summer | Change Is Hard

June 8, 2013
by dawnkinster 13 Comments

A visitor is coming!

My sister is coming to visit us!

She’s certainly visited since this was taken!

She hasn’t been here in many years. Katie was just a youngster during her last visit.

Katie and her Aunt long ago.

Katie is waiting impatiently.

I find my self doing something my mother used to do when she was preparing for a visit from us northerners. I always seemed to arrive just after the azaleas were in full bloom. Or after the dogwood or wisteria was finished for the season. She always told me how beautiful they were and I tried to imagine it.

Today as I was weeding I wondered if our Koosa dogwood would still be in bloom when she arrives.

Prettiest this tree has ever been.

Will the clematis still be as spectacular?

Pretty in purple

Maybe the poppies will be opening.

Getting ready to burst!

Hopefully the begonias will still be beautifully orange. She says orange reminds her of Mom who had an orange front door and when we were kids an orange kitchen sink. I hadn’t thought of that when I picked them out for our front entry. But I think of Mom frequently as I come and go now.

Remembrance orange

Katie says I should stop worrying about what will be blooming. She says whatever is blooming we’ll all have a great time together. Katie has all sorts of plans for things to do with her Aunt. She can’t wait.

I’m waiting…..

Me either.

Hey Mom

January 27, 2013
by dawnkinster 27 Comments

Four seasons

I thought you might like to see a local farmer’s field. Really. It’s the prettiest field, with a gentle set of hills and a fringe of trees. I look at it each time I drive by, and it’s a little different every day. So a year or so ago I decided to stop and photograph it once during each season. Click on the photos to see the detail…and enjoy the seasons in Michigan.

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

October 28, 2012
by dawnkinster 8 Comments

Last flowers

Well. Enough about baseball in October. Let me show you the last blooms of fall in my garden. This is monks head; or aconitum, if you’re the more scientific type. It blooms very late in the season, often after a frost

The bluish purple end of the summer.

It’s very beautiful and I’m always glad to see some color in the garden this late in the year. But it,and the end of baseball, mean summer is really truly without question over.

Darn. (But click on this last picture to see it up close.)

The end.

October 8, 2012
by dawnkinster 12 Comments

Sometimes change works out OK

Some of you have figured out that I successfully imported my old blog into this blog. You got a message that there were over 1000 posts to read! 🙂 I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want to read all 1000 again. Really? No? Well…some were led down that path…and have commented on posts from a year ago when we were in California.

San Fran goodness.

I wish we had been able to go back out there again this year, but no, we’re still here in Michigan.

Meanwhile, change is coming here as well…at least in the weather department. Not too far north of us they have had snow. And last night we got our first hard frost which killed the tomatoes and the dahlias.

The last bit of summer.

I’m so glad I cut most of the blossoms yesterday, so they’re in my kitchen now and I’m enjoying the last of their beautiful colors for a bit longer.

Summer glows as it slips away.

The leaves are changing faster and faster here too. They are absolutely stunning! I was worried that we wouldn’t get any fall color because we had so little rain this summer. But once again I was wrong.

Fall arrives with fanfare.

It’s beautiful at work on my lunch walks, and it is beautiful around home too. I have so many photos. Every year I think the trees are the most beautiful they’ve ever been and I take more photos.

Waiting for the school bus.

This year was no exception

The air glows gold.

September 24, 2012
by dawnkinster 20 Comments

Are you sure it’s the end of summer?

Scott asked us to define the end of summer in photos. What defines the end of summer for each of us? You can join the fun because this assignment isn’t due until Wednesday at midnight. Tell us what means the end of summer to you! Meanwhile, come along and see my own transition to fall. (Remember to click on the photos to see more detail.)

When I see that first leaf changing on an otherwise green tree I usually rationalize that the tree is sick. Or the leaf change is early because of the drought. It’s not possible that summer is beginning the slippery slide into fall. Certainly not yet.

The first bits of red.

As the light changes, becoming lower in the late afternoon sky, I appreciate the intense color and try not to think about what it all might mean.

The last of summer’s sun.

When the first bit of goldenrod begins to nod along the road and the asters bloom in brilliant purple I can still convince myself that there are weeks of warm weather ahead.

Purple compliments the season.

And when, on my morning commute, I come across the first of these….

The big yellow.

….I still rationalize. Some school districts start early. Don’t they?

.
But when I stopped at my local grocery store this week and the bins of watermelons had been replaced by a giant pile of these…

Getting ready for Halloween!

…well. Even I have to admit that these indicate summer has fled. Fall is here, it’s time to quit fooling myself. Until next year. Because I’ll just know the reason those trees turned so soon is because of the drought.

I’m sure of it.

Say goodbye to summer.

September 8, 2012
by dawnkinster 16 Comments

The Crimness of it all

I finished this post on my old blog moments before my server crashed a couple of weeks ago. The old blog was up for a couple of hours Friday and I copied this from the drafts because I know at least one of you has been waiting to hear about the race. So here goes!

The last Saturday of August was the 36th running of the Crim Festival of Races in Flint Michigan. It’s a big race, with thousands of runners, walkers and wheelers. It brings in big name runners from all over, and it’s a spectacle to watch and even more fun if you get to participate.

This year I walked the 8K (5 miles)…though I was nostalgic as I watched friends head off for the 10 mile start, a race I have done many times.

Heading off for 10 miles of hills and heat.

My race didn’t start for an hour and forty-five minutes after the 10 milers left, and rather than stand around I went back to the car and read a book. That saved my feet which was a good thing. Because by the time we set off on our race the sun was high in the sky and it was HOT HOT HOT!

We start out on our own 5 miles.

As usual, this race was well organized and had lots of entertainment. From the drum group that set the cadence at the beginning of the walk…

..to the young band in the parking lot singing “GO BABY GO!”….

GO! GO! GO!

….the woman at the top of three Bradley Hills singing “I never promised you a rose garden…”

No roses were found on the Bradley Hills.

…and the preacher along the way that told us….

Run faster!

“You all are gonna have to step it up if you’re gonna catch up to those Kenyans!” in reference to the lead runners who had finished long before we left the start line.

All along the way we had entertainment and support from both sides of the road. Volunteers were offering water, in cups…

Grab some water!

…and from cooling hoses.

Enjoy the shower!

My feet were killing me…but there was a lot of fun distractions…

Girls cheering for us.

…and inspiration.

Inspirational…but a lie.

I’m really glad I did it. Now I have to figure out what is going on with my feet so that I can start training for next year. I really want to do the ten miles on the last Saturday in August next summer.

Because I’m lucky enough to be able to.

Finally on the bricks..almost at the finish line!

October 5, 2011
by dawnkinster 5 Comments

Sunflower inspiration

Out along a country road someone plants sunflowers. They crowd each other between the corn fields and the road. They go on for almost a mile. Every year I remind myself that I need to stop and take pictures. Every year the frost gets to them before I do.

But this year I was inspired by PJ’s sunflower photo, and the one over on Gerry’s blog. So last weekend Katie and I went out specifically to get some photos. Katie had to stay in the car, but she was OK with that.

I had a great time standing among the sunflowers.