Katie here. I’m at ‘camp.’ And let me tell you there’s nothing about it that reminds me of camping.
And mama is off having fun.
Not fair mama!
I’m posting a pic from our last trip together in the hope it makes her feel bad and come home and spring me from this joint!
So there. I got to see the bridge too, just a couple weeks ago. It was really cool. And now she’s off up north somewhere cavorting around with daddy and I’m stuck here.
Let me tell you, she better have a real good excuse for dumping me at camp. Cause just any little ole reason isn’t going to cut it with me.
And you can be darn sure I’ll be getting her up even earlier unless she makes amends.
The park overlooks Davis Lake, only a couple miles from my house!
Katie here. I noticed mama was sort of sad lately so I thought I should take things into my own paws. This morning, on this last day of the calendar summer, I told her not to turn on that stupid TV and instead I suggested we take a walk in the woods.
I bundled her into my chariot, and I let her drive, because you know my mama loves to drive, and we went over to a park not too far away. It’s a new park to me, but I’ve been reading mama’s blog when she’s sleeping, and I see that she’s been there a couple of times without me!
Let’s get going mama!
Well! I don’t know what she was thinking, but I guess I’ll forgive her now that she’s taken me to explore it myself.
I knew that once I got her into the woods she’d feel better, and she says it worked. She got all artsy, taking pictures of the wildflowers that are blooming, and the morning light shining through the trees.
Morning sun.
Mama says you can’t help but feel better when you’re out in nature. I let her take as long as she wanted, and we walked really slow up and down hills. She stopped a lot and that was fine with me, it let me get extra sniffing time. Win/win!
I had to wait for her a lot. That was OK with me.
The only thing I have to say is that when mama’s focused on her camera you should stay away from her feet because she actually stepped on me! I told her off and then I made sure to pay better attention to where she was.
The colors were beautiful!
Mostly we were in the shade, but we did explore down near the wetlands. The flowers were so pretty, all tangled up together. And see down in the lower right, that monarch butterfly? Mama was happy that she got him in the picture too.
So pretty!
Mostly she took pictures of stuff that is not me. I was OK with that this time. I figured she should do what she needed to do to put a smile on her face. I didn’t even argue much when she said we should turn around and head back to the car. The sun was higher and it was getting hot anyway.
Mama liked the shapes of the tree trunks too.
And now that I know about this park I’ll get her to take me again soon. Maybe after it gets a little cooler with a bit of a breeze to make my fur blow. I think that’s my best look.
I can look beautiful in any circumstance.
Oh…and remember that I’m supposed to tell you about our trip back from up north last week? Well, next time mama isn’t paying attention I’ll do that.
While Katie and I were up north we happened across a wildflower garden that had attracted a lot of monarch butterflies.
You may or may not know that the monarchs are endangered and oh so delicate. It was good to see many of them enjoying the garden on the shores of Lake Michigan.
I felt privileged to have been there while they were lunching.
I’m retired, so one day is pretty much like another. Weekends have no real significance, and Monday is now my favorite day of the week because most of you go back to work and I don’t have to.
Welcome to the 2018 Woodward Dream Cruise!
I know. That’s just cruel.
But then again sometimes weekends are filled with so many fun things that I actually am sorry to see them end. Like this past one.
It started out with me volunteering on a campaign for a woman who is running for Congress in my district. Our district has been represented in Congress by one party for as far back as I can remember. This year there’s a serious contender, a woman with military experience, who has worked for the Pentagon and was willing to sit with my husband and I for over an hour discussing truck safety issues.
It’s unique.
She’s got my vote.
So, though I am not political and have never worked on a campaign before, Saturday morning found me sitting in a small stuffy room with several other people my age, all of us peering through our bifocals at our laptops as a young campaign worker explained the data entry project we volunteered to help with.
Good to have a matching umbrella to ward off the sun.
She was so patient with us as we fumbled through connecting to their WiFi, stumbled over the password, then tried to understand the data entry program. Never once did she roll her eyes, though I have to admit I did at least once.
Lots of color and detail.
Turns out she had just graduated from high school, and was taking a gap year before she went to college just to work on this campaign. Amazing. She was nineteen and had the ability to make us not feel stupid when we asked questions as we worked through the huge pile of reports filed with information from volunteers out canvasing neighborhoods.
