Sometimes when you wake up in early morning darkness you go back to sleep. And other days, for some reason, you get up, pull the curtains back and check the sky.
Last week I got lucky.
The sun was coming up over the hills behind me, just touching the house across the way as it sat under a big rolling cloud racing across the sky. The light was only like this for a moment. So brief I might have imagined it.
This morning I woke and caught a sliver of light through a crack in the blinds. It looked a bit gold, so I leaped out of bed and threw back the curtains.
Not gold, but just as rich.
“Those are Snaphappy Gal clouds!” I cried. (Go to her photography site, you’ll see she loves clouds!) Katie looked at me with held tilted as I raced outside with my camera.
And then the sky turned into a van Gogh right before my eyes.
I have sufficiently rested up from my mountain adventure to tell you all about it. I know you’ve been wanting to know. (PS: Most of the photos here were taken by my aunt. That’s how mama got to be in so many of them! Thank you Aunt B!)
A little bit of a huge lake.
See, there’s this big mountain near my lake house and it has a restored fire tower on it. Almost every time mama comes down here she and her family and friends climb up the mountain and then up the fire tower.
But this year she had me and she wasn’t sure, at my advanced age of ten, that I’d want to climb a mountain. Plus it’s pretty warm here and she always worries about me overheating my pretty self. After all I do carry my fur coat everywhere I go. (I don’t trust it to the coat check guy. At all.)
Hurry up mama!
My aunt and uncle came over to the lake house this past weekend and they wanted to go up the mountain. They didn’t worry at all about how I would do, they knew I was a brave sheltie-girl and just assumed I’d want to go. Mama decided to pack a bag with all the essentials like water and poop bags and treats and see how far I’d go. She didn’t want to go so far up that she’d have to carry me down. No siree.
Good spot for a photo shoot…and a rest!
Well it turns out that I love being in the woods. I don’t know why mama was surprised. Once again she underestimated me. We took lots of breaks and most of the path up the mountain was in the shade. She gave me lots of water, in fact I drank almost a whole bottle of water myself on this adventure.
I sniffed lots of cool stuff and scrambled up and over lots of rocks, and pulled mama along cool paths covered in soft pine straw. It was fantastic.
Another pretty spot to rest!
Mama had to carry me the last bit…because stupid people had thrown bottles over the top of the rocks and there was broken glass…and then there were a bunch of steps up to very top and you all know about me and not doing steps. I did all the down steps just fine, but I was scared to do the up steps. Don’t ask. I can’t explain it.
At the top of the mountain I sat on a nice cool slab of concrete with my aunt while mama climbed the tower to get a few shots. She says she doesn’t know why she did that, the images she took look just like the images she took when she was there in November. But she loves being up at the top of that tower.
I’ll wait for you down here mama!
She says she could stay up there for hours, but she knew I was waiting for her down below so she hurried on down. I said no rush mama, cause I was meeting all sorts of nice people and some nice dogs too! It was a beautiful Sunday with blue skies and warm temperatures so there were lots of folks and a few of their dogs out. Everyone said I was really cute. Of course.
Mama and me on top of the world.
Then we walked back down the mountain which I found easier than the trip up. That’s a good thing because truthfully I was getting a little tired. I stopped half way down and looked at my mama. She said no way was she carrying me the rest of the way, so I took a long drink and trotted down on my own.
I’m a good girl.
Monday all we did was go to the little park which was OK.
I’ve named this Katie’s Park II!
And take some photos in town. Which was boring.
Mama says this is grandma and grandpa’s church.
And today…so far all we’ve done is this.
BORING!
Mama says she doesn’t know what she can do to top walking in the Smokey Mountains and on the Atlantic Ocean beach with my boyfriend Reilly, and taking a boat ride and seeing an eagle and climbing a mountain. She says she’s running out of exciting things to do. She better get thinking. I don’t know how long I can be patient.
Because as you all know, it’s not good to keep a princess waiting.
