Ann, over at her blog The Year(s) of Living Non-Judmentally, posted recently about noticing the things around us. I used to do that, notice little things, when I was a runner. I don’t run anymore, but on a good day I can still notice pretty or interesting things.
Yesterday was a good day, and I thought I’d show you a few of the things I noticed. They made me smile, I hope you smile too.
Hey!
What about me, mama? Aren’t I pretty?
Why yes baby, yes you are.
I thought so. Geeze…
Katie here!
I thought this sign was pretty. Plus it helps me remember how to spell Cherokee.
Early yesterday mama was complaining that it was cold. Really really cold. I checked and it was a balmy 36F (2.22C) when we went out to explore the yard around 4 a.m. I don’t know what she was complaining about, it was perfect if you ask me, but she never asks me. At 4 a.m. she mostly grunts.
Anyway, she was messaging with a friend later in the morning and mentioning how cold it was and then it hit her. Cold. Sheltie. Hiking in Alabama. She figured out she shouldn’t waste such a good opportunity to take me somewhere fun. And, because she’s a good mama, she hopped right off her comfy sofa and bundled me up in the car and away we went!
Her friend Jamie told her last week about this cool trail called the Cherokee Alpine Trail not too far from where we’re staying. So she looked it up and decided we’d explore it!
Turquoise waters on a sunny day.
My goodness, what a beautiful place! Though I had to ask mama why we drove for like 20 minutes so that we could have a view of the lake when we have a view of the lake from home? Mama said to hush. But it was really really windy and cold up there, so we headed to the woods as fast as we could.
Hurry up mama, let’s get to the hiking part of this adventure!
The whole Alpine Trail is 4 miles and mama says even though it was refreshingly cool four miles would be too much for us, so we decided we’d just go part of the way and see how it went. Mostly it went downhill.
This is the last time I’m posing mama!
Mama was kinda worried that we’d have a long climb to get back to the car, but I told her what did she think it would be, seeing as we were on top of the mountain at the parking lot? Nowhere to go but down!
Watch your step mama! I’ll wait for you!
She was trying to hold my leash and hang on to her camera and not slip down the pine straw covered path. Eventually she just let go of my leash and let me trot down at sheltie speed while she bumbled her way down behind me. I had to wait for her a bunch, but I didn’t complain. You have to be patient when you’re hiking with a senior citizen.
Isn’t this the best fun mama?
We got down to the bottom of the mountain and I got to play on the lake shore at a pretty little beach. I just loved it!
Worth coming all the way down here, right mama?
I ran and ran, back and forth, barking at the waves and grinning the whole time. Mama told me they were just teeny tiny waves but I wanted to show them who was boss so I told them off. Mama did a lot of eye rolling.
I got the zoomies on the beach!
Then she said we had to head back up the mountain. It felt like we had already walked a gazillion miles and she was worried I’d get tired. I didn’t want to go back the way we came and pointed out that the sign said the parking lot was the other way anyway, and only .6 miles away!
Ahem…mama…I think we should go this way.
Good thing I can read. Mama would have taken the long way back!
The trail went up and down and all around through the woods. Sometimes it was just stuck on the side of the mountain and you had to watch where you were going. Mama let me walk it without her hanging on to me. That works best for us. That way I’m not dragging her along too fast.
This is a good spot to rest while I’m waiting for my mama.
Mama said I was a mountain goat. I think that’s a compliment.
When we finally got back to the car mama checked the map again cause it felt like we walked all four miles, but darn it, it really was just a little over one mile. I think miles should count double if they are straight up or straight down, don’t you?
Back on top of the mountain again!
On our drive home we got sorta lost. The GPS said to turn left but some guys were paving the road so we went straight and eventually the GPS took us on a little road that just got smaller and smaller.
Go ahead and take the long way home, mama, I’ll be resting my eyes in the back.
Mama was starting to say bad words and she didn’t even breath when we had to go over a rickety one lane bridge. But she got to see a barn so that made her feel lots better even though it took us twice as long to get home as it did to get to the park.
Obligatory barn photo.
When I got home I took a really long drink and then wiped my face on mama’s bed. And then I took a nap.
What you lookin at?
What a great day! I think the temperature in Alabama should never go above 43 degrees. I’m sure everyone would agree that it’s better to be cool than hot. Am I right?
Maybe I should try to get that on the next ballot. It would probably be the least controversial issue there!
Talk later, your Mountaineer Princess-gal Katie.
A little wind in my furs.
Katie here. Just call me helpful, but mama has been a little stressed out. I guess something called a laptop (what the heck is that? I thought I was the only one allowed in her lap??) died. Mama didn’t cry or anything, and I don’t think there was a funeral, but she seems stressed.
I try to distract her by asking her to pay attention to me. Me me me me! Every morning when we get up I get her to make me a big breakfast and then I bug her to take me out, go for a walk, give me a treat, take me out, go for a walk, give me a treat…repeat. You doggies know the routine, right?
