Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: winter


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Reporting in

Katie here.

I’ve heard through the grapevine (OK, from mama) that some of you are wondering how I’m doing. I guess mama gets worried and writes stuff and then you guys get all worried too. Mama says it helps to share her worry, cause sometimes she gets overwhelmed by all the ‘what ifs.’

My backyard during the ‘storm of the century!’

Mama says sometimes she looks at me and wonders if I’m still happy, or if I’m hurting but not telling her. Or maybe she’s just too blind to see. But I have to ask you all….do I LOOK like there’s something wrong?

I love snow!

I thought not.

But of course you all know there is. I’m in stage 4 of kidney disease. I’m eating the special food and taking all my meds like a good girl, but you can’t change the fact that I’ve got an incurable disease.

I got my toes trimmed and the nice groomer gave me a scarf!

But let me remind you that I’m fifteen now, and that’s a good old age for any sheltie-girl, even a princess like me. Of course I’d love to live to be 17 or 18 like mama sees sometimes on Facebook, but honestly? Only if I still felt like a puppy, and I don’t think that’s possible.

Yes mother, I know I’m not supposed to be eating the birdseed under the feeder.

As it is I sleep a lot, and I have some trouble getting up and down because my hips are stiff. Mama and daddy have talked about this with the vet and I’ve got some meds for that, but the meds seem to make me unsteady and sometimes I can’t get up off the floor at all!

Sometimes after a good walk a girl needs to take a nap.

Mama says I look like a beached seal, flapping all my legs trying to get them under me. But she’s not laughing when she rushes to pick me up. Once I get my feet back under me I’m just fine and I usually ask her for some lunch. Or at least a snack.

They took me back off the meds and will discuss all of this at my vet appointment next week. Mama and Daddy are really hoping my numbers aren’t getting worse. I hope they’re getting better, but mama says that isn’t likely. Well. A girl can dream, right?

Mama says she’s really happy that I’m getting to experience all this snow.

Meanwhile I’m pretty happy most of the time, so don’t worry about me. Mama and daddy are taking real good care of me, and in return I’m being my normal annoying demanding self. I figure it’s my responsibility to uphold the princess job description.

Royalty always carries on, and I’m definitely the one most royal in my family. I’ll have my staff keep you up to date on my progress.

Heading back to the house, following my own footprints home.

And thank you all for the kind thoughts and notes that mama gets. They help a lot especially when she’s having a bad day. She should learn from me to take each day as it comes.

Can we go on another walk mama?

You’d think after fifteen years she’d know to follow my lead. Silly mama.


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Eagle search part 2

Before we were so beautifully interrupted by the cardinal seige, I was conteplating the continuation of an eagle search. I’d already been to the Great Lakes National Cemetary where I’d seen, from far away, the resident eagle and his nest. But it was still early and a beautiful day, maybe another eagle was waiting to be discovered at my favorite park.

What is this, you ask?

Should I go look for it? Well of course I should.

So after some more mental arguing about other things I could be doing, mostly involving housework, I jumped back in the car and headed south to Kensington where eagles had been sighted at the heron rookery.

“Don’t bug me lady, some nice people left me some lunch and I’m hungry!”

Not that I thought I’d be so lucky to find one there in the early afternoon. But it’s my favorite park and how could I go wrong, I knew I’d find something!

“I don’t know why you people get so excited over an eagle. I’ve got much better colors.”

I took my time driving through the park, pulled up leisurely in a parking spot at the nature center. Even sat there awhile and looked at the eagle pictures I already had in my camera.

Then I looked up and spotted a big bump in the top of a tree. And me quite a ways away, with the wrong lens on the camera. Talk about unprepared.

“Geeze lady, an experienced photographer pays better attention to the details!”

I hustled over there, stopped at the first bench on the boardwalk and switched my lens, hoping he’d stick around long enough for me to get a shot, even if it wasn’t optimum.

“Ahem. Were you looking for ME?”

He did. And he watched me the whole time too.

“You do realize your camera is focused on the branches, not me…right?”

And apparently, when I took too long, he decided he’d had enough and he flew away…

“I’m outta here.”

…way over to a dead tree on the other side of the lake. With his back to those of us still photographing from the boardwalk.

“There’s more privacy over here and the light is better anyway.”

I stayed and talked with another photographer while we waited to see where he’d go next. We hoped he’d come back to the rookery, but he decided to take a trip over to the back side of the lake where he was a tiny spot in the sky, lazily circling, checking out lunch prospects.

Hey lady! Pay attention! I’m being especially adorable down here!”

