Not 800 words, but I wrote something!

I admit that I am too independent at time; but it's from a lifetime of taking care of myself and believing that I was the only one who could do so. Maybe that was wrong, maybe that is right, who knows, but I never see any reason why someone should help me out with my cart at the grocery store because I feel moronic walking beside the person to my car.

That is just one example, and not a very good one, but today I was killing time at the mall while Charlie was at school giving tours, and so I tried on a bunch of clothes. At one store I was left alone -- I could walk into the dressing room and try on what I wished, then I just put the clothes I didn't want on a rack outside the door. No fuss no muss.

The next store I was looking around and "Barbara" came up to me and told me that her name was Barbara and she would be more than happy to help me. Well, help me look? Because that was what I was doing, and I felt that this looking thing was sort of personal. I smiled nicely and said thanks. Then she asked me if there was something in particular I was looking for, and I said no, just looking. GET IT, JUST LOOKING. Geesh.

So then she asked me if I realized that there were several racks (that I hadn't reached yet) that if you bought one shirt you got the second one half off. Okay, I smiled again, good to know. And then she continued to stand there. I sighed, and seriously considered leaving. I hate to be followed in a store. I ignored her and she went away, and I proceeded to continue to look and gather a pile of things to try on. So of course when I went to the dressing rooms I found them locked, so I had to search around for dear Barbara, who was actually on top of a ladder doing something. She nearly killed herself in her haste to get down and open the door (just leave the damn door open ... I hate that) and I went in. She didn't count the number of clothes I took in there with me either, so the whole locked door thing was moot. I also had a big bag. No, I didn't steal anything, because I am not a thief, but I certainly could have. A locked dressing room door just pisses me off. It doesn't stop stealing.

So when I came out of the dressing room, I had all the clothes I didn't want in one hand and I was searching for a rack. I found one that clearly wasn't meant to be that, and hung them up. Barbara saw me do it and gave me a bit of a dirty look. Sorry, just trying to help. I also left the door ajar for the next person, like me, who came along and wanted to try something on and didn't feel like begging for it.

I had a few shirts I was buying and I was looking at these necklaces when Barbara came over and asked me if I had found everything I was looking for. Which, I guess I did, though I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, I was JUST LOOKING. I smiled and said yes, and she pointed out that one of the shirts I was purchasing had the buy one get the second one half off deal. I just nodded. And she explained that they came in lots of different colors, and I sighed and said yes, thank you. So then she brings over the other colors! I said, I thought quite nicely, despite the fact I was super bugged, that yes, I had seen all the other colors and quite liked the one I had chosen. But, she insisted, half off was an excellent deal.

Was it free? I inquired, I thought quite nicely, despite the fact I was super bugged, and she laughed and said oh no, now that would be a good deal. I said exactly. That sort of threw her, but she was not to be undone, no sirree, she rushed behind the counter and promptly asked me if I wanted to save ten percent that day and open up an account. NO I DO NOT. I DO NOT EVER WANT TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT ANYWHERE. I DO NOT WANT TO SAVE THREE DOLLARS IN ORDER TO PAY EXORBITANT SURCHARGES ON THEIR STUPID CARDS.

Oh, she said, well okay then, also, do you know about our something or other plan, and at this point if I hadn't wanted what I was buying, I would have left. She almost got punched when she asked me if I cared to spend a further $25 so I could get a free tote.

And I wonder why I shop online? Well, no longer do I wonder! Then I thought, okay, you're being a bitch, show her some love. So I put on my happy face and smiled and thanked her very much for her help, and she beamed and followed me out and said, "you know, it really is a good deal, getting that second shirt for half off, and then you would also be close to the $25 for the free tote bag!" I stopped and looked at her.

That shirt was so cute on you.

HA! She never saw me in it, I never came out of the dressing room. I smiled sweetly and asked her if they were paid on commission. Oh no! she exclaimed, that would be nice. So what was the deal? Why was she being so damn helpful when I was obviously not the loved to be helped kind?

