This week I’ve been ‘camping’ in the back yard. We haven’t had rain for a long time and none is predicted for a long time into the future. So I’ve been sleeping in the tent without the rain fly.
The first night, a cool breeze touching my face and tucked under my blankets, I was looking up trying to see the few stars that shine in my light polluted neighborhood when I noticed a flash, almost out of my line of vision. I stared in that direction for several seconds but didn’t see anything, so I returned to my search for stars.
The flash happened again, higher but still almost beyond the open space above the tent. I stared some more. Nothing.
And then it happened. TWO lights blinked, right above the tent and I realized the lightening bugs had arrived for the summer! I couldn’t contain my smile. Lightening bugs, stars and a cool late night summer breeze. A perfect summer night in Michigan.
I have no pictures, but I’m sure if you close your eyes you can imagine it all for yourself. And I’m thinking you’ll smile too.
Some of you know that I spent most of my career in banking. The last 13 years of it were spent in mortgage banking, but the before that, for about 7 years I was management in retail banking. IE, a branch manager.
I managed different sized offices during that stint, some really small, some really big. All of them were busy, back in the days before electronic paychecks and even before ATM machines.
I remember lines out the door on General Motor’s weekly paydays. And cars constantly lined up in the drive-throughs on Friday evening when we stayed open late.
Working with the public can be stressful. I get that. But somewhere along the line customers got cut out of the service equation.
This week I realized my credit card was expiring at the end of May and I hadn’t received a replacement card. I’ve had this card since 1980. It says so right there on the plastic, and I’ve never had an issue like this.
So I figured I’d just call in and find out when I might expect the card. It wasn’t like I had any grand purchases planned, but it’s handy to have. I called the 800 number on the back of my card, the number for Customer Service.
After listening to several instructions to push 1 or say yes or no, I listened to a few advertisements for things they could do for me, none of which I was interested in. And interspersed between the ads, were suggestions about how much easier it could be if I’d just download the mobile app. Or perhaps I’d like to go to their website where surely I could solve all my problems.
All of this repeated for many long excruciating minutes, with ugly background noise disguised as music enhancing my enjoyment. They were experiencing a ‘high volume’ of calls and the wait time might be unusually long.
Huh. On a Tuesday night at 6:30 they were experiencing a high volume of calls? OK, I needed to go to band rehearsal, so after waiting for 15 minutes I decided to try again on another day.
Early Wednesday morning I called again. The same irritating music, the same ‘high volume of calls.’ I waited almost 20 minutes and hung up in disgust. It was obvious they were not interested in talking to me.
So I decided, what the heck, I’ll just drive to my local branch with my expired card and have them help me figure out what to do. Seemed so simple I don’t know why I didn’t think to do that from the start.
This afternoon I stopped by my branch.
There was nobody sitting at any of the customer service desks. The lights on that side of the building weren’t even on. There was a stock broker in a suit sitting in his office, but he wasn’t the appropriate person to fix my credit card issue.
Behind the teller line was one man, talking to a customer about a problem. It seemed quite complicated. At the far end of the teller line counter was another man running money through a counting machine. I couldn’t see it, but I’ve been around equipment like that enough to recognize the sound.
He never looked up.
I waited at the “enter here” sign for the employee to finish with the only other customer in the building. I waited a long time. And I noted he did not provide a solution to the customer’s problem.
Finally the man with the problem left and I approached the teller window. “You’ll need to go down there,” said the employee, nodding his head at the man on the end, still busy counting money. “I don’t have any money.” And he began to walk away.
“I don’t need money.” I said.
“Then what do you want?” he asked.
Yep, I’m feeling really weird about this whole place now. No customers, no staff, not even a teller working the drive-through, the curtains there are drawn, there’s no equipment on the counters, something seems off.
“Are you still a full service bank?” I asked.
“Why do you ask,” said the guy still counting money.
“Because there’s no one here.” I responded.
“We just had a bunch of people call in sick.” he replied.
Sure.
Anyway, I told the employee about my expired credit card and he said he couldn’t do anything from the branch and gave me a phone number to call.
An 800 number.
Apparently it’s my responsibility to fix this problem. And I’m not going to get any help from my local branch. If they’re even a branch at all.
I know I’m not alone, but when did customer service stop being a thing? And why must we only deal with people far away in call centers which must be so understaffed that exceptionally high call volume is really the norm and not an exception at all.
