I Used to Make Fun of Old People With Silly Hobbies: Now I Do Them as a Middle Aged Man.

Birdwatching. What kind of dork does this type of hobby? It's almost as bad as fishing and you can't even kill the birds. This was my thought about 20 years ago. Rock hounding? Even worse than bird watching! Landscaping and IDing plants? Who the hell does this!? Well, I do. At least I do now. Remember those guys that we saw when we were younger. With their stupid brimmed hats and binoculars. Or their metal detectors combing the beach. Sadly, or maybe not so sadly, I am one of those men. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the excitement of more "extreme" hobbies such as basketball and golfing. If one can call golf exciting. Which brings to mind my idea of exploding golf balls. Not enough to kill you but enough to provide a scare. For instance, you would get three balls to choose on the tee and one of them will explode like a firecracker if you hit it. And don't think of stealing this idea, I've already claimed it. Getting back on topic, I'm now excited about finding rocks that may contain gems, or metal detecting for treasures. I even have books on these hobbies! Talk about being a dork. Sometimes I even combine these hobbies and go metal detecting while bird watching and looking for rocks. I should come up with a name for this. I'll put that on the to-do list. So why does this happen to use when we get older? Why do we have books on trees and shrubs and field guides to birds and rocks? I theorize that we can connect it to our bodies beginning to slow down. We may not be able to do many of the hobbies or activities that we previously enjoyed. Maybe it's just us aging into another part of our lives. Perhaps the crazier stuff that we did as a youth just don't appeal to us anymore. I realize that there are men out there that never grow up but many of them are spouseless and childless. They may be the lucky ones. But of course they'll never feel the love of having a family. Could it be that having a family brings these hobbies upon us? As a father, it's often necessary to come up with activities that the entire family can enjoy. You can't really take a 4 year old golfing. Or rock climbing. I guess you could but it wouldn't be much fun. And in reality, I find myself enjoying these types of hobbies more because I can do them with my family. I'd like to think that my kids are also learning about nature and becoming more connected to nature rather than staring at a screen all day. My kids may not appreciate it now but when their older they will look back fondly on our weekend activities. At least I hope so. Do I miss going to the bar and hanging out with friends? Of course. And I would like to do that sometimes. But as a parent those free moments are few and very far between. By the way, if you need some hobbies ideas for your middle age lifestyle, be sure to check out my articles page, especially the one on hobbies for men. You will enjoy it immensely. So I guess I have become that middle aged dorky man. It isn't too far a stretch from my semi dorky youth. Not that I was ever made fun of but I certainly wasn't a jock, most of whom are now fellow old man dorks like me. In a few minutes the family and I are going rock hounding. So I live what I preach. Men, don't be too depressed when you develop these hobbies, they will create memories that will last a lifetime.