for ages, i have used a horseshoe-shaped magnet to hold my rod to the side of the car while assembling and disassembling my gear on the way to and from the stream. it was available at the fly shop in a small plastic bin next the register, and ever since i bought it, i've suggested it to anyone i see buying a rod. "You need a $7.95 insurance policy," i would tell them.

today i benefited from my own advice. for the first time ever, i had decided to save time and rig the rod at home, and leave the tube behind. leaky waders and gathering gloom made me hurry on my way off the water. yep, you guessed it: on the way home i stopped at the kebab house to buy supper, and when i came back out to the car there was the rod, happily erect, still securely held to the side of the car by the magnet. by some genuine holy miracle, the line had not snagged on anything in the busy 4-lane insanity we call secondary roads around here.

so i'm back to never, ever, traveling with a rod anywhere but in its tube. now to empty my pockets into the little blue box on my desk that says, "...accept we pray these outward signs of our profound and continuing thankfulness for all the blessings of life..." because my favorite small stream rod and itty bitty no-longer-available reel are safe!