Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: Michigan


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Midsummer morning

I feel as if summer is sliding away from me, days turning into minutes, weeks into moments. Yet it’s only the beginning of August, there’s plenty of summer left, especially for a retiree. Right? Being retired is enough to make me smile, but my walk on a midsummer’s morning made me absolutely grin.

The dreaded first sighting of goldenrod.

I was out at my favorite park this past Thursday, while it was still July, while I could still consider it mid-summer, and yet I felt fall encroaching.

Beautiful, but I’m not ready for leaves turning yet.

I went with my biggest lens, the better to see birds in their natural space versus standing on my outstretched palm.

But of course I did have a few birds in my hand. Can’t not do that.

But what I found instead was a whole forest filled with youngsters. And I don’t mean the busses of preschoolers that arrived as I was leaving. Thank goodness.

I don’t know what this is, but it was pretty.

I have so much to show you from my walk in the woods, I don’t know if I should break it up into two posts, or if you’ll have the patience to read one long post.

Joe Pye is beginning to bloom.

I don’t even know if I have the patience to write one long post.

The grasses are maturing.

You can always scroll through and just look at the pictures. I have a feeling the words will be minimal anyway.

Wild grapes are beginning to pink.

I got to the nature center early in the morning, but on the drive through the park I noticed my favorite willow tree island had a beautiful swan. So after I parked I walked back along the bikepath to capture her as she preened.

Was she using the water as her mirror?

Notice the grey pile of fluff off to the right? That is her baby, or maybe more than one, I couldn’t really tell. Her partner is swimming behind the island, couldn’t see him well either.

Her little one (or more) are well hidden in the shade.

But she (I’ve decided it’s a she, I really don’t know) sure was taking her time getting beautiful that morning.

Looking stunning that morning.

Then I walked back to the parking lot at the nature center to get the rest of my gear, and found this exhausted and hungry mama, right beside the bike rack.

Eating at the parking lot salad bar.

With my long lens I was able to get quite close without interrupting her breakfast.

And beside her, on the other side of the bike rack, were the normal crane parking lot greeters, getting spruced up for their shift of collecting the lot fee from everyone arriving to enjoy the trails.

Hurry up Henry, we’re going to be late for work!

Lucky for me I got there before they clocked in.

So I headed into the woods…

The bridge to the woods.

…and met this guy right away. He already had breakfast so I didn’t offer him anything more.

You’re not going INTO THE WOODS, are you?!

It was right about then that I noticed a sense of fall seeping into air. I shook it off and ventured further into the dark cool green, and interrupted two moms and their little ones having some breakfast of their own.

Family brunch interrupted.

I stood there a long time watching them watching me.

Mama and her mini-me.

This little one was intensly curious about me.

Should I run or should I stay?

And then I heard a titmouse, just over my right shoulder, angrly asking why I wasn’t providing a snack. So I handed off a peanut and moved on.

Hey Lady! Fork over the peanut! I know you have one!!

I only saw one other person my entire walk in the woods, and that was another photographer.

I see something right over there…

As soon as he got down from the bench and moved on this mama came out of the brush.

Is he gone yet?

I took a different trail and moved deeper into the woods. The long lens wasn’t really the right choice with so little light. But I didn’t want to stop to change it because you just never know what you’ll see.

Oops, thought it was another deer!

Or how far away it might be.

Way over there on that ridge is another exhausted mama, chewing her cud and watching me.

But the mosquitos were beginning to follow me. I pictured myself running out of the woods with a swarm of bugs trailing me, sort of like a Bernstein Bear cartoon. I moved faster.

After clambering over a downed tree that crossed the trail I was shooting an image of a tree damaged in the recent storms where the fresh wood had a similar color to deer, confusing me for a moment…

Kind of the same color as the deer roaming these woods.

…when out of the corner of my eye I saw more of that reddish brown.

Another mama and her baby hoping to have an undisturbed meal.

These two didn’t seem to realize I was there. Until mama did.

Lady, you need to move along now.

The baby didn’t seem too bothered by me at all, but I went on down the trail so they could enjoy mama/baby time alone. Plus I was beginning to get hungry myself, it had been a long time since my own breakfast, and I was still deep in the woods with a long walk back.

See you later, lady!

