Photographs and Memories

 Our lives are full of memories.  Jim Croce wrote a song called Photographs and Memories.  After nearly some fifty years of marriage we have a lot of memories stored on old photographs.  I remember taking rolls of film to places like Photomat or the local drugsture to have film sent to a processessing lab to be developed.  I once thought about having my own developing lab in our house, but gave up on the idea because I didn't have the space for a darkroom.  

Paul Simon once wrote a song called Kodachrome.  This was a film used mostly for making slides.  I stull possess a few slides made from Kodachrome.  Back in the day, I used mostly Kodak film for photographs.  We could choose whether we wanted matte photos or glossy photos.  And long ago one could choose whether one wanted photos with or without borders.  It seemed like such a simple time and cameras back then were relatively cheap and unsophisticated; not like cameras are today.

I bought my first real camera when I worked at a photo department in a local department store much like a downsized Macy's.  People would drop off their film and we'd sent it out for them.  Someone bought a Nikon camera and returned it the next day.  The store had to sell it as used and I was asked if I was interested.  I was and with the camera having been used it was discounted plus with my store employee discount I picked up my first real camera on the cheap.  

Then my wife and I test drove a Toyota Corolla and I was entered in a contest and won third prize.  It was a newer and nicer Nikon camera.  One of my son's now possess that camera, but the shutter doesn't work.  I sold that first camera to a seminary collegea who paid me for about what i paid for it.  My first wall-mounted photo was taken with my newer Nikon camera.  But it seems I always had a camera, from a little Kodak Instamatic to my cell phone.  Now our life memories are stored as photos and movies on our phones.  

We have tons of photo albums, but now photos and movies are shared on-line instantaneously.  Things have changed so much.  There are still film processing labs that are specialized and Fuji still makes film for film cameras.  But these days everything has gone digital.  And many of my photos are stored on CD's.  I remember our first and only VHS camcorder.  We have memories stored on VHS tapes.  

I have seen a lot of changes in photography from my first Kodak Brownie I had as a kid to my cell phone.  Things have changed so much.  I used to take slides and once had a Kodak slide projector with a collapsible screen.  I don't know what happened to all that stuff, but more than likely it was all sold at garage sales as technology changed and that stuff was no longer needed and became obsolete.  But I went digital and never looked back sometimes wanting prints of my best photos or memorable photos I wanted to have.

Fortunately, while many blends of tobaccos have come on the market, I can smoke any blend in any of my pipes.  At least I never sold any pioes or accessories I have at any kind of sale.  I may have given a pipe away here and there, but all that I have purchased for pipe smoking, except tobacco I still have.  I used to have more tobacco stored, but much of it was simply too old and now I smoke pretty much what I buy.  I simply don't have room for much stored tobacco and am saving a few empty tins here and there.  Today it is one of my Nording pipes with some Rum and maple.  I thank you for your time and Peace to each one of you.

Dave