10.29.2009

Life's Perpetual Slideshow


I had a scary dream the other night. The kind you wake up from with a lump in your throat and knot in the pit of your stomach. I hate those. This one centered around an irreparable crack in the lens of my camera, making it impossible for me to take a photograph without a jagged line severing the frame of each shot. I found it heartbreaking. And scary. Once I was able to regain consciousness and gather myself from the uneasy dream, I rumbled out of bed and briskly padded down the hall, into the dining room, and to the table where my camera sat. Panicked, I quickly drew the camera to my eye and peered through the viewfinder, only to be overjoyed when a jagged line did not appear (insert giant-sigh-of-relief here.) Just to make sure, I went ahead and scanned through the memory card and was delighted to find the following memories come flooding back at me:


LaLa's 1st time overcoming her fear of stairs...sort of


My husband's latest ink additions


The "iron-grilled" road-trip snack purchased only so that I may have access to a public restroom while on the road without a rest area in sight


Celebrating our friend Kyle's birthday, LRBC styles (made complete w/ pumpkin whoopie pie)


My new (to me) bike all shined up 'n purrrty before the rains hit


as well as my beloved Jeep Eleanor's final hurrah and our touching last goodbye in the driveway, courtesy of our local AAA


It may sound silly to you, to have a nightmare about breaking something so replaceable as a camera but I assure you, losing my ability to take photographs, if even for a second, would absolutely destroy me. While the last five years have afforded quite the love affair with this whole point 'n shoot gig, over the last year my camera has been etched into my hip, becoming nothing short of a lifeline. Forget about that silly love affair. We've now moved on to a full-blown life commitment.

By now my camera is my: beloved pet, memory bank, translator, outlet, instrument, voice, scribe, compass, and my internal plug-in; that which allows me to connect and disconnect to the living world on a given whim.

In short, losing the ability to capture life's moments would mean losing all of the silly, sentimental, outrageous, and delicious things that make our life ours.

What have you captured in your life lately?

8 comments:

angesinclair said...

Man, I have that same white grand cherokee ('98?) and I can tell it's slowly dying. New strange noises and parts falling off all the time. Nothing fatal yet, just non-essentials like door locks and the liftgate lifter... but RIP to your car. I'm sure mine isn't far behind.

kati said...

i wouldn't know what to do without my camera, either... i understand.

and that whoopie pie looks delicious and that pup is adorable :)

Anonymous said...

Ali, You are an amazing writer. Thank you. Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

Ali, I enjoy your blog so much, both writing and pictures. Today's blog touched me... Nothing is permanent, we need to capture each moment like you see through your camera and appreciate.

Chi
P.S. By the way, I'm looking forward to trying El Rudy Fernandez sometime soon:-)

Unknown said...

Happy Halloween LRBC!!! We´ll see if Chile is ready for duct-tape man!

Anonymous said...

New car is great. I hope you aren't 'mat' at us for butting in once again. We promise we'll be good for now on. (Ok, maybe not)

Anonymous said...

Hi Guys,
I am reading from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I am interested in opening my own cafe here and have come across quite a bit of opposition from family. I found your blog while looking for info on opening a cafe and have fallen in love with both the LRBC and you guys too. I have now read most of the 2007 posts and am still reading. Do you have any advice for me or anything that you wish you knew before starting on this venture?

Thanks! Shannon

Ali and Evan said...

angesinclair,
Our beloved Jeep, Eleanor, has been good to us for some time. In spite of her incomparably horrible gas mileage, she was as dependable as can be during the time we got to know her. Please know that Eleanor was a '93 Jeep Grand Cherokee, so hopefully that means your has a few good years left.

Kati,
Though it is a tough call, we value the puppy's adorableness over the deliciousness of the whoopie pie.

Anon,
Thank you.

Anon #2 aka Chi,
Did you catch Rudy vs. Denver last Thurs.? Too bad it wasn't enough to seal a Blazer win. That said, you can get a taste of Rudy all season long at LRBC.

Todd,
Harvest time here in the PNW! Wish we could all forage mushrooms together, especially with Duct Tape man.

Anon #3 aka Dad,
You're good with puns.

Anon #4 aka Shannon,
Please email us @ littleredbikecafe@gmail.com. We would love to get in touch with you about our past experiences and lessons learned.

Thanks ya'll for being so vocal. We enjoy the interaction.