Digital Cameras

So, I don't know how many of you have made the plunge and bought a digital camera, but my husband decided I was borrowing his too much, so I got one as a Christmas present a couple of years ago. The problem with digital cameras is that since you don't always pay to print the pictures, you keep taking the same picture over and over, trying to get it just right. This is probably my fourth rendition of this picture at the botanical gardens in Atlanta, and I still haven't gotten what I want from it. It gets a little frustrating. If you had to pay for the prints, you take it once, figure out you don't know what you are doing, and give up. This digital business means you try again, and again to try to get it just the way you want. The bottom line is you start thinking you are a "photographer" instead of a picture taker. I need to realize, I take pictures to capture a memory, not sell a picture. I need to learn to take what I get and be happy, it was the memory at the moment. And, unless you are Ansel Adams or some other famous photographer, who invests tons more time, effort, and equipment into the process-who would want it other than me anyway. So for those of us still trying to capture that one magic moment on film or digital, keep trying, the great thing is you can hit delete and try again, or until they close the gates and run you out.
 

Ghost stories:

Do you believe in ghosts? I have had several ghost encounters over my life, but the strangest of them all happened just recently in my house. We had always had that fleeting glimps of something just out of site that would move around in the living room, but had never really thought anything about it until my daughter came and told us of her encounter with a ghost cat. I had never heard of animal ghosts, but a little research showed that it is more common than one would imagine. Well, the gist of her story was that she was lying on the couch with her face to the back of the couch (she has migraines), when this ghost cat jumped up on the couch, she could feel it walking, and then heard a sick sounding purr close to her ear. She was so scared, she couldn't move anything. It then jumped up to the back of the couch, and disappeared. She was really freaked by it. I didn't think that much about it until one night I was babysitting for her and was lying on her bed when I felt something jump up on the bed, and I could hear a breathing sound. I had read that one thing you could do to get rid of ghost animals is to tell them to leave, so I told it in a loud whisper (didn't want to wake the kiddos) that it was not wanted at our house and that it should leave. As I told it to leave, the curtains moved, and we haven't seen it since. Strange stuff.
(if you are ever interested in hearing my other ghost stories, just let me know)

Cars
It's funny how cars work in my family. It seems like we trade them down through the family until finally somebody does it in. My parents gave me their 1968 volkswagon way back when, which I drove forever--not even sure what happened to that one. My parents gave me their old white ford aerostar-extended, which my husband drove to work until we gave it to my son, who took it and wrecked it. My oldest son got a car that he sold to my daughter who sold it to my youngest son for babysitting. I gave my son my suzuki sidekick, which he tore up and then finally sold, and now I'm giving him my suzuki esteem, but I'm already mourning it. It's been a great little car, and even though I wouldn't want to be in an accident with it, it has gotten me to and from work for the last 3 years. But, he needs a car, and I'd rather him not have to go into debt to buy a car, make payments, etc. Funny how we can get so attached to inanimate objects like cars. I never gave my car a name, but I've tried to keep it clean, and take relatively good care of it. The other part of giving away a car is trying to find one to replace it. Looking for good used cars is harder than finding a good man. Either way, they usually tell you lots of lies about how they run, and they try to cover up their imperfections. However, once you find a good used car, you can usually get a few good years out of them. That's not always the way with a man. (not me, I've got a good one and he's been running well for the past 12 years, but I hear stories. I lucked out when I met my present husband, I met all of his family, and when I saw how much they wanted to keep him for themselves, I figured he must be worth something. So Happy Sunday.