the dailypic 6000 yr17 156 The Strap

Day 6000 of the dailypic. About 10,000 days ago, I got this camera strap—though it has been missing for most of those days.

My grandfather passed away in September 1998, a few months after giving me a few cameras and this strap. He bought good gear—always the accessories too. Funny thing is, I don’t really remember his photographs. I remember his cameras.

A quick search shows this exact strap—same pattern—selling on Etsy and eBay for about $20. They were popular in the 1970s, often called “hippie straps.” After he died, I put it in a ziplock bag because it smelled like him. I can’t describe the smell well, except to say it was his house. Old in the way old houses are old. Every time I found the bag over the years, I’d open it and take a breath.

I remember where it lived in my apartment, my first house, and even packing it when we moved here in 2003. Then somehow I lost track of it. It became one of those small things that sits in the back of your mind—wondering where it ended up.

In February 2020, I even posted about it, saying I wished I knew where it was. That post popped up as a Facebook memory last week. I had finally accepted it was gone. The next day I found it—in a box that hadn’t been touched in over ten years. Less than 12 hours after I had been thinking about it.

The smell is faint now. The strap is faded, but it’s still there. It’s time for it to live on a camera again. I put it on your favorite one today. It may move around, but its days in a plastic bag are over.

Doing the math, I’m probably older now than he was when he bought this strap. Seems like the right time to give it another life. Happy day 6000, thanks for looking.

tr/trp