weather | Change Is Hard

August 2, 2016
by dawnkinster 10 Comments

Paddling the blues away

Morning light.

My family has come out to the lake and gone home again. The house feels empty and I’m feeling a little blue. But this morning the sun rose on another perfect day and there’s nothing to do when you’re feeling blue except take a paddle on a gorgeous lake.

So I set out.

Let's head out and see what there is to see.

Let’s go see what there is to see.

This is what we lake people call ‘water ski water’ because it’s the perfect glassy surface to fly free at the end of a tow line. I’ve had plenty of beautiful skis like that over the years but this morning was designed for more quiet refection.

Going around a bend I lost the perfect water and headed into a bit of a wind. And I realized I had forgot the sunscreen and the water bottle.

Paddle harder!

So paddling got more difficult physically and mentally. But I wanted to see how far I could go with a bum shoulder. So I’d rest a bit, floating silently, looking at all the lake houses, now empty of their people for another week.

And up at the next point I saw a tree. A tree that made me feel even more blue.

Not fall color. Not.

Because surely that was not fall color! Surely that was just caused by the drought. Even though it’s sitting right on the shore with plenty of water. Sure.

I quickly paddled around that point, and the water was smooth again.

Mom and Dad are everywhere on this lake.

I’d have to go way past that island and around that next point to get even close to the mountain where my parents’ ashes were spread. So even though I was curious about whether I could paddle that far I floated a bit and reluctantly turned around for home.

After all the turkey buzzards were circling above, waiting for me. And I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of dehydrating in the hot Alabama sun.

Ever hopeful circles.

As with any trip, the paddle home seemed a lot shorter than the going out had been. Partly because that breeze was at my back. Partly because I’d moved into a rhythm, one with the water and the sun and the breeze and the paddle.

Still, home looked pretty good.

Home and shade, plus a bottle of water, await.

July 28, 2016
by dawnkinster 6 Comments

Rain dance

It’s day one at the lake and I’ve been itching to get onto the water but the weather has been fickle. Neighbors tell me that they haven’t had rain in weeks but there was a good chance for it today.

Of course.

All day the wind has been gusty and and blowing away from the house, so I hesitated taking the kayak out, concerned about battling the elements to get back home. Twice I went out to chance it and was turned back by the wind.

By evening things had settled down, the sky was still a pretty blue with puffy white clouds. I decided to take the kayak up the slough toward the cyprus trees.

Quiet down here.

Just a short jaunt.

It was peaceful up there, water like glass reflecting the pretty trees. But I noticed the clouds overhead were changing.

Uh oh

And I heard a noise coming up the slough behind me. It sounded like a fast boat, which would be unusual, but newcomers to the lake sometimes mistake our little slough with a throughway to bigger water. So I moved over to the side and turned around to watch.

It took me a moment to realize that it wasn’t a boat coming around the curve. It was rain. Really loud hard pounding rain. The kind that will instantly soak you.

Is that RAIN up there?

Nothing to do but sit there and watch it come. It began to sprinkle a few fat drops on me. I braced myself.

And there it sat, about 10 yards away from me, the water pouring down and the lake rough with wind. I continued to sit in a slight shower, complete with sun above.

Reflections

Then it moved across the slough, up the hill and disappeared. I shook my head as if to clarify what I had just seen.

Drip

And then I paddled peacefully through the sun drenched evening on a little piece of a big lake toward home.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

July 7, 2016
by dawnkinster 18 Comments

Adventure – Day 5 – the long way home

I should have driven home on day 4; I was planning to go straight home after my two nights at Taquanamon Falls. I was out of food. The tent was wet. The holiday weekend, when campgrounds fill up and traffic gets crazy, was right around the corner.

But I was having too much fun.

So I searched for a State Forest campground to spend one more night, a campground that was sort of on the way. And I found one, situated along the Munuscong River near Pickford Michigan, still in the Upper Peninsula. After all the rain we’d had the river was wide and muddy.