Was she torturing me?

Yeah, I think so too. I think I'll go back tomorrow and return everything and ask for a free tote bag so I can tote everything I buy at another store!

Watch and see

(I am beginning my second day out of 21 writing challenge starting a writing piece using an idea from a short story generator. Here are the instructions: A library is the location, joy is the theme. A watch is an object that plays a part in the story.)

I was late that day. Sometimes I am on time so often that it seems that it is my due to be late every once in a while. My watch is one of my treasured items -- it was given to me by my late grandfather -- and he used to explain to me with great pride that he had never been late for an appointment his entire life because that watch had kept perfect time. Okay, so it looked ridiculous on me, I am five feet tall and my wrist is so tiny that in order to wear a man's watch at all I had to wrap dozens of ribbons around the strap to thicken its grip. But a girl sometimes has to have her quirks, and my grandfather gave me that watch just a few days before he died, peacefully, of what he called worn out body parts and no desire to replace them.

As I ran up the steps of the library, I had to stop and look around. The city of New York is an amazing place to live, and I had moved there after college with the hope that I would, would what? Take the place by storm? Change the world, one city at a time? Let's face it, I am five feet tall and more often than not people think I am a child. I have to get really pushy when I am in line at Starbucks because taller people tend to not see me. I've even considered putting on 100 pounds so that I could make more of an impact on the world around me -- at least every time I put my foot down! The truth of the matter is, I moved to New York City into a tiny, cramped apartment with a girl that was a friend of a friend of a friend (seriously, that does happen) and we had nothing in common. Go figure. She is tallish, moody as hell and only eats chinese food, delivered at 6:30 on the dot. The thing is, I used to actually like chinese food. Now I think all of my clothes smell like it. I work (and I know you're going to think this is really fabulous but it's really not) at a bakery. And it would be, if I knew how to cook. But you see, I am an office person -- I can see all the creative people behind the glass making these amazing creations and I am just at a desk, answering phones, taking orders, writing checks and well, it's really boring, but I went to school for business and it was the first job I was offered and well, a bakery IS a business. Just, well, I'm really more of their secretary and I am completely over-qualified for that. And I did try out for big jobs in big corporations, but I think they thought I was too small.

Can you be too small? I admit, I tried heels. I have a bump in my nose to prove it too. First time I wore heels and had a cosmopolitan and actually had to get off the bar stool, well, even when you are short, falling on your face hurts. I am not a small person, I am just small. It's never bothered me much and I can buy clothes in the junior section so let me tell you, I am saving money like you wouldn't believe in that regard.

I glanced at my over-sized kind of ugly grandfather watch and realized that I was now close to 15 minutes late. For some reason that just made me happier than I already was. Because it was so unlike me to be late, and it was also unlike me to go on a blind date. Yes, I know, I should be full of trepidation, but I figure that since I ended up with an odd roommate based on this same theory of friend of a friend of a friend that my chances of having this guy be a chinese food lover was not that high. And yeah, at this point in time, my bar is not set that high. This guy is, and I repeat, this does happen, a friend of a friend of a friend.

I walked into the library with my head held high and turned toward the science fiction area. This had been his choice, and so yesterday I had scoped out exactly where that area was located, because let's face it, I don't read science fiction. And hopefully he doesn't either. Though it's probably not a very good sign that he chose that section to meet in. But, you have to remain positive, I always say, and my thinking is that he just likes the sound of those two words together. Science fiction. It does have a nice ring to it. And it sort of does describe what a date is like. First you either have chemistry, or you don't. And then you make up things about yourself (this would be the fictional part) so that you sound like the perfect person for that person. Like ... and I am being honest here, if he says he loves science fiction -- then I am going to admit that I love it too. Wouldn't you?