I tried not to stop anymore as I booked it out of the deep woods. Except when I saw something interesting. Or fun. Or both.

This says late summer to me for sure.

But mostly I was trying to get back into the open where the breeze would keep the bugs from swarming around my head. Yes, I had applied bug spray before I left the car, but not on my hands, because I knew I’d be feeding birds. I guess that made me fair game for the mosquitos.

Bet you didn’t know crocodiles lived in the woods!

Back out in the open I had a nuthatch and a chickadee makeing big noises about getting a treat, but they wouldn’t come down to my hand. I finally figured out that maybe they were this year’s young, and not quite confident about the whole process of coming in for a snack.

Tell me how this works again, lady?

But eventually they both came down, after doing a fly over or two to check me out.

This peanut is almost as big as me!

The sky was getting dark and I figured it would soon rain, so I headed back to the car. Climbing the stairs to the parking lot I could hear people, cars and busses.

Change of shift for the swallows.

I was glad I’d gotten my walk in the woods finished before the masses arrived. Time to head back home to the princess who would just be getting up from her morning nap.

Earlier in the morning there were deer and cranes. Now bikes rest while their people explore.

It was a good midsummer day all around.


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National Sisters Day

Hey! Katie here!

Guess what? (You’re never going to guess.)

Nothing better on a nice breezy afternoon than a snooze on the deck.

Don’t I look cute? Yes? Well you know what? That’s not me!

This isn’t me either!

Surprise!!! I have a half sister and she lives kinda near me too! She and I share the same dad. She’s twelve years old, and she and her mom have done obedience together, just like me and my mom. Well, not just like, Payton and her mom were much better at it than we ever were!

Both of us hanging out while the folks talked.

Payton’s mom found us when we were listed in the catalog for one of our obedience trials. She contacted mama right away, but for some reason we’ve just never made the time to get together.

Here we are! Surprise!

But, as you know, time keeps marching on and the moms decided if we were going to meet we better hurry up and make a date. So on Saturday mama and daddy and I went over to Payton’s house!

The moms set us up together and than my mama motioned us to come so she could take a picture, but Payton didn’t get released by her mom so she sat still like a good girl. I am smiling because I think I won the race!

I was sort of scared, cause I thought we were going to the vet. The vet is pretty much the only place I go these days, and it’s never good news for me when mama and daddy are both up early and moving quickly through the house.

It’s like I have a mini-me!

I shook and panted the whole way over there (which took about a gazillion hours in dog time) but when we got there and daddy got me out of the car I could tell right away that we weren’t at the vet! It didn’t smell like vet at all!

Who’s got the treats people?

And then these nice people came out to pet me and I liked them both right away, and then we went around to the deck and there was this little sheltie girl. My goodness she is beautiful! (Of course she is, she looks like me!)

Payton got to run her own race for a treat. I told her I’d sit this one out.

She’s smaller than me, but she has a big personality. We touched noses and then sort of sniffed each other and then we pretty much ignored each other. That’s how shelties roll you know.

Isn’t she beautiful?

So the parents sat and talked for awhile and Payton and I mostly napped. Then we all decided to go for a walk on their land. Payton is so lucky! She has lots of acres to explore right there at her house! We walked on a beautiful mowed loop, most of it was in the shade so I liked it a lot!

It’s hard to tell us apart from behind too.

Of course mama had her camera. She kept making Payton and me sit for photos. I told Payton about my one shot one treat contract with mama. Payton doesn’t have any such contract with her folks, but I definitely think she should. She sits still way too long if you ask me. Personally I won’t stand for too much of mama’s photography foolishness, it gets in the way of me smelling all the good stuff.

Payton’s yard is just wonderful! I’d love to walk there every day!

Anyway, after we went for a walk we sat on the deck a bit longer, and then Payton’s mom went and got Payton’s little sister who had been waiting in the house all this time. Her name is Tally, and though she’s younger than Payton she’s a whole lot bigger!

I thought Payton’s mom was bringing out treats, so I went to the door to wait. Boy, I was surprised!

She’s a beautiful Gordon Setter and she’s as tall as the table! It must be fun to be her, she can help herself to her own treats! Personally I think shelties are height-challenged, but obviously we make up for it in cuteness.

Tally has the most beautiful eyes.

