I Guess I'm a Hermit, Now

I had the pleasure to grow up “in the bush”. I have always felt comfortable in the bush. I went to university for forestry as a career so I could be in the bush. I enjoy my fellow man but I do enjoy the solitude of being in the bush. Surrounded by nature, in all it’s myriad forms.

In 2003 I moved to a 100 acre spread outside of Huntsville, which has a 5 acre pond in the centre - very quiet and idyllic. Out there I can't hear anything except wind and animals. I watch the ducks, great blue herons, grey herons, hawks, dragonflies ( seven species, I’ve counted so far ), deer and the damn beavers that keep blocking the spillway. (Cripes, Beav, ya got 5 acres of water ! What do you need more for ???)

The estate came with a guard cat, that I reluctantly fed. Only because he was a great mouser. I am deathly allergic to cats, so he wasn’t coming inside. I made him a cozy nest under the porch for the winter. There were a plethora of birdhouses around the property. So, I had a wealth of birds to keep feeding in the winter. The first winter I got into feeding the deer and would get up to 9 of them at a time . Very entertaining.

One sunny, wintry day, I picked up my daughter after school and brought her home. She started her routine of having her afternoon snack. Then started grilling me "Dad, what game are we gonna play?" My daughter and I are game fanatics – card and board games, not video games. "I gotta feed the birds first, honey". I had 3 different garbage bins of feed. So I load up one bucket for the birdees. As I come back in "Okay, what game are we gonna play ?" "I gotta feed the guard cat, sweetie". I made up a bowl of stuff and took it outside for kitty. As I come back in, "R U READY TO PLAY?" "I gotta feed the deer now, shnookums".

“JEEZ, DAD, WHAT ARE YOU ? SOME KIND OF HERMIT ?”

Simple Tips to Help You Gauge Humans

As a teenager, I developed an interest in all types of music, short of rap and opera. I became quite a trivia buff, being quite knowledgeable in “Name That Tune” of popular music from the 40’s through to the 80’s. Oft even being able to state the year of release.
When it came to rock, I was incorrigible in that I knew the record’s musicians, song writers, producer, engineer and the recording studio. I did, eventually, pursue my dream and took a 5 week course in recording technology, but that’s for another story.

When I would meet a new person in their home, having been introduced by a mutual friend, I would immediately gravitate to their music selection, and would quickly be able to size them up. Depending on what their collection consisted of – country, bluegrass, folk, rock, classical, jazz or blues. Back then, there were very limited genres – no “New World”, fusion or crossover, etc.

Through my twenties, I re-embraced my enjoyment of reading, that I had enjoyed as a kid. I became voracious. I’d pick up a Hemingway and would have to go through all his works. Leon Uris, Robert Ludlum, Steven King and others.

During this period, upon meeting a new person, in their home, I would check out their personal library. Again, depending on their preferences, sci-fi, mystery, classic, fiction, biographies, this would help me determine their personality traits.

By my late twenties, I came up with a much simpler method of psychoanalyzing a new individual. Simply look in their fridge.