park | Change Is Hard

March 20, 2016
by dawnkinster 20 Comments

Park times two!

Katie here!

HEY! Did you all have a wonderful weekend? I sure did! My mama took me to my park yesterday AND today! OK. She doesn’t get credit for thinking of it all on her own today. A friend messaged her and suggested we meet them over at my park and I have to say mama got me in the car and over there in ten minutes! She can be efficient when she wants to be, my mama, but if it wasn’t for that friend I’d have been inside this boring house all day! Thank you Aunt Karen!

But I digress.

Let me tell you about my adventures! Mama says yesterday was cold, because it was the last day of winter. I guess winter is supposed to be cold. I, personally, thought it was perfect.

Mama likes these two trees. I don’t know why.

I trotted right along at a brisk pace because I was feeling terrific! I told mama to stop dawdling and taking pictures of stuff, even of me, because I had things to sniff and places to pee on.

When we first got to the park mama heard the cranes making a bunch of noise at the back of the park. We figured we’d come upon them when we got back there, but we didn’t see them. When we got to the place furthest away from the car mama heard the cranes up at the front of the park. She told me she figured they were dancing a jig around the car laughing at us.

She was wrong.

When we got out of the woods and close to the softball fields we topped a little hill and guess what? THERE THEY WERE just on the other side of the hill. Like 10 feet away from us! They were just as surprised as we were. Mama grabbed my leash extra hard but I had no intention of getting anywhere near these giant birds.

They squawked a bunch but didn’t leave…just continued to voice their displeasure at me being in what I guess they consider their park, and then they casually walked down the hill and over to the softball field. Mama’s picture isn’t very good, she was trying to hang on to me and take the picture and she couldn’t see in the viewfinder whether she even got the birds in the shot.

Those are bigger than ME mama!

She did, but you have to really look. You can click on the photo and make it bigger and maybe you can see them.

Then today my friend Deuce had his mom contact my mama so we could go on a walk together. I think he likes me, but I told him I had a boyfriend already. Deuce is fine just being friends, cause he’s a good guy. I didn’t sit too close to him so that my boyfriend Reilly the Cowspot Dog doesn’t get jealous.

Close…but not TOO close.

Then our mamas called us and we raced to them. Well. Deuce raced. I sort of sauntered. As befitting a princess and all.

I let him win. I’m a good park hostess.

Deuce loves to run. Mama took a bunch of pictures of him and I wasn’t even jealous. I was having too good a time showing Deuce my park.

Deuce can fly!

I had fun this afternoon even though it was warmer today and I was slower than Deuce. After all I am 9, and Deuce is a much younger guy. I bet he didn’t even need to take a nap when he got home. Me? I went straight to sleep on my princess pile of pillows after mama brushed the burs out of my fur. I blame the burs on her, she’s supposed to watch out for things like that and she failed miserably. She was too busy talking to Aunt Karen. I’m not going to tip her this time, as she didn’t earn it at all.

So hard to get good help these days you know.

Beautiful me.

March 15, 2016
by dawnkinster 26 Comments

A little X-rated crane romance

Flying over the neighborhood.

I wondered over the weekend how the heron rookery was doing down at Kensington Park. I figured heron couples should be shopping for their condo units about now, so I headed down there Monday morning. I was right. Looks like quite a few of the condo nests have been spoken for. There were a lot of herons coming and going, landing on nests, some being shooed off. There were lots of couples, too, standing together on their chosen new homes.

Waiting for the newborns.

I wonder if the same herons come back year after year. And if so, do they chose the same nest each year? While I was watching all their activity I heard the sandhill cranes commence to squawking. I turned around and through a fringe of brush I saw one flying low straight toward me.

Can you see him? I know it’s a him…you will too.

He pulled up and landed on the road, just on the other side of some redtwig dogwood shrubs, about 10 yards away from me. He looked right, left, at me, then left again. Then he began to walk quite aggressively down the road. He was in a hurry.

Got important things to do.

That’s when I noticed her. The other half of his pair. The girl of his dreams. The woman who had, until moments before been standing with him on the other side of the bay looking for lunch. She showed him a little wing. Such a flirt.

Hey there good looking.

He didn’t have to be invited twice.

