Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: Michigan


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Northern adventure full of smiles

What better way to gather smiles than taking a couple days to adventure with a friend in northern Michigan? I can’t think of a better way to grin for two days, and I’ve been meaning to share some of our smiles with you but time and events sent me off on a detour or two.

On top of adventuring we saw some really cool barns.

A couple weeks ago a friend from college and I took off to do some fun stuff. Stuff you always say you’re going to do but usually don’t get around to.

Waiting for riders.

Like flying down a mountain on a plastic sled at Crystal Mountain Resort. You’ve always wanted to do that, right?

Before my first ride.

Haven’t you secretly yearned to be on that bobsled when you watched the winter Olympics? No? Really?

Well let me assure you that I was going much slower than an Olympic athlete on ice, and it was perfectly safe.

Whew! Made it!

And oh it was such a blast! It was so much fun that we each rode down four times! (4 rides for $30 each)

This is how they get the sleds and people back up to the top.

We would have gone again, but we had other things to fit into our short two day adventure. Like visit one of our favorite places, Pt. Betsie.

A few people were swimming. I got wet up to my ankles. It was cold.

You all know that I try to get out there, even if it’s only for a few minutes, whenever I’m in the area. I’m not usually there in beach season, so it’s fun to see the sand filled with sun bathers and rock pickers.

Lots of people looking for that perfect stone.

We didn’t stay at the beach long, we were hungry and it was getting late. We checked into our hotel and then went to dinner at The Cherry Hut.

We had a nice dinner and more importantly bought a cherry pie to take with us.

I kinda felt like the women having to wear this getup wasn’t fair. The men were in khakis and red shirts.

Which we ate at the hotel. YUMMY!

Tasted like home made!

The next day it was on to Boyne Mountain, further north, which has a relatively new Sky Bridge, built between a couple of ski mountains.

The ski lift here was longer and slower, giving us lots of time to enjoy the beautiful summer day.

Quite a structure!

The bridge is pretty long, and moves a bit with the people walking on it.

You can spend as much time as you like out there.

Handrails are handy.

The top railing was about at my eye level, so I’m guessing just over 5 feet.

Don’t look down!

In the middle of the bridge are a couple of sections of plexiglass so you can see below.

Don’t overthink it and you’ll be fine.

That was weird, but not too scary. Mostly I imagined how beautiful this will be in the fall.

When those trees turn orange and red, man that will be stunning!

And then we rode the lift back down, found our car and headed home. Well. Not directly home.

We had to turn around for this one. “That’s a good barn,” we both said as we drove by.

We did stop for a couple photogenic barns.

Blue skies, red barns, white clouds. Can’t beat that.

And a house.

Someone’s dreams were lost here.

Wouldn’t be an adventure without barns.

Or without friends. Thanks for the great time, adventure friend. You know who you are.


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Finally!

Hey everybody, it’s me, Penny!

Mom thought this mossy part of the woods was pretty. I think I made it prettier.

Guess what? Mom finally took me to my park! She’s always saying we’re going to go to a park, or have an adventure and then stuff happens and I end up lolling around the house all day.

Mom thought the light was pretty too. I thought better about climbing up there to be included in the image.

Why the closest thing to an adventure around here is sleeping out back in her tent. Which I’m not at all sure I like yet.

This is gonna be fun….right?

Mom says to give it time, but geeze, Dad’s sleeping in air conditioning, on a bed. I don’t know why I have to be out there in the steaming warm night, sleeping on the ground with scary sounds just outside my window with Mom, just because she’s crazy.

Awwww, gee. Here we are again.

Anyway.

Mom’s been working on this photo challenge, which has something to do with four seasons and she takes me along when she’s doing that.

This is a pretty spot, Mom, will it work for your project?

I like going to the woods now. In the beginning when I was just a baby I was sort of scared of the big trees, especially if the wind was blowing and there were all sorts of noises and leaves blowing around and stuff.

Come on, mom, let’s get going!

But now I’m a big girl, and I’ve figured out there are really cool smells out there in the woods! So today when Mom said we were going to go to my park (yes I have a park now that is named after me!), I got all excited.

Mom said this was pretty too.

It’s not very far away and we got there early in the morning when it would still be relatively cool. Mom unloaded me and off we went, my nose to the ground and Mom trailing along behind.

The very first picture mom stopped to take this morning.

But before we got to the top of the first hill Mom pulled me up and said we had to go home and look for something called bug spray. Mom said she was an idiot for not thinking of that sooner and no way was she going any further swatting at clouds of mosquitoes.

Mom! It’s really buggy here! Hurry up and take your picture!

I was a bit upset, but back in the car I went and we drove home where mom sprayed herself liberally and then used a doggie bug spray on my back and tummy, and put some in her hand and rubbed it on my face and ears.

Come on mom, you’re slowing me down!

Then off to the park (again!) we went! I was a little confused, but trotted right off, nose to the ground. We went up and down hills and through meadows and past wildflowers and ripening berries.

Mom asked me if I wanted a berry but I said no thanks. I’ll stick with treats.

Mom stopped for a lot of pictures that were not me and I was OK with that, as long as I got my fair share of photographic attention.

This is just the best walk ever, Mom!

Because those come with treats, you know.