Anyway, it was getting time to go, so I went over to Payton’s dad and jumped on him to say goodbye. And to check if he had any treats of course.

Thanks for the great morning, Payton’s dad!

Then Payton and I both checked in with my dad.

We both need a treat before I hit the road, daddy!

It was the best day ever! I haven’t had fun like this since the whole covid thing happened to you humans! Visiting Payton was way more fun then vet visits or the groomer, and certainly better than camp!

Yep, we had a great time together. Especially when there were treats.

Who knew I had a sister? And Payton’s mom says today is National Sister Day, so I knew I needed to tell you guys all about mine! She’s sweet and beautiful and smart, just like me.

Mama sometimes got us confused when we wandered by her. Hee hee!

I sure am glad the moms organized the playdate, it would have been very sad if I never got to meet my sister. I hope I get to go on another walk with her later in the fall.

I think the moms love us very much.

Until then, sister, you keep your folks in line and I’ll do the same with mine. I hope I see you again soon!

I’m telling you Payton, one picture, one treat. You gotta let your folks know who’s in charge!

Love you lots,

your sister Katie.


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A little water therapy

We had some bad weather Saturday night, with rain blowing sideways for a time. I was sure that my tent, up in the backyard, would be flooded but it wasn’t. There was, however, a tornado that touched down not many miles from us during the storm, and a tree across the street from us split, falling across the road and into our yard.

None of that made me smile.

What did make me smile was a couple hours of paddling on a lake with one of my college roommates. We don’t see each other very often, but it’s always a good time when we do.

We caught up with each other’s lives, her kids, my dog.

And we enjoyed a sweet after the storm breeze, bright blue skies and sunshine as we floated across the water.

You just can’t beat being on the water for giving yourself a pick-me-up.

So that’s my smile for this week. What made you smile?


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Smiling on a hot summer evening

The county fair is back. The fairground is in my tiny town, a little over a mile from the house. When Katie and I camp in the backyard during fair week we can hear the monster trucks, the announcer, the fireworks, the roar of the crowd.

What do you think is the best part about a fair…the food? Or the rides?

The noise doesn’t bother me, it’s only for one week and it’s the epitome of summer in the midwest. I have so many memories of the county fair, not this one, but the one we used to go to when we were kids.

Food? Or rides?

Which pretty much is exactly like the one I wandered this week. Big barns full of rabbits, goats, chickens, cows, and sheep waiting with their young person for their turn in the ring to be judged. Another barn full of sewing, knitting, canning, flower arrangements, and artwork, each a project of some young person, some with ribbons already attached.

Maybe the best thing is the games, though nobody really wins anything. Do they?

I was a 4-H kid in the 60s. I knit, mostly because I hated sewing which seemed to be my other option. Each year I entered a misshappen sweater at the fair. I think sometimes I won a ribbon, but I don’t remember.

The excitment that only the young can experience on these things.

I also don’t remember riding the midway rides, though I’m sure we did. We probably had some number of rides budgeted. We sure didn’t have free reign to ride as many and as often as we wanted.

I bet their hearts were beating fast while they swung in the darkness.

This year I noticed that there were bracelets available that let you into everything at the fair. All the rides, the shows, and who knows what else. They were $25.00 each.

How many funnel cakes can you buy with $25?

I don’t think I’d be able to ride enough to make that purchase worthwhile. Not without throwing up at least once. And there’s no way my folks would have sprung for a wrist band, even if there had been such a thing back then, for all four of us kids.

The Sizzler sizzled into the night.

Nope, I’m sure we could pick out one ride that we wanted to do and that was probably it.

Maybe the best part of a fair is just spending time with your friends.

But I do remember a booth where you could drop paint onto a spinning canvas, then you got to take your creation home. I had that painting for years. That was probably 50 years ago and it’s the most vivid memory I have of the county fair growing up. It still makes me smile.

I think I could ride this one.

We don’t go to the county fair every year these days, even though it is right in our town. And of course last year there was no fair.

Or maybe not.

So it’s been a long time since I’ve gone. But this year it seemed like a celebration of the return of something fundamental, and I looked forward to going back for a walk around.

There’s no calories in cotten candy. Right?

Wednesday evening turned out to be the moment, and I arrived just as the sun was going down on a hot afternoon.

