Posts Tagged ‘reading’

How Can You Be Bored?

Posted on September 23rd, 2009 by by Administrator

I’m always amazed when I hear somebody say that they are bored. How can that be? I just don’t understand it. There is always something to do and something to learn. I never seem to have enough hours in a day to do all of the things I want to get done.

In addition to my regular writing and blogging duties, and researching things to write and blog about, I have a half dozen or more books in the writing process that I try to spend some time on every week.

Then there are the many hobbies and special interests that I try to find time for, from geocaching and kayaking, to reading, target shooting, genealogy, and surfing the internet.

While I have a Facebook account and try to post something on there fairly regularly, I have purposely avoided even looking at the many games and other fun stuff there, such as Farmtown. I just don’t have the time to even allow myself to get interested. At one time I got hooked on the computer simulation game Sim City, and had to give it up when I found myself spending way too many hours building my own little virtual worlds.    

Sometimes I find myself wasting time just watching something that catches my eye. I once sat on a beach in Washington State for over three hours just watching as some freak occurrence drove thousands of small fish into the surf line, where the birds swarmed in and dove down again and again, grabbing an easy dinner.

When I lived on the Northwest coast, I loved watching the storms roll in off the ocean, sending huge waves crashing onto the beach and jetty. After the storm would clear, I’d go for long walks, picking up odd pieces of driftwood and flotsam, and once even a round glass ball used as a fishing float.

Yesterday was a good example of just stumbling upon something interesting and finding a way to pass the time.

There are quite a few huge old oak trees here at the Mercer County Fairgrounds in Celina, Ohio, and yesterday afternoon a large limb on one of the trees cracked with a loud noise and sagged down onto an electric line, pulling a nearby power pole off center at an angle.

The County Public Works garage is here at the fairgrounds, and a crew of men and a boom truck quickly arrived to cut down the limb before it came down on some unsuspecting passerby or vehicle.

A project like this is pretty far removed from my usual day, so I sat down at a picnic table and watched as a worker climbed into the boom bucket, raised himself into the tree, and used a chain saw to cut away branches and smaller limbs until he could get to the broken limb.

As the close up photo shows, the offending limb was probably eighteen inches in diameter, and certainly weighed several hundred pounds, so the trimming job required a lot of caution. I sure was glad our motorhome wasn’t under it when that thing let go!

Thought For The Day – It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.

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What Are Your Hobbies?

Posted on June 30th, 2009 by by Administrator

In a conversation with a new fulltimer the other day, he mentioned that the one thing he knows he’ll miss is his gardening hobby. Apparently he had a greenhouse at his former home and is well known for his roses, which have won ribbons in the county fair for years. He asked me what hobbies best fit into the RV lifestyle.

I guess growing prize winning roses might be difficult in an RV, but there are many hobbies that fit perfectly with the RV lifestyle. We have known many fulltime RVers with interesting hobbies, and many have customized their RVs to accommodate their hobbies and special interests.

Some of our personal hobbies include geocaching, reading, kayaking, crocheting and cooking (Terry), and target shooting. We know other fulltime RVers who are into woodcarving, bird watching, fishing, playing music, bicycling, volkswalking, photography, making stained glass, and quilting, to name just a few.

The RV lifestyle makes it easy to enjoy your hobbies and special interests. If you enjoy bird watching, you can travel to some of the best birding spots in the nation. RVing geocachers can hunt for caches at highway rest areas, as well as any place they visit, since caches can be found in every corner of America.

Musicians can take part in jam sessions at RV parks, and follow the blue grass festival circuit as they travel. There are woodcarving events all over the country that can be participated in, including an annual gathering at the Escapees North Ranch RV park in Congress, Arizona.

If golf is your thing, the RV lifestyle is perfect for you. Unlike golfers in northern climates, RVers can play any time of year, because they are (hopefully) not stuck someplace where it snows.

Genealogy is another hobby that is perfect for RVers. It is one thing to know that your great great uncle Angus is buried in a family plot on land he farmed in Missouri, and quite another to be able to travel to the old family farm and actually walk the land your ancestors tilled, and pay your respects in person at their gravesites.

Even though we cannot actively participate in some of the hobbies we enjoyed in our former lives, that doesn’t mean we can’t still have some involvement. I was into classic cars before we hit the road, and sold my four old cars when we became fulltimers. But every once in a while, we’ll see a car show and I can relive memories of my days behind the wheel of my old Corvette or one of my Mustangs.

So what are some of the hobbies and activities that you enjoy as you travel around this great land of ours, and how do they fit into the RV lifestyle?

Thought For The Day – Middle age is having a choice of two temptations and choosing the one that will get you home earlier.

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