The river mirrors the weather.

There were several families settled into spots along the river. The mosquitoes were in residence there too, so I chose a large grassy site, further away from the river, which enjoyed a stiff breeze. In fact I didn’t slide my $13.00 payment into the secured payment pipe until I got the tent up because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do that with the considerable wind. But it went up easily. I think it was glad for the opportunity to dry out.

Drying out.

I was glad myself. Everything got hung up and aired out. The site was huge and covered in grass. No mud. Towering pine trees. Perfect.

Even better, I was only two miles from an old barn. A photogenic old barn. So after camp was set up, on my way into town to find food, I stopped. Of course.

Maybe it’s the barn. Maybe it’s the setting. Maybe both.

And the next day on my way home I lollygagged. Turns out there’s a lot of farm country between the Upper Peninsula and home. Lots of great barns. And that day there was a stunning sky filled with puffy white clouds that begged me to stop and attempt a capture.

Wheat field, clouds and a barn.

So I did. In fact I stopped several times. Seems every exit I took there was something beautiful to enjoy.

Pretty spot on a pretty day.

Barns. Barns everywhere. Long, straight country roads crossing flat country with farms tucked in behind nearly every stand of trees.

Tucked way back there among the trees was a beautiful barn.

Along one country road I met a couple of friends. They had come out of the woods and were walking down a lane.

This is OUR field lady!

They were not that excited to see me. After a long stare they turned and bounded back toward the woods.

Run! She’s got a CAMERA!

Soon they were almost hidden from view.

I don’t think she can see us now.

They made me smile.

But…back to barns.

Nice and square. With hawk.

There were so many pretty places to stop.

Barns and clouds – winning combination.

I could have stayed out there all day. Wait. I did. What a gift retirement is! Time to play along the way home. Time to enjoy a beautiful sky and ripening wheat fields, meadows of wildflowers, soaring birds, bounding deer.

A fence can’t contain the beauty.

And so ends this adventure. The camping gear is packed away. Katie the dog has forgiven me for leaving her behind. Husband has listened to the stories. The laundry is done, gardens weeded, groceries purchased, meals cooked. I’m going to visit Aunt V this afternoon.

Life has settled back into the familiar pattern. Adventures are, after all, only adventures if they are occasional. Sporadic.

Still…stay tuned.

One last pretty barn.

July 5, 2016
by dawnkinster 21 Comments

Adventure – Day 3

The biggest, deepest, coldest lake of all.

It’s Lake Superior Day! Well. OK, it’s not a nationally recognized holiday but for me day 3 was all about Lake Superior. I couldn’t be in the Upper Peninsula, so close to the big lake, and not go for a visit.

So I drove from Tahquamenon Falls State Park up to Grand Marais which sits on the shore of the massive Great Lake and arrived just as a storm was rolling in.

It’s raining out there.

Perfect timing! Some people might be bummed out that there was rain (literally) on the horizon. But not me. The sky was amazing and I rushed down to the shore.

Low hanging clouds were fascinating.

I was not alone.

Kids heading out to witness the storm. And collect rocks.

Though there was wind and the threat of rain, several families strolled the beach.

Beach walking.

Once the clouds rolled through I went for a quick lunch at a local restaurant, wandered the town and checked out the bay. I don’t know why, but this kayak caught my eye. I still haven’t figured out just why I like this shot. But I do.

Waiting to go for a ride.

With some advice from friends I traveled along the shore of Lake Superior, visited a waterfall….

Young, foolish parents. Don’t do this if you visit.

…and explored a campground, potential for a future adventure…

Beautiful campground way back in the woods.

…but my all time favorite place on this adventure was along the trail to the Au Sable Lighthouse. I’d visited the lighthouse two years ago, and this year I didn’t walk all the way out there. Too many tourists.

Come walk on the beach with me.

This time I took a short trail out to the lake and walked along the shore. I love Lake Michigan, enjoy Lake Huron, was pleasantly surprised this past spring by the beauty of Lake Erie. But there’s something extraordinary about putting your feet in Lake Superior.