It wasn’t restricted to just cars.
Her enthusiasm was contagious and we willingly worked past the time we originally committed to get the job done.
And to reward myself for sitting in that small room straining my eyes for hours I took myself to the Woodward Dream Cruise that was happening in a town not so far away.
There was plenty for sale if you caught the car bug.
If you’re asking what that is, well, you’re not from around here.
In the old days, on Friday and Saturday nights the locals would drive their muscle cars up and down Woodward Avenue, through and between several towns. These days, for one weekend every August, people come from all over the country, some bringing their antique muscle cars, to do the same.
Muscle from the old days.
The streets are lined with people who enjoy watching the beautiful cars go by. Parking lots are filled with more of the vehicles.
Lots of money in this lot next door to the Porsche dealership.
They’re everywhere.
Back in the neighborhood a few blocks away from the main drag.
I fell in love with this pair of vehicles.
There’s a sort of elegance that most cars today lack. I guess we’re more functional and less stylish these days.
I enjoyed wandering around, though I walked less than one mile down Woodward Avenue, and spent maybe an hour there. I loved taking pictures of old cars, the lines so beautiful, the colors so vibrant.
Hard to miss this one!
Anyway. That was Saturday. Sunday a college friend and I went kayaking at my favorite park.
Spending Sunday morning on a lake. Perfect.
We rented kayaks there, for only $8 an hour. We told the (very) young lady there we’d be out for an hour at most, after all we were old. She smiled politely.
Pretty.
We were out for 2 hours and I’m not even sore this morning. Pretty good for a couple of old broads!
Two hours later the skies began to cloud.
And I slept out in the backyard in the tent all weekend too, getting geared up to take at least one camping trip this summer…before summer slides away!
Katie says she hasn’t gone on one camping trip all summer. She says that’s unacceptable. I have to agree.
Many years ago I was visiting a friend up in Northport, Michigan. We were out taking pictures, mostly in the woods and along the lake shore. But we also stopped in town where I noticed this interesting shop window and grabbed a shot without even leaving the car.
Listen people, I’m totally bored. Mama needs to find something for me to do that is inside with air conditioning! It’s just too darn hot outside for me with all my flowing fur.
Let’s take a walk.
I still like to go outside, but only in the morning, and even then only for a little bit. Sometimes I forget and take mama way up the road on my daily walk. Then, when we’re like four or five houses away I realize it’s too hot and I find some shade and lay down!
Mama usually just stands there and waits for me to rest up. So far I’ve rested up in almost every neighbor’s front yard. They’re OK with that, after all I’m the only princess they know, and so they feel it’s somewhat of an honor to have me choose their front lawn to grace.
Bits of color in the woods.
Sometimes I even make mama carry me home. She’s not so happy when that happens, and every time she reminds herself not to let me get so far from home next time. But then the next time comes and I convince her to go to “just one more mailbox mama!”
Mama is a little slow, as I’ve mentioned before.
Patterns.
So anyway, I haven’t been to any of my parks in a very long time. Even the ones with shade. Mama tried once and I only walked a few yards and then I sat down. Mama says she doesn’t want to take any chances with me overheating.
The most exciting thing I’ve done lately is go out with her when she’s weeding in the morning. I get to sit in the shade and watch her work. I think that’s pretty nice. Even then she watches me like a hawk and if I look like I’m overdoing she makes me go inside. She’s sort of a helicopter mama.
More color hiding behind a log.
Yesterday we were sitting on the deck out back. Mama was sitting in the shade reading and I was supposed to be sitting next to her, watching the birds. Well, I decided (twice) to go sit on the sunny side of the deck and go to sleep. Mama was not happy. Each time she got up and brought me back into the shade. When I went over there a third time she picked me up and put me in the house.
Mama is as stubborn as I am.
Growing into the fence.
She says she’ll make it up to me. She says that once it cools off, sometime in September or October she will take me to all my parks. She says I’ll have a good time then. (Obviously she’s never heard that song about the cat and the cradle.) She says I should be patient.
Right mama. Patient. I’m a sheltie, remember?
Bird condo with covered entry.
But she did scout out a new park for me today. She says I’ll like it. There’s lots of shade and hills and a big wide trail. Brand new sniffing places she says! All the pictures on this blog are from her walk over there.
Change Is Hard 