As I glanced at my watch again, I realized I was now over 20 minutes late. That was scandalous and not funny -- it was rude. And how could I claim I had no idea of the time when I had this enormous watch on my wrist? I made a hasty decision and pulling it off my wrist like a mad woman, I approached the desk and asked the man with the black glasses who peered at me quizzically if he would hold it for me.

"I'm sorry," he tilted his head and looked at me. "You want me to what?"

"Would you mind holding my watch?" I was speaking in an urgent tone because I was suddenly panicked that I had messed up this entire blind date by being so late. Let's face it, I believe that being prompt is courteous and being late is the opposite of that -- so therefore I had screwed this up royally. I leaned in and whispered "I know it seems kind of crazy but I swear, I can't just let it go and yet, I can't wear it."

The man sighed and held out his hand. "Will you be back for it anytime soon?"

Thrilled I nodded and blew kisses at him. "Thank you so much, I owe you." I walked quickly to the science fiction area and saw that there were two men sitting next to each other at a table in the midst of a heated conversation. Neither of them looked up, and I tentatively sat down at the far end of the table and looked around. There wasn't anyone else around that I could see, and I wondered if he had left, figuring that he had been stood up.

"Are you Sarah?" asked one of the men and I looked at him in surprise.

"Yes, are you Paul?"

The man nodded. "Yes, and this is my, um, friend, Levi."

His friend? He brought a friend on a blind date? Well, no fair, if I'd known then I would have brought a friend too. I nodded to both of them then went to fondle my watch, which is what I do when I am nervous or upset or a little freaked out that I was now on a blind date with two men. And as you well know, that watch was not there. Now I panicked at the thought that the man behind the desk might keep my watch. I couldn't lose that watch. Not over a stupid blind date with two men in the science fiction section of the New York City Library. I stood up.

Paul cleared his throat and stood up too and glanced at his friend Levi. "I know this might seem a little strange, but I was hoping ..."

I really didn't want to hear what he was hoping. Paul was not my type. He was short, which you would think would be my type, but just because I am short does not mean I like short men. No, in fact, I like them of average height. And I hate and despise facial hair, and this Paul, he was covered with it. Really, all you could see was his eyes, the rest was just hair. He was an ape. I hated him. Despised him, really.

Paul began to approach me and I panicked. Then Levi stood up (seriously, who names their kid Levi?) and I turned to run. But somehow Paul had reached me and he had his hand on my shoulder. "I know what you are thinking," he said in a low tone. "But just let me explain."

What was I thinking? How could he know what I was thinking? All I was really thinking about, beside the fact that he was an ape, was that I wanted my watch. Now.

"When Roger called and asked me if I would go on a blind date with you, I had to say yes. Do you understand?"

Understand? I shook my head and again felt for my beloved watch.

He sighed and glanced at Levi, who gave him an encouraging smile. "Roger is my boss and he is also ..." he shook his head and Levi came over and squeezed his shoulder. Paul took a deep breath and looked at Sarah. "Listen," he said softly. "This was an awful thing to do to you, and I apologize. I just didn't know what else to do."

Sarah was confused. She looked at both of the men and then looked closer. Levi's hand was still resting on Paul's shoulder and they were standing so close they were touching. Huh?

"We're gay," Levi said in a matter-of-fact tone. "And Paul's boss Roger is a homophobe, so Paul can't let on that, well, that he doesn't date women. And Roger has been trying to set him up for years and ..."

Suddenly the fact that my roommate had a chinese food fetish paled in comparison to the thought that my blind date was gay. This was the end of the friend of a friend of a friend. Finite. "So, please explain why you didn't just say that when we spoke on the phone?"

Paul shrugged. "I thought maybe I would date you for a little while, you see we have this office party coming up in a few weeks, and I thought that if I took you to that, it would get Roger off my back for a while."

Sarah was shocked. "You were going to use me?"

Levi shook his head. "No, it wouldn't have come to that, he has been in anguish over this ever since he set up this meeting. Which," and he raised an eyebrow, "you were very late for."

