It's always sad to see a hobby go. I've had a number of them throughout my life and have come to recognize the pattern. I get interested in something, get very involved with it (sometimes for months and other times for years) and then slowly become disinterested.
I'm afraid that's happening with me and canoeing. Four years ago I was still paddling multiple times/week and building canoes with no signs of stopping. Then I suddenly got an offer to sell my house and shop and took them up on it. Which meant I lost my nice canoe shop and gained a remodel project which took up all my time. I also ended up buying a sawmill at that time which, among the house remodel and building a new shop, began to occupy much of my time. My back got injured and I couldn't do much of anything for over a year until I'd had fusion surgery. The rhythm I'd been in for years was broken.
Fast forward four years and I've only been paddling a handful of times despite having a nice slough right out my front door (I can literally carry down my driveway and launch). It seems there's always something else I'd rather be doing. Working on the house, building something in the shop, sawing lumber, planting trees on the new land that went along with the sawmill. The thought of actually going canoeing comes as an afterthought at the end of a beautiful day when I had some free time. “Oh yeah, I could have gone canoeing today. Oh well, next time.”
It seems sad but it isn't as bad as all that. What would be sad would be if I wanted to go canoeing more than anything but could never find the time to do it. Something always comes along to replace the hobby I've left behind and while I hate to see something go and usually try to hold on too long I can't complain because I'm happy doing the new thing.
And the old hobbies all leave something behind, come back around now and again. Feeling a baseball in my hand brings back a flood of memories and I still find a lot of enjoyment in hitting rocks with a broken piece of wood. Now that I have a couple young boys in my life it's fun to show them how to throw and catch a ball.
I'm still around water quite often on my walks and I never get tired of watching for fish. When I see a boil as a fish is spooked I find myself trying to piece together what species it likely was, what it was doing there, and how to catch it. And I do make exceptions for fishing now and again when I can get the boys out. It feels good to (almost) always be able to put them on some fish.
The only phone I carry anymore is a camera phone but I can still recognize and compose a good picture and fool the automatic settings good enough to gain some control.
Birds are of course never far away and even though I no longer count them or check them off lists my eye can't help but see the flick of unexpected color from a migrating golden crowned kinglet or my ears miss a snatch of sound that tells me a wood thrush is singing way back in the woods. Last night a bird flew across the road in front of me. It didn't look odd but just not quite like the common great blue heron or the less common american bittern. I stopped the car to follow its flight for a better look. It was a black crowned night heron. I hadn't seen, or even thought, of one in years. It brought a smile to my face as an old hobby came back to say hello. The hobby that had been replaced by canoeing, which is now fading away.
This doesn't mean I'm selling the canoes or hanging up the paddles just yet. I still hope to get out in the canoe now and again. I've got a few young boys to teach the way of the paddle and would still like to do a couple more far northern trips and build a couple more boats too. But I can tell the drive to do those things isn't there any more so we'll see if they actually happen.
Alan
I'm afraid that's happening with me and canoeing. Four years ago I was still paddling multiple times/week and building canoes with no signs of stopping. Then I suddenly got an offer to sell my house and shop and took them up on it. Which meant I lost my nice canoe shop and gained a remodel project which took up all my time. I also ended up buying a sawmill at that time which, among the house remodel and building a new shop, began to occupy much of my time. My back got injured and I couldn't do much of anything for over a year until I'd had fusion surgery. The rhythm I'd been in for years was broken.
Fast forward four years and I've only been paddling a handful of times despite having a nice slough right out my front door (I can literally carry down my driveway and launch). It seems there's always something else I'd rather be doing. Working on the house, building something in the shop, sawing lumber, planting trees on the new land that went along with the sawmill. The thought of actually going canoeing comes as an afterthought at the end of a beautiful day when I had some free time. “Oh yeah, I could have gone canoeing today. Oh well, next time.”
It seems sad but it isn't as bad as all that. What would be sad would be if I wanted to go canoeing more than anything but could never find the time to do it. Something always comes along to replace the hobby I've left behind and while I hate to see something go and usually try to hold on too long I can't complain because I'm happy doing the new thing.
And the old hobbies all leave something behind, come back around now and again. Feeling a baseball in my hand brings back a flood of memories and I still find a lot of enjoyment in hitting rocks with a broken piece of wood. Now that I have a couple young boys in my life it's fun to show them how to throw and catch a ball.
I'm still around water quite often on my walks and I never get tired of watching for fish. When I see a boil as a fish is spooked I find myself trying to piece together what species it likely was, what it was doing there, and how to catch it. And I do make exceptions for fishing now and again when I can get the boys out. It feels good to (almost) always be able to put them on some fish.
The only phone I carry anymore is a camera phone but I can still recognize and compose a good picture and fool the automatic settings good enough to gain some control.
Birds are of course never far away and even though I no longer count them or check them off lists my eye can't help but see the flick of unexpected color from a migrating golden crowned kinglet or my ears miss a snatch of sound that tells me a wood thrush is singing way back in the woods. Last night a bird flew across the road in front of me. It didn't look odd but just not quite like the common great blue heron or the less common american bittern. I stopped the car to follow its flight for a better look. It was a black crowned night heron. I hadn't seen, or even thought, of one in years. It brought a smile to my face as an old hobby came back to say hello. The hobby that had been replaced by canoeing, which is now fading away.
This doesn't mean I'm selling the canoes or hanging up the paddles just yet. I still hope to get out in the canoe now and again. I've got a few young boys to teach the way of the paddle and would still like to do a couple more far northern trips and build a couple more boats too. But I can tell the drive to do those things isn't there any more so we'll see if they actually happen.
Alan