Have you ever had the pleasure of sitting on your back porch in the cool of a spring evening, watching the sun slowly slip beyond the horizon? The shrimp and steak are grilling, the beer is cold, and the robins and mourning doves sing their sweet lullaby. It is nearly the perfect evening.

There is only one thing missing from this picture: my family. As I take another pull from my Coors and pop the tail off a shrimp, my lovely wife is on her way home from work. My two youngest have returned from a day of volunteer work at Conner Prairie and are getting ready for bed. My oldest is baby-sitting a friend’s children. And I am alone.

I realize I do not yet qualify as an empty-nester but I can see the need for more hobbies in my future. Otherwise, I’m going to be a lonely old man who eats a lot of shrimp, drink my evening beer, and talk to the birds.

On the other hand, there could be worse hobbies!

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