Crossroads
What would we be doing with our time if we didn’t have an interest in the natural world around us?I’d not really given this a thought, but a recent Blogger exchange with Ric has changed that. What indeed...
Was there a moment in your life that switched you on - seriously switched you on - to becoming almost obsessional with wildlife? There was for me. I’ve blogged about it before. It was the moment a Jay hopped across our back garden lawn and ignited my 15 year old mind. There had been opportunities for this to happen before, times when I had acknowledged a bird, butterfly or mammal but had not felt inspired enough to delve further. Had that Jay not appeared in front of me, would another event have occurred in later years which would have had the same effect? That is hard to predict. I can only imagine that as you grow older, and your mind becomes less malleable, such events would lose their potency, and would be out-competed by any passion that would have been subsequently embraced.
So, no Jay, and no other ignition further down the line. Where would I now be spending my time?
Seeing that most of my mid-teen years was spent birding, I need to look at what ‘floated my boat’ just prior to that. I did have hobbies. I collected stamps and coins. I played football and cricket. I was in the schools athletics team. I went and watched football (Tottenham, Crystal Palace and Sutton United). I read avidly. I painted. Any of these could have become addictions. Maybe I would now be one of those Spurs supporters who go to every game, home and away, spending thousands of pounds each season on tickets and travel; or I would be an exhibiting artist having honed my artistic skills through years of fine tuning; all those history books I devoured might have found me wandering fields with a metal detector or volunteering with an archeological team; or maybe another thunderbolt from a completely different sphere would have struck me and carried me off.
Chance plays a big part it where we go and what we do with our lives. When we reach a crossroads we don’t always knowingly decide which road to take, as we have made our choice by instinct and might not even be aware that we have. It is not until much later that we can look back and see where our life-choices were made.
I’m so glad that the Jay did decide to hop across that lawn back in 1974. Without it I would have missed out on an awful lot.
Was there a moment in your life that switched you on - seriously switched you on - to becoming almost obsessional with wildlife? There was for me. I’ve blogged about it before. It was the moment a Jay hopped across our back garden lawn and ignited my 15 year old mind. There had been opportunities for this to happen before, times when I had acknowledged a bird, butterfly or mammal but had not felt inspired enough to delve further. Had that Jay not appeared in front of me, would another event have occurred in later years which would have had the same effect? That is hard to predict. I can only imagine that as you grow older, and your mind becomes less malleable, such events would lose their potency, and would be out-competed by any passion that would have been subsequently embraced.
So, no Jay, and no other ignition further down the line. Where would I now be spending my time?
Seeing that most of my mid-teen years was spent birding, I need to look at what ‘floated my boat’ just prior to that. I did have hobbies. I collected stamps and coins. I played football and cricket. I was in the schools athletics team. I went and watched football (Tottenham, Crystal Palace and Sutton United). I read avidly. I painted. Any of these could have become addictions. Maybe I would now be one of those Spurs supporters who go to every game, home and away, spending thousands of pounds each season on tickets and travel; or I would be an exhibiting artist having honed my artistic skills through years of fine tuning; all those history books I devoured might have found me wandering fields with a metal detector or volunteering with an archeological team; or maybe another thunderbolt from a completely different sphere would have struck me and carried me off.
Chance plays a big part it where we go and what we do with our lives. When we reach a crossroads we don’t always knowingly decide which road to take, as we have made our choice by instinct and might not even be aware that we have. It is not until much later that we can look back and see where our life-choices were made.
I’m so glad that the Jay did decide to hop across that lawn back in 1974. Without it I would have missed out on an awful lot.
Comments
I never had a light bulb moment myself. I mean, I can't remember a time when I wasn't aware of nature around me. The Ladybird series of 'What to Look For', was something I grew up with, along with publications such as,'Tell me Why?'
My grand-parents had a farm, so wandering the fields finding Skylark nests and seeing Hares was part of the journey before the age of eight.
The first birds that really caught the attention were like you, a Jay, a Tree-creeper and Tawny Owl. Those I knew the names of when I saw them. But another bird which I saw when I was barely five years old from no further than about four feet, burned it's image into my mind that I can still see it now.
A tiny jewel of a bird appearing in front of me on Chorleywood Common stunned me with it's distinct markings. That zonking eye stripe and bright colours stunned me. But for some reason, I think I already knew what it was. Fifty odd years later I'm pretty sure it was a Firecrest.
Yes, I think that was the first bird I was aware of.
I have other activities myself such as angling, running and cycling. I've done those for decades. Nothing obsessional, just a good level of application. I don't play at anything, but do know my limitations. I'm not directly competitive either.
I've tried all sorts of things, but nothing un-civilised. I've jumped out of aircraft, discovered I've no aptitude for music. I can't string words together to any extent or draw. And an excursion into academia simply proved how thick I was.
The expression, 'Everyone is good at something if only they found out what it was', is incorrect. The expression is really 'Not everyone is rubbish at everything'.
The question then is,'how bothered are you to find out?'
I can also remember as a toddler getting excited about seeing Red Admirals at a similar age & at primary school seeing 2 & 7-spot Ladybirds on the school roses.
TV certainly inspired me as a kid with Johnny Morris, Survival + numerous other programmes. I loved the plates in the Ladybird books which had me salivating over them- especially the spring, summer ones before finding the more informative Observer books. Also old cigarette + tea cards featuring wildlife.
In my teens interest waned a bit but still went to uni doing biological sciences. Can still remember my excitement at my first trip to Slimbridge + my first couple of foreign trips to the Camargue + then to the Florida Everglades.
I've never been into sport (I think my father tried too hard as a big sports fan!) + these days natural history is almost all consuming, though also have a passion for a wide range of popular music from all eras.
Today enjoy foreign travel to look at fauna/flora, love doing my local patch, doing surveys + even leading the odd trip. Nature just inspires me!
Like most naturalists I got into butterflies first as a kid, then as a younger adult dragonflies. These days got much more into moths + take an interest in quite a few groups including shieldbugs, hoverflies, ladybirds + try with bees.