I was still a bit floored, but the reminder of time reminded me of my watch, and I wasn't interested in this conversation any longer. "Well, thank you for not using me, I appreciate that, and I apologize for being late ... but that was because I was so happy at the thought of a fabulous date tonight." She laughed. "I am never late for anything, I must admit."

"Well, lucky for you, you were," Levi said. "Because it gave me time to convince him not to do it."

"Ahhh, yes," I turned on my heel and left the two men behind. And I'm not kidding, I left a scent of chinese food in my wake. I approached the desk and the man looked at me.

"Is your watch afraid of books?"

I laughed and held out my hand. "It's a long story."

"I work in a library," the man smiled. "I love stories."

I looked at him closely as he handed me my watch. He was kind of cute, in a bookish kind of way. No, he was kind of cute in a cute kind of way. He had just taken off his glasses and his brown eyes sort of swept me off my feet. I actually leaned forward and caught myself on the front of the desk.

"You okay?" he smiled and his teeth were so white they did that glisten thing you only see on tv. I might have imagined that, but I was a bit dizzy. "I, umm, I umm," I stammered and then I got a grip. "I just had the shortest blind date in history with two gay guys."

Cute guy looked at me for a second, then burst out laughing. "In the Science Fiction section?"

"Where else?" I laughed and shrugged, then tried to push my watch over my wrist.

"I can fix that if you'd like."

I looked at him. "What would you do?"

"Shorten the strap and punch some new holes. I have the tools for it, my grandfather was a watch maker."

"This is my grandfather's watch!" I exclaimed, since that surely proved that we were a match made in heaven.

He chuckled and handed me a card. "My name is Will and there is my address. I will get out of here at six and if you'd like, you can meet me there and I will fix your watch. And even make you dinner."

I looked at him, somewhat amazed that my blind date had turned from disaster into destiny in such a short amount of time. My grandfather knew exactly what he was doing when he gave me that watch. I always wondered why he winked when he strapped it on my wrist.

"So?" Will tilted his head and gave me another one of his gleaming smiles.

"I'll see you at six," I beamed him what I hoped was my own version of a gleaming smile and tossed my hair for good measure.

"Great!" there was so much beaming and gleaming going on between us we were going to hurt ourselves.

I turned to go and looked at my watch. This was one date I wasn't going to be late for.

"You can't miss my apartment," Will offered as I slowly walked away. "It's right over a chinese restaurant."

Of course it was.

Well, well, well

I have not been writing much lately because I more or less replaced the time of day when I would blog with walking. And by the time I finish that, I am off and about doing other things that need doing and rarely have a chance to sit down and collect my thoughts. And then, because it is so easy to stop doing something on a daily basis, it just became more of the norm not to write at all. And then I would think, it's not like I even know if anyone reads it, I never get comments and it sure seems as though the blogs that are the most popular have loads of comments. And well, as all writers are doomed to do -- you feel sorry for yourself and stop writing. Because who cares, right?

Boo hoo hoo.

It also seemed as though the blogs that I frequent had dried up -- no one was talking as much. Somehow the group of people that I'd drawn inspiration from had curled up within themselves and were keeping it to themselves -- much like I was.

But the past few days I have felt like blogging and then it always comes back to the real truth -- who do I blog for? The world? Certain people? Or me?

I love to go back through and read my old blogs -- and it makes a wonderful historical record -- and it became quite clear that I write for me. And writing in a free form way is something I enjoy more than anything else in the whole wide world! When I am writing novels, they just kind of suck me in and my fingers fly and I am merely a conduit in which the words flow through. But when I do something like blog -- and just write and see what comes out, it is very cathartic.

With this in mind, after feeling all strawberry happy and all, I did some blog wandering and came across a link to 21-5-800 and within moments I was signed up. Now suddenly at my fingertips I had over 300 new blogs by creative writers who have all signed up to write every day for 21 days! Talk about a gold mine! And in addition, I had a challenge for myself -- to write for 21 days and do 5 yoga poses. Okay, I am in!!!!