Superior bubbles.

Lots of people had been before me. But I had the place all to myself for the time I was there.

Evidence of visitors past.

I climbed up on some big rocks and listened to the lake gurgle against the underside of them. Watched the water move, the clouds, the seagulls. Took a gazillion photos. Smiled.

Amazing.

Eventually I climbed down, gathered up two rocks from the shore and headed back to the car. Someday I hope to camp at the Hurricane River campground which sits right across the trail from the lake. Not during a hurricane of course.

My last stop of the day was Munising. By the time I arrived it had begun to rain in earnest so I stayed only long enough to check out the harbor and grab a sandwich for dinner.

Headed out into the mist.

Pictured Rocks is there, and it would be fun to take a kayack tour of the cliffs. But that would have to wait for another trip, a sunnier day. I headed back to the campground, two hours away, satisfied with what I had seen on this trip to Lake Superior.

I ate my sandwich in the tent as the gentle rain fell. And fell. And fell. It rained for nine hours, luckily all overnight. In the morning I’d head out again. Time to go home.

Or not.

Summer playground.

June 24, 2016
by dawnkinster 11 Comments

Other pretty things

When Katie and I camped in northern Michigan over on Lake Huron we had a great time even though we had to cut the trip short due to rain.

Fishing boat chugging along the horizon at sunrise.

Ship chugging along the horizon at sunrise.

But when she was telling you all about it she focused on herself. As befits a princess I guess.

Our first day was beautiful.

Still, there were plenty of pretty things up there that you didn’t get to see because they weren’t always about her.

Loved how the lake disappeared into the morning sky.

There was beauty in the big expanse of the space, and tiny things too.

Is this a buttercup?

So I thought you might want to see a couple of the things that didn’t get shared. And yes. One or two of them might even include the princess.

Low clouds closing in.

But don’t tell her.

“The spotlight should ALWAYS be on ME mama!”

She’s already got a big head.

“Which is prettier? The lake or me?”

June 21, 2016
by dawnkinster 18 Comments

Nothing to do

Remember when you were a kid how you’d hound your mom (or dad) during summer vacations about having nothing to do? And no matter what was suggested it wasn’t what you wanted. Even though you couldn’t exactly say just what that was.

Retirement can be sort of like that. Or not.

Checking out the buffet.

Katie and I have been camping in the back yard the last couple of nights. This morning, with a thunderstorm in the forecast, I went out to pack the tent up. I was feeling privileged that it was 7:30 on a Monday morning and I wasn’t sitting in commuter traffic on the freeway. The neighborhood was quiet, sun shining softly on the leaves, only the sounds of the birds to interrupt my wandering thoughts.

Got any jelly there lady?

A chipmunk and a fat squirrel skittered away from me as I startled them mid-breakfast. A rose breasted grosbeak flew off the feeder, an oriole streaked away toward the woods.

I smiled.

I’ll just get a drink while I wait.

And then part way across the back yard two tree swallows flew in formation right toward me, perhaps 6 inches above the grass. They swooped and swirled through the yard. I stood still. They circled me several times, flew low and then swept up over the tomato cages, then down across the lawn again. Like stealth bombers, their wings were silent unlike the other birds that frequent the yard whose fluttering wings and grumpy cries always let me know when the feeder is empty.

I recognized in that moment how lucky I am. I can stand perfectly still in my backyard, in the middle of a weekday morning, and enjoy doing absolutely nothing.

I demand fresh oranges!

I’m reading a book, Slow Love; how I lost my job, put on my pajamas, and found happiness. by Dominque Browning. The author is describing her transition from frenzied work to unemployment. This afternoon I read the following passage which perfectly described how I felt earlier in the day:

“I begin to understand how nothing to do is its own state of grace, difficult to find deliberately, nearly impossible to recognize. Nothing to do means I can sit and look and let my mind wander, then empty, then fill again, with wonder or with grief, with anything or with nothing at all. “Nothing to do” is not the same as “Nothing can be done.” One is hopeless; the other the place from which hope becomes possible.”

