Monday, May 07, 2007

The moral of the story: always carry extra batteries

It was The Hermit's birthday on Sunday. He claimed he was 42, I claimed that, while he was only as old as he looked, which is about 42, chronology still never lies. :)

We celebrated by meeting his daughter, son, and future daughter in law at a restaurant in Duluth. The place is an old warehouse converted into sports bar, complete with lots of video and arcade games to keep the youngsters busy. I was kept busy going up to the bar to get more quarters.

I had brought my trusty digital camera along, thinking I should get some pictures of the family. However, when I turned it on to show the stepkids pictures of Maggie, I got the dreaded LOW BATTERY screen.

It would not have been so bad if we'd just left the restaurant and went straight home. But The Hermit felt like exploring parts of Duluth we hadn't been to in years, and I was feeling adventurous myself. We drove through East Duluth, where large, classic, well-kept houses prevail. Then we found a couple of trails by streams. The city of Duluth is built on a big basalt upheaval, resulting in a lot of vertical distance between lake level, 602 feet, and the hills above. The streams flow fast and furious over the bedrock, and, when you park on a place called Hawk Ridge, overlooking the neighborhoods hundreds of feet below, and the vast blue expanse of Lake Superior herself, well, things start feeling a little holy. And photogenic. Darn batteries. The views I could share with all of you!

But we had a good time with the kids, who wanted to do even more exploring than our ever-aging parents bodies felt like at the time. There will be other times, we promised, with more time for exploring, and I intend to keep that promise.

I saw a few birds, including my first of season green heron. Warblers have returned, the listservs say, and I have enjoyed the calls of ovenbirds here in my woods once again.

5 comments:

Larry said...

-I've run out of battery juice at the worst times including this Warbler weekend-I finally bought some spare to keep in my truck.

Anonymous said...

I keep spare batteries in my truck and my backpack for my Roundrock trips.

Never been to Duluth, though I here it is the westernmost eastern seaport in North America due to the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

You can find most anything in Duluth can't you? I'm always surprised by the unexpected there. My camera only uses a tiny Nikon rechargable battery. I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get one to keep on hand...$

Anonymous said...

sounds lovely deb, though too bad about no pictures! I went to Hawk's Ridge during the fall migration in high school once... amazing! I couldn't believe the number of falcons. And it has such an interesting feel up there. Keep meaning to get back, maybe next time we're in Duluth... :)

R.Powers said...

I keep 3 pairs of rechargeable AA camera batteries on me. 4 in the case, 2 in the camera.
I'd like to get at least one more pair.
These digi's are neat, but they do suck power.
Happy Hermit Birthday!