SOTC 102/365

Bug on a a Button, a photo on Flickr by Gina Blank.

SOTC 101/365

Fiddle in the Evening Sun, a photo on Flickr by Gina Blank

SOTC 100/365

"A flower's appeal is in its contradictions — so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect."

-- Terri Guillemets

SOTC 99/365

The Old Window, a photo on Flickr by Gina Blank

SOTC 98/365

Under the Hammock, a photo on Flickr by Gina Blank

SOTC 97/365

Pretty Little Trio, a photo on Flickr by Gina Blank

Cameras Don't Bounce

It was in my hands; then it was on the ground.

I couldn't even tell you exactly what happened, it was so quick. I had removed it from around my shoulders so that I could get a low-down shot of a pink-and-yellow tulip I particularly admired (a shot that never worked out, by the way). When I stood up--maybe I stepped on the edge of the dangling strap. Maybe someone else did. Maybe I bumped into something.

The next thing that registers in my brain is the simultaneous whack of camera against concrete, and the crunch of breaking glass. There is a split-second where a few people in the immediate area turn towards the noise, and join my friend and I as we, quite audibly, gasp. In the next split-second, the crowd has assessed the irrelevance of the event to their own lives, and has turned its attention back to previous affairs, while I have scooped the camera up off the ground and am moving to a less crowded area so I can assess the damage.

I turn the camera off and on; it still works. Miraculously--I don't remember doing this--the live-view screen has been folded inwards, so it is completely intact. I gently shake the camera back and forth. It seems there are no rattling pieces inside; a good sign.*

I inspect my 18-135mm IS lens. Certainly not my most expensive, but not my cheapest either. And currently my favourite. The UV filter I place on all my lenses to protect them is completely broken. I carefully remove the few broken bits of glass from around the edges. The metal ring that screws into the lens itself is bent, and therefore jammed. I cannot pry it off the lens, nor can I attach anything to it (other filters, the lens cap). The plastic rim of the lens is chipped in a couple small places. But as I twist the lens to zoom in, out, and take a couple test shots, it looks as if that may be the worst of it.

My camera works. The lens works. Neither are broken (nor likely even compromised, what with a little work once I get home to pry the ring off the lens).

"Oh, my God, thank You!" I literally shout towards the sky.

Suddenly, I am in awe of much more than the tulips I came for in the first place.

* that being said, some tiny part rattled around inside my old dSLR for years without compromising its function.

Spring is Finally Here (SOTC 96/365)

We have waited forEVer for Spring this year. Days fluctuating between sun and snow. It has made for very sporadic attempts to get my hands in the dirt and work the garden. I put out the hammock stand last week, and then never got to put out the hammock. I frantically sowed the vegetables on a warm day, and finally got the flowers in the ground this afternoon.

But I have been watching the perennials carefully. The tulips poked their way through the ground at the end of March, right on time. They started to bud last week, right on time. And while several are a bit stunted in their height this year, over the last day or two, they have also started to bloom… right on time.

SOTC 95/365

Heading up the Hill, a photo on Flickr by Gina Blank.