A Long Time Coming

I am a spoiled American girl. I am accustomed to being able to get what I want when I want it, except for liquor from a store on Sundays. This is Minnesota, after all. But if I want, say, a grilled cheese sandwich at three o'clock in the morning, that can be done. If I am dying to read the latest David Lebovitz cookbook and Barnes & Noble has run out of it, I can have it tomorrow via Amazon.com. And if the Supersuckers release a rockin' new CD, I press a few buttons in iTunes and it's mine immediately.

So imagine my excitement when tonight, after almost six months of waiting, the wide angle lens adapter for my beautiful Lumix camera arrived! My friends and family, in a magnanimous gesture that far outweighed the deed I had done, pooled their money to buy me the wide angle lens and adapter that I had been dreaming of. It was their way to thank me for helping put together our trip to Mexico last February. My dad eagerly ordered the two pieces online and it didn't take long before he knew trouble was brewing. The gorgeous wide angle lens itself arrived promptly, but not so the adapter. And without it the lens was useless, like a glistening, sweet caramel apple displayed in front of a child with no teeth.

The last six months have been harrowing for my dad who ordered the adapter and then canceled the unfulfilled order several times, continually trying to track down the part but to no avail. This particular camera has been very popular and some pieces have been impossible to find, like this one. But after months of trying different unsuccessful leads, including with the camera maker itself, my dad finally got a positive result on eBay from a seller in Japan. Still, up until last week he was on the phone with agents from eBay who gave him no help as he attempted to follow the package online via Japan Post. Then, tonight, as I was running out my door, my dad called and told me to guess what he had in his hot little hands. I didn't have to guess, I knew. The wait was over.

So this generous gift, decidedly undeserved, has come into my life and I intend to make the most of it. I have a lot of practicing to do, but I already love it. As proof of its brilliance, look what it did for my friend Elwood the hound! He's handsome already, but the lens even made him cuter. Don't you think?