In the heat of mid-morning, standing still in the light, I realized that nature was enjoying my yard every day. Used to be that I didn’t get to see it, but now, now that I have nothing to do, it’s all right there for me to enjoy.

Pretty darn cool.

Grape jelly again?!

June 17, 2016
by dawnkinster 24 Comments

Evil waves !

No it’s not mama who thinks waves are evil. It is I, Princess Katie, who doesn’t trust those noisy, ever moving, elusively wet things. Not at all. And mama knows I don’t like them, yet she took me on an adventure where there were lots of waves! Sometimes I don’t understand my mama. At all.

Our home away from home.

But you know what? I had a really good time anyway. You know how much I love to camp with my mama and we went to a park we’ve never been to before, way up north, on the shores of Lake Huron. Mama scored a beautiful campsite with our own private path to the beach (and those pesky waves!). Lucky for me it was a ‘no dogs allowed’ beach so I didn’t have to spend much time out there!

Some people ask me what I do all day when we’re camping. Well! Let me show you! We go on lots of walks around the campground where I can show off my beautiful self…

Not too many people around to admire me!

…and we take lots of naps. When my mama is reading in the tent I like to nap up on her bed, right next to her…

Reading is boring mama!

…unless I’m busy keeping watch on my private pillow from my own private window.

What’s going on out there?

And when my mama is reading in her chair outside I like to keep track of the world while keeping cool under the picnic table. It’s my secret hideaway. Nothing gets by me!

My secret hiding place!

But we explored lots of other places too. This campground has a dog beach and the first evening we went to find it. The path went through some tall trees and the sun was getting low which made the trees (and me!) just glow. Mama spent a long time in there taking pictures of everything.

Isn’t the light cool in here?

When we finally got to the dog beach I made it very clear with my flat ears that I did not like it mama! I especially didn’t like when the noisy waves were behind me. Mama tried to tell me that these were just little, harmless waves and she wasn’t going to make me get my feet wet but I was still very glad we didn’t stay there long.

What IS that mama?

The next morning mama almost missed the sunrise! I slept all night, hardly moving at all, while my mama shivered under four blankets while wearing layers of clothes. She finally fell asleep in the early morning hours and expected that I’d wake her up at the usual 5:30. But I didn’t! It was so nice sleeping in the cool night air that I just rolled over and kept sleeping. She woke up at 5:45 and woke me up! She wanted to go out on the beach to see the sun? Is she crazy?

The sunrise was nice but I didn’t want to be there, so she brought me back to camp, put me on my long leash and gave me breakfast to keep me busy while she went back out on the sand to take more pictures.

Morning light on my fur.

Well. I do not like to be separated from my mama! So after I finished my breakfast (You didn’t think I was going to leave that in the bowl did you?) I figured out my leash wasn’t really attached to my collar and so I walked casually right back out to the beach to find her!

Hey mama! Whatcha doing out there?

She turned around to check on me and there I was, standing next to the path (I don’t like the sand in my toes.) watching her! Mama came running and I got hooked up to my leash really good. I think she was sort of surprised that I came back out on the beach on my own. I like surprising my mama. Keeps her on her toes.

Later that day we went on a little road trip. And guess what? I got to see a real lighthouse in person! This is Sturgeon Point lighthouse. It’s very beautiful. Mama would have walked up to the top, but the tower was only open on the weekends. And she had me. As you know I don’t do stairs.

What is more beautiful than a lighthouse? Why ME of course!

Of course there was a beach there too, with even bigger waves and I didn’t like it. So mama and I walked around the grounds of the lighthouse instead of out by the water like she wanted. She’s good about compromise, my mama.

There is also a one room school, the Old Bailey School, on the site. Mama said that since there weren’t any waves nearby could I please sit and look pretty so she could take a picture with me and the school. But I was more interested in what that thing was over to the right of me. Plus there were two people on the other side of the school and I could hear them talking and I wanted to go see what was over there. So all my mama got was this.

