walletMr. Fenn, Some people say this about shoes, but I personally think a wallet can tell a great deal about a man. Assuming you’ve had more than one, maybe you could elaborate on one that had the most sentimental value or meaningful things kept on the inside? ~ Jamie

 

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Jamie, I’m not attached to shoes but I like my leather wallet, which has taken on a nice wear-polish over the years. I keep it in my back left pocket and wouldn’t even think of carrying it anywhere else. It’s just kind of bent a little to fit the curvature. Nothing special inside, just a couple of credit cards, drivers and pilot’s licenses, military ID and health stuff. And a few bucks, not many.

In my back right pocket is a handkerchief and comb. Front left, Chap Stick, extra batteries for my hearing aids, and coins. My front right pocket contains my car keys and small pepper spray. Whoever rolls me won’t get much. f

 

 

28 Comments

  1. I thought I was the only one who carried pepper spray everywhere. But, lately it is more to keep the coyotes at bay than the rollers.

    You said that you keep car keys in your pocket. Does this still apply, after the much discussed driving incident you had recently? Does this mean Forrest Fenn is once again loose on the streets of Santa Fe?

  2. That was an interesting question Jamie… would like to know your thoughts on asking it.
    Surprised no one has mentioned “Drivers” and “pilot’s” Or driver’s and pilots. Not they may mean anything, but interesting in the meaning changes. Yep interesting.

  3. Thanks for sharing those personal details, Forrest. It’s very likely you’re not a redneck. 🙂 Jeff Foxworthy said that if both your wallet and your dog are on a chain…you might be a redneck. I know that Tesuque is not on a chain, and I assume your wallet is not because you would have mentioned that…I think. So for now I’ll assume that I’m the only one whose wallet IS on a chain…and…might be a redneck. 🙂

  4. Forrest – Why did that Q/A about “pocketses”,…remind me of Gollum and Bilbo?:

    http://www.tolkien.ru/audio/hobbit.php

    Gollum was disappointed once more; and now he was getting angry, and also tired of the game. It had made him very hungry indeed. This time he did not go back to the boat. He sat down in the dark by Bilbo. That made the hobbit most dreadfully uncomfortable and scattered his wits.

    “It’s got to ask uss a quesstion, my preciouss, yes, yess, yesss. Jusst one more quesstion to guess, yes, yess,” said Gollum.

    But Bilbo simply could not think of any question with that nasty wetcold thing sitting next to him, and pawing and poking him. He scratched himself, he pinched himself; still he could not think of anything.

    “Ask us! ask us!” said Gollum.

    Bilbo pinched himself and slapped himself; he gripped on his little sword; he even felt in his pocket with his other hand. There he found the ring he had picked up in the passage and forgotten about.

    “What have I got in my pocket?” he said aloud. He was talking to himself, but Gollum thought it was a riddle, and he was frightfully upset.

    “Not fair! not fair!” he hissed. “It isn’t fair, my precious, is it, not fair, is it? to ask us what it’s got in its nassty little pocketses?”
    ———

    When Forrest’s left hand is in his left front pocket,…reaching yet again for the Chap Stick,…in the dry New Mexico climate,…his probably-gold wedding ring,…is in there, too. 🙂

    E*
    1. Great story, E*! What does Bilbo have in his pocketses? A riddle in deed! I could really use some Ritalin right about now. Just kidding. I would never take that crap…and I never have.

      The Lord of the Rings raises an interesting question about Absolute Power, doesn’t it? We all must ask ourselves, “If I had lots of power…which most times equates to lots of money…what would I do with it? Would I choose to do good? Would I think only if myself? Would I make the world a better place? Would the hungry people eat because I could feed them? Would the cold people be warm because I could clothe them?”. It’s certainly something to ponder especially during the Holydays.