That way she’s not so stressed over that stupid laptop. I can tell it’s working too. This morning she took me for a walk in the neighborhood for a long time. Even though it was very very cold out. Now I’m working on getting her to take me to a park. Or three.
I personally think cold weather is good for her, but she says she has to find her gloves. Mama is a wimp.
Mama says change is hard.
I drove down a side road to turn around and look what I found.
People go north around here to ‘leaf peek;’ to drive and wander while enjoying the fall colors that are usually stupendous in northern Michigan each year.
Looking for color, but can’t ignore the lake!
This year the color is a bit muted, a bit late, sometimes not there at all. Everyone has a theory about why that is.
Still pretty green back in the woods.
Maybe it’s the lack of rain earlier in the year. Or the above normal temperatures.
I found these way back on a dirt road while looking for a lake. Never found the lake but that was OK.
Maybe it’s because we haven’t had a frost yet.
Even without a lot of color I just had to stop at this field.
Maybe it’s all of that and more.
These maple trees made us stop and take notice.
For me, heading up north is usually about the Lake, and last week was no exception. But we did spend one day wandering the interior of the peninsula, looking for color where we could find it.
Color hides everywhere, even underfoot.
If you look you’ll see it’s there. Sometimes brilliant…
Glowing.
..sometimes more demure.
Shades of neutral fungus.
But it’s definitely there.
I hope you have the opportunity to get out and enjoy whatever’s around you too. Take a wander and share what you find with us!
Around here it won’t be long until winter descends. We need to make the best of these warmer temperatures while we still can!
A little blushing pink tucked underneath.
It was a windy day.
But this week I’ve been in a very special place that I thought was perfect for Robin’s challenge to share a walk with her readers.
So let’s take an October walk in northern Michigan along the beach of Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes, and as far as I’m concerned one of the most beautiful places in the world.
I arrived ‘up north’ late in the afternoon and after a bit of chit chat we headed down to the water. For me it’s all about the lake.
It was a windy day and the lake was racing toward the shore, big jade green waves and pounding foam.
Rollicking waves danced.
The water was high, leaving very little beach to walk and sometimes we had to leap back up on the dune to keep our feet dry. We’re weren’t always successful.
It’s dryer up here.
Along the way we saw remnants of the summer just past. A pretty boat resting after weeks of riding the waves…
A day of rest.
…a bench hoping to be used a few more times this season…
Come sit for a bit.
…the artwork of people who have walked the beach before me.
A mini stonhenge with evening light.
The sun was getting lower, bathing everything in a warm golden light. Nature’s artwork on the landscape was evident too.
Shadows and lines.
The grasses waving in the wind began to glow, and we knew it was time to turn back.
The grass began to glow in the evening light.
Walking toward home, into the wind, we watched the sun lower and the sky warm the tips of the waves and the water swirling on the packed sand.
Rose gold on the beach.
The light made everything glow.
Pretty in pink.
We watched the entire sunset as we walked, making it back to the house after dark. I felt so lucky, lucky to spend an afternoon walking with a friend near my lake in mid-October. Lucky to hear the lake roar, to see the leaves changing, even lucky to get my feet wet as the waves raced to shore.
See you tomorrow sun!
I hope you can imagine yourself there with us. It’s a very special place that I am pleased to share with you all. And thank you Robin for coordinating the annual Walktober. It’s a wonderful way for us to see such wonderful places.
I can’t wait to see your Walktobers soon!
Friends
Katie here. Mama says she’s going to go on something called a Walktober. I was not exactly sure what that was, but I heard the word “walk” and I wanted to make sure I was included. Because mama should never go on any walk without me!
This is my friend Deuce.
I asked her what a Walktober was and she told me all about Robin’s blog and how everyone was going to take a walk in October and post about it, and then Robin would do a wrap-up post with links to everybody’s walk at the end of the month!
Mama said the dates were originally Oct 1 through Oct 18, but now Robin has extended it to Oct 28!
We don’t sit real close to each other. We each like our personal space.
Mama says she hasn’t decided where she’s going to do her Walktober, but, as usual, I’m way ahead of her. I went on my Walktober last weekend with my friend Deuce and his mom. Oh yea…my mama was there too.
We went to a park I’ve never seen before! Oh my! I do love new places! I guess I get that from mama, who also loves to explore. This new park was in the woods, so there was shade everywhere! And a beautiful river ran right through the middle of it!
Such a beautiful day!
I loved being cool while I explored, and I of course loved being in the woods. There were all these beautiful trees, and lovely new smells.
I’m 10 years old! So nice they have a sign for me!
It wasn’t a very big park, so mama and Deuce’s mom decided we’d just go around on the trail twice. I didn’t even notice. I loved being there. I even jumped a log without touching it. Mama said I looked like I was flying.
