More Of My Hobbies

In my last post, I wrote about my Boston Terrier, and yes, training puppies has always been a passion of mine. I remember getting my Shepherd Lab cross when I was about 25, and how much I thoroughly enjoyed training Tara. She was a great dog and a wonderful companion. But, I have many interests and hobbies. Sometimes, I will become interested in something and read and read and study, and learn as much as I can while I pursue it. I don't get tired of it, but I'll get back to one of my other ones and kind of sink myself into it. Some of the things I've done through the years include home winemaking, fly fishing of course, studying privacy and security issues, and I also ran a business at one point, building custom fishing rods. That started out as a hobby back in about 1984, when I wanted to do something really special for my dad's birthday. He needed a new fishing rod, and I came across the idea of custom building one at the Toronto Sportsmen's Show. I became fascinated with the idea and purchased a rod blank and all the components I needed, and set about learning how to build rods. That first rod was not one of my best, that is for sure, but my father appreciated it and it was well used. Later, I went on to build him a couple of fly rods as I decided to create a business out of the hobby, running the business out of my home. It certainly did not make me rich, but I had the opportunity to travel to seminars and make some new friends, many of whom are still in my circle of friends today. Today, while bouncing around on some web pages, I came across this accurate article on the history of custom rod building. It sure brought back some memories as I certainly remember when the Rod Guild was founded and I think I may even have a copy of one of the first editions of RodMaker Magazine. I have not built rods in quite some time. A marriage breakup which meant having to sell the house and me moving to much smaller digs to be able to afford the child support meant I had to focus on other things. But it sure is nice to pull off one of the old rods I built and fish it, and even come across clients I had 15 or more years ago,who say, "Hey, Ian! That rod you built me - I still use it and love it!" One of these days, I might get back into rod building again, but not as a business, I don't think. One of the things I think would be a lot of fun though is to sit down and build a rod with my nine year old son! And if he enjoys it, perhaps it will become a new hobby that he will want to learn more about and spend time doing.