summer | Change Is Hard

August 18, 2013
by dawnkinster 17 Comments

Camping experiment results

Arriving

As many of you know Katie-girl and I enjoy sleeping out in the backyard on warm (and sometimes not so warm) summer nights. If there’s no rain predicted we leave the rain fly off the tent and watch the stars until we fall asleep. I’d like to do more camping with her, further from home but she’s a Sheltie and Shelties bark which made me wonder about how she’d behave in a campground. So I booked a camping site at a local KOA, one located only one exit up the road. And last night we went camping for real with a backup plan of scooping her up and heading home if she barked too much at night.

This is my campsite!

Turns out she doesn’t mind being in a tiny campsite right next to other people (and their dogs) at all. She’s interested, but not particularly offended by their presence. She watched them until it got dark and then she settled down with a sigh on her pillows in front of her window and went to sleep. During the night she got up a few times and settled somewhere new, sometimes up on the air mattress with me, sometimes somewhere else in the tent, but she’s always been a dog that sleeps in multiple places during any one night.

Watching the neighbor’s campfire.

She woke me around midnight with a series of soft yips but I don’t know what bothered her. Maybe she just woke up in a strange place and was confused. I tickled her tummy and we both went right back to sleep. She barked about 4:45 a.m. but it turns out the next door camper was out with his dog, whose tags were jangling and he was coughing himself. She had to let him know he was infringing on her space. I told her ‘no bark’ once and patted her head and she settled back down with another sigh for an hour or so of sleep.

And then it was 6 a.m. and she was UP! Want to get up now Mama?

Hey Mama! You awake?

Huh? How about now Mama? I really do have to gooooo!

We went out and found a good place, then went back to bed for another hour…when many people in the campground were up including neighbors on both sides of us, so we got up, packed up and went home.

Sheltie sized window. Perfect.

She was a very very good dog. I’d go camping with her again no problem. Not at this particular campground which was crowded and noisy and not near anything interesting. But for this experiment it was exactly what I needed; lots of people, lots of dogs, lots of noisy cars…radios, TVs, bikes, you name it. She wasn’t distressed by anything other than an early morning walk by the neighbor dog dangerously close to her bed. Cant fault her on that.

I think she’s a natural camper!

Can we do it again soon Mama?

August 5, 2013
by dawnkinster 15 Comments

Awesome weekend!

Katie here. Bet you just can’t wait to hear about my awesome weekend! It was great! I’m going to have to sleep for three straight days just to get rested up!

First of all I got to go to school Saturday morning. I love love love going to my school. Mama said something about me paying attention cause we have some doggie trial or something next weekend. But I just did my thing. Came in crooked on the recall. Lagged behind Mama during the off leash heeling. But still. Being a princess and all that was pretty good. I DID sit still while all the other doggies moved on the long sit and long down. I know for sure that when I’m uncertain I only have to look at my Mama and if she’s staring at me I’m not supposed to move. So I don’t. Cause I’m a good girl. Yes I am.

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago when my Aunt B was here, but it shows you me at school. Cause I knew you’d want to see.

Sitting straight

Then Saturday afternoon I supervised Mama while she was working in the garden. I love sitting out there while she’s working. We stayed outside a long time and I couldn’t have been happier.

Mama’s flowers. And me.

Well, that’s not quite exactly perfectly true. I got even happier later in the day when my Mama put up my tent! OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY! We got to go camping!! I just LOVE camping! I could hardly wait to get out there and go to sleep next to my little window in the cool evening air.

My tent.

Ah yes this is doggie heaven! Mama was sleeping under four blankets, but I was perfectly happy to just be out there. She gives me two pillows and a blanket all my own and I’m good.

My window

Of course I got her up at 5:00 to go out. But she wasn’t even mad because the stars were so bright and pretty when we walked around the back yard.

Camping in our yard

I helped her pack the tent up last night but I’m hoping we’ll get to camp next weekend too. Mama even said something about going to a real campground! Wouldn’t that be cool?

THEN guess what? We got to go to my park on Sunday! TWICE!

Resting on our walk

The first time was the farmer’s market where I got to sniff a bunch of stuff and I even ran into the vegetable guy’s sheltie. I’m not too sure about him, but I liked everyone else that talked to me. And THEN Mama took be back to my park Sunday evening! Hot dog! A walk in my park where I got to look for ground squirrels and baby rabbits!

