Camera Scare

Today was a very relaxing day off.  I got to sleep in, watch some movies, do some laundry and take a walk with my dog and my fiance.  It was a nice day, but I did have a small worry in the morning.  The dog was being silly and insisted on laying on the kitchen rug while my fiance was doing the dishes.  The 130lbs dog had wedged himself into a place that he did not fit into.  I grabbed my camera to take a picture and the batteries were dead.  I usually get a little more warning than that and I thought it was strange, but I went to the junk drawer and found four more batteries.  When I loaded the new batteries, the camera would turn on but not take photos.  It was still telling me that the batteries were low.  I was horrified at the thought of my camera being broken.  We decided to leave for our walk and I brought my cell phone in case I wanted to take photos.  I was hoping the walk would keep my mind off of my camera for a little while.
We had a nice walk into the park and along a section of one of the nature trails.  We walked by a few other people and Dozer didn't slobber on anyone.  I was relieved that no one was too nervous around him.  Sometimes people don't react well to meeting such a big dog.  He did see a Gopher Tortoise that he wanted to chase, but there were plenty of other distractions to keep his dog-brain busy.  We had a water bottle with us for our use and we poured some into our hands for Dozer.  He decided to just drink straight from the bottle, so he got to finish it... we were done.  When we got near the ranger station again, we stopped at a faucet with a water bowl under it.  It is specifically there for dog watering.  I knew that Dozer would rather drink from the faucet than from the bowl, but I had to laugh when he laid down on the ground to do so.  The faucet is close to the ground.  I wasn't fast enough to get a picture, but I will be ready next time.
On our walk we saw several of the same type of shrub or tree.  They were just sprouting new leaves and each stem of leaves had pink, fleshy petals curled back at its base.  I wasn't able to find an identity, but they were very unique. 


The cell phone photos are not very crisp, but I like the fogginess in the photo below.  It makes my day off look so dreamy.


When we returned from our walk, we decided to go out and buy some new batteries.  It was possible that the batteries bouncing around in the junk drawer were not in their best condition.  Thankfully, the new batteries did the trick and my camera is just fine now.  What a relief!!  I will have to find some beautiful things to photograph tomorrow.

Thought of the Day #65
It occurred to me today that I take my camera for granted.   It has become so easy for me to shoot and share everything that I see.  My cell phone is not quite good enough to be my regular camera, and I just wouldn't be able to afford to post photos at this pace if I went back to one of my old 35mm film cameras.  One-hour photo processing would make it possible, but it would take so much more work and money for processing.  I am grateful for my digital camera and quick file transfer to the computer.  I'm glad its not broken.