What's your hobby?

KIR

Sparks, NV
Joined
Mar 2, 2022
Messages
2,771
Just curious. What other hobbies do you have besides gun related. Spare us the "What else is there?"reply. Being a Gemini (Personally I think astrology is a bunch ofTaurus! I turned 80 this late May) I have usually considered myself ajack of all trades, master of none. I don't know a lot about any onething (not a specialist), but a little about most things and if Idon't I know where to go...Google it!
For a couple of years now, I have beenworking on family history/ancestry/family tree/genealogy kinda ofthing. By the way, when your financial services ask for your mother'smaiden name, ask for a different question (ex.: first pet's name) asit is way too easy to find out your mother's maiden name!
Genealogy can be fun and frustratingall at the same time, starting with a name. Why do parents name theirchildren such formal names and then end up calling them by theirnicknames? As for the last name, it gets harder to find outancestors, especially if they name their offspring by the same nameas theirs. George Foreman for example, he has sons, Jr. III, IV, V,with nicknames of Big Wheel, Red and Little Joey. Two of hisdaughters have a middle name of George and one name Georgetta. But Idigress.
Being of Latin, Spanish, Mexican(whatever) ancestors, it gets very difficult. One of my extendedfamily ancestors had the surname (last) name of "de la Cruz". Hadto look it up that way, then "dela Cruz" and finally, "Cruz".It gets even more complicated, but don't let me turn you off to allthis, when I find some legal documents like certificates of birth,baptism, marriage, death, etc. it can be quite rewarding, I usuallyshout out 'EUREKA'! Those documents might have important dates,parents names and locations. When I find out something, I feel like adetective who just found out a clue to my next discovery. That isrewarding to me. I have hit a dead end in my own direct lineage onlybeing able to go back to my great grandmother who was born in AZTerritory. However, a family tree can be huge, with many branches. Mywife started to track her relatives, but she soon passed away afterstarting. So for our son and granddaughter's sake, I began lookingher family up. I got as far back as one of her ancestors arriving inNorth America in 1620, no, not the Mayflower, but the shipafterwards. Those family members later migrated up to Nova Scotia andtheir records were published in a local newspaper. An editorcollected all that info and published a book about that familybranch. I found this obscure book in a Family Center of the Church ofthe LDS. Not a member, just go there to do research on theircomputers which has a free account to Ancestry, My Heritage andseveral other genealogical web sites. Anyway, my wife's family can betraced back to Fowry, England where I glanced at many records there.Some day, I may dive into that family branch, but in the meantime, Ido have other hobbies to pursue: Recently joined a coin/currencyclub. Working in Reno casinos, I was fortunate enough to collect asmall treasure of Morgan Silver Dollars including one minted inCarson City, other silver coins and tokens. In addition, a great manyolder amount of bills like silver certificates, others with red andeven brown seals, an error $1 bill that was double stamped on theback with the front image. From WWII bills stamped with "HAWAII"both front and back which was to prevent the Japanese from floodingthe market with counterfeit currency. Recently ran into a man who wasgiving out $100 bills, as a joke, that looked almost real, but hadBank of China on it. I guess we all collect different things. Howabout 1st editions of magazines? Sports Illustratedpremier issue from the 1950's I bought for 25 cents. I have seenoffers as high as $300, but I am saving for my son and g'daughter. Ithink the thrill is in the collecting for me, rather than rewardingmyself financially. Another hobby of mine, might be reading,collecting trivia. Remember knowledge is power!
So what hobbies do you have? ...andyes, I do have a small collection of a dozen firearms.
 
Well, Shooting of Course , rolling my own ammo, Hunting, Jeeping, Motorcycle Riding, Camping, Hiking.I tend to trade off by season to season. If it's cold ,hunt , too hot Jeep, just right hike/camp or bike.
 
Must resist typing first thought to come in mind! :)

Actually, sleeping, reading, cooking. Do a bit of knitting from time to time. I have gotten more into amateur astronomy since it is one of my husband's favorite.
I will never forget about 16yrs. Ago in 2007 my wife and I her first cousin and her husband was at our family reunion which takes place in the mountians of WV. We went for a midnight 4 wheeler ride and decided to go up to a place called Gobblers knob. Unbeknownst to us after our arrival to the high knob. It was so clear and this is an extremely high knob. We were gawking with amazement at how we could see the fingers of the milky way (large fan blade sections of stars pink and white in color. Just at that very moment we started seeing a meteor shower we watch for over an hour as one after the other came streaking across the midnight sky. We initially thought it was falling stars. It was truly one of the most beautiful things I think I ever witnessed. To top it off it was July 7th past midnight which was my Birthday .
 
I have had a number of 'hobbies' over my many years. Did a lot of legal drag racing, Raced enduro motorcycle. A few years of SCCA SOLO. Had my own darkroom for a number of years. I shot competitive rifle (high power and small bore) and pistol for a number of years But, two things I have been doing since a very young kid, my guitar pickin and my leatherwork.
 
The older I get and with some significant health challenges, I'm down with the sleeping thing!
When awake and not working, shooting of course, fishing - kayak, boat, surf, biking when inspired, now walking too with the better half, sporting a fitbit these days to keep track. Didn't make 10000 today, topped out at 8500 steps...
Also been a guitar player for 45 years, no longer in any bands but still like to play. Used to sit in some at bars before 2020, now just a rare party in the home band room when I can get some guys over.
Occasionally inspired to try my hand at cooking but nothing too serious, but really enjoy taking fish straight from the saltwater kayak trips right to the fry pan or oven. Flounder, sea trout, and redfish.
I'm sure I'll think of more. OP's post is inspiring, my sister and her husband have an interest in genealogy.
 