What IS that mama?

By the time we got back to camp I was exhausted! I slept all night again, and mama shivered all night. She put on all her clothes and even wore a pair of socks on her hands and she was still cold! I don’t know about you mama! I was wearing all my clothes too and I thought the weather was perfect for sleeping! Anyway, this time my mama set her alarm to wake us up at 5:30 so we could go out and see the sunrise. It was spectacular. I couldn’t stop looking at it.

The sun’s got nothing on me!

Wouldn’t you? Out on the horizon was a fishing boat which made it even more interesting. The sky was just gorgeous. Everything was gorgeous, and this time I didn’t even act scared of the waves! I let mama enjoy everything!

Colors beyond description!

But then the clouds started rolling in….

Uh oh…

…and it began to rain. And rain….and rain. Mama and I hung out in the car. We drove into town so she could check the radar. We drove back to camp. We hung out in the car again and it continued to rain. And the wind picked up and the waves were getting bigger and noisier.

Getting noisier out here!

Mama thought about another night of sleeping in the cold. And now we were both wet from me making her take me on walks to do my thing. Even if she wore all her clothes again she’d be cold. And she didn’t think we’d ever be dry again. So she packed up camp. She didn’t even ask me if I wanted to go home! And I did not!

Goodbye lake! We’ll be back!

Sometimes mama uses that old excuse “because I said so” and I have to just go with the flow. But I have to admit I was really happy to see my Dad when I got home. I guess it’s nice to be here too. I slept upside down on my king sized bed that night. But now I want to know….what are you going to do to top this one mama? Huh? Huh?

What’s next mama?

It better be good, that’s all I have to say. Because a princess has certain expectations you know. And it’s very bad if she’s disappointed. I’m going to go take a nap now, in preparation for the next royal event.

I like the woods best!

June 4, 2016
by dawnkinster 13 Comments

I had a blast!

Katie here. I’ve been bugging my mama (so what else is true, right?) to let me tell you about our camping trip. Here it is almost two weeks since I went on my season opening camping adventure and she still hasn’t let me on her blog!

My campsite!

She says she’s been busy. Sure mama. I think she just doesn’t want me to tell you about it in case you get jealous of all the fun I’m having. That’s what I think. So anyway, mama is outside weeding and I figured I could sneak in here and show you, cause she’ll be too tired when she gets back inside to even notice I was messing around with her laptop. You can click on any of the photos to see them better.

Trillium! And me. 🙂

We went right down the road to our local state park which was lucky because it was really really hot the four days we were out there and in the middle of each day we got to come home to get out of the sun! In fact mama had to come home a couple of times to get stuff she forgot! I don’t think she was very organize but don’t tell her I noticed. I don’t want her to feel bad. But I hope makes a list of what to take next time, because we’re going camping far far away pretty soon!

We were camping in the woods and the spring flowers were blooming. Trillium and geranium were everywhere! This next picture is mama’s favorite from the trip. (Make sure you click on it so you can see beautiful me even better!) She made me sit here for a looooong time and then I didn’t even get a treat! Mama says she’s cutting back on treats, and I can understand that for her, but I don’t think it’s fair that I have to go on a diet too.

So pretty in the woods!

One day my friend Deuce and his mom stopped by and we went for a walk in the woods together. We didn’t go real far because it was so warm, but we went far enough so that Deuce could see what a beautiful woods it is. He likes to get on top of stuff, like logs and rocks. I don’t like to do that so much so I just stayed with my mom who was busy taking pictures. For once it wasn’t me she was making pose!

My friend Deuce

Then they stayed into the evening and mama made a big fire. She said it was the best fire ever, because Deuce’s mom brought her some fire starter! The moms made themselves treats…

Hey! Whatcha got there?

