Something I Don't Want to Lose

More than a year ago, On the Water magazine did a great job of combining this GoPro shot I got of a Round Valley Reservoir brown trout with a shot I took in the Ken Lockwood Gorge, by using Aperture-Priority mode on a DSLR to blur fast-moving water. The finished product looks as if a giant brown turns for a lure in a pool immediately below that blur effect.

So I went online again to look at GoPro options, found a Hero 3 Silver like my old device for $69.00, found low prices for underwater housing and extension tube, and balked before buying. I went outside, sat down, and thought it over. For one thing, I had decided earlier in the day I discovered it lost that it was the worst investment I've made with money earned by writing. $325.00 plus whatever I paid for accessories, and after six years, I've got two still shots from it published, which isn't really bad at all, considering how limited space is in magazines; it's just that cost/benefit doesn't work in this respect.

I decided it does in more personal ways. I couldn't escape the fact that just a handful of family footage I've taken is really valuable. If I were to shoot endless videos, we would never hit play for most of them. I also simply want to see a really good shot of a largemouth bass taken through Tilcon Lake's clear water.

Before I came back in minutes ago, I decided the least I can do is clean up the back seat area of my Honda. I looked there very thoroughly, but maybe not just enough. I resolved to pull myself out of bed early tomorrow. Then I sat down here, pulled my lap top over, and felt interrupted for a second. One of my telltale hunches. I looked over the armrest of the sofa I'm sitting against. No, nothing down there, as I had checked a dozen times. But wait a minute. What if...I reached underneath the sofa edge, and felt a familiar feeling, the foam-plastic grip of my GoPro extension tube.

It's here complete.