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…
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.
This morning I got to play music with some of the members of the Clarkston Community Band at our local Farmers’ Market. It was opening day at the market and the weather was perfect. Sunny and in the 70s with, at the beginning, no breeze to blow music around.
Ready to begin the next piece.
OK, so we were sight reading most of the music. And OK, we didn’t have all the instruments of a full band. And yes, we did dissolve into giggles in the middle of one piece of music we had optimistically thought we could pull off when it became obvious we weren’t going to make it to the end even remotely together.
Taking a break.
But hey, people stopped to listen, the Disney songs were a big hit with the little kids, and we got to spend a few more hours playing together at the end of our season.
You just can’t beat live music outside in the sunshine. I’d say it was a win for us and a win for people shopping the market on a beautiful Saturday morning.
It was busy around here last week. A steady stream of contractors and appointments filled our days. I had a rehearsal on Tuesday night and a concert on Friday evening. Husband had places to be and people to see too.
The calendar (paper, and hanging on a bulletin board in the back hall) daily squares looked black with scribbled appointments.
The middle school after the music.
Friday was particularly bad for me. I thought I was on edge because of the pending concert. There’s always things to worry about when a concert looms. Would we come in together on that one tricky entrance. Would we all end together, or were we supposed to fade out on that other difficult piece.
Friday we had two contractors working on things inside the house and two contractors working on stuff out in the yard. None of it went exactly as planned and I was stressed.
Friday was the last day of school and the students left messages in chalk on the sidewalk outside.
Even our concert venue was causing stress. We’d been booked at the local Jr. High which has a fine auditorium and where we’ve played many times. But at the last minute the school system told us we couldn’t perform there, as the school was going to be renovated, beginning on the very night we were to play!
We told them we only needed 2 hours, but we got bumped anyway.
Me too.
Our director, a retired middle school band director, got us approved to play at the middle school’s cafetorium. Yep. A cafeteria with a stage, probably similar to where most of us ate lunch growing up. I hadn’t played in a cafeteria since I was in 7th grade.
It didn’t feel promising.
“Please stop giving us the melody.”
But our group is resilient, and in the end it wasn’t half bad. The stage was acceptable, the dusty blue velvet curtain made a pretty OK band shell, the custodians had the lunch tables put away and 200 chairs set out.
And our audience showed up.
Our intrepid leader, retired Clarkston band director, Ms. Roland.
Most importantly, after my long week, it was cathartic to sit in the middle of a group of musicians and hear the music swell around me. Of course I lost my place a couple times when I was listening instead of concentrating. Or when I was letting my neck muscles relax and forgot to count.
I bet this is from a teacher.
But last night I listened to the recording and I’m pretty sure no one will be able to tell that one third clarinet didn’t play all her notes.
Our guest conductor, Dr. Klena from Oakland University.
Our concert was titled “Three Women and a Podium” and was filled with music composed by women. I was proud to be a part of that, and I enjoyed playing under the baton of each of our three wonderfully talented conductors.
Our Associate Conductor, Ms. Scheu, Director of Bands at Oakland Christian School.
On the drive home after the concert, the sun set in a most spectacular way. I stopped in a parking lot to watch. I thought about the week and the evening and the fact that I didn’t play everything.
And God smiled good night.
And I decided I was happy with what I did play and I was very grateful that I could, finally, exhale.
Be kind to yourself too.
I hope you all find your best way to let the stress of everyday life fall off your shoulders.
And if you’re somewhere nearby some of the Clarkston Community Band musician will be playing next Saturday at the opening of the Clarkston Farmers’ Market. I hope to see you there!
School’s out, the Farmers’ Market is open – – it’s officially summer!
Earlier this week I felt the need to be in the woods, so I grabbed my camera and my new lens and went out early to see what I could see.
Near the park entrance it seemed obvious that Mrs. Osprey didn’t want her picture taken as she sat low in her nest so I moved along.
Gotta respect a mother’s wishes.
“I haven’t showered in days and it’s early in the morning. Give me a break!“
As I walked toward the nature center and the beginning of the trails I realized I hadn’t thought to bring the birds anything to eat.
Well, I thought, they’d have to get over it.
Darn, I’m being attacked! Run for it!
I hadn’t taken into account I was the first car in the parking lot and that it had been raining for two days so people hadn’t visited these hungry birds in awhile. I was instantly attacked by an angry mob of red winged blackbirds as I rounded the corner. I heard their wings first and then felt one bounce off my head. Then another. They were everywhere.
I thought I was in a movie, and not in a good way.
“Look lady, hand over the seed and nobody gets hurt.“
I swatted some of them away and moved faster down the trail, blackbirds following closely.
I had managed to get out into the marsh, with only a few blackbirds circling my head, when I heard a Baltimore oriole singing his heart out.
Hiding behind a couple of leaves.
He seemed to be celebrating the sun as he sang in the morning light.
Then he moved out into the sunshine to show off.
As he sat there singing he began to preen, as if he was singing in the shower.
“Just need to get that little bit of leftover gnat out of my armpit…”
He was fun to watch and the blackbirds got bored and headed back up the trail to wait for their next victim. They could only hope that person wasn’t such an airhead.
Though the blackbirds had given up, other birds had not. A little titmouse quietly asked if it was true, that there was no food.
“Seriously? There’s no food?”
I felt bad, but I had to tell him the truth. I had forgotten his breakfast. I was amazed at how quickly he abandoned me, once he realized I was a waste of time.
