Nine Lives

Our war on clutter concluded this weekend with the dreaded guest bedroom.  The (thankfully) enormous closet busted at the seams with outdoor gear, old books, unfinished projects, a desktop computer and much more.  We pulled out every box, emptied and refilled, made trash piles and new thrift store piles and purposefully organized the contents back into their (now spacious) home. 

During the process, I came across the Nikon camera I received for Christmas many years ago.  So long ago that 3.2 megapixels was nice.  I remembered that it does not turn on anymore and the SD card is stuck.  I tossed it into the "would anyone want this for parts?" pile and went about my work.

Eric got the SD card out and turned the camera on.  What?!

This camera has nine lives.

During a backpacking trip with our dear friends, Sam and Rebecca, I took one picture and then dropped it in the sand on the bank of the creek.  It was toast.  Eric's dad took it apart and it functioned perfectly.

Then, Eric borrowed it on a trip to North Carolina with his friend, Wes.  Ice tools in hand, they climbed a 250' frozen waterfall on Whiteside Mountain.  Once at the top, Wes dropped the camera.  In slow motion, it fell all the way down and lodged itself in a deep mound of snow.  Eric rescued it, set it in front of the car heater on the drive home and it thawed out nicely. (Below are a few amazing pictures from their trip, including the mountainside the camera was dropped from).

See?  Nine lives.  I'm so excited, though, because it made for such a nice segue into my next goal for 2011.

Goal Number 2: Take more pictures - bring a camera along!

We now have Eric's Canon, my Nikon and my new Polaroid Instant Camera.  No excuses.  This year, we are making memories and taking note of them. 

Please share - what are some of your goals for the new year?