Gumballs

Wednesday morning found us packing our bags and leaving Lancaster to come home. We had considered a number of other activities, such as shopping at some of the local outlets. But it was pouring down rain, and we all agreed we would just like to go home. And so we did.

But before we left, I snapped a few pictures: the pair of Canada geese that had been hanging around outside our hotel room windows with their five adorable, fuzzy goslings; the swimming pool that had served as our private pool after dinner out the night before; the pool tables and arcade games near the lobby.

The gumball machine was out of order (sorry, you no can has gumballs!), but I liked the way the colorful gumballs looked. So I snapped a few photos from various angles, and in the end, I selected this as my picture of the day for this day.

A sidebar about the camera: since I knew that I wouldn't have much time for photography on this trip, and since I knew that the weather would be less than conducive to any outdoor wanderings, I left my Canon SX 50 HS that I use every day at home, and instead took along the first digital camera I ever bought: the smaller Canon PowerShot SX 120 IS. It is a fine small, portable, entry-level digital camera, the camera that hooked me on digital photography. (Warning: one camera just leads to another. It's a gateway thing. Yes, consider yourselves warned!) So I used the SX 120 for my Blip photos for both Tuesday (Moses) and Wednesday.

But I have to admit that after enjoying my SX 50, with its super zoom and many additional features, I found the smaller camera a bit lacking in some departments. Most notably in the zooming area. When my husband stood by the windows of our hotel room and gestured for me to come quickly to see the goslings, and then we went out onto the balcony for a closer look, I have to tell you I really missed that zoom.

My husband said to me later, "I kept wondering why you wouldn't just super-zoom in on the ducklings!" And I replied, "Well, this camera doesn't DO super-zoom! And besides, those were GOSlings!"

The little camera's great for food photos, by the way; it's not so obvious as my bigger camera, and when I whip it out to photograph my latest culinary delight, I get fewer funny looks from those sitting nearby. Yes, I love food. Yes, I love to take pictures of food. I could quite happily fill this photo blog with pictures of the foods that I adore.

And just one more comment about traveling, which is more of a philosophical note: did you ever notice how weird it feels to come home after you've been away? We got to our house, unloaded our stuff, manhandled that Tabby, and settled back in to our normal life. But I kept finding myself looking around feeling strange. Like an alien in my own home. It took a day or two to get back that "normal" feeling of "Yes, I live here." (And to quit waiting for the maid service to make the bed, clean the bathroom, do the dishes. But I digress.)

The song . . . I found a list on the Internet of the 30 greatest "bubblegum pop" songs, and this harmless, happy little tune made their list. And so the song to accompany this picture is Hanson, with MMMBop. I'm including both the original video for the song that brought them fame and fortune, as well as an acoustic version from about 10 years later.