Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: winter


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A walk in the woods honoring our friend Norwood

Katie here.  I want to tell you about a very special dog named Norwood.  Every morning he and his mom went out for a run or a walk, and they posted the weather report from their hometown and a picture of Norwood being…well…Norwood.  No matter what kind of mood my mama was in, Norwood always made her feel good.  He had lots of special skills and one of them was making people smile.

Norwood makes a snow angel.

Norwood makes a snow angel.

My mama and lots of other people called him Dude for short because he was such a goofy guy.  And fun.  And very very happy.

Tragically he had to go to the Rainbow Bridge last week, way before his time.  It wasn’t anything anyone expected, least of all his mom, and now people all over the world are all weepy eyed.  Mom cried all day at work on Thursday; she just told people she had a cold, cause how can you explain crying over a dog you’ve never met?  But that’s Dude for you, brightening everybody’s life every morning and leaving a big gaping hole now that he’s gone.

Norwood and his mom ran trails in the woods.  In the winter his mom wore snowshoes and the Dude wore his boots.  He loved loved loved running in the woods.  So after he had to go his mom asked us all to take a walk in the woods to honor Norwood.

He loved to run with his mom Debi.

He loved to run with his mom Debi.

And yesterday that’s just what my mama and I did.  It was a beautiful warm sunny winter day with blue skies and white snow.  Norwood would have loved it.  We walked along a packed trail between the towering trees  listening to the silence.  And we thought of Dude and how he’d be running back and forth ahead of us, just grinning like everything.   I didn’t once pull any of my princess tricks, we walked in respectful silence most of the time, and just enjoyed being together.  I even did my special running recall in honor of the Dude.  And because my mama had treats.

I can fly!

Here I come mama!

Mama says we’re glad we went out to the woods to think about Norwood.  He will always be a very special dog and we aren’t ever going to forget him.   We won’t forget his goofy grin, and his multi colored boots or his florescent collar.  We won’t forget how he loved to go on adventures and how much he loved his mom.  And we won’t ever forget how lucky we were to know him just a little, here on the internet.  We know we didn’t know him as well as some people that got to meet him in person, and certainly not as well as Debi, his mom, but still weren’t we lucky to enjoy him while we could.  My mama’s heart is breaking for Norwood’s mom and all his special friends.  I know when it’s my time to go to the bridge he’ll be one of the first dogs I’ll look for, cause he’s just so much fun.

Until then I will think of the Dude every time my mama and I take a walk in the woods.  Right now I gotta go comfort my mama.  She’s getting all weepy eyed again.  The Dude can do that to a mama.  Anyway, don’t worry about your mom Norwood, everybody’s sending her lots of hugs.  We’ll look out for her, just like you did.  You run free Dude.

Man, we’re going to miss you.

Portrait of the Dude.

Portrait of the Dude.

PS:  The pictures of Norwood were taken by his mom, Debi Horvath.


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WordPress photo challenge: Orange

Oddly enough this week’s photo challenge is ‘orange.’  It’s ironic, because I used orange as a unifying color in a photo challenge a couple of weeks ago.  So of course I can’t use my photo of oranges from that post.  And that would be too obvious anyway.  So I spent Saturday and a bit of Sunday scouting out orange things that represent life here in Michigan in March.  When there aren’t any orange things blooming.

 

Once I started looking for orange I found it everywhere.  From my toast in the morning, to the bittersweet vine on a bush down the street, to the orange snow fencing everywhere, the gumballs at the mall, the lights on the side of a restaurant, the Detroit Tiger English D, the New Balance shoe in a shop window, to the ever present orange barrels, orange is everywhere!  And the orange car?  I followed it for a few miles before it turned into a Wall-mart parking lot.  Then I circled the lot until the driver went inside.  Couldn’t resist showing you an orange car, right?  Cars + Michigan.  Can’t beat that.

 

You can see other interpretations of orange here, here and here.  And I bet, if you look around, you’ve got a little bit of orange somewhere near you!  It’s nice to look for some color during these last long days of winter.  Show us what you found!


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Kids say it like it is

This box has no calories.

This box has no calories.

Heading out of the grocery store this morning I had my $4 ready for the girl scout cookie table waiting at the entry.  It’s that season when moms and little girls wait by the chilly front doors near a table filled with overpriced snacks.  Sometimes I plan my shopping for times I think there won’t be kids with big hopeful eyes selling stuff, but this morning I was on a mission.

It was early, and there was only one very young girl standing uncertainly in front of the table.  She wouldn’t look at me and seemed shy, so I thought I’d engage her.  As her mom smiled from behind the table I asked her:

“How much for one box of thin mints?”

The girl looked up, frowned and turned her back to me.  I only realized she was pointing when she said.

“It says on the sign.”

And then she sighed.

I gave my four dollars to the embarrassed mom and scurried out of the store with my cookies.

Old people need the obvious pointed out to them.

Yes we do.

Yum

Yum

 

 


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Just a thought.

Driving back from an appointment today, listening to news radio, I heard a piece on the dangers of TV binge watching.    You know, the latest kick happening in the past couple of years of watching a whole series in one day or weekend.  Sitting in front of the TV for hours at a time.  The research, done by the University of Michigan, points out that binge watching is often associated with depression and can lead to obesity and heart disease similar to other bad habits including overeating.

