of Lake Michigan, listening to a bit of jazz at a local restaurant, conversation with friends, and sleeping out under the stars.

OK. So I didn’t really notice the stars much. I slept better out there on the front lawn than I’ve slept in a good long while and I don’t think I woke at all until morning. Must have been the lake air.

It’s cherry harvesting time in Northport and I stopped on my way out of town to get a photo.

Looks like a good year for cherries.

Looks like a good year for cherries.

Don’t they look good? In my family we love tart cherries even more than the sweet versions. I wanted to grab a bucket and pick a few pounds, but I guess that would be stealing. So I bought a quart at a stand and ate them on the way home.

Have I mention I really love this place?

Sand clings to my memories.

Sand clings to my memories.


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WordPress Photo Challenge: Close Up

Do you know what this is?

Do you know what this is?

WordPress suggested this week we look around the house and find things that might make interesting photos up close.

I’ll let you guess what this is.

Meanwhile, stop at a few of my favorite submissions, showing bits of people’s lives up close, here, here and here.

Don’t miss this one either.

And look around your own home. I bet you find plenty of things that are more interesting up close than they were ever originally designed to be. I look forward to seeing them all!


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Share your world

Cee challenges people to share a bit about themselves by answering questions she poses. Here’s the latest list:

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Ironically as a kid I wanted to be a truck driver. Something about being on the road appealed to me. Of course I didn’t know about the rest of the job, the way they are paid, the stress, or the danger. Still the road pulls at me today and probably always will.

If you were invisible, where would you go?
Once upon a time I would have wanted to go into the executive meetings at work to figure out what was behind some of the policy. But since I’m retired I don’t have that urge anymore. I guess now I’d like to be in my Senators’ offices to see what happens day to day and how they make their decisions.

Would you rather forget everyone else’s name all the time or have have everyone forget your name all the time?
Definitely I’d rather my name was forgotten if in return I could remember other people’s names. I am so bad at names. I forget them immediately even when I’m concentrating on remembering them. I forget my neighbor’s names, people I worked with names, friends names. I’m hopeless.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I have a hard time remembering last week. But I know I’m grateful to be retired and having most of my time to myself. This week I’m grateful for beautiful weather, not too hot, not too cold, not too wet. The dog and I should be able to camp in the backyard a couple of nights and that’s always special.

Me and my girl.

Me and my girl.


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Suburban wildlife – or- not so wordless Wednesday

It’s beginning to amaze me the beautiful things that are in my yard during any given day. And to think all this has been going on here at home for years while I’ve been off at work.

Katie likes to bark a warning to us humans sitting on the sofa. By the time we get up and look outside she has managed to chase whatever it was away. But just in the last two days I’ve noticed, on my own with no help from her, plenty of goings on in the yard.

Of course we have the Orioles visiting daily. Sometimes hourly. Do you think this one is a juvenile or just a wet female?

Looking for "more grape jelly lady!!"

Looking for “more grape jelly lady!!”

It’s a good thing Katie didn’t see this little guy at the birdbath right outside her favorite window.

"Hey! Anybody in there?!"

“Hey! Anybody in there?!”

Do you think the butterfly on the house realizes there are two garter snakes curled up sleepily below?

Look out below!

Look out below!

And just now, in the back yard we had a visitor. Katie didn’t see this either.

Looking for rabbits in all the right places.

Looking for rabbits in all the right places.

Good thing she didn’t. All heck would have broken out.

What's that smell over there?

What’s that smell over there?

So much going on in my own yard that I don’t have time for cooking and cleaning and such. Must keep vigilent, as a sheltie, who will remain nameless, seems to be napping on the job.

STILL no grape jelly lady!

STILL no grape jelly lady!


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Camping contemplations

Many of you know that Katie the dog and I went camping last week. What you might not have known is that the State Park where we pitched our tent is only one exit and six miles north of home.

This is my campsite!

This is my campsite!


But it’s a world away.

I’ve been thinking the last few days about why we’d go camping so close to home. Why not just pitch the tent in the back yard? (And you know we do that too.) Why go to the trouble of packing up the car with tent and bedroll, pillows, blankets, food, leashes, dog dishes, cameras, tinder, firewood. The dog and her crate.

Got any snacks mama?

Got any snacks mama?

Why walk almost 1500 steps to the bathroom and back in the middle of the night? Why drench yourself and the dog with bug spray and sunblock, sleep in two (or three) layers of clothes under several blankets, wake up with a start at every snapped branch in the woods.

Welcome to my tent!

Welcome to my tent!

Why not just take walks in the woods with your dog during the day and sleep in your own bed safe, sound and warm in your own house every night? Why, as soon as you get home, do you immediately want to plan the next trip?

And here’s what I’ve realized. When you’re out in the woods for hours on end, you slow down. You notice that bird you’ve never seen before. You listen to all the birds begin to sing long before the sun comes up. You read a book. You take a walk. You take a nap. Then you read some more, contemplate the campfire, maybe raise a roasted marshmallow in toast to the memories of camping with family all those years ago.

You relax.

Our perfect private site!

Our perfect private site!

When you camp away from home there is no laundry that should be started, no gardens to weed, no groceries to be found, meals to be cooked. When you camp away from home you find peace and freedom and beauty and quiet joy.

And that’s why Katie and I are already thinking about our next adventure.

Close to home.

Wake up mama!

Wake up mama!


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Cee’s flower challenge

Check out Cee’s blog where she sports a beautiful sunflower and challenges us to show everyone a flower from our own yards.

Well, you’ve seen many of the flowers in my garden, but this one is interesting.

Will be bright red soon!

Will be bright red soon!

It’s a crocosmia. The foliage is green spiky leaves perhaps 3 or more feet tall which remind me of gladiola leaves. The flowers open up one by one from one end of this bud to the other. This one happens to be bright red, but I’ve seen them in other shades of red and orange. They are stunning.

It’s a perennial so it comes up year after year, and each year there are more. I’m going to have to move some of these to another spot, so if anyone who lives near would like a few for a corner of their own garden let me know! (Click the small photo to see more detail.)

Pretty

Pretty