Maybe I’m just an old baby boomer who likes to reminisce about the way things used to be. But you youngsters should have been around when customer service ruled. When you got to talk to people face to face. And when they did their best to solve a problem rather than pass it on.
Or back to the customer.
Yep, those were the days. You’d have been amazed.
Note: images are from a walk last month at my favorite park. I never got them into a post, so I figure even if you don’t want to read about banking, and who would, you might enjoy the birds.
On the drive up I stopped for this patch of trillium.
A friend and I were camping in the Sleeping Bear National Park earlier this month specifically to spend as many nights as possible shooting the stars in that big beautiful dark sky country.
Arriving at site 312. It had electricity!
But let’s be honest, I took a lot of other pictures too. After all, what does a photographer do all day while waiting for it to get true dark?
All set up for our 5 night stay.
Well, we sat in camp a bit. And cooked lovely meals.
Yum. She brought the fish, I brought the chicken salad and bread.
We enjoyed the campfire in the cool evenings.
Trying to get warm.
And we got a little shuteye as we waited for the Milky Way to rise.
All buttoned up for a nap.
Of course we also went on a hike or two through the countryside, enjoying the newly greening forest…
This hike it was all about the late afternoon light.
…and the wildflowers pushing up from a long winter nap.
I can’t remember what this is, but it sure was pretty!
There’s plenty to do while you’re waiting for the stars to come out.
Hiking past a lake made during the times of glaciers. We were cold just thinking about that.
I haven’t even begun to process the images of the old barns and the orchards in bloom that we saw. And I still have seven stacks of star images to process.
Pretty sure it’s not edible.
So there’s going to be plenty to share once I get all the work done.
While you’re waiting you might want to go on a walk somewhere pretty too.
Saturday morning I walked in one of Katie’s parks along with 10 other people and an expert guide, to see the wildflowers blooming and tour some of the projects the township is working on to make more of the area open to the public.
One of several steep hills we climbed.
It was two plus miles of hills and wetlands, lots of little things blooming, and a cold, sunny day. I was very glad I’d worn waterproof shoes, and three layers of shirts!
Our guide told us what this was, but I can’t remember the name of it now.
I had just driven back home Friday afternoon, after five days of camping near the Sleeping Bear Dunes in cold, sometimes rainy, weather. I was kind of tired and thought about skipping this guided walk. It would be so easy to sleep in.
Tiny little white lady’s slippers just beginning to bloom.
But we were going to explore parts of the park I’ve never been to and I didn’t want to miss that, so I went. And I’m glad I did.
A lone trillium.
There will soon be so much more of the park available to explore, and I think it will be nice to have areas of the park that are new, without memories of Katie, that can be Penny’s alone.
Wild germanium
I can’t wait to show it all to her. They say the bridge from the parking lot to the new sections should be ready this fall. I don’t know, it seems like there is still a lot of work to do. But our guide, who is in charge of all the township parklands, says he’s confident they’ll get it all done.
Lupine
Meanwhile I’ll probably take Penny over to walk the trails Katie and I used to wander. The last time Katie and I were there she had a really good walk. Where before she had often refused to walk down the big hills, on this last walk, in the fall of 2021, she was eager to go.
I don’t know what this is, but it was pretty!
She walked much further than I expected her to, and even jumped over a tree branch that had fallen over the trail.
How fun! We got to go down trails that were normally off limits!
So I have those good memories to ease me into sharing her park with her new little sister, Penny.
Remnant.
The guided walk helped me, too, to see the park without Katie, but to realize she’ll always be there with me, just like she is in so many places.
You can’t beat spring in Michigan. I used to tell my mother, who had moved along with my dad to Alabama in 1980, that she no longer appreciated spring like we who still lived in the north did.
That without the freezes and snow and frigid wind she didn’t have a true understanding of how wonderful spring can be.
She disagreed. She said she didn’t need to freeze to know warmth.
I suppose not, but I have to think that those of us living here in the north (and there is much more north north of me!) are much more grateful for those warm days than people living in the perpetually sunny south.
She used to say they had fall colors down there too. But that’s an entirely different post.
Anyway, this is just a long winded way to share the spring that is happening right this minute in my backyard.
For those of you living further to the north of me, this is what I’m sending to you as soon as I’m done with it.
But, to be honest, I might not be done with it for several more weeks.
May is my favorite month hands down. I wish more of the year could be just like May.
So much hope resides in May. The gardens are just waking up, there’s still time to dream about what might be planted and harvested, before the heat of summer bakes the earth and the weeds and insects take over.
