Now normally I wouldn’t be allowed back on mom’s blog so soon after my birthday post. That was only 10 days ago and mom likes to remind me that this is her blog and not mine and if I want a blog of my own I’m going to have to hire my own slave labor.
To celebrate my 2nd birthday mom took me to a fenced in dog place at a state park so I could run. We have only been there a couple of times and both times mom and I had the place to ourselves. I love to run and jump and generally act like a crazy girl so I enjoy it there a lot, even by myself.
But on my birthday, after mom and I were there just a few minutes, another couple showed up with their little terrier. I’ve already forgotten her name but she should have been named Hurricane. (Her name might have been Mandy.)
Cause she was!
She was a few months younger than me and, I hate to say it, she was faster than me! And she never stopped chasing me!
And then, while we were running around, another couple came by with their baby beagle who’s name was Toast. He was only 5 months old and he loved to run too! For awhile the terrier chased him, but he must have been boring, because she went back to chasing me, and let me tell you, I got exhausted!
I started asking everybody, even complete strangers, to pick me up!
Mom said I was a wimp, but picked me up and we sat at the picnic table while the two youngsters ran around. Then that terrier went right up on the table and landed on mom’s head! Well, mom said that was enough and we left to go home so I could get a birthday nap.
Now I’m rethinking asking mom for a playmate for Christmas. I might be a lucky dog after all, even as an only!
After a beautiful warm fall it’s finally getting cold now, cold like it’s supposed to be in Michigan in December.
We even got some snow, but nothing near what northern Michigan and the UP got. They had feet of snow fall in one day. We had a couple inches and they closed the local schools.
Why, I remember when I was a kid walking through 5 feet of snow uphill both ways to the bus stop. I’m sure you did too. Kids today.
Anyway, I haven’t done anything particularly interesting lately. Certainly nothing blog worthy.
Unless you count watching my birds as they swarm the feeders during these chilly mornings.
Sometimes we even have a bit of sun and then the birds are extra happy. I am happy too, enjoying the light on their feathers, and the sparkle in the snow.
I am hoping to get to my favorite birding park in the next week or so. We’ll see. It seems like every day fills up with things not going to the park related and I think….well tomorrow…and then tomorrow crazy happens all over again.
But if I ever do get out there I’ll share the photos. Cause there are bound to be some images blog worthy from out there.
Who you calling crazy, mom?
PS: Thank you to everybody that suggested ways to print my blog. I’m going to be doing some research!
PPS: And THANK YOU to everybody that donated to my fundraiser for the Truck Safety Coalition! I appreciate every one of you!
Where to go for my Walktober, where to go? It’s been weighing on my mind.
I’ve done so many, taken you to visit all my local favorites, some of them multiple times. You and I have walked in Detroit along the riverfront, and in my own backyard, and on the beach of Lake Michigan.
This year I wanted to take you somewhere we hadn’t been before, so how about Tawas State Park? It’s on the eastern side of Michigan, on Lake Huron and only about three hours from me. Plus it’s ‘up north’ so it’s just got to be beautiful by definition.
I decided to do a combination walk and drive for this annual Walktober post. That way you’ll get to see the most stuff from my 6 hour adventure.
I left on the spur of the moment, last Sunday afternoon, after I had attended a Fun Run rally competition with Penny. It was our first together and deserves a whole post to itself. Let’s just say after that experience I needed a good, long, pretty drive.
Without a puppy.
Initially the trees weren’t that colorful, mostly yellow, and I was concerned that I had missed the show. But as I got further north, and stopped at a little roadside park, I noticed things were looking a bit better.
And by the time I could actually see Lake Huron the color was starting to pop!
When I got into the park I noticed there were a lot of cars in the lot given it’s definitely off season. But as I climbed over the low dune to the beach I could see why.
The place was crawling with kite boarders!
I walked on the beach for a bit, braving the brisk wind and blowing sand, watching the kiteboarding folks skim over and above the waves.
That was fun, and made for some challenging photography, but I had planned on walking the birding path I’d heard about, up near the lighthouse. So I headed over that way.
The wind was so brisk that I doubted I’d see any birds, but I stubbornly headed up the path because that was why I had come!
It led me right up to the Lighthouse, which was pretty, but I wasn’t, for some reason, excited about exploring that.
I kept along the birding trail, never hearing or seeing a bird of any kind. In fact the trail was becoming quite boring. Then I spotted a narrow footpath heading back through the beach grass.
That was definitely more my style. The wind had played sculpture with the day’s footprints, and I liked how the lowering sun made the sand look, so I stopped for a moment to take a picture on my way back to the shore.
Coming off the dune and back onto the beach I saw there were even more kiteboarders riding the wind.
