Steve,
<Buying a new camera for me is a lot like trying to use some of the new cameras these days. There are so many choices that I end up getting paralyzed and going home with nothing.>
That sure sounds familiar to me. That's part of the reason that I'm still using my old Argus. However, I'll have to get serious about looking for a new camera before spring. My big concern with an automatic camera is that it will probably take awhile to get used to it and to get certain desired effects. But then, there would probably be some big advantages, such as not having to mess around with adjustments when you're trying to photograph a bird or other animal when the opportunity arises. I always get paranoid that an animal will move before I get things exactly right....and of course, sometimes that does happen. Anyhow, thanks for your views... you've given me some good ideas.
This morning I was thinking about the first time I ever rode in a kayak. I was about 8 years old and it was up at my family's cottage. One of my dad's colleagues came up to visit and brought his son along for the trip. The son had his kayak with him... it was an old folding kayak... I guess it was an early Folboat... I remember there being what appeared to be lots of wooden parts and a green canvas skin as this young man started assembling the kayak on the lawn. However, it didn't take long and the kayak was ready to go. He brought me along as he paddled across the river (quite a distance actually) and I was amazed at the speed... also thrilled by the sensation of the water against the skin of the kayak.
The Folboats sure have come a long way since those days. Last summer I met a man with a kayak out on one of my favourite creeks. He was probably in his mid-70s and he was just gliding along through the reeds. I was just putting my canoe in as he was ending his trip, so we talked for awhile as he loaded his kayak (he just put it on his rooftop rack though). It was quite a light, beautiful craft.... really "space age" compared to the old version that I had seen... (-:
BTW, one of the things that I enjoy about paddling is meeting other paddlers when I'm out tripping around. I've met all kinds of people from young kids out fishing for bass, to birders in marshes, to racing paddlers, people with old restored wood and canvas canoes, others in homemade strippers... Paddlers of all ages, all backgrounds... Interesting crafts of all kinds... It's fantastic...
Hmmm.... this is just making me frustrated... Come on springtime!
Croc |