I got to go on a boat ride!!!! My mama was all nervous and stuff cause she has no faith in me at all. She didn’t think I’d like being in a boat. She thought I’d be afraid of the sound of the engine. She thought I’d be shaking like a leaf and want to get out. She thought it would be a very short boat ride.
She (once again) underestimated me.
So let me tell you all about it. We drove over to my Uncle’s house on another lake. I thought this was gonna be another drive all day sort of thing and I protested about half an hour into the trip, but mama told me we were almost there, so I settled back down. She lied of course – it was another half hour before we got there. And then there were all new smells to sniff and I liked it right away.
Me and mama smiling.
Then mama and my uncle discussed going on a boat ride and decided to see if I liked it. They agreed to drive real slow and if I wasn’t comfortable they’d just go back. The entire focus was on whether or not I’d enjoy it.
What do you think?
Relaxed on my yacht.
I thought it was the best thing since cheese! I got to sit on my princess bench between mama and my aunt. And I got to sniff the air a lot. And watch the water go by at the back of the boat. I didn’t shake one little bit. Sometimes I even smiled.
And once I almost fell asleep! Can you believe that?
Lulled to sleep by the engine vibration.
My uncle drove us way up the river, so most of our trip was pretty slow but I liked the fast stuff too. Once, on our way home we were going fast into the wind and mama and I both had a bad hair day!
Matching crazy hair mama!
But all in all I thought this was a most excellent adventure. We’re back at our own lake house now, and I have been all wound up, wanting to play with the toy that Mr. Reilly gave me, and wanting mama to pay attention to me and wanting my dinner, and wanting to go outside and not wanting to come back inside. Mama is exhausted. So to give her a break I’m gonna take a little nap now.
I expect more adventures tomorrow mama! I hear the uncle and aunt are coming over here and I’ll get to show them around.
We’ve been at the lake house for a few days now, long enough to settle into a routine. Katie thinks it’s pretty boring, but I try to liven it up for her a bit. It’s not easy; she has such high expectations. After all, she had the company of two friendly shelties and the whole ocean where we were last weekend. Now she has me. And a lake with muddy edges. Still, she seems content to hang out with me and nap a lot.
Relaxing in grandma’s chair.
I take her to a park every day for a walk. So far the weather has been beautiful, lows in the 50s at night, highs in the 70s during the day, and sun though they say it will rain soon. We’re planning on going on a little road trip tomorrow to visit my brother. I’m hoping there’s no rain over there.
Keebler Park in Dadeville
Meanwhile she has met the neighborhood dogs. They’re both friendly, but neither of them has the obedience skills that Katie has worked so hard to achieve. Both will sit for a treat, but neither of them will stay long enough for me to back up to get a picture. And Katie won’t sit near either one of them. She finds their lack of social skills a bit off-putting. I guess.
Carson is a laberdoodle. He’s a big bundle of energy and very friendly. But to Katie is he just big. He will sit but if he doesn’t get his treat right away, say I’m trying to get him to stay while I’m taking a picture, he barks one giant WOOF!!! and leaps into the air. Katie is always surprised by that, but she holds her stay. I know she’s not happy because her ears go flat. So I release her so that she can move away. This is the best picture I could get of the two of them.
Katie and Carson
And then there’s Dixie who lives next door and is outside after her owners come home from work. She’s adorable and loves to have her belly rubbed by anyone that will pay attention to her. She’s the same size as Katie but stockier.
Dixie! Stay!!!
They like each other pretty much, though she won’t stay either. Katie gets frustrated waiting for a treat while Dixie follows me around instead of sitting pretty.
I’m not sitting any closer to her mama!
But they do seem to like to laugh at me together.
Seriously Dixie, she’s not going to stop trying to get a picture until you settle down.
I’ve been working on a shell project…making a frame covered with shells found on the beach for a photo of the three shelties. A reminder for later when this trip is only a distant memory.
Thanks Bree for the extra pretty shells!
