Day 23: Hobbies

One of the glorious things about having a job that is truly right for me is that I'm not compelled all that often to do things that take me away from it. When stress gets to be too much, I'll disconnect with some of the stuff in the last post, but that's not engaging in a hobby so much as engaging in decompression.

There are a few activities, however, that I like to do that don't having anything (direct) to do with school and that I very much enjoy when I have time to devote to them. Here are some of them.

Woodworking. I can make bookshelves, picnic tables, television cabinets, armoirs, doors. I've even made a small altar for my wife's side of the bed. I'm not a high level craftsman by any stretch of the imagination--that requires more time at a stretch that I can manage--but if I'm a guy who likes to work with tools, this is the way that happens.

Muppetry. Rita came to Wayfarer House by way of San Francisco many years ago, and I fell in love with puppetry from the first moment we met (for those of you who don't know, Rita is my precocious perennially 8 year-old red headed muppet--I don't have a pic of her handy, but I'm sure I'll find one to post soon). I love the performance piece of the art and am often sorry that she and the few others I have spend more time on the shelf than out with people. I really want to learn to make them someday! It requires knowledge I don't possess right now, though, and don't yet have time to acquire well.

Globetrekking. The adventure of deciding to go somewhere, planning how to get there, making the trip and exploring your destination is one of my all-time favorite activities. This one is especially great because my wife likes to do it, too--and it is so much more fun when she's with me. We travel very well together, and it's one of the great ways we bond as a pair. The move to the Red House is going to be our big adventure of this type for the next little while, but we've both thought it was about time to get back to Europe. We also need to get back out to Las Vegas to see chosen family and check on the Lohan School.

Writing. I spend an awful lot of time writing in professional ways and, while that's all well and good, it's not the same as sitting down and composing a good letter, a good story or the great American novel. My father wrote a lot after he retired. I'm thinking I won't wait that long, but given that I still struggle to keep a daily blog post active, it may not be this year that I begin such an undertaking. Laney and I talked some time ago about collaborating on a project involving her music and my writing. I think that would be the most amazing thing, and it's in my mind to keep nurturing that with her to see where it goes.

Sport. Soccer, volleyball, softball, disc golf, cycling... There's not enough of this in my world at present, and I'm hoping the world will be more conducive to it soon. I'm not talking about competitive sport--at least, not the cutthroat version of it. I'm very much a recreational sport kind of guy. I don't care who wins, as long as we're all running around and having fun with each other.