Sometimes things can be a blessing in disguise in addition to being a pain in the wazoo!

One of the biggest challenges for me, over the years, is managing the huge volume of images I have produced since the late ’60s. I am not a highly organized unit, so when a call comes in for a photo made long ago I can feel my central nervous system beginning to set sail. It’s one of my biggest nightmares. But, sometimes, being forced to circumnavigate my storage bins provides an opportunity to revisit good memories and fun times. Such is the case with today’s adventure.

There has been a recent flurry of interest in my older work. What the heck, beggars can’t be choosers. With all the gazillions of fine photo recording devices available in the world today, it’s not easy to stay afloat at a time when almost everyone can manage to make very good photos.

However, not everyone was photographing “back then,” when film and cameras were less cooperative. A time, I might add, that appealed to me far more than all the technical electronics of the present. I am not well suited to the digital age however hard I try. But that is another story.

While in search of a family photo from the ’80s, I had to plow through piles, boxes and envelopes (remember how film and prints were packaged?). Even more interesting are the miles of black and white negatives so expertly arranged in shoe boxes, packing containers and clear sleeves. Imagine trying to find the door lock in the dark without a flashlight and holding a wad of keys! Yup, that would be me. However, along the way to finding said requested image, which I’m happy to share that I found, I came across a batch of old negatives from the 1987 version of the Fishermen’s Festival trap hauling competition. This is where the rubber meets the road for me. Converting the black and white negative to a positive that could be shared, with digital scanning, is another matter. Please stand by! Nothing like throwing the baby out with the bath water. It was a battle to the end within an inch of tossing the whole computer system out the window.

But alas, here we are, back in the day when the whole town turned out for festive enjoyments of all varieties. Shrimp Princess, net mending, shucking skills, fleet blessing, tugs of war. Ah, those were the days. It was a gathering for the ages. We had such fun with no effort at all. I miss those times.

So there you have it. Completely by accident the lost sheep was found grazing right there in plain sight only to further confuse and distract. Maybe someday I will learn how to be an adult and responsible, taking my shoes off at the door, not tracking mud onto the living room carpet. Then again, until the next call for “oldies,” I may just shove a fresh stick on the fire and call it a day. I have a lot to learn.