I wandered off to look for other pretty things to photograph. I figured it probably wouldn’t be a bird kind of day given I was a bird feeder failure.
I had to stop and enjoy the view.
I felt lucky that the iris was in bloom and so very beautiful.
Golden iris in the morning light.
But while I was focused on the iris, my eyes glued to the viewfinder trying to get just the right composition, I heard wings again. And again I felt something largish bounce off the top of my head.
“Hey lady!! What’s for breakfast?”
The male red-bellied woodpecker was miffed that I wasn’t offering anything to eat. And he wasn’t afraid to tell me off either.
“Seriously???”
I told him I was sorry, but I didn’t bring anything. And I went back to photographing the iris.
There were the obvious yellow iris, but also these delicate, smaller, purple blooms as well.
Off to the right of me I heard a big uproar. Turns out Mrs. Red-bellied wasn’t happy either.
“Hey Mr! Get to work and bring home some bacon or this relationship is over!”
I wasn’t sure if she was mad at me for forgetting or him for being a bad provider. Either way she wasn’t getting anything to eat. He jumped to and got to work finding her something…anything!
“Now where did I store that fat ant from last fall?”
He looked everywhere.
How about some nice lichen, sweetie?
“This might be a nice change of pace from the stuff the lady usually brings.”
In between his forages for something natural to feed his demanding wife (who kept on complaining. Loudly.) he’d come back and dive bomb me for being such a disappointment. I kept looking for pretty things to photograph.
My artsy image from this walk.
He followed me almost all the way around a big loop, complaining and doing flybys. Eventually I moved out of his range and settled into a more peaceful walk.
What?? No food???!”
Of course most of the other inhabitants of the woods were equally stressed by my lack of responsibility. I promised them I would never ever forget to bring their snacks again.
“Inconceivable!”
I probably should just pack a snack bag for them and leave it in my car to be more prepared in the future.
“I would think you’d be more thoughtful, Lady!”
Feeling remorseful I headed over to the heron rookery to see what was new. I figured the herons wouldn’t be mad at me given I never feed them.
“And don’t come back here without lunch!”
But I’ll tell you all about that in the next post. I have to say a couple of my favorite images happened over there!
I took myself to Kensington a week or maybe more ago, hoping to get some great bird photos. There’s always something to see out there, and the warblers are migrating, so maybe…I hoped.
This is one of my favorite trees, just before the nature center, a little island in the shallow end of the big lake.
But the entire time I was at the park I had camera lens focus issues.
The morning sun rose and lit this egret in the middle of his (or her) morning routine.
My images were so bad I almost forgot about them. But regardless of the quality, I’ll share with you the best of what I consider a pretty sad batch of images, just because no matter what I capture, even if it’s not much of anything new, I’m always glad I went to Kensington.
There was less light down on the water where I startled this young wood duck.
And I’m always glad to share with you my adventures, as tame as they often are.
The blue heron, drying off in the morning light wasn’t interesting in anything moving on the lake below.
A lot of the time on this walk I took pictures of plants. Because, as I told one photographer last year who was noticing me focusing on berries instead of birds, plants don’t move.
Thistle and cobwebs.
In fact, this trip to Kensington I spent most of my time looking at the way light played in the dark woods.
My artsy-fartsy image for this post.
Turns out it plays rather well, don’t you think?
But of course the birds kept bringing me back as they hovered over me, sometimes landing on my camera lens, asking for something to eat. They are very persistent.
Hey lady! Did you bring the suet balls or the peanuts today?
It’s pretty hard to ignore them, even if you aren’t happy with the images you’re getting.
A cedar waxwing kept his distance.
Sometimes I just feed them and don’t even bother trying to capture the magic.
Out of focus, but still fun.
Other times the birds and the light work together and I get something interesting.
A titmouse backlit by the morning sun.
I had so much trouble on this walk through the woods, capturing anything the way I wanted to, it got discouraging.
Early morning goldenrod.
Focusing on plants as a last resort I wandered some more.
More joe pye this year than I’ve ever seen before.
I eventually decided it just wasn’t going to be my day, and headed back toward the car.
Even the chipmunks turned away from me.
But just before I got to the parking lot I saw one more trail, one that headed out to where I sometimes saw unusual stuff. It wasn’t a long trail.
Noisy high iso, but the wings are still cool.
Maybe it was worth a bit more walking.
A whole family was enjoying a bug buffet.
And there I found a dead tree, quite a ways away, but full of some sort of woodpecker family.
I thought it might be a group of red headed woodpeckers. The light made it difficult to see anything but silhouettes. But looking at the images later I saw the yellow on the underside of a wing, and I believe this was a flicker family.
You took my gnat! I’m going to go tell mom!
Regardless, they were very busy hopping around the tree looking for bugs and flitting from branch to branch.
And while I was focused on them I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye, way down at the other end of the bridge. Something fliting around the touch-me-not flowers, far from where I was standing.
What is that, way down there at the other end of the bridge?
I shot blindly, not seeing anything in my viewfinder…
Why look! It’s a hungry hummer!
…but hoping for something. And the most beautiful female hummingbird showed up when I looked at the images at home.
I’ve never seen hummingbirds out at the park before.
She sure made me smile.
And then there was a noise on the other side of the bridge and I found this little female common yellowthroat. She made my day!
Isn’t she pretty?
So the moral of my story is don’t give up. Walk down that little extra trail even if all you’ve had before is disappointment.
Looking for lunch.
You never know what you’ll find. It could be magic.
I even found a chipmunk that didn’t turn his back on me!
Change Is Hard 