Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: Photography


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Finally!

Hey everybody, it’s me, Penny!

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

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

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

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

This is gonna be fun….right?

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

Awwww, gee. Here we are again.

Anyway.

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

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

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

Come on, mom, let’s get going!

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

Mom said this was pretty too.

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

The very first picture mom stopped to take this morning.

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

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

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

Come on mom, you’re slowing me down!

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

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

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

This is just the best walk ever, Mom!

Because those come with treats, you know.

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

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

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

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

Mom brings treats AND water for me !

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

Mom thinks this is her favorite image from this adventure.

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

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

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


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Youngster has a lot to learn

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

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

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

“Maybe there’s something good under here.”

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

“I can’t fit my beak in that hole!”

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

“Maybe up here.”

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

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

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

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


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Abundance

It’s that time of year again, when everything seems to be blooming all at once.

Though May is my favorite month, full of promise and hope of a bountiful summer, July runs a close second just because it’s the middle of summer.

I took a wander around the yard today and realized just how much stuff in my gardens was blooming.

On a warm sunny day with big white puffy clouds everything looks perfect.

And I realize I love being retired so that I can take a leisurely walk around the yard and discover blooms hiding among the foliage.

Stuff, that in the old days of working long hours far from home, I would have missed, only noticing spent blossoms way too late.

So today I savor my freedom and the beauty of a warm summer day. And I’m sharing it all with you.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the mini tour of my gardens. Have a wonderful day in your part of the world!


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Father/daughter lunch

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That was a good seed, wasn’t it!

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


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Another boyfriend?

Hi everybody! It’s me, Penny!

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

These are a couple of my neighborhood boyfriends.

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

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

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

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

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

It’s so much fun to run free!

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

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

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

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

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

Levi has a beautiful coat!

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

Time for some shade and a drink!

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

Ha ha, got you to run Levi!

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

Running is just the best fun!

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

Catch me if you can, Levi!

I guess I got a little wound up.

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

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

Penny.


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Camping heat wave

We had some really hot weather up here in Michigan and it seemed to last forever. Of course it didn’t last forever, but for my two nights of camping at a local state park the heat hung heavily in the air even late into the night.

Even though it was hot I enjoyed a fire each evening.

I hadn’t camped at this park for a few years, not since Katie and I camped there and struggled with noisy kids partying all night just a few sites away.

This site is surrouned by woods.

This time it was much more quiet. I was in my favorite site at this campground, full shade, with lots of privacy. I went there specifically to watch the birds that hang out in the trees surrounding the site, many of which I don’t see at home around my feeders.

My app Merlin says this is a wood thrush. I don’t think we have wood thrushes in Michigan.

And I went to give Penny an opportunity to see a campground for the very first time. Her dad brought her over in the evenings and we sat around and talked.

“I’m a little anxious, mom. And it’s hot out here!”

She sat around and observed. Everything.

“What’s that over there, mom?”

I didn’t ask her to get into the tent for a number of reasons, one it was too hot inside the tent, and two she isn’t really happy in the tent yet.

“Mom, do you have any treats over there?”

But she did get to watch people and dogs and kids walk by and begin to realize she didn’t have to bark at everyone.

“You’re still here, right dad?”

It wasn’t easy for her. Watching dogs walk by, listening to noisy trucks as they hauled trailers past our site was hard.

“Dad? Those kids on bikes need to be herded!”

But little kids on bikes? Now that deserves a big bark, mom!

“So, this is your favorite site mom?”

We still have a lot of work to do, it was all new to her. But I can see potential.

“OK mom, that was interesting, I’m going back to my air conditioning now!”

There are, of course, a lot of memories at my favorite site, memories of camping with my Katie-girl. And I think she was there with me last week.

My girl used to use this leash to wander the site when we camped together so long ago.

I miss her so much, even while little Miss Penny is bouncing around distracting me. Penny says that’s OK and I appreciate her giving me some grace.

Hey Katie-girl, I know you were there.

On my last day at site 16, just before I started packing up and while I was feeling sad and missing Katie, a female cardinal arrived. She hopped around, up on the picnic table, underneath it, across the parking pad, always keeping an eye on me.

“Hey Lady! Don’t feel sad, she’s right there in your heart!”

I kind of think Katie sent her. She made me smile, just like Penny does, who, I’m sure, was also sent by Katie.

I don’t know what this bird is, but it’s pretty!

There’s lots of summer left. I hope I get to take Penny to another campground before the end of the season.

“Just remember lady, you’re never alone!”

And I figure by next summer she just might be ready for a real adventure, even if it’s camping in our own backyard.

See you later, site 16. Penny and I will be back!

.


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And finally…

As I was leaving Kensington, having been run out of town on the trails by the little birds, and on the boardwalk by a marauding swan and a big group of kids, I stopped at a little picnic area, off the beaten path.

“Are you SURE you don’t have anything to eat? Can you check your pockets again?“

I thought maybe the birds there would be more forgiving, since they don’t get many visitors. I turned on my Merlin app and let it record the birds singing as it identified who was nearby.

“We didn’t want her food anyway. It’s not good for growing cygnets.“

A vireo, a common yellow throat, a warbler, a bluebird, a flicker, a red winged blackbird. And of course a robin.

“I’ll just stay still, she’s not interested in me anyway.“

I could hear the vireo and the common yellow throat coming from down near the marsh, so I crept that way. I spent a long time standing still staring up at a cottonwood tree that I’m pretty sure hid the yellow throat. But I never saw anything move.

No birds, but this daisy was nice.

I’d already been out at the park for hours and I was hungry, having forgotten to bring myself anything to eat either. So I headed back toward the car, past the picnic pavilion where I saw this little guy.

“If I stand real still you won’t notice me, right lady?”

Well, it’s not a photogenic location, but heck, it’s a bluebird. Right?

He flew up into a tree and then over to the outhouse building. Still not a photogenic location, but the sun was pretty on him there.

“From this perch I can see what’s going on all over this picnic area.”

He bounced around there, from the corner of the building down to the ground up into a tree and back to the building again. Then I lost track of him, couldn’t find him anywhere.

“I’m a velcro bird! I can hang out anywhere!”

I decided it was time to go home, and I turned around to head to the car and, little stinker, there he was on the path right next to me!

“Hey lady! Pay attention, you’re gonna step on me here!”

It was as if he was laughing at me as I took my third, not photogenic, photo of him just because he was beautiful.

And then he flew up into a branch and stayed there, posing until I got the shot.

“Thanks for playing lady, I had fun too.”

Well thank you kindly, Mr. Bluebird, for playing along. You sure made me smile that afternoon! And I’m still smiling today!