Lake time

It's lake time once again, and the first thing that gets packed into the truck is the camera gear. It's a force of habit I know, but I don't think I have ever gone to the cabin, our any place else, without it. It's a part of me and in many ways it is who I am. It's been this way for years now and it is likely to never change.

I always enjoy going to the cabin and one of my favourite things about it is that there is always something to tinker with. Something always needs fixing. This trip had a couple of minor issues, the door on the dishwasher was out of kilter and some general clean up of the property, but there was one larger issue to take care of. The effluent pump was not working!

When we arrived, my brother in law had already determined that the problem was not actually the pump but a problem with the power supply. We opened up the electrical box and discovered a corroded mess. All the wires had corroded to the point where the wire needed to be replaced all the way from the box in the cabin out to the sump area where the pump is.

As is the case at the lake, a major problem such as this requires a beer and consultations with the rest of the cabin community. As we were approaching the need for a second beer, our close friend Kent say "hang on, I think I get some BX cable at the cabin". 10 minutes later he's back with his son in law who happens to be an electrician, and guess what, he's got his tools with him and all the parts we need to do the job. An hour later, the pump is back in business and everyone is one again able to do their business.

Our electrician friend was a true professional. In his mind, there was no question that he would have his tools with him. They are what he does and they are a part of him. He also wanted to help. You could see that being able to use his craft gave him joy. What a wonderful gift.

As photographers, we need to see our cameras in the same light. They are the tools that we use to do our craft. I could not come up to the cabin and be comfortable without my camera. The interesting thing is that every time I come up, I have occasion to use it. And every time I come home with some different images.