Walks in the woods in May are comfortable, a light breeze and sun filtering through newly opening leaves.
Lots of birds come back to town.
Trees are blooming.
Skies are blue. There’s so much to look forward to and I can hardly wait for summer.
Penny here. I know you’ve heard from me a lot this month, but honestly, I’m the best thing mom and dad have going on right now, so I’m going to take advantage of that and get all the screen exposure I can! Cause I know things can change in an instant.
Gotta keep an eye out behind me, you never know what might sneak up on us.
Like for example…one moment I was playing with all my sisters at Mama S’s house and the next minute I was in a mom and dad’s arms and then in their car and then in my very own home!
Being aware of your surroundings is very important when you’re out in the world like this.
Sometimes I get to visit Mama S and my sister and my dog mom. That’s a lot of fun, and we play a whole bunch, but lately my mom and dad are taking me more places to explore. They say they’re exposing me to different sounds and smells, but mostly I think they just want to play.
That’s a pretty tree, mom, but you should be focusing all your attention on me.
Why last week mom took me to three parks! Three! I think she was trying to wear me out but that’s not going to happen. She said she didn’t want to waste the good weather, so we needed to go, go GO!
Sometimes mom has good ideas!
There could be something scary in this water!
The first park we visited was Independence Oaks. I’ve been there before, when mom met a friend there and we all went for a walk. But this time it was just us, and we were in a different part of the park.
I’m gonna break up this dangerous stick, OK mom?
I was a little uncertain for some reason that morning, not at all sure I wanted to be there. My mom is pretty observant and we didn’t stay too long. She says we’ll try again on a day when the park isn’t so busy.
Then on another day we went to a park I’ve never been to before! Mom said it was one of Katie’s favorites and that they used to camp here a lot.
I don’t know what camping is. Mom says that’s OK, when I’m a little older she’ll show me.
Is that another dog down there?
There was a big lake and mom took me down so I could smell the water. I think maybe I like water, but she wouldn’t let me go in. She said it was too cold.
I want to play IN the water, mom!
Too cold for a sheltie? I don’t know mom, I think it might be fun. Promise me you’ll let me wade later this summer, OK?
The lake looks pretty from up here, mom!
Then she said we were going to walk in the woods! I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to go into the woods!
I don’t know, mom. Are you sure?
There could be scary things in there!
I guess it’s not so bad in the woods.
On the other hand, it turned out that there were lots of wonderful smells in there! And mom let me smell all of them.
I practiced my sit. I even did a little staying. But not much.
It took us forever to do just a little bit of the trail that Katie and she used to walk all the time.
This is pretty cool, mom.
Eventually I got pretty comfortable in the woods, but there sure were a lot of smells and crazy sounds! And there was a boardwalk I didn’t like at all!
Nope! Not walking on this, mom!
Luckily mom scooped me up and carried me off the boardwalk. I was OK after that, but I was still glad to get back out into the open where I could make sure to protect mom from any scary woodland monsters.
So this place is full of people in the summer? Interesting.
Then, on another day mom took me to Springfield Oaks! I’d been there before, so I was cool with this park. It has a giant sledding hill that we climbed last time.
What’s that over there?
We walked around behind the sledding hill this time, so I could spend some time smelling at the edge of the woods. Lots of people walk their dogs there, so there was quite a bit of pee-mail for me to read.
We’re going to go up this hill, right mom?
But what I really wanted to do was run up that hill!
Mom said we didn’t have to, but I think that was just her not really wanting to go up it. I told her we needed to go up there to see what there was to see on the other side! After all, I’m an adventure-girl!
I posed a bunch for mom. I’m figuring out the modeling business can be very lucrative with treats.
But of course first mom had to take like a bajillion pictures. Katie warned me about her.
I even got to lay down on the job!
I decided I didn’t mind too much. The treats were good. But finally I dragged her the rest of the way up the hill and guess what? We could see a school bus and a whole bunch of kids down there!
Well what do you know, that looks fun!
I thought that was very interesting. Mom thought we should avoid them and go down the other side of the hill. So we did. And on our way down mom found these yellow flowers and got all excited.
Yellow flowers, mom? Really??!
She said something about Katie getting her picture taken every spring in the yellow flowers and I should sit there for her so she could get more pictures.
I guess if I can lay down I’ll let you take some pictures of me in the flowers.
Whatever mom.
Nom, nom, nom.