And I’m watching the weather up north a bit, debating when to make the trek back home. It would be nice if the snow was all done by the time Katie and I get back…but that’s doubtful. We need to be back for things that are scheduled in March. And I think Katie-girl misses her dad and her house and her park and her school.
Let’s go exploring mama!
She says adventures are only adventures if they have a beginning, a middle and an end, mama. Otherwise it’s just life.
Katie here. My mama has been very remiss in getting my posts online in a timely manner. OK, so she’s been driving and getting food for us and stuff. But still, I’m going to have to play catch up now and that is so frustrating. I hope mama gets her act together now that we’re in Alabama and apparently resting a lot.
So last time you heard from me I was in Florida with the love of my life Mr. Reilly. But you only got to see one of our beach excursions. We went out another day really early (I was good at the really early thing since I’ve been getting mama up at 4 a.m. for months and months!) to the beach so we could see the sun rise. We didn’t count on it being so foggy.
My handsome guy disrupts the shore birds.
Still…it was pretty on the beach in the fog. There was hardly anyone else out there. Just us and some birds and a couple other people and their dogs.
Mama and Reilly’s mom got some very nice photos of us. I tried to be good about it but I really just wanted to get up and explore. Mama takes way too many pictures if you ask me.
The three of us tolerated more photos.
Sadly we had to continue on with our adventure, mama and I, the next day. So we said goodbye to my favorite Florida family and headed across Georgia to visit my Aunt Beth. It was fun to stay at her house overnight. I hadn’t seen her in a lot of years!
My Aunt Beth’s front door!
The next morning mama took me over to the lake house. This is where my grandma and grandpa used to live. I never got to meet them, but I’m pretty sure I’d have liked them cause I like their lake house a lot. I can see out the big windows and watch the world go by. I get to choose between the comfy chair and the comfy sofa to snooze, and I’ve been snoozing a lot.
Our first sunset at the lake house.
Here at the lake I have my mama all to myself…and she has promised to take me to parks for long walks. Yesterday we got to go to Horseshoe Bend Military Park where we read all about the Battle at Horseshoe Bend between General Jackson’s army and the Lower Creek and Cherokee Indians in 1814.
The battle site is along the Tallapoosa River. The river was beautiful in the sun when we were there, but I was more interested in smelling around the trees, looking for pee-mail left by other dogs. I didn’t find much to speak of. I guess we were one of the first there after the early morning rains went through.
Pretty river mama, but boring if you’re me.
We climbed a big hill and I got to explore the cannon. And mama only took one picture, so that worked out. I guess even mama can learn if I give her time.
Way up on a peaceful hill is the remembrance of a bloody battle.
I enjoyed the park, but it wore us both out. We fell asleep at 7 last night! Now I’m ready to find out what mama has up her sleeve for today. I told her we need to explore somewhere new each day. She says she’ll try. I guess that’s all I can expect from mama.
Many of you know that I love the photographic work of Snap Happy Gal. If you study her images you’ll note that the sky is often a big part of the picture; her clouds low and robust, the light always mesmerizing. I can spot her work on Facebook even before I check to see who posted.
Sky is a big deal to me too. So on my drive up to Northport yesterday I noticed when the heavy dark clouds rolled in as I navigated morning rush hour through Flint. And how they rolled and twisted as I reached the flat land near Bay City.
Farmland anticipates rain.
I couldn’t help myself. I had to get off the freeway and see what I could catch. I thought to myself as I drove the back roads – “This is a Snap Happy sky.”
There’s a big lake just past Grayling and it always catches my attention. This trip was no exception as the clouds kept rolling in. I had to stop.
Dark and stormy Lake Margrethe
And so it was, and continues to be this morning, here on the big lake. Lake Michigan swells quietly beneath an ominous sky, caught between summer and autumn.
Summer leaves reluctantly.
Living in a wide open space you can watch the weather approaching. It’s almost like watching it on radar, the way the clouds move across the water. But it’s better than radar because you can actually feel the changes — you’re surrounded, as if you’re sitting in the biggest 360 degree 3D movie theater in the world.
