Gritty Old Gal

Day 159: There are days when, for old times' sake, I would love to thread some Ilford black-and-white film into this true-and-trusted piece of purely mechanical technology and take her out for a climb or a hike, or even just for a walk in the woods when the wildflowers start to open their bright eyes in the dark, shady corners. I pick her up and the memories of summits flood my mind: Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. Shasta; I recall the Wonderland Trail and how she malfunctioned and froze up, reluctant to wink her shutter at 7800' on the third day in, and how I sat down on a rock with her on my knee to disassemble her, piece by piece, using a screwdriver meant for eyeglasses and a Swiss Army knife. After I'd shaken the sand out of her mechanisms, I gave her a couple of good hard whacks, put her back together, whereupon she performed admirably for many more years to follow.

She is to date fully functional, but has been supplanted by an upstart digital which will probably never take as many photos as she did in her years. Let's see...this is the fifth or sixth digital I've had since I put her to bed on the shelf. She's older than all their ages combined.

Yes, I should light the fire in her heart again, take her for a stroll down Memory Lane, wine-and-dine her with Ilford monochrome with some Fujicolor for dessert. Your first true love is one you'll never forget, and this gritty old gal was mine.