My park

This weekend turned out to be super fun! Too bad Mama has to go to work today. On the other hand, I could use the rest. I sure am one happy tired puppy!

Have a happy Monday everyone!

Happy dog!

August 4, 2013
by dawnkinster 15 Comments

Looking for red

Katie and I were weeding on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and Katie was in full supervisory mode.

Don’t bother me Mama, I’m busy watching the neighbors.

As I moved down the bed I was suddenly buzzed by a female hummingbird. Then she began to work the red beebalm just down the garden from where I was working. I thought to myself…what a great shot that would be. But of course the camera was in the house. So I went to get it and naturally the bird was gone when I got back.

I put the camera on the house generator, to keep it safe from dirt and weeds and began to work again. I had my head buried in the beebalm, pulling out a massive nightshade plant when I was buzzed again by you know who. I lifted my head and we had a stare down. She won. I went to get the camera and she left.

So here’s a picture of beebalm. Pretend you see a female humming bird there, will you?

Hummer breakfast

I continued on down the bed, pulling grass and weeds. I began to realize there was a lot of red stuff in bloom right now. These are particularly beautiful this year. I can’t remember their name but I bet some of you know it!

Beautiful

And there are a couple of surprises too. Buried deep in the leftover bleeding heart and behind some coneflower is a red dahlia in bloom. I must have planted it there this spring, but had forgotten. It’s the first dahlia to bloom this year and I might have missed it without Katie insisting I weed.

Hiding in plain sight

And way down at the other end of the garden is one solitary gladiola. I planted the bulbs 3 years ago and I’m supposed to pull them up each fall and replant each spring. Well. That never happened…but this courageous glad just keeps coming back.

Spiky red

The weeding yesterday was oddly relaxing. And I appreciated all the red, a color the camera shy Ms. Hummingbird loves as well. In fact I bet she’s out there right now enjoying my garden. I hope so. I sort of had her in mind when I planted it.

Of course there were other colors and other visitors as well. I almost stepped on this little guy. Do you see him?

Blending in

And there were lots of these guys in the garden too.

Resting

All in all a nice day to be outside. Even if it was just to weed. Katie and I will be weeding other beds today. She’s pretty excited at the prospect; she’s napping now to gather strength for her supervisory role. It’s a hard job but somebody has to make sure this work gets done!

We hope you all have a wonderful Sunday! Get out and enjoy everything the summer has to offer. I think we’ll plan a little park time today as well. Katie will have earned it.

Did somebody say PARK?!

August 3, 2013
by dawnkinster 20 Comments

Funny

Funny how it happens.

You’re going along in your life, handling stuff, feeling like you’ve moved past the sad place. You’ve written some about truck stuff and felt strong doing it. You spent an evening talking to a young woman whose mother was killed by a truck a year ago and you were glad to give her an outlet, help her plan some of her new and unexpected future. You felt good about being able to listen objectively with less personal emotion.

Missing them.

Yet this morning you feel a little off. The dog gets you up early, before light, and as you stumble into clothes to take her out, wander through the house to get a jacket, it occurs to you that the house was being remodeled the last time your Dad was here and that he never got to see the fireplace. Why not just send him an email with a photo attached you reason. Seems like a sensible thing to do.

And then you find yourself in the driveway staring up at a beautiful moon sitting low in the sky, beside a bright planet off to the north. And you realize that the moon is not blurry because of sleep in your eyes but because you are staring through a sheen of tears. There’s no email in heaven. Is there.

As you and the dog wander you contemplate the long road of life and how you don’t know what’s over the next hill. You are lost in thought, memories.

Long road.

Then just overhead a cardinal begins his morning song and you can just see him through the soft morning light. He flies right over your head, still singing and you figure it’s Dad cheering you up. It works as you realize you’re not in the dark place. This place, this morning, is more a gentle blue place with shadows around the edges. Soft, not scary.

And then your dog stares up at you with big eyes, wondering, and grins because you do and the two of you hustle back to the house for breakfast.

Funny how it happens.

