The beginning...

"Old Faithful"

Birth Certificate

Last fall I pulled out my trusty, old student microscope, neglected for the last 50 years. You know the kind... a black monocular in a wooden box with 3 or 4 objectives and a couple of eyepieces. Mine was a Kyowa, born on Nov. 5th, 1963 according to the label in the box. It was sufficient to reignite my interest in the invisible world but as it turned out, little else. The images showed severe chromatic aberration, the contortions required to view a drop of water became uncomfortable and I found, as a binocular creature myself, I yearned for something that allowed binocular viewing. Easy enough I thought; I had a few dollars to spare and once I started looking it was evident there was no shortage of product. Boy was I wrong! Once I got into the details I realized I was way over my head and had an awful lot to learn before I could make the proper decision. I was lucky enough to get some advise from a fellow enthusiast who had made the same journey earlier and managed to avoid some of the pitfalls. His advice was to be patient, read and learn. Then read some more. It seems to have worked and I'm hoping to pass on some of the things that have proven helpful by posting to this blog. I enjoy writing but fishing season is fast approaching and I still have a few flies to tie. So no promises made, no schedule planned but I do hope to start soon. Till then, clear views and tight lines.

Wing of a fly

Mystery cladoceran