Summer fun, past and present

I just entered She Does the City's contest to win a Fuji FinePix XP20, which is essentially a really souped up version of my current camera. It takes videos with sound. Imagine the possibilities!

To enter, all you had to do was send them a picture of "Summer." Since you could send in more than one photo, and I am nothing if not dedicated to overkill, I did, and I thought I'd share my entries with you.

This was taken at The Beach(es). She seemed so peaceful and I thought, what a lovely way to spend the morning. Then I walked by her and realized she'd been yammering on her phone the whole time.

This was taken at the Beaches Jazzfest by the Big Band stage. When the weather gets warmer, we lindy hoppers will take any opportunity to dance in public. This time they provided a dance floor.

The next three photos are of much poorer quality, because they are scans of actual photographs. You see children, back before there were digital cameras, or at least before I had a digital camera (which wasn't that long ago in point of fact), I had several fairly crappy 35-mm cameras and of course, I couldn't tell what the photos looked like until they back from the store. It was always a bit of a crapshoot whether they'd come out, and I didn't want to waste film taking tonnes of pictures like I do now. I think these are not too bad, but I pointed out to the contest people that clearly I need a new camera. Of course, maybe I just need a better scanner...

Anyway.

This was taken the one and only time I've been white water rafting. We were on the Ottawa River. There are some very funny shots of me flying out of the raft into the river. This isn't one of them.

This was taken in Waterloo (or possibly Kitchener) at Chris's birthday picnic. I just love the dedication. You don't. let. the ring. drop.

Eric lives in Seattle, but he always comes back to his cottage on Lake Huron a couple of weeks every year, and he invites his friends to come stay for a few days. The directions to the cottage include "at Amberley, turn left. Stop for ice cream." So we always do.

The variety store/ice cream shop has a bit of a kitschy vibe to it. One year, I ordered a single scoop of ... I think that's mango ... something fruity, anyway ... and Brian and I got a bit distracted by the signs that said "Unattended children will be given an espresso and a puppy" and so forth, so we poked around the store a bit, getting giddier and giddier. After a while, I realized the kid behind the counter was taking a really long time to make my ice cream. I turned and saw why: he had spent about 10 minutes piling ice cream onto that enormous "single" scoop. It was practically the size of my head! Brian and I lost it.

The best part? It only cost $1.75.*

So there are my pictures of summer. Wish me luck!

*Ahem. Yes, it was a rather long time ago. In the last millenium, I believe. I keep thinking of a quote from Angel where the 200-year-old vampire says he can remember when a few bob got you a good meal, a bottle and a tavern wench: "I'm not cheap, I'm just old."