Didn’t even look to see if there were any cars coming.

I was so surprised I just kept clicking with no consideration for their privacy. After all, if they cared about that they should have got a room.

Quick! Someone’s coming!

And then it was done.

How about a date next Friday night?

Instantly they were just another couple, walking together down the road. And miraculously right toward me! Right about then I registered that I’d been hearing soft grunting noises below me. I glanced down from my spot on the boardwalk. There was a Canadian goose wanting his share of attention. Probably begging for a treat, though I had nothing to give him, and the signs clearly say not to feed the wildlife.

Got anything good up there lady?

So I turned my attention back to the cranes. Down the embankment they came, through the redtwig dogwoods, and into the lake, perhaps three feet from me and my camera.

Care for a little snack?

They casually waded along in the shallow water, sipping a bit of water here, testing a bit of greenery there. Talking quietly between themselves. Unafraid of me and my clicking camera. Ignoring the world, lost in their love.

I love you too sweetheart.

I have other things to show you from Monday’s walk in the woods, but they will have to wait for a future blog. But certainly spring is here, in the wetlands and hills and woods of Southern Michigan. And I think we all wish the happy couple the best in the coming months as they await their little one.

Snack time

February 22, 2016
by dawnkinster 21 Comments

WordPress photo challenge: Seasons

Here in lower Michigan we’ve been confused by the seasons. It’s supposed to be cold and snowy in February. In fact this time last year we had wind, drifts of snow, and frigid below zero temperatures.

So you can imagine our joy at the temperatures this February. And the lack of snow. Sure there are piles of it in the shadowy woods or where city trucks dump their street slush. But mostly, around here, it feels as though we dodged the winter bullet.

Temperatures in the 40’s F (4.44 C) had people running around town like it was the middle of summer. Out at the park I actually stalked a runner for this photo challenge.

I had just finished my own 3.5 mile walk/run, and was climbing into my car for the ride home when I spotted him starting out. I loved that he was wearing shorts in February and that his shirt was bright green. So I shoved the car into gear and raced to a parking lot one mile down the road, where I leaped out and trotted a ways up the path, positioning myself on a curve, pretending to take pictures of the dried up winter lake, when in fact what I wanted was him running in shorts in February in Michigan.

Warm run in February.

To show you that ‘seasons’ can’t always be predicted, and staying flexible is always important.

You can see other interpretations of this challenge at the original post. Or visit a few of my favorites here, here and here.

What season is it at your house? Please share with us, especially if it’s tropical. Because here in Michigan we know for sure that this little respite will be brief and winter will be back with a vengeance soon. So we’ll live vicariously through your photos until June or so when we can enjoy our own summer sun.

Just ignore that pile of snow.

February 21, 2016
by dawnkinster 15 Comments

Creative types

Fun stuff.

Almost two weeks ago I showed you all the things people were doing in the middle of a Michigan winter out at my favorite park. And I mentioned that there were also a number of artists painting there that day, so many that I figured they deserved their own post.

And now two weeks have passed in a flash.

So before more time slips through my fingers, let me show some very talented people at work capturing their vision of my favorite park. They were spread out near the nature center, some along the bike/running path…

Painters and runners share space.

…some tucked further into the woods.

Painting in the woods.

Most were focused on parts of the lake, fringed with cattails and surrounded by bare trees against the brilliant blue sky.

There’s beauty everywhere.

It was cold that day, and they were painting while dressed in heavy coats or hunting gear, scarfs, gloves, hats.

Staying warm with art.

But the cold certainly didn’t dampen their enthusiasm. Their work was beautiful. I wanted to stop and talk to each of them about what they were doing, but they seemed very intense. So I admired from afar.

Something else I admired from afar was this guy. Or girl.

Our national bird.

This photo is cropped 3 times, the bald eagle was sitting in the top of a heron rookery far out in the middle of a lake. I’ve never seen one this far south, and I wouldn’t have seen this one if he or she hadn’t flown in with a huge stick while I was across the street watching artists. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. There was a fringe of trees between us, and I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. So I ran back to the nature boardwalk and looked through my long lens.

I still couldn’t believe it.