I am not really sure how you go about counting words in Blogger -- and I am not that rule-oriented to even care if I come close to that many words. None of that ultimately counts -- what does is that I am excited about channeling my creative energies back to the old familiar drawing board. I must admit, I have been writing (hand writing) in a journal as of late, and there is something very comforting about it. But it's hard to say much because my hand cramps up and I can type like ten times faster than I can write.

There are so many ways to go about this -- I could choose one topic and discuss it every day. I could do what I always do and just ramble. I don't know, I am torn. Stream of consciousness writing has its merits, true. But it's not that hard -- especially to someone who does it a lot. I wonder if I should do like short stories or something. Hmmm. I wonder if there is somewhere I could get a daily topic.

Oh oh oh! There is. Since I am two days behind on this challenge, I am going to begin day 2's in another post using my idea generator.

The Internet is just so ... awesome.

(10 points taken off for using stupid word to end this blog!)

(10 points added for being witty enough to not actually end this blog using the word awesome.)

(10 points taken off for actually once again ending this blog with the word awesome.)

UNPLUGGING COMPUTER.

Simple joys

Today was the first day for the CSA! (Community Supported Agriculture). At the beginning of the growing season, it is typical not to expect too much, but boy, was I surprised when I picked up THREE quarts of strawberries, freshly picked this morning.

OHMYGOD.

They are more delicious than they have a right to be. They are not too big and not too small. They are just right.

I am currently experiencing a stomachache from eating too many -- but each time I bite into one, that same amazing joy just comes over me, and I close my eyes and wrap my being around the flavor zinging through my mouth.

I am in love with strawberries.

Pure.

Love.

Letters to Juliet

Maddie and I went to see the movie, Letters to Juliet, and it was just fabulous. I am, of course, a sucker for a good love story, and a few cute hotties on the screen always helps. But I also enjoyed the pure beauty of Vanessa Redgrave and Amanda Siegfriend -- as well as the beauty of the Italian countryside.

Normally I relate to the heroine of the younger set -- and in this case, it would have been easy as she was a fact checker for the New Yorker and an aspiring writer. But in this movie I was seriously drawn to Claire, as played by Vanessa Redgrave. And while I am squarely in the middle of them, age-wise, and could go either way, this was, without a doubt, an easy choice. Sophie, played by Siegfried, is engaged to a man besotted with his own career and up until she meets Mr. Right, she is fine with that. She wants to be more than a fact checker, she wants to come fully into herself.

Claire has already arrived, and the peace that comes with that journey I found more appealing than I could ever imagine! A beauty that comes from within that reaches well beyond the wrinkles of time, emanates from her. I also saw that same kind of amazing grace and beauty last night while watching Carole King sing with James Taylor. There is something beyond words that surrounds a woman when she is comfortable in her own skin, that makes you want to be them.

I found it interesting, as I digested the movie afterwards, how for me, the goal of becoming a wise older woman who doesn't fight the ravages of time, but accepts them as her due for living as well as she could, is a righteous one! A strange word, I suppose, but it feels just that. I have always strived hard to grow, to be all that I can be, if you will, to touch people, to make a difference in the lives of people I live my life with.

Life is not a peaceful journey, but at the end of the day, if you can find peace, if you are surrounded by love and you can find the joy in a sunset that lights up the sky in the most magnificent light -- then as this day passes to the next, there is nothing to fear, but only to embrace. For the first time I see beauty at the thought of growing old. It doesn't mean the end, it doesn't mean anything other than what you make of it.

This is the second time of late that this thought -- this feeling that I will come into myself with a ripe fullness soon, but also later -- has come upon me. And I look forward to all of it as the adventure that it is supposed to be.