And I couldn’t help but notice how the sun made the water silver.
Up ahead of me was a little spit of land, poking out into Lake Huron. Last time, more than 15 years ago, when I’d been on this beach there had been many, longer spits of sand, but this year there was only this one that I could see.
If you stood at the base of it you could see the water being blown into shore from both sides. I thought the combination of waves, light and sand was just beautiful.
But what about the kiteboarders, you say? What were they doing as the wind kicked up higher and the sun began to descend?
Well, they were doing what kiteboarders do. They were racing back and forth across the water and leaping high above the waves.
It was sooo much fun to watch.
But after awhile I realized I needed to head home, even though I was having too much fun watching all the action. So I said goodbye to the lighthouse and Tawas State Park and got back on the road.
But wait! Is that the end of my Drive/Walktober? Is that all there was to see? Well of course not! There’s still that three hour drive through farmland on the way home. What do you think I’ll see?
Here’s a hint:
Well, this is getting long. Maybe you better take a break now, at intermission so to speak. Or get a coffee. At least stretch a little.
I’ll wait.
Welcome back to Part II of my 2024 Drive/Walktober. On US 23 the trees were glorious. So pretty I had to stop a few times and pull over to admire them.
And the folks that live here? I’m only a little jealous of the fact they live among all those beautiful trees while looking out the back of their house at Lake Huron!
Of course I had to turn off US 23 a few times because I saw pretty barns in the distance. In the fall sunlight they were even more beautiful than they’d be in the summer at noon.
And sometimes it was just the light on a field that caught my eye.
But to be honest it was mostly the barn.
Or sometimes an old house…
…or the sign at an abandoned speedway.
I turned around to get that image. I just couldn’t NOT!
I had to go around a few blocks to get back to this grain elevator too. Something about an old truck under the grain chute.
So that is the end of my Drive/Walktober. Almost. By the time I shot the old truck it was getting late. The sun was definitely on a quicker slant to the horizon. Plus I had to go to the bathroom. So I stopped at the Bay City rest area. And there, I found the most magical ending to my Walktober adventure.
I bet just about anything that this last image made you smile. It did me then and it does today. After all that driving and walking and shooting I found my image in a rest stop on the way home.
Isn’t that just the way it goes.
If you have a Walktober in mind, go out and take a few pictures (or a lot) and post your blog linking to the original post about Walktobers and I’ll gather them all in early November and share them all with everybody!
Well, it’s that time of year again…time to dust off the ole walking shoes, grab your phone or your camera (or both!) and head out to find something interesting or boring, pretty or mundane, to share with all of us in the world.
What’s it like this October where you live?
We didn’t have a lot of color on my walk, but I found a little bit of it!
Interested bloggers want to know!
The most eager Walktober participant I know is our girl Penny, so I’m going to let her kick off this event. She’s so happy she’s darn near panting with joy. Or maybe she’s just drooling. Hard to tell. Anyway…here comes Penny!
Hi Hi HI HI HI HI!!!! It’s me, Penny!
This is me on my Walktober !
This will be the second Walktober of my entire life, cause I’m not even two years old yet! But I remember last year and it was so much fun I could hardly wait for October to come around again.
We hiked on trails like this for most of our walk, but also across grassy meadows too.
Mom says I shouldn’t wish my life away, and time is short no matter what we do. But I’m just a puppy and I try to get as much fun stuff smashed into every day as possible. Mom says I’m exhausting.
Whatever, Mom.
So anyway, Mom took me on a walk in one of mine and Katie’s parks and I thought I’d share it with you as my Walktober 2025.
We started out in Katie’s part of the park and walked up and down the hills. Mom always tells me about Katie when we walk there. I don’t mind, Katie seems like she was a pretty awesome girl and I love hearing about her adventures.
I was quite proud of myself for jumping up on this bank.
After we got up and down the last big hill we arrived at a meadow and Mom had me practice my recall on the mowed path.
I’d say my recall is pretty spectacular…a long as she has treats! HA!
I’m coming, Mom! Get that cheese ready!
Then we wandered through the meadow and back into the woods and over to my part of the park. Mom and I walk over on that section a lot, but we usually enter it from a different parking lot that is about 1/2 a mile north (as the crow flies, lots further if you take the trail) of where we parked this time.
Pretty in purple.
Mom and I wandered around and she took lots of pictures. Eventually we made it to my pond. It was really pretty.
My pond.
It was after we moved on from my pond that things started getting messed up.
I wanted to go back to the other parking lot (which was still about a mile away from where we were) like I was used to when we visit the pond, and Mom wanted to head back to the parking lot we were actually parked in (which was also about a mile in the other direction).
Mom had me stand near the one tree that had changed color. It’s another sassafras tree.
