Monday, July 29, 2013

What Were We Waiting For?



Six years ago, after our Instamatic died, the Tree Hugger and I received a "Kodak Easy Share Zoom Digital Camera" for Christmas from our children. Procrastinators that we are, we never got around to trying it out until March 10, 2008, when we were en route to the Greater Baltimore Medical Center for the birth of our second grandson. Opening the box in the car, I found that we now had a camera with multiple buttons, a dial showing tiny pictures and the letters P, A, S and M, a lens that extended itself without being asked, a shiny circle with "OK" in the middle of it, surrounded by 4 arrows, and a window with mysterious symbols along the edge. This was no Instamatic. Thoroughly intimidated, I returned the camera to its box. We left it in the car when we got to the hospital.

The baby is now 5. We tried taking a few pictures in the years since his birth. Most turned out all right, because we used the camera only in its "Point-and-Shoot" mode.Yesterday, I finally said, "Enough." I sat down with the camera in one hand and the booklet in the other. I soon found out that the camera comes with an "optical zoom," allowing you to take close-ups merely by pressing the telephoto button. Our backyard Joe Pye Weed was full of butterflies, so I went out and took about a dozen pictures. Although most were no good, I came back in with one  "keeper"  and 15 mosquito bites. 

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Didn't It Rain, Children!

Ohio Haiku

Rainy nights and days
A green corn-forest so dense
Deer can hide in there.