A phone tale

Both Maddie and Charlie have been using the oldest cell phones we have because they have broken their original phones; then broken the second rate phones they replaced those with, and then were using ones that wouldn't even stay on long enough to place a call. Peter had also ruined his phone months ago and was also using a vintage model.

But we were plum out of old phones, and Charlie was chomping at the bit to find out when we could get new ones. There is a new Verizon store that opened in town, and he went in to find out if we were eligible for upgrades.

And so we were.

Now, I told about all those people, but me? My phone was fine. It was still holding a charge for at least a week without plugging it in; it worked like a charm and I liked it. (But alas, you notice I am speaking in the past tense, because yes, I traded in a dependable model for a new one.)

Thank heavens we don't treat family members like we do cell phones! Yeah, this husband has been faithful, kind and does his job, but I want a new one. You know, just because I do.

My old phone is an Envy ... three? Seriously, I am not all hip on names, but I got it two years ago and I have loved it. And I assumed that I would get the new version of the Envy for all of those reasons. But when I was looking at it on the wall, I realized not only was it the very same color, but other than the front screen being a teeny bit larger, it was exactly the same. What was the point of getting exactly the same thing?

(The thought of NOT getting a phone never occurred to me because I have been on the other side of happy with my phone and it was hell getting to the date where I could get a new one. So ... since I had to sit through the long process of renewing a contract, I was only doing it once. The old phone is stored away and I am sure someone in this family will be using it one day. Hopefully later than sooner.)

But what to get? I really didn't care about having Internet, but the ones I was interested in all required a monthly service plan. I debated for a bit to just go with the not-so-fun phones they have without it, but no. I was completely swept up in the "gotta have a really cool phone just like everyone else does" in no time. Hallie wants the Droid, and I checked that out -- but it's expensive and while she says she wants a "fun phone," I really don't care. That is until I got a fun phone!

Charlie and I both went with the above, which is a Samsung Reality. (Who comes up with these names? The same people who name crayons?) It has a touch screen and I really, really, really like that. It makes answering calls so easy, and has all these features (such as when the phone rings, it has options like ANSWER, ANSWER AND SEND TEXT THAT YOU WILL GET BACK TO THEM (that seems long, must be something shorter!) and QUIET and well, a whole list. And all I have to do is touch one quickly and the phone stops ringing. Love it!

And the stupid Internet thing ... oh no, I don't need it. When the guy handed us all our phones, we entered the phone zone within seconds. He laughed and said "I guess you're all happy with your phones I see!" All of us were completely engaged at staring at the little screens and seeing what we could do with them.

So silly.

And of course for the next hour or so we paid no attention to the beautiful sunny day sitting on the dock, but instead played with our phones and set up wallpaper, ring tones, settings and so on. Like I said, so silly! I still don't know why I have three screens, something about widgets, but I lost interest after hours of playing. And seriously, my eyes are kaflooey from reading emails out of my palm. I do NOT need to read anything that badly where I can't wait to get to my enormous screen and read the words without squinting!

With that all said, I am human and enjoy a new toy as much as the next person! But we were on the dock the next day, and Peter put his phone on the bench in front of him. As we all stood up to leave, we heard this unGAWDLY shriek come out of his mouth, and the next thing you know he is stripping his clothes off. Yes, stripping them off! He got down to his undies and jumped in the water.

Oh no, I said to the kids, did he drop his phone in the water?

Sure enough, he did.

You know, he lectures us all on how we need to take care of our phones, and he's not going to replace ANY of them, blah blah blah blah blah. And the second day his goes into the drink?

But here's the other thing. He got the phone called "The Rock," which is water proof and supposedly so rugged you can drive over it with a truck. Well, he's tested the waterproof thing -- and it never stopped working.

I'll let you know what happens after he drives over it with his truck!

Ahhhh, how I love pictures

My history with photography pretty much begins with the birth of Hallie, my first child. While pregnant I realized that I didn't have a camera. As I went through my mental check list of all things necessary to birth a baby (and bring one home) I realized that this whole new adventure could not begin without something to catalog it.

