My First Post

Hello cybernet...Just a quick introduction to me and my blog. My profile summarizes the push/pull in my life, although my wife has her sphere of influence as well.

Non-birders will surely scoff at how I have placed birding as an apparent equal to my son and my daughter. I will defend myself with two points. Number one...my love of birding is tied in with my love for nature, the outdoors and environment. I read "Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv and it resonated. My family lives a typical suburban lifestyle but I am determined that my children will not have the "nature defecit disorder", described in Louv's book. An antidote to the consumerism that surrounds us. Being outdoors with my children means a lot to me, in terms of my short-term joy and the long-term impact.

Birding, however, is something that I enjoy immensely. It is attuned to my personality. The listing, the use of observation and deduction, the role of taxonomy, the potential to travel and, of course,  the birds themselves. Even if it were indoors, I would be hooked by everything birding gives me. Since it is an outdoor activity, well...there you go. So yes, it's birds and kids; equal in their own way.

I will also point out that my interests spiral out widely; beyond the birds and the kids. I am a sports fan, follow politics and cheer on any initiatives that are working to do good things in our world. My posts will touch on other things ( hence,  "other stuff" in my blog title ) but they will emphasize positives rather than negatives. After all, the Detroit Lions and Toronto Blue Jays are two of my favourite things so I have enough negatives to deal with ( although things are looking up ).  

The basic facts are now posted but why should I write a blog. First, I like to write and here is my chance to practice. Second, it will give me more impetus to come up with stuff to write about ( which hopefully means more time outside...). However, if I think of an ultimate goal for this blog, it is to describe how I balance my two favourite things in the world ( and how my wife puts up with it... ).

To sum up: If you would like to hear ideas, opinions, reviews and ramblings on nature, the outdoors, birds, birding, kids, birds and kids, birding with kids and a whole bunch of other stuff, this site may interest you. Check it out, explore and enjoy !