The older you will get...: There's Treasure in Them Thar Hills and Also on the Lake Bottom...

I had spent a real nice day in Houston visiting old friends, telling lots of stories, touring a museum, looking art and having a meal at a funky restaurant. With real life stimulation I had kept my phone in my pocket with the sound turned down all day and with all this fun I had avoided piddling away in the electronic way. On the way home I checked for messages, notifications and such. I rarely get calls and texts but of course with this day of avoidance my phone was blown up with calls and texts. Seems that a wallet I dropped in the lake back in 2018 had been found.

I remember the day well and it is documented at this link. We had a good fishing trip, launching at Shirly Creek Marina but on my return home I did not have my wallet. I searched the boat, the truck, the house, drove back to the boat ramp and never found it. The credit cards were never used so that seemed to indicate lost and not stolen and I went on assembling my documentation back in order.

A man hunting arrowheads exposed by wave action along the 7 foot below lake pool shore found my wallet at the edge of the water, posted a photo on the Sam Rayburn Fishing Report Facebook Page and from there people that knew me, Ray in particular saw it and someone even screen shot the post to my son Morgan in Nacogdoches and they all contacted me. The man Brent, contacted me by phone, we set up a meeting and he brought the wallet to my house. Of course every thing in there was canceled or expired and I can't remember any money I had that day. The bills rotted into a unidentifiable mess. Brent, a very nice man refused any reward.

I remember that wallet. I think I bought it in Chicago at one of those fancy art shops where the craftsman gets all the profit from the items they made. This wallet was of recycled materials and had a bit of an East Asian motif going on. It held up well during it's submersion. I think a run through the washing machine and it's good to go again.

There's all kind of stuff here. DL, my professional license, insurance and credit cards, boat registrations, CTA pass, CPR card and something called a Jazzy Pass which must have been for mass transit in some exciting city I visited that was not Cleveland.

As I mentioned the lake being 7' low was the reason it was found and on the day I lost it we had launched at Shirley Creek which the only reason I would have launched there is because the lake was too high and my usual launch spot was closed. I often fish here so no doubt I have been right over this wallet many times since 2018.

Back in 2008 we had another wallet loss when my father in law, the late Bill Cooney or Pop as we called him let his overalls, which he had taken off to swim (swim suit underneath) blew out of the boat and sank before we could turn around and fetch them. He lost keys to car, the camper which was in the park at Hanks, phone, wallet, pocket knife and everything. Here's a link to that blog post. The credit card company declined to cancel the cards since they were reported sank and one year later some one used the card for gas in Zavalla, Tx.

That's an interesting blog link because not only is there the overall story but it has the Pop jumping off the boat photo and a photo of Mary and Miguel as children.

All this caused my daughter Katie to reflect that there might be all kind of treasure on the lake bottom. I think were are going to need a bigger boat. Maybe some magnet fishing?