I’m supposed to be sharing with you images of my short camping trip to Michigan’s UP. And I will…really. But this morning as I was busy washing dishes I happened to look out the window and, surprise, this guy was standing on our deck railing.
This is a green heron. They fish in the pond across the street, and they used to nest every summer in the vacant land behind us. But there’s houses back there now.
I haven’t seen the green herons all summer, nor last summer either that I remember. So this was really special and I just had to share him (or her) with you!
This week I’ve been ‘camping’ in the back yard. We haven’t had rain for a long time and none is predicted for a long time into the future. So I’ve been sleeping in the tent without the rain fly.
The first night, a cool breeze touching my face and tucked under my blankets, I was looking up trying to see the few stars that shine in my light polluted neighborhood when I noticed a flash, almost out of my line of vision. I stared in that direction for several seconds but didn’t see anything, so I returned to my search for stars.
The flash happened again, higher but still almost beyond the open space above the tent. I stared some more. Nothing.
And then it happened. TWO lights blinked, right above the tent and I realized the lightening bugs had arrived for the summer! I couldn’t contain my smile. Lightening bugs, stars and a cool late night summer breeze. A perfect summer night in Michigan.
I have no pictures, but I’m sure if you close your eyes you can imagine it all for yourself. And I’m thinking you’ll smile too.
You can’t beat spring in Michigan. I used to tell my mother, who had moved along with my dad to Alabama in 1980, that she no longer appreciated spring like we who still lived in the north did.
That without the freezes and snow and frigid wind she didn’t have a true understanding of how wonderful spring can be.
She disagreed. She said she didn’t need to freeze to know warmth.
I suppose not, but I have to think that those of us living here in the north (and there is much more north north of me!) are much more grateful for those warm days than people living in the perpetually sunny south.
She used to say they had fall colors down there too. But that’s an entirely different post.
Anyway, this is just a long winded way to share the spring that is happening right this minute in my backyard.
For those of you living further to the north of me, this is what I’m sending to you as soon as I’m done with it.
But, to be honest, I might not be done with it for several more weeks.
It began, as these things often do, during an early morning wander with the puppy in the back yard.
My first glimpse from across the yard.
What was that flash of blue I caught out of the corner of my eye?
My wife likes these fixer-uppers. Personally I’d rather have a move-in-ready place.
Why look at that, a bluebird, shining in the early morning light, claiming ownership of an old bluebird house out near the road.
But you know how it is….happy wife, happy life. Right?
I hurried back to the house, got the camera and long lens, and tiptoed out onto the deck.
And besides, she says she’s going to do all the work, so whatever.
I got to watch for awhile as she worked hard to get new nesting material into the old box.
I told her the renovations were going to cost more than just buying a nicer place. But she insisted this one felt like home.
The story unfolds in pictures.
Things in the renovation zone are too noisy for me. I’m going to sit over here for awhile.Might as well take this personal time to spiff myself up. Maybe I can get a date night tonight, know what I mean?But wait. Maybe I need to woo her a little bit. After all she’s been working pretty hard all day.I don’t know where he is. Just like him to fly off when there’s work to be done.Best to just do it yourself, I always say.Just a few more accessories and it will be perfect.Hmmm….I should have measured the door before I brought this back. If I just push a little harder…Man, that was tough. But a woman’s work is never done, and this will all be worth it in the end!I’m so excited about this place. We got it for such a great price!OK! I found her a succulent insect, her favorite. Now where is she?Is she in here?Honey?I don’t get it. Where could she be?She’s got to be around here somewhere.I got her this great treat and she’s not even here!This bug is going to go stale if she doesn’t eat it soon. I don’t think she appreciates my efforts.Women! I’m going to go hang out with the guys down at the bar.
Hey Peeps, Penny here. You don’t mind being called Peeps, do you, cause I think of you all as my people! Yep, every single one of you. Mom says you can never have too many Peeps, and since I’m just a baby still, I’m taking her word for it.
Speaking of baby, mom took a bunch of pictures of me a thousand weeks ago when we had lots of snow, and she’s hardly shared any of them! Mom says she doesn’t have time to sort pictures cause she’s running around making sure I’m happy.
Personally I think she needs to hone her time management skills, in fact, as I recall my sister Katie told me this very same thing. Mom gets tied up with too many things and stresses out. Katie and I both suggest she just focus on the puppy all the time. I think mom’s stress level would lower right away if she did that.
What do you guys think?
Any-hoo, I’ve been bugging her (my most important job as new puppy in this household) to post my baby snow pictures before the daffodils bloom. I understand once the yellow flowers start showing up I’ll have to do a lot of modeling, and it would be embarrassing to still be working through snow pictures. Bad for my modeling career, you know, to be so far behind.
So far I’m still sleeping through the night and I’m mostly house trained. I can sit when asked but I’m not going to stay. No siree, there’s no stopping this girl when I get moving, and I’m mostly moving all the time.
Mom puts me in a timeout if I get overly excited or if I’m cranky. It’s not so bad, I have a big cushy bed in there, and some of my toys and a water bowl, so I don’t really mind going into my timeout pen. My Auntie calls it my rest stop. I do mostly fall asleep in there, so it’s a good place for me.
And when I wake up mom or daddy take me outside right away. I love my yard, but there’s a lot of presents from the resident deer out there that are apparently off limits. I don’t know why, I think they smell fabulous! Sometimes mom and daddy are no fun.
So this is my life right now. No parks quite yet, no walks with friends (I don’t even know if I have any friends!), no visits to the store, no adventures unless you call a sedate walk down the driveway and back an adventure.
WAIT! I DID have an adventure!
Mom promised me one last Friday and I was sort of excited. Not a lot excited because, never having had an adventure, I wasn’t even sure what an adventure was, but kind of excited. We ended up at the VET! And they stuck me twice!! I’m gonna check with Katie, but I’m pretty sure this is not what she was talking about when she told me about all the fun she had going on adventures.
Well, Peeps, I’ll sign off for now. Time to get a little shuteye in my rest stop. If you can, please poke mom for me (I do plenty of that but a girl can’t be poking constantly, it’s not lady-like) and see if you can prod her into taking me on a real adventure soon.
Change Is Hard 