This ride might be safe for me.

Most of the families with little kids looked exhausted. Many of them were leaving, but the young people were just arriving. I was there to mess around with the camera once it got dark and the midway lit up.

At least you could get your vegetables.

It’s not a big fair, it takes only minutes to see everything. But with each round I made I saw different images. I should have had a tripod, but I didn’t want to haul anything extra.

Ride this one before you eat any of the fair food.

All of these shots were handheld, most of the time letting the camera choose the ISO. Sometimes I delibertaly made the exposure longer to blur the lights. That was the most fun, just to see what came through.

Add the moon and it was a pretty special night.

Mostly I was there to have some fun, just like all the rest of the folks standing in lines for rides and food. It’s just my idea of fun involves more about the camera and less hanging upside down from a midway attraction.

Round and around they go.

But if I was 50 years younger I might just have tried those flying swings. I think even my stomach could have handled that.

Best view at the fair.


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Back yard shenanigans

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve captured quite a lot of goings on in my backyard.

My husband gets all the attention, but I’m more beautiful if you take the time to look.

These are the kinds of things I never got to watch when I was going to work every day.

I should take some of this back to the missus.

The kinds of things I always imagined were going on and wished I could wittness for myself.

This place has the best drinks.

So I’m feeling quite lucky that I’m around to enjoy the fun stuff happening right outside my windows.

I swear this kid eats like a horse.

I hope you feel lucky to see it all too.

It can stop raining any time now.

In fact, I don’t have more words to fill the spaces, so I’ll just pile on the images.

Pink brings out my feminine side.

I’m sure you won’t mind.

Do you think this peanut is too big for my mouth?

Enjoy.

I’m just a kid, can someone tell me where the best diners are?
No tree is going to outshine my colors!
My preferred food does not appear to be in the feeder lady!
You’re going to fix that – – right?
Well if I’m going to be ignored I’ll just turn my back on you… you’re watching, right?
A mother’s work is never done.
Doing my pilates.
I’m ready for my post-workout massage now.

I hope you are grinning now. I do every day, there’s always something going on out there.


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Randomness

I’m trying to finish up working on the photos I took on the camping trip that is now weeks in the past.

Under the Cut River bridge.

I feel like I shouldn’t take any new photos until I get these processed and put away.

It’s for sale, you could own this gem.

But of course there’s always something that needs photographing around here.

Cool car.

So it’s hard as time goes on to go back to the images I took so long ago.

Obviously a math teacher is selling firewood.

But I try to stay disciplined. Kind of anyway.

After 7 hours of torrential rain the only part of my tent site that was dry was right where I had been sleeping.

And looking at these images, these random images not related to any particular story, makes me smile.

Fire dancing, moments before the rains came.

So I guess it’s OK that I’m still working on them after all. Hope at least one of them made you smile too!

Iris at the Iroquis Point Lighthouse. I thought this post needed something pretty.


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Time warp

Sometimes I’ll read a blog post I wrote and then note at the bottom the links to similar posts, and I’ll click on one and read the post and then pick another link at the bottom and click on that and read and so on and so on…and time moves on and the next thing you know I’ve spent an hour or more back in time remembering.

Whitefish Bay

Such a thing happened to me today, and eventually I wound up in 2014 celebrating my 1500th blog post. I read that relatively short entry and thought how much life has changed from 2014, but how much my life is the same today too.

I enjoy blogging because it connects me to all of you, plus I have an excuse to take pictures. But I also like that it’s a history of my life. I’ve often wondered when we did something, or what happened during a particular trip, and all I have to do is go check the blog.

The mouth of the Hurricane River

I guess it’s something of a public diary.

Anyway, today I checked to see how many blog posts I’ve written, but I can’t find that statistic. Seems there’s much more about how many people are clicking on your blog than anything about what you’ve done. I’m sure it’s in there somewhere. But if I had 1500 posts in 2014 I imagine the number is double that now.

On the shores of Sable Lake

Regardless…it sure was fun bopping around in the past. You should try it on your own blogs. I think you’ll end up smiling at the memories you have stored there.

As I headed home she wished me safe travels

PS: The images here are random things I shot on my camping trip. They didn’t make it into a blog post, but I thought they deserved to be seen.