But wait! These are quite tasty! Another perk to being a model!
Mom said that was enough and it was time to go.
If I hide down here you can’t see me, right mom?
Sometimes mom has no sense of humor.
Anyway, those were my adventures in three parks last week! I don’t know how many more parks there are out there. I think Katie should have left me a map or a list or something. I guess I’ll just have to stay flexible and see what the folks have lined up for me next.
Oh yea, I forgot to tell you,I got dirt on my nose when I was in the woods!
I’m in puppy school with daddy, and that’s been kind of fun. So far they’re just doing stuff I mostly already know how to do, but I get lots of treats, so whatever, right?!
Time to sign off, this is way too long and I need my beauty sleep!
When I left you last I was sitting on a bench, feeling defeated having walked a couple miles through the Refuge looking for great images and feeling as though I had missed the mark. I was tired and hungry and, slumped on a bench, was eating an apple when suddenly a bird flew low and fast, just missing my head, and landing somewhere behind me.
“Don’t call me a Red-bellied, lady!”
I didn’t know what it was, I thought maybe a Red-bellied Woodpecker, as those have been known to divebomb me during spring walks at Kensington. I grabbed the camera from the bench and got a couple of shots. Whatever it was was extremely noisy, but I couldn’t tell from the image in the viewfinder just what it was.
It was only after I got home and did some research that I knew there was such a thing as a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. So cool! This image is better than I thought it would be, and though not perfect, you can see the yellow and red on the bird.
From earlier in my walk.
I think I was very lucky to see two of these guys that day!
And then, then…..just as I was putting the camera back down a flash of something caught my eye back cross the trail. I heard the sound of wings and something landing in a bush just over there. Could it be? Even though it was mostly hidden behind the branches I was thrilled to see an Eastern Towhee!
What’s that back there?
I clicked off some shots, praying I had the bird in focus and not just the branches in front. Either way I was happy just to see him.
I rarely see this bird at home, I think in the 30+ years I’ve lived where we are now I’ve seen a Towhee twice. They’re supposed to be here in Michigan all summer but they’re rare in my world. I was thrilled to see him, even if I didn’t get a better look.
And then, as if he was reading my mind, he hopped out onto a branch and stared at me.
“What are you looking at, lady?”
He sat out there for a long time. I was shooting as fast as I could. He gave me a good look at both sides of his profile…
“Make sure you get my good side. Oh wait. Both sides are good sides!”
… and then he got bored with the whole model for hire thing and flew off for parts unknown.
“Well, that’s enough of that! Does she think I work for free??”
I looked at the images I had captured and tried not to squeal. This bird, this one little bird made my entire day. All the walking and lugging the heavy camera equipment, all the missed opportunities and focus issues, all the aches and pains were worth it for this one experience.
This is my favorite crop of him, including the graceful curve of the greening branches.
And, after a bit of reflection and giggling, I picked myself up and wandered happily down the trail, where I eventually found another bench and thought I’d try my luck and sit there for a moment or three, just to see what might stop by.
“Lots of people overlook us sparrows, but we’re pretty cute if you just spend some time with us!”
And this little guy, perhaps a swamp sparrow, graced me with his presence. I liked his (or her?) butch haircut on top. He didn’t stay long, so I moved along too. It was getting late and I wondered if the cinnamon teal was still in the pond back at the parking lot.
I was almost back to the parking lot when I saw this pretty mourning dove sunning.
“I know I’m beautiful.”
He or she wasn’t shy about showing off subtle colors in the afternoon sun. I appreciated the display and moved on toward the car.
I was almost back on the main drive when I noticed these two killdeer standing together in the road.
“Hey lady, we could use some privacy if you know what I mean?”
And then I realized they weren’t exactly innocently standing there.
“Geeze lady, give us a break!”
But rather they were enjoying a little afternoon delight. He seemed pretty happy and let me get one last shot. She was out of there, totally embarrassed.
“Hey! I get a cut of any profits you get selling my image…right?”
And when I finally got back to the parking lot and the pond? Nope, no cinnamon teal to be seen, but the turtles were fun.
“Those birding people have mostly gone home, thank goodness. We could use a little peace around here.”
And I met a wonderful nature photographer who happened to be up on the viewing platform looking for the teal too. We had a nice conversation and I told her where the towhee was and she headed off into the woods.
“Those photographers will follow you anywhere!”
I headed home, exhausted but oh oh so happy. And that, dear readers, is the end of this story.
Change Is Hard 