I stayed a long time watching the eagle watch all of us. And if it weren’t for the cold I might be there still. I felt privileged to have witnessed the low flight of this bird, and its sweep up to the top of that tree. Eagles are very special in our family and I’m so glad to have seen this one. Another photographer said a pair of them was around that lake all last summer, though I never saw or heard anything about eagles being there. I’ll keep a sharper eye out this summer and keep you posted.

An incredible day captured.

Meanwhile…the artists were packing up and headed home to warm up and reminisce about their lovely day at the park. I decided I would too.

Maybe someday I’ll try oil painting. I think it would be fun, but probably frustrating, to capture my version of things I see. If I give it a shot you guys will be the first to know. And I hope I see the artists and my bald eagle out at the park again this spring and summer. I’ll let you know about that too.

Waiting and watching.

February 19, 2016
by dawnkinster 21 Comments

Cee’s black and white photo challenge: Weather

It’s a long time till summer picnics.

The weather lately has been vacillating between cold snow and warm rain. Sometimes it all collides and we get this.

February 16, 2016
by dawnkinster 28 Comments

The same but different

A lonely day at the lake.

Twenty-eight degrees F (-2.22 C) here, and a slight frozen mist hanging in the air; seems perfect to go for a nature walk around a lake. So I drove out to my favorite park again. You know, the one that was full of activity and bright sunshine the last time I was there.

Not so much sun or activity today. It felt melancholy, lonely, damp. Few people were out, though there were more than I expected at the back of the park on the far side of the lake.

Someone is watching me.

And there were birds. As I took my first step on the nature path I could already hear the chickadees calling, and soon they were circling my head. They expect a treat. I left them a few seeds on the railing of the first bridge and moved along. It was too cold to stand still, arm outstretched to feed them individually.

Incoming!

I was thinking about why I was lugging my camera. Before I left the house I debated not bringing it, considered the advantages of taking a walk in nature without it. But then I realized if I did that there would be something amazing and I’d regret not having it.

What you lookin at lady?

So early in the walk, with fingers already getting cold, I thought about all the pictures I already had, filed away in my archives. Pictures of this park, these birds, most under better light and conditions than I was facing today. So why was I still watching for something interesting?

Anything good up here?

People have asked me….”what do you do with all those photos?” I don’t necessarily do anything with them, except share a few of them here with you, or with family. If I’m at a family event I might turn the best of them into a book for my siblings to remember our time together. But only a few of them ever end up in anything I share.

Most of the time I just flip through them and remember.

Because, you see, I can remember what it felt like to stand where I stood when I took almost every one. The way the light was, the temperature of the air, unique smells and sounds, why I was out there, the shots I missed when I got the one I’m staring at now. The photos in my archives take me right back to the adventures I experienced when I took them.

OK, we can share.

I think it’s probably a lot like playing music. It’s more fun to be the player than the listener. Perhaps it’s more fun being the photographer than the one looking at the results. For me, it’s all about the hunt; sometimes for something specific that I have in mind, but more often the fun of finding an opportunity to catch something surprising or pretty, or arty or just cool.

Eastern bluebird scout

So on today’s cold walk along the mist shrouded lake I didn’t find lots of great photos, but I found enough to make me smile. And really that’s enough to make cold feet and tingly fingers worthwhile.

Peek-a-boo

Even if no one else ever sees the majority of them.

Serenity

February 8, 2016
by dawnkinster 26 Comments

Active winter

Sunday afternoon at the heron rookery.

My folks moved to Alabama when I was working in the Upper Peninsula, so I stayed behind in Michigan. I’d visit them and sometimes meet their friends. As they introduced me to people who had lived their entire lives in the South the response was almost universally horror stricken. “You live in MICHIGAN? Doesn’t it get awfully cold there? And how do you handle all that snow??”

Well, yes it does get cold here, and it snows too. Sometimes a lot. But seriously, we don’t sit in our homes and mope — we get out into the fresh air and enjoy it. It’s the only way to get through the winter, to not let it get us down. Because yes it does get old.

But not this year, at least not here. Not yet.

I was out at my favorite park on Sunday and was amazed at all the activity. though I shouldn’t have been surprised. It was chilly and clouds were chasing the sun, but it was a beautiful day. So I thought I’d show you what people in Michigan do on a winter weekend. There was hardly any snow on the ground, and people didn’t want to waste a chance to enjoy some time outside.

