I Need More Space, Therefore I Must Buy  #16

Most every morning, I start out with a hot cup of coffee and the WLBZ channel 2 morning news.  There is one more ritual that has become as much a part of my morning as the coffee and TV. That is the North Woods Sporting Journal. I became a subscriber about three years ago when I first saw a copy of it at the six mile checkpoint. I looked it over and immediately decided that it was a publication that warranted more review. Since that time, it has arrived in my mailbox each month. The stories come from folks in Maine and other states and in reading them, it is clear that they too are passionate about the outdoors.

The most recent months issue had a lot of good articles, but one really caught my eye, and as I read it made me chuckle. It reminded me of home and the number or items I have amassed over the years. The Old Vest, written by V Paul Reynolds also made me think about the subject of this week’s blog, my fishing vest, old and new.

About three years ago, I decided that it was time to purchase a new fly fishing vest. The one I had was quite old, but although it served the purpose, it just didn’t have enough space in it for my things. I bought it at LL Bean many years ago and it had been my lifeline to the water. So, in search of a new vest I went. Having had good luck with the old one, I decided to go back to LL Bean for it. After looking at all the different options, I settled on the river driver vest. There were a multitude of factors that went into my decision, but the tie breaker was the fact that there were more pockets and more pockets translated into more space to put more stuff. Simply put, from the standpoint of the folks in the valley where I grew up, it was “MORE BETTER.”

Now, at the risk of opening a proverbial can of worms, I am not good at throwing out old, no longer needed things. Everything I own has some sentimental meaning to me. TC has tried for years to get me to throw out or donate what I don’t need. Regrettably, most of the time she does not seem to make much headway in her efforts. She read my blog, as she often does before I publish it and she was quick to remind me of something that happened a few years ago. As far as too many pockets are concerned, she reminded me about the time I went to a golf tournament with my cargo shorts. Cargo shorts are the best because they have lots of pockets.  That day, I signed in and got my raffle tickets for the free prizes that would be drawn at the end of the outing. I played my round and then ventured into the club house for the dinner, drawings and prizes. I don’t have a photographic memory but I did remember the number on my ticket. I looked for the ticket, but was unable to find it. I went through every single pocket in those pants, but could not find that ticket. Before they drew, they let us know that in order to claim your prize; you must come up and show your ticket. No problem I thought, I never win anything anyway so the fact that I could not find my ticket was no big deal. They went through the prizes and drew numbers and my number did not come up. Then came the big moment everyone had been waiting for. That was when they drew for the new 32” Vizio flat screen TV. Do you get the drift of where I am going here? They drew the winning ticket, and called off the number. Yup, it was my number. Not having the ticket, I froze and said nothing. They called it out again and then said they would have to pull out another number which they did. The holder of that ticket came up and claimed the TV. As fast as I had won, I lost. That was all because I could not find the ticket in my cargo pants with multiple pockets.  After the event was over, I went to the folks who had put the event on and told them what had happened, and all the way home I stewed over where that ticket had gone. Once I got home, I went through every pocket over and over and guess what I found? The ticket was in one of the smaller pockets within a pocket in my pants. TC has a favorite saying, “LESS IS MORE”, and it was true that day.

So, moving on, I ordered the vest, and as is their custom, I got it the next day. I put it to the side and made the decision to swap items to the new one over that weekend. As the weekend approached, it started to get a bit harder to part with the old one. I had had it for years and it had served me well. I had made a lot of memories with that old vest. Every time I put it on, it made new ones. Now, I had a new vest and new memories would have to be made. It kind of made me sad, but I came back to, it had more pockets….

Well, the weekend came and it was time to remove all of my gear from the old one and find a new home for it in the new vest. I went from pocket to pocket taking things out and laying them on my workbench. I was astounded at the things I was taking out of the vest. Things that I hadn’t seen in some time. I found things that I had been searching for for years. Things that I forgot I had and needed so I had gone out and bought them. Now that I had all of the pockets emptied out, it was time to bring on the new one and find a place for all of the items on the workbench. I carefully inspected the new vest and found pockets inside and outside. I methodically decided where things would go using the ANQFO method, Always Needed Quickly First Out. Those items went on the outside pockets with the less used items going on the inside pockets.  About an hour later, I was satisfied with everything and where it was placed, but I had one big issue. I had packed so much stuff into this new vest, even items that I now needed that were not in the old vest, that I didn’t have any room in the new vest. At that point, I stopped and thought about the reason I had gone out and replaced my old vest. It was because I had run out of room. Now with my new vest, I was already having the same problem and I had not used it yet!

Well, I’m happy to say that I have been using the new vest for some time now and have finally learned where all of the things in it are. I really like the new one a lot, but still have fond memories of the one I left behind. I learned one valuable lesson that day. If you think you have run out of room and need to expand or get a new one to add space, it probably won’t work out at the end of the day. Oh, and by the way, as I walk downstairs to my work bench, hanging on the coat rack just a short distance away is my old fishing vest. It serves to remind me of the good times I had, all the fish I caught while wearing it and of course the one that got away. Did you really think I could part with it?

FROM THE INBOX

This week’s email bag brings a note from a friend in Vermont who told me that he caught a 21” rainbow in a river there with a 6’6” 3 weight echo rod and reel. He says that when he put line on his reel, he did not add any backing feeling he would not need it. Come to find out, when landing that fish, it took him all the way to the reel. He finally landed it, took his photos and released it back to the river. Sounds like a lot of fun.

 I also heard from a reader who told me that he had not fly fished for 40 years but recalls the days when he was growing up and had a stocked pond behind his home. He was allowed to fish the pond only after his chores were done. That drove him to complete every chore assigned to him so he could make his way down to the pond and enjoy a few minutes casting and catching fish. He tells me he would really like to pick that rod up again someday. I hope you do as well.

I am always looking to hear from readers about their adventures, so send me an email. I can be reached at 42adjuster@gmail.com  Also, if you would like to be notified when I post another blog, email me at the same address and I will let you know.       

This week’s Web address:

North Woods Sporting Journal:      www.sportingjournal.com