Two sisters, tree sap, and another photography story

It was a perfect September day.  The sun stood high in the sky, beaming down its rays on the earth.  Roses were still in bloom, filling the air with their sweet perfume. The trees were full of leaves and they rustled when the wind blew. It is days like this that made me want to bask in the sun and relax, but there was no relaxing on this day.

 My sister Donna asked me to photograph her since she hadn’t taken any pictures of herself in a while.  I was glad to oblige her and it gave me the opportunity to work on my photography techniques.  With several changes of clothing and my camera gear, we headed to the various parks around town.  Never realizing the obstacles that would get in our way, although, this seems to be the story of my life.

I picked her up and we decided to go to the various parks in town to try and take some good photographs. The first place we went to was Foster Park. It was located very close to my house and there was an abundance of flowers and trees which provided a beautiful background. 

I was still very new at photography and owned a Canon Powershot at the time.  Oh the problems I had with that camera!  Most of the time I took 10-15 shots of the same scene hoping that at least one would be decent enough to use.  Most shots would be either blurry, have outlandish colors, some body part was cut off, or dappled sun spots would be on the subject’s face.  If I took pictures inside during the winter time, well, I might as well not have tried.  They would be dark, blurry or both.  And yet, I kept trying.

We arrived at the park and began the photo shoot.  Donna was a real trooper.  I had her climbing trees, standing in the midst of bushes and posing in awkward positions.  When we were nearly done, I saw a lovely tree with a low branch that my sister could sit on while I took her picture.  She plopped down and I tried to take a few shots. I noticed that she was sitting in an awkward position. I asked her to move her bottom forward a little so that she could lean back against the branch comfortably.

 “I can’t” she said.

“Why not?” I asked.

“I’m stuck.”

"What do you mean you’re stuck?”

“I can’t move”, she said,” My pants are stuck to the tree.”

Not again, I thought.  The last time I took someone out on a photo shoot we got locked in the Botanical Gardens, now this. I felt a laugh coming.  I pried my sister off the tree branch and turned her around to look at the back of her pants.  Tree sap covered her entire backside.  There’s no way she is sitting in my car with that sticky stuff all over her pants.

“You’re not sitting in my car with sap all over your butt,” I said roaring with laughter.  She stood beside my car while I rummaged through the trunk looking for something that she could sit on.  I found a plastic grocery bag.  I asked my sister to turn around. I knelt down and I firmly pressed the bag to her bottom, making sure that no sap was exposed and the bag wouldn't come off.  I didn't care if people were looking at us while I was pressing the bag to her bottom; I was determined that no sap would be left on my car seat. By the time the both of us were in the car we were laughing hysterically.

“Jeannie, something weird always happens when I am with you.”

“I guess I am special.” I replied with a smile.

I dropped her off at home and I drove back to my house laughing the whole way.  I had a great day with my sister and it was one day that I will never forget. Sometimes it’s the weird things make our experiences more memorable.