… and they didn’t even share! I think that is just unforgivable, don’t you? Deuce and I were very good though and only begged a little. Then he got to sit on his mom’s lap while they watched the fire. I asked my mom if I could go take a nap in the tent but she ignored me so I went off and slept under the picnic table while they talked.

By the time we went to bed I was totally exhusted! Mama said I slept in some pretty weird ways that night…

zzzzz…..

…and she can’t figure out how this is comfortable at all:

More zzzzzzz…..

We had a lot of fun camping near the woods. We went on lots of walks, and took lots of naps.

Come ON! Let’s go this way!

It was almost perfect. Perfect would be if we were near a big lake. At least that’s what mama says.

It’s a little warm to be running mama!

On Thursday, before the big Memorial Day weekend, mama packed up. I was not so happy for her to dismantle my camp! But she promises that we’ll be out there in my tent again soon!

What are you DOING mama?

I can’t wait to see where she takes me next!

Let’s go again soon mama!

May 12, 2016
by dawnkinster 13 Comments

Baltimore…and a bit of sweetness

I was in Baltimore a few years ago for a truck safety event, but I never left the hotel. This visit was different. We began at Fort McHenry, which has been active in some fashion for every war, but is most notable for it’s involvement in the war of 1812.

Fort McHenry.

It’s also known as the fort that flew the flag that inspired the writing of our national anthem. In 1813 General George Armistead requested a “flag so large that the British will have no difficulty seeing it from a distance.”

The back of the barracks.

Mary Pickersgill sewed a flag 25 feet by 17 feet, and it was flown the day after a British bombardment, to show that the Americans’ still held the fort. Francis Scott Key saw the flag and was inspired to write the Star Spangled Banner as the national anthem.

She sewed the famous flag.

We walked along the waterfront below the fort, the sky turning grey with the promised rain. Still, it was a beautiful morning.

Tourists sailing on the river.

Just down the hill a tall ship was moored. The Pride of Baltimore II was getting ready for a summer voyage up the coast and through the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Great Lakes! She’ll be in Lake Huron sometime this summer.

Pride of Baltimore II getting ready to sail the Great Lakes!

We hope to see her near Bay City later this year.

It began to rain as we headed into the city of Baltimore. Wandering the inner harbor area we enjoyed all the shops and sights through a slow drizzle.

Vibrant Inner Harbor; books, bars, boats and more.

The USS Constellation is in the harbor and you can take a tour. It’s under renovation at the moment, and we didn’t take the tour as there was many other things to do. But it’s a beautiful ship.

A piece of history waiting to be explored.

There are a number of towers dominating the Baltimore skyline. Though it was beginning to rain harder we decided to climb several blocks up to the top of the hill to figure out what this tower was.

What is that up there?

Turns out it is the Bromo-Seltzer tower, built by a man named Emerson as an advertisement for his product. In fact originally this tower had a huge Bromo bottle on top!

Bromo-Seltzer?!

Apparently he saw a similar tower in Florence Italy, called his architect and said he wanted something similar, but instead of one clock like the Florence tower he wanted four clocks, and he wanted them to be larger than the clocks in Big Ben in London. No ego there!

An artist rending of what the tower used to look like.

As we were standing outside the building looking up at it in what was becoming a downpour a man opened the door and invited us in out of the rain. He explained that the tower is now being used as artists’ studios, and he was the curator. Though it wasn’t officially open he took us up to the 15th floor in an old manual elevator…

A Bromo collection.

…where there was a Bromo-Seltzer exhibit. And then we were allowed to walk down the 15 flights of stairs where the artists in residence were displaying their work. It was a fun example of the interesting things you might find if you just follow your curiosity.

It was raining harder on our walk back down to the harbor and the car. We noticed another interesting tower of sorts but decided it really was time to get out of the rain.

More interesting architecture.

After our tour of some of downtown Baltimore we headed out of town to visit a friend and his lovely family. I’ll share two of them with you. Griff….

I’m not sure about you yet lady!

..and Scout

All I want to do is PLAY lady!