Mom had never gone back to that parking lot from our pond before, but she had a photo of the trail map (because she’s a smart mom) so she wasn’t worried. She studied the map and we walked on a brand new trail that she was sure would take us back to that meadow and eventually back to our car.
There were lots of trails to choose from.
But it was winding through the woods and didn’t feel like it was going in the right direction. And Mom couldn’t figure out exactly where we were on the trail map. It was getting hotter and she didn’t have that much water for me.
So she started getting worried.
How about we rest on this nice bench, mom?
Me? I wasn’t worried! I just kept sniffing and tugging Mom along. Why I even surprised a mouse! Or, if I’m honest, the mouse surprised me, cause Mom says I jumped about 3 feet straight up into the air when I found it!
What’s over here?
Anyway, after awhile Mom decided we needed to turn around and go back the way we had come. That meant we added another mile or so to our hike, because we had to go back to the pond and then back to the trail we had come on, then all the way back to the car!
At least there was shade in the woods!
I didn’t like turning around, but Mom said not to argue with her just this once please, so I decided to be good.
But Mom, we were going this way!
We made it back to the pond, and then back to the meadow and then back to the car eventually. Mom was hot and sweaty and crabby.
I think it’s this way, Mom.
I, however, was a happy girl! Another long Walktober in the books for your gal Penny!
Mom found some interesting leaves and light.
So here’s what you need to do…go do your own Walktober (but you don’t need to get lost) and take a few pictures. Remember you can walk in the woods or in a town, even in your own back yard! You can ride a bike, or take a car ride, or jog or skip or even ride a unicycle!
Just do what you do and then show us your world by writing a post on your blog.
We were lucky to see this monarch butterfly too!
Then link it up to this post and at the end of October my Mom will gather up all your links and put them in one giant post so everybody can visit everybody else’s walk!
Mom says if you need a little extra time, or have questions, just let her know.
You know how sometimes you sign up to do something and when the day and time comes around you sort of wish you hadn’t because staying home and doing nothing in particular seems so much easier than getting up and out?
Yea.
Saturday morning I was signed up to go on a guided hike at one of Katie’s parks. I have been on a couple of these walks, and I always enjoy them, usually learn something, and am always glad I went.
Still.
Saturday morning it seemed to take a gargantuan effort to get myself up and fed and showered and out the door in order to meet over at the park by 10 a.m. Seriously, 10 a.m. seemed early to me. Even though for 30+ years I was at work every weekday and often weekends, by 8.
This is what retirement has done to me. It has turned me into a sloth.
Anyway.
By 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning a group of about a dozen people had gathered in the designated parking lot. We all set off up a hill to our first stop on the hike, the Davis Lake overlook. Our guide, the manager of parklands in our township, explained how the lake was formed and the importance of the hills and wetlands to the formation of the Shiawasee River which begins in our township.
At this park we have something called a ‘fen’ which is somewhat unusual. That’s a wet prairie-like landscape which is host to any number of rare insects, plants and even fish.
The park manager talked about all the partnerships our township has with researchers at universities around the world, adding that the research grants helps to pay for managing the land.
We went further into the forest where we stopped and looked at the tree canopy and the understory and the ground cover. He talked about different plants that grow in the forest when they have enough light and space to thrive.
He said a healthy forest would have a variety of trees, and within a variety, several different ages. He’s working to make sure we have young trees coming up to replace the older ones that have been around for over 100 years.
Then we moved out onto the fen, where we took a quick right, off the path, to see a wildflower, the gentian, a small, blue, fringed flower that blooms in the fall. I’ve seen other blue gentian flowers, growing on rocks along the Great Lakes, but I had no idea we had them in my very own neighborhood!
For me that little blue flower was the highlight of the walk, but we saw lots of other plants too. Our guide showed us the dying plants, the seed pods, and those hanging on with a bit of color. He described what they would look like next spring, and urged us to come along on the spring hike next year.
I, of course, have visited this park often, with Katie and now with Penny. It’s a beautiful place to wander through woods and meadows, around glacial lakes and up and over hills. The part I hiked Saturday, with the group, is unofficially named after Katie around our house. Penny has her own part of the same park, just a bit north of where we were. I took her there Saturday afternoon and we had a great time. But I’ll let her tell you about that when she’s ready.
Saturday morning our group had a beautiful day, with a bright blue sky, warm temperatures and a little breeze. It was such a wonderful walk, fun to be out with other like minded people. We all learned a little something and had fun doing it.
It was a reminder to me that when you sign up for something, during an optimistic moment, you should follow through and get yourself to the event. Even if you have grown into a sloth.
Because if you do, you’re going to be sooooo happy that you did.
I guarantee it.
