“Serving overseas as a small-town boy from America is intense, stressful and humorous! Enjoy a light-hearted story with me from our last 20 years overseas!”
— Matt
Any Place & Season Pursuits
Any place & season pursuits I studied wildlife science & forestry at Purdue in West Lafayette. I grew up loving camping, fishing, and watching birds from feeders outside the kitchen window. After getting married, we often bought or made bird feeders and bird homes at the different places we lived. We loved the chickadees, finches and cardinals. I could endure the sparrows making a mess of the feeders or even the squirrels overtaking an owl house.
Living small-town Indiana, when back on furloughs State- side meant fewer birds to watch, but we enjoyed watch- ing people passing by with equal interest as the birds. Our sons said we were just snoopy – I hate it when our kids get old enough to be perceptive! However, we noticed that the folks passing by in buggy, pickup, bike, golf cart or on foot were just as interested in what we were doing on the front porch. After making eye contact, we often would exchange a smile, nod of the head or a “hello,” and on other occasions they’d come up to the front porch for a leisurely chat.
Living overseas in large ur- ban apartment blocks taught us pretty quickly that bird feeders were not such a great idea. When talking with a neighbor about our bird feeder (brought from Indiana) that was not getting any birds, he replied, “What are you trying to do? Attract rats!?” He was right and the bird feeder came down that day. We decided
that bird watching is great, but people watching can be even more interesting. People watching is an activity that you can take with you anywhere, but is a hobby best perfected in small Towns. I guess it is important to discover pursuits that you can enjoy in any place or season of life.
Something similar ever happen to you? Contact me and let me hear your story!
Matt’s Mishaps, PO BOX 114, Grabill, IN 46741 caption: There is a special balance in the roads that run through a small town. There needs to be a primary road that brings enough people through, to give you some- thing to watch from your front porch and customers for the businesses. However, it can’t be so primary a road that it just brings traffic that is bustling by without slowing down or stopping.