Nice day for a long run.

This particular park is centered on a very large lake. There’s an eight mile (12.8k) bike/walk/run paved path around the lake, and many other miles of paths through the hills and fields including nature paths through the woods.

It’s incredibly beautiful no matter the season.

People were out doing everything you could imagine. Aside from the expected walking and running, it’s a perfect place for well socialized dogs to take their humans for an afternoon walk.

Let’s get going!

And the fishing is great too, no matter the season. Lots and lots of fisher people stand on the banks of the lake and catch their supper, as evidenced by the lures tangled in the high branches of a tree above the bike path.

Remnants from last summer.

But this time of year it’s all about ice fishing. I can’t say I understand that sport, but I fully support a person’s right to sit out on the cold lake staring at a hole in the ice waiting for a fish to strike. It’s gotta be fun for some people. Just not me.

It’s a chilly sport.

On this Sunday the weather was so warm that people were out riding their bikes…

Out for a spin.

…and even inline skating.

Faster than running, more exercise than biking.

It felt like spring, and I’m sure we all wish that winter was over. Of course we know it’s not — snow and cold is forecast for later this week. If the snow arrives you might not want to be out on skates or your bike, but you can still wander the nature trails and feed the birds.

Feeding the birds.

Yes there are signs out not to feed the wildlife, but enough people hold sunflower seeds out for the little birds that they now follow nature walkers around asking for a handout. It’s a special feeling to have a wild bird flit to your finger for an instant. Especially for young kids, and those of us still young at heart.

He weighs nothing at all.

Sunday there was also a large group of artists at the park, each painting their vision of the paradise that is this park. That was so special it’s going to have to go into it’s own blog. Stay tuned.

So that’s what people will do on a nice winter day at a beautiful public park way up here in Michigan. The next semi-sunny day you have during the rest of this winter head out to a park near you. I guarantee you’ll see something interesting and fun and maybe even beautiful.

Regardless of whether or not it’s cold or there is snow on the ground.

Running in shorts. In February in Michigan.

January 30, 2016
by dawnkinster 17 Comments

Walk in the woods

Camouflaged Katie

An advantage of being retired is that I can go for a walk in the middle of a weekday and I don’t have to fit it into my lunch hour. Katie enjoys my freedom too because she gets to go along. Yesterday though it was cold and windy we had sun, something we’ve all been missing, so Katie and I headed out to a recreation area where we could walk among tall trees where the wind was less bitter. (Click on any photo to see it larger and with more detail.)

No one else was out there. Poor working fools.

We walked a trail we’ve traveled often, though it’s different each time we visit. On this trip we had bright blue skies, brilliant white snow and enough breeze to make the trees creak. Other than the trees it was quiet.

Lots of coming and going.

Plenty of animals had been out since Thursday afternoon’s light snow. The tracks I found most interesting were those of what might have been a dog except there were no corresponding human prints. Sometimes the ‘dog’ tracks were headed the same way we were, and other sections of the trail showed him headed the other way. His prints were about half again as big as Katie’s.

Katie's print is on the left., next to the 'dog' print.

Katie’s print on the right, next to the ‘dog’ print.

Sometimes his prints intersected those of a rabbit. Or smaller things like mice or moles.

Intersection

We also ran across smaller tracks, with a walking pattern that was more linear…more like I imagine a cat might make.

Cat walk?

All of this evidence of another world made me realize these woods were home to a community that we hardly ever see. After all the people go home these forest dwellers come out and search for food. There’s a whole world right here among the tall trees that we never notice as we walk our dogs, that we’d never notice if it weren’t for the thin coating of fresh snow.

I wondered where all those animals were napping while we were walking and began to wonder if the ‘wolf’ (as I’d begun to think of the one who made the ‘dog’ tracks) was watching us as we moved through his forest. I wondered if the rabbit got away, and what the deer had found to eat. I marveled at all the tiny tracks, picturing little rodents scurrying, always across the path, from one little tunnel to another, never down the trail like the larger deer and rabbits walked.

What’s up there mama?