Our friend has human family members as well. But…you know me and dogs. And I bet you think that the dogs were the sweet part of this post didn’t you. Well. They were sweet.

But this morning we stopped by Hershey Pennsylvania and took a little tour. We learned all about Hershey candy from a sweet little friend…

How do they make all that chocolate?

…and we shopped in the largest candy store in the world. It was almost as though sensible eating for months was thrown out the window. There was so much stuff! And suddenly I wanted it all.

Lots and lots and lots of candy.

But we were good and walked out of there with only $12 spent. It’s still more chocolate than I’ve had anywhere near me in a very long time. In fact tonight it’s out in the car so that I don’t eat it all at one sitting.

It’s calling my name. But it’s not going to win. Yet. I don’t think.

Tomorrow is a new adventure as we work our way home. It’s pretty here in Pennsylvania’s mountains. I don’t know where we’ll be, but I’ll share it with you after we get there.

Susquehanna River.

And of course…there’s still Williamsburg.

It was a little damp downtown.

April 11, 2016
by dawnkinster 13 Comments

Looking for fog

After days and days of cold littered with snow we woke this morning to more temperate weather. With the snow rapidly melting the warm air was tinged with fog. As the sun rose I headed over to the closest park to see what might be interesting. I actually caught this out of the corner of my eye as I was driving to the back of the park, and just had to turn around at the golf course and come back. (Click on any photo to make it bigger and see more detail.)

Mysterious

The fog was disappearing and by the time I got up to the parking lot and began the long walk down the hill toward the woods it was gone. So I began to look for other interesting things.

A flock of seven sandhill cranes flew by, oddly silent. It’s rare that I’ve seen them when they weren’t making a lot of noise as they fly. But this was pretty early in the morning. Maybe they hadn’t had coffee yet.

Incoming!

I liked the fact that the red twig dogwood bushes were very very red even under the dull cloudy sky. And that the fog, now droplets, was beautiful tucked among the bright twigs.

Color bursting out all over

And there was something else bright red flitting through the forest. Some people believe a cardinal in your path is a loved one’s spirit come to visit. I see so many cardinals that I don’t think they can all be my long gone loved ones, but this one was all alone, so maybe.

Just stopped by to say hello

Then there was this bird. It was sitting quite far away, and the morning light interfered with my sight. Or maybe I’m just getting older. Anyway, I don’t know what this bird is, so I took a shot blindly and then cropped it a whole lot hoping one of you will know. We have killdeer out at this park…could it be one of those? It was making quite a racket out by the road, but not making the typical killdeer kind of song.

Who am I?

I don’t remember killdeer having yellow on them either…so…what do you think it is?

Of course the red winged blackbirds are everywhere. At home they are eating me out of bags and bags of sunflower oilers. They are starving! But so are all the other birds, so I keep putting it out for them. At the park they are establishing their territories and this guy was not excited about me walking by on the path.

No crossing into MY territory!

He fluffed up to get his picture taken though. Show off.

The pack of sandhill cranes flew back over, something must have startled them from their breakfast on the golf course. One of them still has legs hanging low. I wonder if he flies that way all the time?

We all have our own flying style lady. Get over it.

And then the sun came out! It lit up the hill I was climbing as I headed back to the car. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of one of my favorite trees.

Splendidly alone

Someone going the other way asked me if I had gotten any good pictures. I shrugged, wagged my hand back and forth. Nothing special I replied.

On my drive home I stopped at a hilly field, the home of a crabapple tree that used to grace a farmhouse yard. I’ve always admired the way the tree and the hill share the space, always meant to grab a photo. Today was the day.

Little tree, big sky

I don’t know what it is about this tree, sitting alone in an empty field. I just like it.

So…did I get any good pictures this morning? Oh yea. Every morning that I get to spend outside with my camera is a good morning. Fog, no fog. Sun, no sun. There’s always something special to find. And to make the day even better, when I got home Katie demanded equal time and we headed out to her park.

I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it soon.

Pay attention mama!

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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