I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and consciously watched a whole season of anything.  But I do know this past snowy, cold, windy, nasty Saturday I lay on the sofa and watched several segments of “What Not to Wear” on TLC, back to back to back to…well…you know.  I loved that show.

Anyway.

Right after the piece about the risks of binge TV watching was a very long advertisement read by one of the news anchors for Exfinity,  a division of Comcast Cable.  It was selling the app that would allow you to download all your favorite shows and movies so that you could watch anytime from anywhere even if you were offline.   If you were traveling you could watch.  If you were waiting somewhere you could watch.  If you were bored with your dinner partner I guess you could watch.

Ironic.  I wonder if program directors ever pay attention to what ads go where.

Apparently not.

 

 


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WordPress photo challenge: Symmetry

If you go to the original post you’ll see inspirational photo which is gorgeous…and looks just like shots we took of a similar fort in Maine this past summer.  Friday I had lots of ideas about things to photograph that show symmetry.  I had plans for heading out on Monday, a holiday from work, to see what I could see.  But it’s 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-15C) right now and it’s going to get colder the rest of this long weekend and the wind is blowing making it even worse.   So it’s very possible I won’t be going anywhere.  I figured this would be yet another photo challenge that I missed because I just can’t get out of the house with my camera.

Then I looked out my kitchen window, watching the wind whip snow across the back yard.  And I saw it.

 

Aliens?

Alien?

I have no idea what sort of animal would make tracks like this.  It looks like a giant turtle pulled itself up to the bird feeder and then back out to the woods.  But it’s certainly not turtle weather at the moment.  Here’s a closer image.  What do you think made these?

 

Two aliens?

Two aliens

Maybe it was Winnie the Pooh’s mysterious Heffalump, but whatever it was I like the symmetry.

The wind has now covered up the tracks; I was lucky to notice it when I did.  If you’d like to see some other images of symmetry, try here, here, here and here.  Or go to the original post and look at all that have been submitted so far.  The challenge lasts for a week, so check there again later and you’ll see even more!

What’s symmetric in your life?  I hope it’s a warmer image than mine.  I, for one, am thoroughly done with all the winter snow and wind.  I’d like to photograph a symmetric field of corn or the symmetry of a dahlia blossom.  I might still go and try to find some colorful symmetry.  We’ll see.

How about you?  Can you find a bit of symmetry somewhere around you?


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Exercising with Aunt Vi

I went to visit Aunt Vi this afternoon.  She’s 99 and able to live in her own apartment with a little help doing the cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping.  She hasn’t been outside for anything other than doctor appointments for a good long while and she’s getting a bit of cabin fever.  She has her bird Buddy as company; we tried to get him to come out and play so that I could get a picture of him on her shoulder but he wasn’t having anything to do with me.  I guess he’s camera shy.

Come out and play!

Come out and play!

 

We talked a lot about the old days, the early years of her marriage and stories of when she worked at the local hospital.  She remembered getting off work late at night after a snow storm and not being able to find her car in the parking lot.  I guess in those days there was no such thing as a remote start.  We laughed about her having to dig through the snow with her hands to open the truck and retrieve the shovel so she could dig herself out of the parking lot.  She shook her head in wonder at the things she used to do when she was younger.

I shook my head in wonder too.

She was having a good day, so she showed me the exercises she does every day to stay loose.  Standing up and hanging onto her walker she did knee lifts.  Twenty on each side.  I told her I wanted to take her picture doing those and  she laughed and sat down.  Then she made me do them.  I was not as graceful and luckily there are no pictures of that either.  I did manage to get a couple of her using her stretchy bands.  She works her legs….

Keeping the legs in shape.

Keeping the legs in shape.

…and her arms every day.

 

Strong arms!

Strong arms!

I realized she’s doing more exercise than I am, even though I’m the one carrying the Fitbit in my pocket.  I feel guilty.

I’ve often wondered what a 99 year old thinks about as she sits in her apartment watching the world go by day after day.  Turns out she thinks a lot about the old days, her son, her sisters and brothers, her parents.  The same things we think about when we take the time to sit down and reflect.  She says she doesn’t plan anything out in the future, she just enjoys today.  I said that was a lesson for all of us to learn – to just enjoy today.

She says she’s tired and frustrated that her body doesn’t work the way it used to.  She’s not used to accepting help and it still bugs her that she has to.  But she’s grateful to be living on her own in her apartment, and she’s happy that she has friends and family that visit.   Still, she knows there’s not much to look forward to and sometimes she gets pensive.  She’s had a hard but good life filled with family and love and laughter, but there are only two of her original siblings left now.  She’s said so many goodbyes.

Telling stories of the past.

Telling stories of the past.

I wonder what I will remember most when I’m 99 and looking back.  I wonder what will be the most important accomplishments, the favorite memories, the things I will laugh about, what stories I will tell.  I wonder if I will be able to carry 99 as well as she does.  I don’t know, she’s set the bar pretty high.  I had a good visit with her this afternoon.  We’re lucky she’s still around to tell the family stories.  And if she keeps on exercising she just might be around to tell us about the good old days for years to come.

I certainly hope so.

Buddy

Meet Buddy