(Now. You might think this would be a great Walktober. And it would be, but it’s not. I don’t think anyway. We’ll see. I hope you are all thinking about where you’d like to take us on YOUR Walktober coming to a blog near you sometime between October 17 and the end of the month!)
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, causethat 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.
Penny here. Geeze people, here I am having all sorts of adventures and mom and my aunt take off camping for a couple days and get to post about it for years. Ok. For days.
This is my studious look. I think it works.
But my point is, do I get to post? No I do not. I have not been given access. Until now, when mom finally gave into my pressure. I told her I won’t sleep in her stinking tent until she posts about all the fun stuff I’ve already done this month!
We went to Katie’s park for our annual photo shoot.
I know my friends have been wondering what I’ve been up to and let me tell you I’ve been really busy! And most of what I’ve been into isn’t going to get me into trouble either! Win-win!
Mom likes a good head tilt, and I try to oblige.
First off, as most of you know, my sister Angel Katie always had a spring yellow flower photo shoot with mom. Well, she told me all about it and I demanded equal yellow flower opportunity. I’m pretty sure it’s in my contract with my folks. So mom took me over to Katie’s park one day early this month.
Mom says I did really good. I thought it took way too long.
Are we almost done, mom?
Then when my Aunt Beth was here we stopped near some other yellow flowers and mom grabbed a few pictures. By then I was an expert at being a model, so it didn’t take long at all.
I think the sun was in my eyes that day.
My Aunt Beth and mom and I also went on quite a few walks in different parks. We all had the best time with beautiful blue skies and hardly any bugs!
Aren’t I cute?
I got to show Aunt Beth several of my own personal parks and especially how well I can sit for the camera. As long as there were treats available, of course.
I look kind of small, don’t I.
She was very impressed.
And THEN, the most exciting thing! I got to go on a walk with my Aunt Beth and my Mama S and my mom and even my doggy mom Vivian and her roommate Oliva!
Mom asked them to walk up this trail to set us up for a photo.
It was amazing! Three shelties all going for a walk together. I tell you what, we caused lots of heads to turn when we all walked by!
It wasn’t easy to get the three of us lined up.
OK, so sometimes I was a little rambunctious, and Mama S had to tell me to straighten up. After all, I’m still a baby…right? Oh…what….no? Not so much?
Sometimes a girl’s just got to leap for joy.
Well, I guess I’ll start acting more adult tomorrow, but that day I had so much fun! I got to share one of my favorite parks with my three moms and my aunt!
Yep we had a great time walking together.
I’m so grateful that Mama S brought her girls along on this walk! I promised her we’d do it again soon!
That’s my mom, Vivian next to me (I’m in the center) and her bestie Olivia on the right.
And then, still in the month of May, I got to go on a play day with my friend Lance! I can’t even begin to figure out how mom and dad managed to get this much fun stuffed into one month!
A couple weeks ago I introduced a friend to the bird magic that is Kensington. You saw the angst with the red headed woodpecker, but there were other bird shenanigans that morning. For instance there was this grackle dad and teenager who seemed not to agree about something very important.
“Hey dad, can I have the keys to the car tonight?““No! Your legs aren’t even long enough to reach the pedals!““I never get to do ANYTHING!““And don’t ask me again!”
Soon dad will be busy with a new brood and teenager will get more freedom. But until then, from the looks of jr’s face, there are more ‘discussions’ in the wind.
Yesterday the sun came out and it was so pretty that I bugged and bugged my mom to take me somewhere fun.
I would just like to point out how beautiful my fur is.
So she did! We went over to a park in Rose Township. Usually we don’t see anyone over there, but since the day was so beautiful we saw quite a few people walking in the woods.
Really mom? You want me to SIT??!
That’s OK, Mom just asked me to sit and watch her while other people and their dogs went by, so I did. Apparently mom and I are very slow walkers.
This is a very scary horse dung bucket. I barked at it a lot.
We went up and down some hills in the woods and I wasn’t scared at all about being under the trees! I guess that’s because it wasn’t windy and nothing weird was blowing around. You know, like leaves and stuff.
Hey Mom! I jumped over the rock, you got that on film, right?
Then we walked beside a couple of pretty ponds. Mom was using a compass on her phone to check out where Southeast is in relation to the bridges we were standing on.
Sure is pretty around here!
Apparently the Milky Way core is visible again and at this time of the year, the SE is where to find it.
Whatever, mom.
On the way back to the car she let me pick which trail to follow. She was sorta glad I picked the shorter one, especially after a fat tire bike went by and I got the zoomies.
This is me being crazy. Mom was not amused.
Mom says zoomies in the woods are not as fun as zoomies in the living room.
I beg to differ.
OK, I’ll be serious if I have to be. For a moment anyway.
Change Is Hard 