A Couple of Updates

Irma; my hen that I had hoped to bring here to live with me in my apartment, is gone. I believe she isn't alive any more. The day I asked for her, she supposedly went missing and was never seen again, according to x. I don't want to write more about it, I have my suspicions and it's too upsetting to think about. I just wanted to tie that loose end in the story for anyone who was wondering.

My night at the photography club went very well. I took the bus early into Comox. The bus driver stopped as near she could to the church, and pointed to a yellow building at the far end of a marsh. "That's where you want to go." she said. I got off the bus and began making my way through the marsh. It was raining slightly, and blustery - the wind alternated between blowing my umbrella inside out, and collapsing it down over my head. Finally I folded it, and stuck it under my arm.

I'd brought my camera (of course. I never seriously considered leaving it at home). I took several photographs of the marsh before turning back the way I'd come and trying an easier path. I found a small housing developement, and took several of its roads that ended up in dead ends with signs warning of guard dogs. I turned back, tried other roads, I found myself in a pretty little area with shoulder high trees and paths crisscrossing through. Here I came upon a group of abandoned shacks that looked like chicken coops. One of them had a modern woodstove, and cookstove in it, so obviously it had been someone's home at one time. I stepped inside and took photographs.

I continued along the path, and then suddenly, I looked up and realised I had arrived at the church! It was closed, but I was nearly two hours early for the club meeting, so I decided to sit outside the door and hope I was in the right place, and that I hadn't misunderstood the day and time.... I had a smoke or two, crouching there against the wall, listening to the far off barking of dogs, and then I decided to take some photographs of myself. I didn't have my tripod with me, so I simply held the camera at arm's length and pressed the shutter. My camera has a cool feature - I can open the lcd screen and swivel it, so that when the camera is aimed at myself, I can see myself on the screen, and get the angle right. I took a dozen shots at various angles, with the wall as background, and others of the cutout cross behind me. I was aiming for a 'homeless woman outside a church' effect. They turned out quite well.

Finally the club members began to arrive. They were very welcoming and friendly, and happy to see a new face in the group. There were about 20 or so people, I'm told there are sometimes more, sometimes less. They go on field trips quite often, some for which we have to pay, since they involve going out on boats, others that are free. We had a guest speaker who gave a lot of great information on photoshop. I took a lot of notes. During the break, the leader of the club, who happens to own a camera store, saw my camera as I was showing it to another member, and came rushing over. "If I could recommend any camera to my customers," he told me "I would recommend the Canon G5." (that's my camera). He couldn't say enough good things about my camera!

I'm happy to say I didn't have to walk home. I got up the nerve to ask if anyone was going my direction, and one woman offered me a ride. Over the course of the evening, several others came up to me to ensure that I'd found a way home, it was really nice to have these total strangers show such concern about my safety!

Which reminds me to say 'thanks' to the people who commented here in my blog on that point. And to another friend who emailed me with urgings to get myself some bear spray for my protection from predators human and animal alike. It's a nice feeling to have people show they care.