30 DoT: {day 12} a gadget

I am amazed at all the gadgets available to us today.  When I think back to my first computer experience in high school and then the excitement of an email account in college, I laugh at the humor of it all.  I did not have a cell phone until a couple of years after college.  Portable music devices were boomboxes that people carried around on their shoulders.
Oh, how the times have changed for the better!
My boys do not remember a day of their lives without computer or cell phone access.  Alex knew how to turn on the computer and use a mouse to open his counting and colors games by the age of two.  Tim, the same.  They both know how to work my smartphone better than I do...and are counting down the years until they may get one.  Scott even got in on the smartphone fad and began using my first one that I gave up once the camera quit working after I dropped it in some water.  (oops!)  Alex has a ipod touch on his wishlist for Christmas...Tim already has songs picked out for when he gets one, too.  
I do love the technological gadgets, but my favorite gadget is my camera.  This year has not been a great year of photo taking for me, but I do carry it most places I go.  I forgot it camping late this summer and I felt like I had left part of me at home.
It is not a grand gadget, of sorts...a gal has to dream about something...
It's just a camera that captures moments in time for enjoyment in future days.  Digitalization of cameras has so many pros, I can only think of one con.  There was a hint of excitement when one would walk up to the photo counter to see how the photos turned out.  Holding those photos (that captured what you hoped they did) in your hand was like holding a treasure.
That being said, I love the fact that you can evaluate photos immediately now to get what you desire before having to gather the fam back together again for another photo shoot...or accept the fact that your memory from a trip somewhere is captured with a blurry scene or someone's hair sticking up.
I am thankful for God giving me a love of taking photos...I want to have memories to pass on and stories to tell my grandchildren one day.  I am also extremely thankful for a very patient family and group of friends that do not mind me always seemingly lagging behind when going somewhere because I have stopped again to take a photo of a flower or an overlook view.  They also know at one point or another I'll gather them in just to hear them say, "Cheese!"
It is worth it, though, in the end.  We love going back and looking over our photos from trips and special occasions time and time again.