Photo trials

I have gone about three years without a camera that I could operate one-handed. 

But the few hours that it wasn’t raining on a recent April trip to the Smoky Mountains offered just the encouragement I needed to start experimenting with my still new-to-me iPhone. 

The first attempt was while I was seated in my camping chair. I held the phone in my good (right) hand. I touched the screen. My target was a cup of hot tea on the little foldout shelf on my chair.

Missed cup

Oops! Even with that little PopSocket gizmo on the back of my phone, I had difficulty.

A bit better!

Second trial: I stood with my rollator beside me.  I locked the wheels just in case I lost my balance. I bent over as close as I could get to snap a photo of a small cluster of violets in our campsite.

Whoa! I realized I needed a lot more practice for succeeding at that maneuver. 

Campsite violets

Issues with balance, stiffness and vision have resulted from age and the effects of a hemorrhagic stroke. My photo efforts were only a few days before the eighth anniversary of that stroke that zapped motor and sensory brain cells for my left side.

Those richly colored little flowers offered an unexpected jolt of encouragement. They were blooming in the inhospitable environment of a well-used national park campsite. 

How wonderful that the simplest things can encourage one to “bloom where you are planted” and to live fully and joyfully in the moment!

The image below captured another joyful moment for me when we were back home in our coastal environment. I snapped away. I was firmly "planted" in the front seat of our van with Hubby giving me helpful photo tips.

 Heron perched on coastal Mississippi fishing pier

May unexpected and abundant joys come your way, too.

-30-