So I walked a bit on the trails, but they were covered in slippery ice and I was wearing old sneakers, so I didn’t stay long. I did manage to get some shots of some other, very cute, birds while I was there, and I’m sharing most of them here.

“People overlook us doves all the time, their loss, I always say.”

But..wait…did I show you the blue jays? Or the swans? No? Well, you have to see those. I guess another birdy type post is in order.

You can’t see too many birds…right?

Right.

“I did my head feathers special for this photo shoot too…darn people always want to take pictures of the big birds…”


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Descent of the cardinals (and their friends).

I interrupt my eagle search to bring you this morning’s craziness right here at home. We’re getting a light snow. It’s cold. Katie and I were napping as the early morning light began to invade our dreams.

“Come on over, there’s plenty for everybody!”

I glanced outside and was both amazed and guilty as I saw birds all over the empty feeders, searching frantically for something, anything, to eat.

“Hey! Can we get a little water over here?”

Stuffing my naked feet into an old pair of sneakers, and throwing on a sweatshirt, not slowing for a coat, gloves or boots, I ran outside. Katie waited in the comfort of her palace, watching me intently.

“I think this lady serves the best oilers in town.”

My freezing fingers fumbled with the seed bin lid. The birds stayed close, not flying to their usual safe places, sitting on the deck, in the honeysuckle bush, the beech tree, hovering around my head.

They were too hungry to be afraid.

“Don’t judge me, I’m having a bad hair day.”

I filled the thistle feeder, the oiler feeders, the suet cage and then spread seed along the railing so that all of them could eat without having to wait their turns.

“I think I’ll head over to the quieter thistle feeder. These cardinals are crazy”

And they did. And in return they let me take their pictures.

“Yep, she puts on a great spread. She was a little late today, but it was worth the wait.”

I’d say it was a even exchange.

“I heard there was a ‘one shot, one treat’ rule around here. I already gave you my one shot.”


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Seeking an Eagle

Today, while much of the rest of the United States was under various weather advisories, we had sun. It was cold, but the wind of the past few days has blasted off toward the east coast. Nineteen degrees farhrenheit (-7.22 C) and blue skies just begged for a photography adventure.

And I knew just the place.

Maybe this is the eagle!

Not far from me is a National Cemetary; I’ve taken you there before. But lately I’ve been hearing about an eagle hanging around the acres and acres of gleaming white headstones. I’ve been out there a couple times hoping to find him, but couldn’t find the nest and never saw the magnificent bird.

Since it’s so close to home, and it was a pretty day, I figured I wouldn’t be disappointed if I failed again. And you know me, I’ll always find something to take a picture of!

What about those globby shapes over in those trees?

Right near the entrance I saw a bird in the top of a dead tree. Could that be the eagle? Naw…just a big crow.

Then toward the back of the cemetary I saw a bunch of blobs high up in the trees, could those be eagles? Naw..just some clumps of leaves, maybe squirrel nests.

I wandered around some more, but saw nothing else that looked promising. Still, I wasn’t sad, it was such a pretty day…

The sun makes everything beautiful.

…and the moon was setting. I always enjoy a late setting moon.

Moon over Michigan.

And then, just as I gave up and turned the car around to go, I saw this out of the corner of my eye. Could it be?

If that’s another squirrel nest, it belongs to a really big squirrel.

I put that car in park fast and was out of it, moving as quickly as I could across the lawn, then creeping into the woods. I had to pass two signs that warned me not to trespass, hoping to get a shot before someone arrested me.

Taking a break from this year’s remodel project.

And I did. But the eagle knew exactly where I was too, walking on all that crunchy snow I sounded like a herd of elephants making my way through the woods. I only got a couple shots before he took off.

He flew in a big wide circle, and then vanished into the trees.

“Tourists! A guy can’t catch a break around here.”

I didn’t have any stellar shots…but I got to see an eagle fly.

“See ya later, lady!”

On the way home I took a different back road, and realized almost right away that it wound along the back of the cemetary. And guess what?

Well, duh. The view, with the morning sun is way better over here.

There’s a much better view of the eagle’s nest from back there!

And on the way I got to see a barn.

Red barn, white snow, blue sky. Perfect.

When I got home I was still excited about seeing the eagle and having such a good time with the camera on such a pretty day. And I’ve heard there’s an eagle out at Kensington, my favorite park.

That’s not so far away either. The sun is still shining.

Too pretty a day to spend inside.

Should I head out there? What are the odds that I’ll find an eagle just sitting around waiting for me to discover him?

What are the odds?

Guess you’ll have to wait and see.

Eagle or no eagle, always good to stop by this place.