A clear blue sky would be boring.
I think it’s possible we’ll have clouds for all three days of my visit. Some people might be sad at the lack of sun and blue sky.
Katie did a good job describing our latest camping trip. But she left out some of the pretty shots, probably because they didn’t highlight her. You know how she is. So here’s a few of the other pretty things we saw up there. Well. She didn’t see all of it, because she napped a lot.
Katie here. What? You thought mama likes camping in the rain? I guess she’s not opposed, as long as it’s a nice gentle rain that stops by morning and then the sun comes up and dries everything out before we have to pack it into the car. That kind of rain.
But of course that’s not what happened.
I’m getting ahead of myself though, let me start at the beginning. Last Monday we drove all the way over to Leelanau State Park; it’s way up at the tip of the little finger of Michigan, just north of Northport, one of mama’s favorite towns.
We went there so that we could visit a bunch of people, some of whom had never met me! The first person we hung out with was Karen, a friend of mama’s from years ago. They used to work together in the Upper Peninsula in the 80s. We had dinner at her house and mama and I ran up and down the 46 stairs to the beach a bunch of times while mama took pictures of the sunset that night.
I’m not scared of these stairs mama!
Mama has figured out that I’m not exactly telling the truth when I say I don’t do stairs. I ran down those 46 stairs no problem each time. And the first time back I forgot, and ran up halfway before I asked to be picked up! Bummer! Mama’s on to me now!
Sunset light makes me extra beautiful in my beach chair.
That night her friend came up and camped with us at our site. It was fun to have her hanging out with mama, though I have to admit I went to bed as soon as we got back to camp while mama and her friend drank wine and talked.
The next day mama and I went into town and visited Dog Ears Books in Northport. I didn’t get to meet the resident dog Sarah, because she wasn’t in that day, but I got to meet Sarah’s person Pamela, and I got to wander all over the store with my mama as she picked out a few books.
I like this store! Support your independent book seller!
We visited the marina too. I enjoy walking out on the docks and looking at all the beautiful boats. I imagine what it would be like out on the big lake on a sunny afternoon.
This one’s for sale mama, want to buy it for me?
It would be perfect as long as my mama remembered to bring the treats. Which she forgot a lot on our walks during this camping trip. Just saying.
Back at our campsite mama noticed a big beautiful cloud out over the lake. This park doesn’t have a beach, just a lot of bushes that grow in the water. So mama hiked out through those bushes and into the water to get a picture of the beautiful cloud and some sailboats.
The ‘path’ back to camp.
She figured her feet would get wet, but that was OK. When she finally came back to camp I had to say “I told you so mama!” because of course she got more wet than she expected. Mama never pays attention when she’s trying to get a good picture. Silly silly mama.
Really mama? You couldn’t keep your shorts dry?
She changed her shoes and her shorts and spent the rest of the day moving the wet things around the campsite, following the shifting sun. When we went to bed they were still pretty damp.
That night the whole campground was full! Most every single site had one or more tents in it. We had lots of crazy screaming little kids on one side of us and a whole big group of teenagers on the other side. It was a lot more noisy than before. But I was tired from all our exploring so I went right to sleep.
Peterson Park has a giant tree!
Mama had hoped she could try some star photography, so she set her alarm for 1:00 a.m. so she could go out and check the sky. Of course she got me up then too, to go do my jobs. She thought that by doing that I might let her sleep later than 6 a.m. It’s always good to have hope.
So at 1:00 we were outside, mama checking the sky, me checking for pee-mail. She said the sky wasn’t good for star shooting; to the west it was totally dark and there were clouds and stars just above us. Out over Lake Michigan it looked dark…like fog. Or something.
We walked about three campsites down the road so I could pee, and then mama felt weird being out there alone so late, and she tugged me back to our site. I didn’t want to go back into the tent but she insisted. And as she turned around inside to zip the door shut she noticed that the young tree on the other side of the road suddenly bent over in strong wind! That seemed odd because it hadn’t been windy when we were out there. And it wasn’t windy where our tent was only a few feet away.
