I have over the years had an abiding interest in fishing. When I was a lad, an elderly gentleman gave me one of his rods, a reel and a few bits of tackle.
He gently coached me until I caught my first fish, a roach. I was hooked for life.
I remember this gentleman leaving me to ‘get on with it’ with a quiet smile on his
face.
I have never forgotten the feeling I experienced, catching my first fish and
when the opportunity arises (which it has on a couple of occasions), I do the same
for other youngsters I meet when out fishing. Hopefully, they will be hooked for
life.
I introduced my wife, Tekkie Anne, to fishing -
I was introduced to Chess when I was in my early thirties. I was fascinated with
the pieces, the way they moved and the intrinsic beauty of a good Chess game.
The
first thing I learned to do was to lose gracefully. Slowly, I began to win a game
or two and started playing at county level. I never progressed above board four
in a five board match, before personal circumstances forced me to put Chess on a
back burner.
I now play Internet Chess, both in real time and by way of correspondence
chess. The latter games can last three months or more.
I was told that I had an artistic
eye (I used to do Fine Art, albeit not very successfully), so I took up serious photography
when I was in my thirties.
A friend gave me some basic instructions about aperture settings, depth of field
-
I bought a second hand Praktica 35mm SLR. I enhanced that with a couple of Sigma lenses, wide angle 28mm to 70mm and 70mm to 210mm zoom. I still use this equipment today, some thirty years on.
With the introduction of digital photography, I really need to get myself a digital
SLR. I keep hinting every birthday and Christmas, but it seems that the peeps in
my circle have selective hearing. :-
So, it’s back to the scanner for the time being.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy these pages.
