The Reason Why

He Was A ‘Busy’ Child

While pondering this new-found knowledge and its possible application, I realized there were signs of my possible condition from childhood. The writer Patrick F. McManus once said he was full of “wild and terrible enthusiasms” and this has always stuck with me. I never did just “take up” a new hobby, activity or interest, I always go full-on, whole-hog, damn-the-torpedoes insane.

Consider just the shooting pastimes. Of course, I shoot and own all sorts of rifles, pistols and shotguns but at various times in life I have become overwhelmingly enamored with precision riflery; single-action, CCW and pocket handguns; 1911s; black powder rifles; tactical shotguns; hunting shotguns; side-by-side hunting shotguns; lever-action rifles; reloading; air rifles; antique shooting memorabilia; holster building; and gun refinishing. I can’t divulge the details but I will even admit more than a passing familiarity with the technique for building firework shells.

Then there is hunting, the natural proof-of-concept for firearm skills. At various times I’ve focused almost solely on deer, elk, pigs, waterfowl, upland gamebirds, small game, nuisance animals, exotic game and even frogs. I also have gone through a “hunting” phase for butterflies, gold, buried treasure and fossils though these particular activities don’t usually require a gun. If they do, you’re going after bigger butterflies than I ever chased.

Of course lots of folks do similar things but where I’m different is a near-compulsive need to become a subject-matter expert and own every bit of pro-grade gear. This is the reason why I have two storage units full of equipment, most of which hasn’t been used in years. On the plus side, if you ever want to hunt frogs with a precision air rifle — where legal — I could fully outfit you and a dozen of your closest friends. After all, why throw away hand-build frog decoys?

Away from guns, I’ve also been variously and viciously hooked on backpacking, scuba diving, novel writing, boating and sailing, motorcycling, whitewater kayaking and rafting (gotta own both!), mountain biking, landscape and nature photography, videography, web design, taxidermy, electronics building, exotic fish collecting, exotic fish keeping, exotic fish photography and countless other activities. The act of angling itself would require a book to cover my singular pursuit of everything from blue crabs to violent pelagic fish.

And there is music. My current resume includes public performances on drums, accessory percussion, guitar, banjo, keyboards, harmonica and once, the jaw harp. Naturally, I’ve also worked as a trained sound engineer and owned a live-streaming video production company. Yep, Wild and Terrible Enthusiasms indeed. Just typing the list made me tired in retrospect.