R.I.P. Kodak Camera

It was coming and I knew it. The LCD went black two weeks ago, the shutter button was sticking, and the on/off switch was worn and loose. I put it through the ringer but didn’t mean to kill it in twenty months. Averaging thirty photos a day, sometimes one hundred or only five, it’s no wonder my Kodak EasyShare died on Saturday evening after I bumped it on an outside deck end table.

“Michael, my camera died. Did you hear me?”

No response. He needed to process the real meaning of what I said and what it meant to him… dreading the moody woman fretting about her best friend, right arm...whatever.

“Do you understand what I’m saying here? What would you do without your four sets of golf clubs, huh? Huh? Huh?”

I didn’t tell him I bumped it.

I’ve bumped it before and thought nothing of it until I snapped a hummingbird and saw this in the preview,

Shocked. I sank into my chair and mumbled,

“Oh, f u u u u u dge.”

Held Kodak to my ear, gently shook it, and heard a tiny rattle somewhere inside…

“Oh, f u u u u u dge. It's busted.”

That hummingbird photo should have looked like this.

My wild internet search for a new camera began that night. After all, the new class of police cadets started this week, there’s another brood of baby bluebirds on campus, my dogs expect to be photographed, and the birds… A hummingbird extravaganza is in full swing here and I believe I might be the only bird lady within a quarter mile that offers fresh nectar.

Always on guard for invaders.

Photos of them swarming on the gigantic water hibiscus need to be taken



and photos of finches on the pond.

I ordered a new and different camera that I’ll have in a week. Is it the right choice for me? I certainly hope so!

In honor of that small and mighty little camera that wowed me often, these are the last two photos taken - a few minutes before the unfortunate bump.

You might wonder if I cried. Oh yes, I have - it’s been one heck of a summer and I didn’t need another drama. Those who habitually wear wristwatches and forget to wear it one day keep glancing at a bare wrist. Same here. I’m missing it a hundred times a day.

I’ll fess up here. It wasn’t a small bump on a deck end table. It was my short swing of the camera by the strap to the edge of the table, crack, and a two-foot drop to the floor of the deck, plunk. Ouch. That’s what could happen when you watch your dog chase a bunny instead of being careful with your camera. ;-)