So she watched. The tree whipped around, over and over, the waves began to crash, but the wind was louder than the waves. Mom was worried. Then the rain hit.
It came down in sheets, hard against the tent. Mama hoped the weight of us inside would hold the tent down. She worried about what she might have left outside. Like her shoes. And the tent bag. And who knows what else. I slept through the whole thing.
It rained hard from 1:10 a.m. until 6:00 a.m. Mama stayed awake through most of it worrying. But at 6:00 it seemed to stop, and she had to go to the bathroom (I guess listening to all that water will do it to some people!) so she woke me up and we crept outside. Things seemed to be OK. Her shoes were soaked, but other than that we were good. So we headed to the toilet. We were halfway there when the rains came back. Mama debated what to do. Go back to the tent? Or keep going? She decided what the heck…we were going to get wet either way, so we kept going. By the time we got to the toilet it was just pouring. We got soaked!
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
Back at our site she gave up trying to keep anything inside dry, we just dove back into the tent. I was a mess. Mama was a mess. She dried me off with our last dry towel. Turns out I thought that was fun, almost like a game, so I made mama laugh even though she was dripping wet too. We went back to sleep. Well. I went back to sleep. Mama lay there worrying about how she was going to pack up the campsite in this pouring rain. She had to be out by 11:00 a.m.
Then guess what? The rain stopped at 8 a.m.! Really! It just stopped! Mama had already decided that she was going to pack up at 8, regardless. So she got up and got moving fast. I got put in my crate just to keep me from tracking more mud into the tent. I was not happy.
Not fair.
I am never happy when she packs up our tent. It’s my tent and I want to stay longer! Even if everything is soaked! It’s not fair that she put my in my crate in the car where I couldn’t see anything. But she says it’s just faster without me running around after her barking and getting under her feet.
I don’t want you to pack up mama!
I guess she’s right, because she got everything packed in an hour. We stopped on our way out to toss the garbage in the bin. It was about 9:10 when she popped out of the car to toss the garbage. The rain began again in earnest at 9:11. I swear, we were soooo lucky to get it all packed up in that one hour.
Through the rain we drove south around Traverse Bay, and then north along the other side. We were going to visit Gerry up near Eastport. I met Gerry a couple of years ago, along with her dogs the Cowboy and Miss Sadie. She lives near the water too and has a lot of stairs up to her house.
I’m not walking up all these steps mama!
Once again I had no trouble going down the steps but I made my mama carry me up every.single.time. After all, I am a princess.
Once inside her house I noticed immediately that there was a sofa! And I spent most of the evening napping on it, or Gerry’s chair. And mama and I got to sleep in a real bed! Gerry was very nice to offer us her spare room, especially since everything we had was wet!
Hey mama! A sofa!
I had a great time at Gerry’s house. We went for walks through the woods and we visited her neighbor and I got to nap while they were talking. I napped a lot on this trip. I think that’s one of the best parts about camping, all the naps.
What? I was just resting my eyes!
The next day we went for one more walk and then it was time to head home. I don’t know about mama, but I was exhausted!
Sure is pretty ‘up north!’
We stopped at my favorite park in Greyling, and a couple of rest stops, but most of the way home I was asleep. Don’t tell mama, she thinks I’m vigilant all the time.
At the little park in Greyling. It’s not raining!
It took mama two days to get everything totally dried out once we were home. I’m already asking her when we’re going again, but she says she’s tired. She slept a lot yesterday. Even more than me! I suppose I should let her rest for at least a couple more days before I bug her about our next adventure. Maybe we could stay in a hotel. I have to admit I did like sleeping on the bed that last night. We’ll see. I can always count on my mama to come up with something fun.
She says she has lots of pretty photos to show you and she’ll do that sometime if I ever finish this blog which she says has gotten way too long. Obviously she forgets I’m the princess of the house.
My mama. Secretly I think she likes camping a lot too.
Change Is Hard 