Well that does it! I'll have to get one. Nice pic of the boots with the house leeks (Sempervivum) in it. I might even pick up one with a Zorki attached, although my previous ownership of one was not a happy affair.
The story attached to it is an interesting one however. On January the 2nd 1994 myself and three friends went for a walk along the shingle bank south of the Suffolk resort of Southwold, a bitterly cold day with a biting wind and intermittent snow. It was a way of blowing away the New Year's Day hangover with a walk in this beautiful part of the world. For those not familiar with the East coast of the UK, there are no high cliffs to protect the land, just as in this case a low shingle bank with beyond sand dunes, and wetlands. These both protect the land beyond, are beautiful, and are a wonderful resource for migrating birds. There had however been a storm the night before, and about a mile into the walk we came across a gap where the shingle bank had been washed away by the sea. The sea was washing in and out of the gap, but we judged there was sufficient time to dash across the gap inbetween. Big mistake! We had reckoned neither on the infirmity of our compatriot, a man in his 60's and in poor health, nor on the force of the sea. As the three younger members turned to look back having run across the gap, we could see Peter down to his knees and up to his waist in the water. Both Steve his son and myself dashed back to help. But as we ran, another wave came in. I was picked up by the sea and thrown back violently into the dunes. It was a terrifying experience as it was impossible to stand up in the water which was freezing cold, and mixed in the salty water were pebbles the size of my head which were being thrown about like leaves in a gale. Eventually we all struggled to dry land, but were now stuck on the wrong side of the gap with a walk of a further three miles to the nearest pub at Dunwich (a wonderfully atmospheric place BTW) We now had serious concerns for the health of Peter who was bright purple by now but we eventually made the pub and it's blazing log fire to drink reviving Brandy, and sit on newspapers. I was carrying a Zenit E at the time, but it was U/S within about 1/2 hour of the inundation. Fortunately however, and undaunted, I visited the local photographic store, where my eye alighted upon... Yes you guessed it! A Zorki 4 and Jupiter 8 which eventually went wrong, and I think I threw it away complete with lens!
I had nightmares about water for years afterwards, and still have the occasional dream even now.
Oh well, live and learn as they say, and sorry about the OT nature of this post, but it at least does have a J8 in it LOL
Andy
For Peter McGarry RIP 17/11/2003 Friend & Confidante.