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One of my hobbies is torturing trees and finding ones that other people have done or happened on their own.

This one I’ve been working on for years. It was sort of bush like so I braided the stems together to form a trunk.
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I found this one at a customers house.
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This one someone else braided I found fishing one day.
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These are from the web
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Unnatural Acts with metal.
 

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Building cool Jeeps is my other passion. Nothing beats a 2800 lb vehicle with 450 HP on tap. This is my latest, and probably last project. I find that even though I’m in my early 60’s, my body feels a whole lot older. So a vehicle project takes years…guns are a lot easier and more fun to work on.

Other than that, I enjoy photography, my dogs, sightseeing, and researching things.
 
Horses, motorcycles, I enjoy working on about anything from vehicles to carpentry work. As someone else posted my interest also change with the seasons.
I guess a hobby is something you take interest in and like to do.
Just being alive and enjoying every day whether I'm cutting firewood, walking in the woods or sitting on the porch, it's all my hobby. I rarely look at anything as work. It's all something I like to do.
 
1. Building dioramas: Started out doing Toyota 4WDs at the Matchbox Scale, then 1:32, 1:24 & 1:18. Now doing an Old West Indian attack and a couple of Viet Nam military ones.
2. Gardening.
3. Traveling and photographing Indian petroglyphs (a new one!).
4, Halibut fishing in Alaska (Every 3 years or so).
5. Reading.
6. Old movies, especially film noir.

I'm 73 and retired so I have time-also disabled, so I am somewhat limited.
 
6. Old movies, especially film noir.
Ooooh, don't get me started on movies. I grew up with TV, going to the movie theater 5X/week and all kinds of categories: silents, foreign, westerns of course, sci-fi, etc. The latest being Bollywood and Korean. Both for their colorful pageantry, singing, dancing, etc. Lot to be said for that kind of education. Knowledge is power.
 
Life long hunter that I finally gave up last year at age 68 because of age and health related issues.
Once upon a time, I shot handguns competitively. Won some matches and trophies but the win at all cost attitude of some competitors eventually caused me to quit along with the realization that my eyesight was getting steadily worse.
Studied military history, primarily WWII, since I was a teenager and have accumulated quite a large personal library.
Also study paleontology,( hominid, mammals and dinosaurs) which grew into another fairly extensive collection of scientific volumes.

Been reloading for about 40 years now.
Also played softball, pick up basketball games, tennis and racquetball when I was younger. Stopped most of that stuff around the age of 40.
Nowadays I keep my Labrador Retrievers happy...full time job.
 
Cars were the main hobby for years but work injury pretty much killed that hobby. Also did the family history thing. Started when I did a tree for my parents 50th anniversary. Only went back a couple generations. My dad said lots of luck his family lived in the woods and cut down trees. Found a book from the 1800s on County history. Had is mom's side back 3 more generations. Came across one of his great aunts that had joined the Mayflower Society. That was a snag I couldn't decipher (this was in the 80s before all the internet stuff). Finally a 2nd cousin saw a post and sent me the line it was all females so the names changed each time. That also got me what's called a gateway ancestor. Those tie into all the incestious royal houses of europe - since they were the only ones keeping track of all the arranged marriages. Mine took 200 years to get from Plymouth to MI cutting trees making farms buying more land clearing it selling the farm and moving on. It was working pretty good until they hit the bad farming soil in MI. Wife's family has all the adventurers - 1st French into Mobile that family ended up being the fort builders in the Louisiana Purchase. Another Frenchman said we'll build St Louis here and founded a fur trading empire. An Irishman left VA and started horse racing in KY. A MO ancestor, another Irishman packed up and came to CA in 1849 - he like so many of them struck it poor and ended up in Los Angeles as a carpenter. My wife and I do share one uncommon thing among us - we both had ggetc grandmothers who were hung. Hers in 1692 on Gallows Hill in Salem for witchcraft and mine on Boston Common in 1660 for being a Quaker.
 
In the mid 1960's I got interested in old cars. and trucks. I have owned 52 vehicles over the years and working in wrecking yards for over 35 years allowed me access to a lot of them.They were everywhere, cheap and a lot were free. In 1970 I got hooked on 1956 Chevys and six cylinder Chevy engines and spent 40 years rebuilding, improving and hot rodding them. Guns of course and I collect tools, both antique and modern. hand and power. I also collect small cast iron gas engine like Briggs & Stratton, Clinton, Reo, Johnson Iron Horses, Continentals, Tecumseh, Wisconsins, Maytag and others. I also have a large collection of books related to my hobbies.

CHEVYINLINE6.
 

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Running, Fitness, watching cheesy 80s and 90s movies, taking care of the Gordians Knot of a yard I "inherited" when I bought my house from a Widow who was a hoarder , including a Goldfish pond
 
1. Building dioramas: Started out doing Toyota 4WDs at the Matchbox Scale, then 1:32, 1:24 & 1:18. Now doing an Old West Indian attack and a couple of Viet Nam military ones.
I had a model phase in my younger days (I'm not that old yet but...). Here are some I did about 30 years ago.

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I have a current project for the first time in decades as one of kids bought me a model for Christmas.

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