So, I climbed in my car and drove to the local camera store, walked in and said I needed a good camera. This was a long time ago and choices were not any where near as extensive as they are today. But there upon the wall were all sorts of cameras. How good, I was asked? Was I using it professionally, or personally?

I explained that while it was going to be a hobby camera, I was very much interested in quality. I had watched how the Polaroids my father had taken of us kids had dimmed with age, and my desire to provide my own child with a photo album of her childhood existed quite strongly because there was no such catalog of my own. (Boo hoo, I know!)

So my first camera was pretty impressive -- a Pentax something or other, and I walked out of the store with a regular and a telephoto lense, and once I started taking pictures for work, at the newspaper, I of course needed a wide-angle lense and an assortment of gels. And I took a LOT of pictures. Mostly of Hallie in the beginning, but then I branched out and started to discover how much fun taking pictures was. I found cost-cutting measures by sending my enlargements to this company via mail -- and I still have a lot of envelopes around with 8 X 10's in them I never used. My walls were covered in pictures (and still are).

Maddie wanted to see if the camera could catch water in the air. I would say, since this was my first shot, that indeed it does.

As the years went on and digital photography began its infancy, I was right there. I remember scorning my clunky Pentax for the digital camera I had purchased through the newspaper. Oh, the thought of not having to rush to the 1-hour photo store to have prints developed quickly so they could get into the next issue. What joy to pop out a floppy disk from the camera and insert that into the computer and receive instant gratification! I was hooked. And digital photography went from the crazy, slow Model T's to what there is today fairly quickly. So quickly, it was hard to buy a new camera for as soon as you did, a better model (for the same price) came out weeks later. And then with software and the ability to print your own prints -- Oh, it was so incredible. But then I just got sick of carrying around a heavy camera. And since the point and shoots were getting better all the time, I decided to get one.

I am pretty sure that I have done a blog on my journey with small, digital, point-and-shoot cameras. Because I have had a boatload of them. And when I called to complain that my like third camera had died, I was asked how frequently I used it. When I said daily, the person freaked and said that those cameras were not made for that kind of use! They were made for "going to Disney for a week then going back into a drawer until next year," type use.

Oh. Well, I didn't know. I didn't know that everyone didn't take a lot of pictures, sort of kind of everyday. So when my latest, not-that-expensive camera had a flash that died, I figured it was time to get back to "real" photography. No more easy peasy point and shoot. It is time to get

back to settings and gels and multiple serious lenses. And OHMYGOD what a difference. I had no idea what I was giving up in quality with those other cameras. NO IDEA! I'd let all this technology get ahead of me (there was quite a span where "good" cameras did not come digital, and once you even taste digital, it is not even possible to go back to film!) So for my birthday I got a camera, and I am loving every minute of it. Oh the clarity! The pictures that I have taken, for the most part, were taken on Lake Sunapee on Sunday, when the wildfire smoke from Canada had blown in. It seems as though it is hazy out, but it is really smoke.

As I rode in the boat, I became obsessed with the beauty of the wake splashing up in the sunlight. I attempted to capture it, and didn't, really, but sometimes it is just fun to experiment. We drove around the lake and I took a bunch of pictures of Peter's projects, and I felt like paparazzi with my long lense attached to my eyeball!

The first night I had the camera I was delivered a most amazing sunset from the universe.

I of course took like a 100, but these are quite representative of it.

I will say this -- Blogger sucks when dealing with pictures. I am thinking I might look around for something else to use, because I get SO frustrated. Like right now I can't get past this bottom picture. The text just WILL NOT go there. I have another picture to get in, but it won't let me. This is why I rarely blog with pictures, because it is such a bitch. I go to blogs that have loads of pictures and think wow, how can they deal with so many. Obviously it must be easier.

How did I get by it? By moving the picture. What a waste of time!

I end with my final photo, one I call "Summer."