The trees creaked, the sun shone, Katie ran ahead and then urged me to move along faster. We had a great time, she and I. And as we left I thanked the animals for sharing their home with us.

Another great day of retirement.

We’re just visiting.

January 27, 2016
by dawnkinster 8 Comments

Wordless Wednesday

January 25, 2016
by dawnkinster 21 Comments

Adventures galore

Katie here.

Boy I had a big day yesterday! I thought maybe it was my birthday or something! Cause my mama took me all sorts of places and each of them was fun with lots of stuff to sniff. And can you believe that she chauffeured me around all day long? But I was sure it wasn’t my birthday, cause I remember my folks ignored me completely that day.

So I wondered… what was up?

Anyway, I woke mama up early and she said that was good because we wanted to be at the Winter Dog Show before 10 to watch our friends Karen and Deuce compete in conformation that morning. In case you haven’t met Deuce, he’s an absolutely beautiful cocker spaniel. He came to my park last winter and we had fun, but he’s been so busy doing classes and his therapy dog work that he hasn’t been able to come back out for another walk. Here’s Deuce and me last winter. (Click on any photo to see more detail.)

Me and Deuce. He’s a good guy.

And here is Deuce and his mom yesterday at the show! She was getting him all beautiful. He did really good, and won an award which made his mom very very happy. Deuce is happy all the time, so it was hard to tell if he was excited about his award.

Getting his handsome on.

Deuce got his picture taken with a celebrity doggie. I could have gotten mine taken with the celebrity too..but I told my mama no way was I going to allow some huge doggie to hold me! No siree! My mama said that was OK, it wasn’t all about me anyway. I did let people pet me when they asked though. I’m not so shy as I used to be and lots of people said I was really soft. Several of the adults told my mama stories about shelties they had as kids. I guess I remind people of happy times.

Deuce was looking for a treat.

We were at the dog show for a couple hours, and as it got more crowded I got sort of hot and started to lag behind my mama. I was ready to get out by the time we left.

We didn’t see any lineups of shelties.

Then mama took me to her favorite park, Kensington, and we walked a bit on the bike path. That was more like it mama! It was cool and I trotted out front of my mama sniffing, sniffing, sniffing! Eventually mama got cold She’s kinda prissy, my mama, so we got back in the car and drove over to her home town!

This is fun mama! And cooler too!

Mama said she wondered if the city park was open. She used to take swimming lessons there on the lake. The beach is on the opposite end of the lake she lived on as a kid. She hasn’t been back to that park since at least 1978, maybe before that! And guess what? It was open! So we went down to the beach and walked around a bunch and watched kids sledding down the hill, and other kids playing hockey out on the lake right where mama used to swim. We even went out on the ice! Mama said that was a very weird feeling.

On the ice of my mama’s childhood lake!

We drove by her old house too, and the garage door was open and people were home. She almost stopped, but then she decided that would be weird so we kept driving.

And then we went to my other park, Indian Springs, and watched more kids sledding. And I chased a mouse (or something) under the snow. And we ran up and down the hills. It was just so much fun. I wasn’t even tired, but mama was cold and her feet were wet.

I smell something under here mama!

So we finally went home and I figured out what was going on. Daddy was making a whole bunch of noise fixing something in the house. And guess what? He wasn’t finished! He’d go up these weird stairs and then disappear into the ceiling and then there was all this clunking and pounding above my head and I did not like it! No I did not! So I barked and barked and barked and mama told daddy she was taking me out again. (HEY! That works!!!)

We ended up at a store where we walked around and around and around and …well, you get the picture. I got to sniff a lot of stuff including CAT FOOD! Did you know that cat food smells really really good?

Eventually mama picked out a very small package of treats and we went up to the cash register. I don’t get to go to the store very often but I remember very specifically that if I walk up behind the cashier, right into her little space, she will give me a treat! So I got one! HA! Mama forgot to bring me treats the whole day we were going all over, but I got one at the store! Cause I am seriously cute you know.

This one smells good mama!

It was a great day. We drove lots, and I even fell asleep in the car, which I never do. Mama says I am a very good traveler. I think we should do this again.

What do you think? Should we go on another adventure soon?

Looks interesting over there…

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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