Love you Mama

July 28, 2013
by dawnkinster 17 Comments

Another six done

I never got around to blogging about last Sunday’s six mile run/walk. It was a long story and I shared it with my online running group so I guess it’s validated that way. I got in a couple more 3 milers after work this week. I’m still having trouble with my feet; the arches ache so much when I begin and it’s not till mile 2 is done that I get much relief so it’s a challenge to make myself keep trying. But I have a goal. I’d really like to do the 10 mile Crim race at the end of August. Yes. This August. I used to run it every year and I haven’t been able to in the past three years or so. So I keep getting out there. Keep hoping.

Do you want to hear about my six miler this morning? I went a route I haven’t been for a couple of years. Figured it would be fun to see what had changed. In the end though I wasn’t really paying attention to the views, it was more about listening to my body, figuring out what hurts and what doesn’t and why.

The best, perhaps biggest news? My feet didn’t start out hurting! Maybe I’m over the hump with that. Instead of aching arches during my first mile I had the normal twinges; ankles, shins, knee. I felt like a runner! In fact I ran a whole 1/2 mile without stopping, I was so happy about the way my feet felt. I think that’s the longest I’ve run in 4 years. Yes when I stopped running and began a walk break I could still feel those pesky arches, but it was more a general fatigue, not a dibilitating ache. So I’m very very pleased.

Once I settled into the run I enjoyed the fact it was darn cold out. It’s in the 50’s here, which is perfect for running. Plus there was a lovely little breeze. We’ve had lots of rain so my dirt road was soft and there was virtually no traffic. Perfect. I had lots of time to think.

I thought about my parents a lot. Not the overwhelming grief of years past, just noticing a little flower Mom would have liked, or the new construction house that would have interested Dad. It’s been nine years now and I’ve mostly moved out of that dark place. For example I ran into an acquaintance couple this week. They told me it had been a rough year for them; his father became ill and died, her mother died too. I listened to their story and offered my comfort and condolences without diluting their pain with my own story. They’ve never heard mine, and likely never will. I’ve learned over the years the benefit of sharing a painful story, how the telling eases the pain. And I can listen now and offer support without having to share my own. It’s a good place to be.

In between thinking about my folks I convinced my self to run to the next sign, the next mailbox, the next corner. I made a rule to always run to the next red thing. Thank goodness there weren’t many red things on my route, just two mailboxes and a porta-potty in front of the new build. So that was six mandatory runs on my out and back 3 miles. Plus lots and lots more.

At one point I thought I’d run to the street sign. But as I got closer to it something in my mind suggested to go past it to that mailbox up there. “But that’s a long way! And it’s uphill!” “Yes, yes it it.” “Well OK then.” Once my mind got away with pushing me like that it tried to do it on every bit of every run segment. “How about to that mailbox?” “How about to the one AFTER that mailbox?” “Now STOP that!” “Only after you get past that street sign.” “Well OK then.”

I turned west at the end of mile 5, coming out of the dark wet green of the woods into the open next to a golf course. I saw dark black clouds and heard distant thunder. I still had a mile to go. Well OK then. Starting up the last mile, the last long hill I could see rain beginning near the top. The breeze picked up. I picked up my speed too. At the top of the hill I turned into my subdivision, back onto paved roads. I slowed and watched the way the misty raindrops made yesterday’s puddles dance. Pretty. Maybe this was just God’s way of providing a giant mister, like they do at the end of a long race, to cool me down. Well OK then.

I lifted my sweaty face into the mist and smiled. Another six done. I beat my time from last Sunday’s hilly six. And though I didn’t feel like I wanted to do any more miles right at the moment, I also didn’t feel like I couldn’t. My feet didn’t hurt as much as they have on previous runs. My legs are just typically fatigued. The 10 mile Crim race just might be doable.

Well OK then.

July 27, 2013
by dawnkinster 12 Comments

Park days

The weather has been wonderful this past week; cooler with high temperatures in the 80’s (21’s C) and less humidity. Katie and I took advantage of that one evening after work and went to her favorite park.

Just sitting with my Mama.

I took my book, thinking I could sit on the hillside and read, and she could explore while on her long line. For a little bit she sat with me. Then she went and stood at the end of her long line, facing the walking trail. She didn’t cry, she didn’t tug. She just stood there and waited. She made me feel bad. After all what is the point of going to the park if you aren’t going to go for a walk?

OK little one.

