Made My Day

Sometimes a very small thing that you remember from your youth can really bring a smile to your face. In my teens and early twenties I did a considerable amount of backpacking and mountain climbing in the Puget Sound area. One of the fun parts of backpacking is planning the menu and then of course eating the food that you have brought along in spectacular scenic surroundings. One particular food stuff that I remember was Sailor Boy Pilot Bread. The reason it is used for backpacking and mt. climbing is that it will keep for a considerable length of time without molding or spoiling. It is a very hearty and sturdy cracker that is used in the same way as hardtack but the Pilot bread is more able to take the hard jostling around in your pack as you hike along the trail. It can also be described as a very large round saltine but again remember much harder, sturdier, hearty me boys, thicker, with no salt.

Well for several months I have been doing searches on the web trying to find this Pilot Bread. I did find some but I would have to by it in large tins for I think around $12.50. This is more than I wanted to invest and another reason is I'm not sure I still like the stuff. I mean I'm not sure if it is fit for eating at home. I do remember it being eaten with anchovies or canned salmon. Sounding better all the time. Well on with my quest. I called the two main grocery stores in my town with no luck. Then I called a QFC market in a larger town to the west of us and they told me that they have my Sailor Boy Pilot Bread. Eureka!!!! Yipeeee!!!! Yahooooo!!!!

Well now I know that some of you out there might be thinking "well that is such a little thing to want to find." Well as a person gets older I think we want to remember how great it was to be young, and to remember things or even rediscover things that were a part of our youth. These things and memories get more precious as time goes on, whether it be old photos, places we once frequented and the cars that we drove to get those places. Where is that place in life when we no longer want to be older and we don't want to be younger? How long does it last and are we aware of this place when we are there or are we just never satisfied?

Update: A couple of Saturdays ago we were in the town where they have the Sailor Boy Pilot Bread. We drove to the store, parked the car, my wife opting to stay in the car. I entered the store and searched out the cracker isle and there to my joy I found the familiar blue and white box with the Sailor Boy on the label.

This is probably my best photo from the film days. It was digitized from a slide that I took in 1970. I came home from work and noticed that these swans were resting in the pasture below our place in Maxwelton on Whidbey Island. I grabbed my camera which had a new roll of film with 20 exposures. I donned some rubber boots and ventured out into the flooded pasture. I was snapping pics right and left, all the while testing how close the swans would let me approach. Then on the 21st exposure (fudging an extra shot) the swans entered the water and got in single file and well what you see is what I got.

I have recently had a renewed interest in photography because of the digital revolution. I bided my time until a digital SLR was within my budget, well I mean was within the realm of reality. I purchased a Canon Digital Rebel which has turned out to be a great camera. I still haven't bought an additional lens but am considering a Canon EF lens 70-300mm lens with IS (Image Stabilization).

Along with taking digital photos I learned that I could digitize our slides that we had started taking in the late '60's. I bought a Konica Monolta Dimage Scan Dual IV. Let me tell you that it was the most rewarding purchase that we have made in years. Digitizing treasured slides and being able to access them from the computer for cropping, exposure control, color correction, and being able to actually save underexposed pictures has been phenomenal.

Not my photo.

This regal bird is a black grouse. In more ancient times it was known as a heathcock. My ancestors apparently revered this bird and took it as their surname. I have used blackgrouse as a handle on the internet for several years.