Photo Dump

Don’t you just love holidays, and that holiday feeling. Whether you are going away or staying home and having time and permission to ‘opt out’ of the usual routine.

About 10 years ago we went away for 5 weeks to Spain. Myself and the two younger ones were there for the entire 5 weeks. My other half and the two older ones (17 at the time) came for the last two weeks. My mum and my niece, also came for the first couple of weeks.

The sun was hot, the pool and beach was fun and the evening entertainment was always something to look forward to. Karaoke on tap, and one of the young ones, loved to sing!

I always take lots of photos on holiday, whether home or abroad, in fact, I always take lots of photographs, full stop. I take photos of anything and everything in nature and of my family and friends.

I love looking at my photos as they are a reminder of a specific time and place with specific people. During the 5 week holiday I had taken probably a thousand pictures on the camera. The two eldest girls were getting their exam results whilst on this holiday, so we found an internet cafe to access the school portal to get the results. As a result of my putting the camera on the table beside the computer, and in the excitement of getting their ‘results’, someone stole my camera. When I turned to pick it up, it had gone.

I placed a sign in the internet cafe for them to even just give me back the memory card, to anonymously post it through the internet cafe letterbox and they could keep the camera. I was so upset at having lost the pictures, the memories of that holiday with my family. I offered a reward, but no one ever returned the memory card and so, I have no pictures to look back on, of that holiday.

Since then I now take most of my photos with the camera on my phone and so I make sure to photo dump all my pictures onto my facebook account, that way, I can be sure that if ever I loose my phone, at least my pictures will always be there, somewhere in facebook land and I can access them at any time from anywhere.

The other good thing, that I love about that, is I get a yearly reminder of what happened on that particular day the previous year (s) and it fills me with joy as it takes me back to that time and place.

Over the years we lose people, for one reason or another, friends, family, work colleagues etc. It is nice, to look back and remember them and the time the photo was taken and re live the moment, or talk about it, laugh about or even cry about it.

I am surrounded by physical photos of the people I love most in the world, my family and friends, in my home. This past year my best friend and my dad died, but I love looking at their photos I have framed and displayed. They are happy smiling photos of a time I was with them and I am either in the photo or have taken the photo and they are smiling at me as I take it. Every day, my heart lifts at seeing their smiling faces, even though I know, there will be no more memories to be made with them. It makes the memories I did have, even more special.

So I will keep taking photos, of everyday things, and every day places or holiday photos, with family, friends and nature, and I will continue to photo dump them so that I can keep going back to that time and place that made me smile, or made me feel joy and laughter and when I am old and forgetful (if I am lucky enough to get old and forgetful) I can look back at them, and they will be my reminder of a life lived and what I deemed was ‘the best things in life’ (which are usually free), like the love of family and friends, shared experiences and of course, nature, which gives and keeps on giving in abundance