Candid Camera

I wish I could paint but I'm dismal at it...I have to use the paint-by-numbers in order for anything to remotely represent something recognizable. Beauty is in my soul but it sure is hard to get it out of me.

I watch musicals because I love to see graceful people dance, but me...I have two left feet. Gene Kelly can belt out, "Gotta dance!" and my feet starts tapping to the rhythm but that's as far as it goes. I can sing a little (on key too!) but after years of playing guitar with my small chubby fingers, I can only manage about fifteen chords so my repertoire is very limited.

How can I express what is inside of me? I searched and tried and failed and finally found something that captured what I wanted to say...yes, by Jove...you've got it! Just point and click! Thank God for the camera.

Now I can't match Steinbeck's Travels With Charley but I've had my own adventures with my Minolta.

Setting: Yosemite Valley
Year: a dozen years ago maybe
My age: none of your business
My weight: definitely classified
Literary type: non-fiction with just a tint of literary license
Time: an hour before sunset

Let me set the scene for you: I am standing in a verdant meadow with my zoom lens and eye fixed on Bridal Veil Falls. I am focused on one thing...capturing beauty, nothing else matters at the moment. My friend is standing by my side watching me take the picture and begins to move a healthy distance away.

friend: "Um, Helen, I hate to disturb you but you are about a foot away from a hornet's nest."
I made no comment and kept on clicking. Her voice rises in urgency as she ponders whether I am deaf as well as blind.
friend: "Did you hear what I said?"
me: "Yes" (I am still looking through the view finder and clicking away)
friend: "Don't you care?"
me: "I'll care right after I get this shot."
Silence reigns--my friend is musing whether I am insane too.
me: "Is the hornet's nest to the right or left of me?" I asked not bothering to glance around: I'm still glued to my Minolta.
friend: "It is to the left of your left foot."
me: "Good, I'll make sure not to move there."

Now I hear the buzzing sounds...four more shots and my roll is finished. Now I raise my head and notice my surroundings. Sure enough the hornet's nest was right there and the little buggers didn't seem too happy with me. For five minutes I was rooted to the spot like Mount Rushmore and now I high-tailed it like greased lightning.

Was I so cruel as to leave my friend behind? No way--she was the runner and I was weighted down with a ten pound camera case.

What was the happy outcome? Well, I captured the shots I wanted and my friend who thought I had totally lost my mind became fascinated with photography. She is now a first rate photographer. Isn't amazing what God will use to grab people's attention?