So we went for a long walk, all the way around. Then because it was beautiful out we took a side trail over to the library and meandered up the library driveway back to another entrance to the park. I figured we’d head back to the car and go home.

Mama…I always have to wait for her.

But as we approached the park entrance we saw a car we recognized enter the park and drive way over to the parking lot. We were quite a ways away but we picked up our pace. Still, by the time we got to the parking lot they were already unloaded and out of sight down the walking path.

So we hustled along and eventually caught up with Maddie, a miniature Australian Shepard and her folks. Katie and I met Maddie when we were all in an agility class together a few years ago. We learned then that we lived in the same town and went to the same park but we hardly ever run into them. It’s been a couple years since we saw them last.

So of course we had to go on the walk with them, all the way around the park again. Katie thought she was in heaven to get to do the walk again! Though she slowed down some near the end. After all she’d already had a long walk.

Maddie is just full of energy, and ran circles around Katie. At one point, though, Katie did a play bow with Maddie and sort of leaped into the play. For a moment. Then she remembered she is a princess and stopped. I think if they saw each other more often and were left to it they might actually play together.

Katie and Maddie

Aren’t they cute? We hope we run into them again this summer!

Evening with Katie

July 24, 2013
by dawnkinster 13 Comments

The compelling reason to visit Michigan

Scott wonders what about summer around here might compel a person to visit. So he asked us to show him.

Well here is the reason you should visit northern Michigan.

A visit provides the opportunity to relax your shoulders, loosen the kinks in your neck.

You can empty your mind. Or fill it with fresh new thoughts if you’d rather.

Relax

There’s nothing like the peace of sitting in the sand as the sun goes down…

Light.

…watching the light dance and change as your mind rests.

Come visit northern Michigan.

And let it renew your soul.

Sigh.

July 21, 2013
by dawnkinster 11 Comments

Nope. Not compelling.

Saturday I worked on Scott’s photo challenge. He wants to see something compelling about summer in our hometown or state. I think it’s the word compelling that is intimidating me. To go and create a photo that would compel you, my loyal readers, to book travel in my state is a big proposition. Yet I know there is so much here in Michigan that you would love to see.

For many of us down near the city summer means going ‘up north.’ We pack up family and toys and jam our freeways heading north.

Two bikes, two kayaks.

So Saturday afternoon I packed my camera and headed north too. Oh I knew I wouldn’t have time to make it to my favorite places, but I thought I’d see how far I got and then I’d augment with photos from my archives.

I got as far as Frankenmuth, a little German town infused with flowers, tourists…

Shopping!

….and famous chicken dinners.

Can’t stop in Frankenmuth without a chicken dinner!

You can buy German cheese….

Everyone needs a little cheese.

….or sausage…

Doesn’t everyone have a sausage store in town?

…or stop at Bronners where it’s Christmas all year round.

Ho ho ho!

Then while traveling cross country I got sucked into my favorite thing to photograph up there.

Wide open spaces.

Barns.

I’m a country girl at heart.

So I didn’t get any further north, never got to show you Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Nothing but sand and sky.

Or Lake Michigan.

Water as far as you can see.

Or Mackinaw Island where all motor transportation is banned and horses haul everything.

Working like horses.

Nope. Didn’t find that compelling photograph that will make you want to come visit. But I’m going to rummage through those archives and find something.

Just wait and see.

Come along with me!

July 20, 2013
by dawnkinster 11 Comments

Define summer

Scott has posted another photo challenge. I’ve been so busy I might have missed it except for Karma’s reminder.

Scott wants to know about favorite summer places, events, food from our areas of the world. He’d like to see photos so compelling he’d book a vacation just based on what we show him!

It’s due next Wednesday which means if I’m going to do this I had better get out there this weekend. Wait. It already is this weekend. How does this happen? Anyway, it’s not too late for you to look around your hometown/state and find the perfect photo to showcase what you love about summer!

Meanwhile, let me share with you a photo my sister took while she was in Iceland. It sums up how I feel about work lately.

It’s called “The unknown clerk.”

Maybe you feel the same way? In that case there’s double reason for you to get out and look for summer fun! Can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Yes I mean you too.

Much of my summer. Not compelling.

July 17, 2013
by dawnkinster 11 Comments

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: summer