I can fly mama!
Then she made me do it two more times because she wanted to get a picture. Figures.
I felt really good on this walk. We walked way over a mile, and I even ran a race with Deuce! He won, but that’s because he’s only 5, just a youngster. And because I let him.
A Princess runs sedately.
You might not know, but this summer has been so hot that I haven’t really wanted to go on very many walks and mama has been sort of worried about me. But she can tell now that it’s getting a little cooler that I’m feeling much more like myself.
She’s really glad.
I want to say thank you to Deuce and his mom for sharing their park with me. It was the perfect park to do my Walktober and now I want to challenge all of you to get out this month and take a walk. Post about it and link to any of Robin’s posts. She’ll collect them all and everyone will get to come along with you on your walk!
I can’t wait to see your Walktober!
Deuce can fly too!
Katie here.
Pretty flowers mama. Now can I have a treat?
I don’t suppose it actually qualifies as an adventure, but after spending weeks and weeks doing nothing at all I’ll take what I can get. Sometimes even a Princess can’t be picky.
You’ve all seen mama’s fun with her family, and I liked it a whole bunch when my Uncle and Aunt came to visit me. But I didn’t get to go on any adventures and then she went away for ten whole days! That’s about 70,000 days in dog years!
So you can see why I’ve been bugging mama to take me somewhere now that she’s back home. Somewhere mama! She keeps promising but nothing ever happens. Why I even had to raise my voice today to get her attention! And trust me, a sheltie-girl like me knows exactly how to do that!
This is not the way to treat a Princess!
But I guess it’s true that the squeaky dog gets the grease! (And I’d like mine to be bacon please mama!) After barking at her for hours she finally took me to a park today! And I even got to ride in dad’s truck! Mama says not to get excited about that, I only got to ride in the truck because our car is broken.
Whatever mama.
So we went to a park not too far away and I sat under a picnic table for awhile, just sniffing the park air. It’s definitely different and better than my own backyard air. Lots and lots of interesting things to smell at the park!
You done reading yet mama?
Then mama got done reading and said we were going to walk up this big mountain! Really mama? Remember I’m ten and a half, a senior doggie you know!
Hey mama! Running down this hill is fun!
But it was OK. We stopped along the way and mama took pictures of me in the pretty flowers.
And once we got to the top there was a lovely breeze blowing and I got to run around off leash! Mama says that’s because we could see where all the other people and doggies were from up there and we had the mountaintop all to ourselves. (OK, it’s not really a mountain, it’s just a sledding hill, but it’s huge compared to me!)
You called?
Mama took lots of pictures of me up there and on the back of the hill when we walked down the other side. We even sat in the grass together and just chilled out. I acted like a puppy, all excited to spend time with her, just her and me.
I’m just going to walk over here, OK mama?
Now I’m doubly excited because I got her to set up the tent in the backyard! I supervised while she put it up and made sure she put in my favorite pillows just for me. It’s going to be a beautiful night and I’m going to spend it hanging out with my mama. I can hardly wait for it to get dark outside.
This is my tent. I let mama share it though.
Gee, now that I think about it, I guess I don’t have so much to complain about after all.
It was a good day mama!
What to say, what to say. There’s nothing happening around here, yet I feel a need to share photos with you. Photos of regular life in summer here in Michigan.
Little League at Katie’s park under a summer sky.
The grass is growing, the birds are sucking down food from the feeders, trees are fully leafed out and the afternoon skies are often filled with clouds.
It’s been pretty amazing.
Though we’ve seen lots of storm clouds we’re really short on rain. The yard is already turning brown. Watering the gardens will soon be a daily if not twice a day ritual. We’re not even to July yet.
No rain in these clouds.
It’s finally warm enough at night to camp and Katie and I have been on one adventure, but plan on scheduling a few more before the leaves start to turn. It’s still an adventure if it’s scheduled – right?
Hey mama! No rainfly!
For now we’re enjoying the air conditioning and watching the oriole feeder right up next to the window. Lots of things besides orioles visit.
Got any more oranges lady?
They all apparently watch for me to fill the feeder and then rush in to get their share. Or more than their share, depending on their size and boldness.
There you go Mr. Woodpecker!
The flowers have been beautiful so far this season. But now we’re moving into the dry heat of summer so we’ll see. A lot will depend on our watering habits.
Lantana smiles every day.
Really, so little to say, so much to show you. Guess I need to take you on a more formal walk sometime. Lots of beautiful places to go; what would be your choice? A lake? A woodsy park? The back yard? A bike path?
Wonder where that path goes?
All good choices, but each will require me to leave my comfy chair. And I can’t do any of them until I get some weeding done.
Still weeding is better than working a job…so I can’t complain.
Katie can, and does, but it’s all in fun.
Hey mama!