Mom was bending over to give me a treat after I posed for her, and her camera took a bunch of pictures of me all on it’s own as I was rushing in to get my reward. It made Mom laugh.

Anyway by the time we headed back to the car mom was sweating through her cloths and I was pretty warm too. It was only 73 F, (22.7C) but it felt a lot hotter!

Slow and steady up the hills, that’s the way Mom and I do it.

Mom made sure I got lots of drinks. All I had to do was look at her and she pulled my water right out of her pack. She carries more stuff for me than for her when we go on adventures! That’s cause I tip well.

Mom brings treats AND water for me !

Mom said I did really good this morning following directions while she got her summer shots for her challenge. She says she’s not showing those to you yet..she still has to get fall, and then she’ll tell you all about it.

Mom thinks this is her favorite image from this adventure.

Mom and I are an artistic team, and I’m an excellent model. I personally think she should set me up with a 401K and vacation days. It seems only fair as I’m doing all the work.

I stop at this stump and sniff it every time we go down this hill. It’s where all the boys leave me pee-mail. I never stop at it on the way back up the hill, cause that would be redundant.

What do you think? You can leave me your opinions and suggestions in the comments. And just for the record, I get more comments on my posts than any that mom writes. Just more evidence of my value as an employee. Maybe I should negotiate for health insurance too.


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Youngster has a lot to learn

Oh…you thought this would be about Penny? Well…it is true she has a lot to learn. But so does her mom.

The view from my chair. Is that a very large hummingbird?

But no, this isn’t about her. This time anyway.

“Maybe there’s something good under here.”

No it’s about birds, which I guess is my second most frequent type of post.

“I can’t fit my beak in that hole!”

But the young birds are visiting now and some of them missed the memo about which feeder is meant for them.

“Maybe up here.”

On the other hand, it’s possible this young male was just making a point that we shouldn’t be segregationists, even with our bird feeders.

“I think there was a tasty ant right here yesterday.”

Regardless of what he was thinking, or not thinking more likely, I hope he got something sweet to eat!

“Hey lady. I’d like to return this to the chef and order a little suet, please?”


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Father/daughter lunch

Walking through the living room this week I noticed two hairy woodpeckers on the feeder. That’s unusual. We don’t get hairy woodpecers often, and when we do it’s always a single bird chowing down.

Adult male hairy woodpeckers (similar but bigger than downy woodpeckers) have a red spot on the back of their heads.

I stopped to watch, from across the room so as not to startle the. Sure enough, one of them was a youngster, eating away happily while dad was on the other side of the feeder…

The young one enjoys a succulant oiler as dad eats on the other side of the feeder.

…but happily accepting a special morsal from dad when he offeres it.

This time of year seeing parents cater to their teenage, soon to be adult, children is pretty common. They don’t seem to notice that their kids are eating just fine and on their own when they’re not being waited on.

Can you see the love in dad’s eyes as he feeds his youngster?

I’m glad I happened to wander past their special time together when I did.

That was a good seed, wasn’t it!

Note: I’m not sure if the kid is a boy or a girl. There’s no red spot on the back of it’s head which leads me to think it’s a girl…but there IS a spot just above the beak and I don’t know what that means. If you know, please comment below!


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Another boyfriend?

Hi everybody! It’s me, Penny!

You know there are three boy dogs in my neighborhood that walk by my driveway almost every day. Personally I think they do that just to catch a glimpse of beautiful me.

These are a couple of my neighborhood boyfriends.

And I have had a couple playdates with Lance, a very handsome sheltie-boy who is about six months older than me. I think he likes me too.

I’m kinda sweet on my boyfriend, Lance, too.

And just this week mom arranged for me to meet Levi, a four year old sheltie who lives about an hour away from me.

This is my boyfriend Levi! Isn’t he a handsome boy?

Levi and I met at a fenced in dog playground in his neighborhood. The moms picked the coolest day of the week because, as you know, shelties are always wearing a heavy coat.

It’s so much fun to run free!

At first Levi and I weren’t sure about each other. He wasn’t sure he wanted me in his territory, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to be there either. He’s a lot bigger than me!

He can’t catch me! Well, he wasn’t really trying to catch me…

In fact mom said this is the first time I looked small!

Something smells good under here. Plus there’s shade.

But eventually, when mom broke out the frissbee we started to have some fun. Levi just loved my frissbee and I chased him while he chased it.

Levi has a beautiful coat!

After a little bit of running around we settled in a corner where there was some shade. Even at 68 degrees it was pretty hot. While the moms were talking I’d sort of peek around from behind mom’s legs and get Levi’s attention.

Time for some shade and a drink!

Then I’d race off and hide behind the slide and just dare him to chase me. Yep, I pretended I didn’t want to play and then I’d egg him on. I’m very skilled at being a tease.

Ha ha, got you to run Levi!

We didn’t run around too much, because of the heat, but we’re going to get together again when it’s cooler outside.

Running is just the best fun!

When we meet again we’ll be more comfortable, cause we’ll already know each other. Levi’s mom says he went home and took a nap. I went home and bugged my parents for the rest of the day.

Catch me if you can, Levi!

I guess I got a little wound up.

Thanks, Levi, for inviting me to play at your park!

Talk later, your most alluring sheltie-girl, ruler of all boy dogs…

Penny.