Tuesday, January 25, 2005

The Lens Cap Caper

I spent the better part of my day taking pictures in order to consume the roll already in my camera and make room for another roll of slide film I need for my Cinematography class. Of course, w/o suitable and/or willing persons to shoot, I went up 'round the mountains looking for some lofty perch and/or natural, hence beautiful setting. This, of course, is winter, so I was more or less halted by the bare spindle-trees and yellow grass, which in a way may be considered lovely but not for my purposes. I did, however, stop behind the temple and snap what will most likely turn out to be silhouettes of the Moroni capstone on the Provo temple. Some poor college girl taking a brisk walk gave me a nervous look; whenever I'm in public w/ a camera people get skittish. No, I don't want to take a photo of YOU. Not that I'd mind, of course, but I was attempting to get into a mode preparatory for the assignment, which precludes photographing people, at least this time. So I'm reduced to snapping picturesque architecture and nature scenes, though there's no dearth of those if I look hard enough.

Anyway, as I was taking photos I put my camera case down as well as the lens cap, all the while worrying I'd forget to pick them up as I was leaving. So I packed up after taking what shots I thought were worthwhile and jaunted down to campus to see what other photos I could take. I managed to finish the roll, though too late to really take many photos for the class roll. I couldn't find my lens cap, and with some frustration contemplated the debris circling my bed, my cluttered desktop, and the backseat of my car. It was lost to the gremlin-ruled oblivion of my memory. Lacking any means to locate the cap I went to grab a bite at Bajio's.

(By the way, Bajio's is a crude copy of its former residence; it used to be Q'doba's, and the burrito wraps were much better in those days ---(there was lime and cilantro in the rice blend)... now it's really as plain jane as I consider Cafe Rio to be... Not that I'm as proficient a gourmand as people w/ greater financial means, mind you.)

Just as I sat down to eat the goodies in my apartment, I realized that I may have actually left the lens cap behind the temple. So I left my food sitting on the couch, vaguely nervous that according to some sit-com turn of events a roommate would return and eat it in my place or sit on it .. . well, you get the picture.

Suffice it to say that my search at the temple was as hurried as it was nigh impossible. The sun had already rested on its haunches next to the horizon by now, or at least as far as one could discern through the cloud cover. I could barely tell what color the grass was, let alone if a lens cap was hunkered down in the grass. Scooting a dark spot around with my shoe I descried a shuffle of particles and a consistency that was familiar in my younger days: dog "stuff," feces, excrement... ick. Naturally I decided on a less direct examination of the mottled spots. Despite some 10 or 15 minutes of searching, with my skeletal fingers stiff w/ the cold, I could see nothing resembling my lens cap.

Why the effort? My camera was given to me by my father, and, given that the bond between us is slim (at least in my opinion) through no fault but my own, I hold on to what pieces of family I can. It's silly; I know.

I came home, and thankfully though my roommates entered just before I did my momentary nightmares were not realized. Also, as is the irony w/ my lost items, and I'm guessing others' also, I found the lens cap resting in a box in my room, along w/ other camera accoutrements. I had done some attempted cleaning of my 135 lens earlier and forgotten all about the lens cap. Guffaw. Chortle. Phooey. :)

1 comment:

  1. You kidding?! You're like the busiest woman in Canada. I don't care if I get run over by ferocious monkeys... My days are a breeze...

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