          1. spallies – Are you referring to this video of Fountain Flats,…that Dal’s posted over on Forrest’s “River Bathing is Best” blog story?:

            http://player.vimeo.com/video/53872866?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0

            If so,…here is a good site description about fly fishing in that area:

            http://www.yellowstoneflyfishing.com/fireholeriver.htm

            Below Ojo Caliente begins a long piece of water which traverses Fountain Flats and is called by that name. It is fairly even bottomed and its depth is also even, but there are some potholes and broken places in the bedrock bottom, though no really deep spots. The grass-covered banks are undercut throughout and this plus the potholes and some weeds furnish more holds for trout than at first appears. The water is a bit cooler than that of Ojo Caliente Bend.

            In spring this is a favored piece of water, especially for the nymph fisher. A large dragonfly type is found here-and in other similar bottom types in the Firehole drainage. The nymph is in the water two years from egg to hatching adult and is tan to dark brown. It hatches into a fiery red-orange adult nearly three inches long.

            In summer the Fountain Flats are the dry fly fishers bane-and delight. The water is truly wonderfully propitious for the dry fly, but this open meadow is often assaulted with winds up to fifty miles an hour. It has always been so. Ray Bergman, in the thirties, speaks of winds so strong that he had to aim his cast 45 degrees away from the river’s edge in order to drop the fly along the bank where the fish were holding. But wind or no, this is a very popular piece of water in summer and early fall-grasshopper time- and the wind is a help here, blowing these ungainly creatures into the water and bringing the fish to feed.

            E*
              1. spallies – I don’t have either of the books,…but I thought that link you posted,…of the grass swaying beneath the surface at the Firehole River, …was the same as @14:41 of the video Dal made of Fountain Flats that I posted,…but they do look slightly different. The one from “Too Far to Walk” depicted the grass in Forrest’s actual river bathing spot, right?

                E*
                1. Yes E* you are correct it does look similar. I think I need to check out your link above about the Firehole River. I guess I am lacking in the basic geography skills of this area. I do believe the link in the book is the actual spot that Forrest refers to in his book… Too Far To Walk. I thought I read somewhere that it was??? Maybe Dal can confirm. Either spot looks pretty spectacular. Thanks again for the link I can’t wait to learn more about it.

                2. spallies – Something else I noticed in that Firehole River link I posted:

                  This bedrock bottom is evident in the Firehole throughout its length. Boulders broken off the cliffs of Firehole Canyon and strewn along the river bottom make it appear different than the rest of the stream, but if you are interested enough to move some of these boulders, you will find them resting on bedrock.

                  Didn’t someone over on Dal’s blog say something about bedrock,…or a basement,…being the “home of Brown”?:

                  “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
                  I am haunted by waters.”
                  ― Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories

                  E*
              2. spallies-
                That was filmed at Forrest’s Favorite place to river bathe in Yellowstone. You might be familiar with that story from his book and his thought that the waving grass reminded him of his daughters wavy hair.
                This is where the warm stream of water from the hot spring called Ojo Caliente in Fountain Flats pours into the Firehole River.
                It’s an easy walk…about a quarter mile. In my opinion a person could even do it carrying 42lbs or so from the parking lot at the end of Fountain Flat Drive.

                dal
        1. JC1117 – Correction: Gallatin River. I keep spelling that river name wrong,…because I got lost,…TWICE,…when I was 14 years old,…on a trip with a group of schoolmates in Yosemite National Park,…and one had the last name of Gallantine.

          E*
    1. Just thinking out loud here but Jamie asked Forrest to “elaborate on one (wallet) that had the most sentimental value or meaningful things kept on the inside” Perhaps this is not his current wallet but one he had in the past… that contains the things he is most proud of like his first drivers license, pilot license, first credit card, military id??? just a thought…

  5. I hope everyone has enjoyed the trips they have made with there families. This electronic age everyone is on some electronic. We used are imagination, it would take you to other worlds , cook with mud . That is what’s wrong with the families of today. There is no street light curfew, hanging clothes on the line. Spoiled

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