Sometimes, I get asked questions; questions to which I have a standard response. Here are some examples:

Do you golf?

No. I’m terrible at it. And the last thing I need is another expensive hobby.

Do you bike?

I’m afraid I’d get run over on these New England backroads. And the last thing I need is another expensive hobby.

Do you ski?

I’ve tried it. I can go fast, but I can’t stop. It isn’t ideal. And the last thing I need is another expensive hobby.

I type these words for my fly fishing website, surrounded by over a half dozen bookshelves, in the heat of another duck season. I’m obviously not opposed to diving head (and wallet) first into an activity that interests me.

But as I look over my right shoulder, I see six pairs of skis. I see a few pairs of boots and a couple of pairs of poles. It looks like I’m going to be skiing.

How did this happen? Was it a windfall of cash? Am I giving up fishing? hunting? reading?

The answer is simple: I live in New England. All of my friends ski, but that hasn’t moved the needle on my dial a bit. All of my friends have kids, and all of them ski. That means that all of my kids’ friends ski. I can imagine that you are beginning to see my logic.

Even if you’re a super-duper intense fly fisherman, there should be room in your budget and schedule for other kinds of recreation. If you’re part of a family or part of a community, this should becomes a must. Everyone does X… but X isn’t your thing. Or, someone you cares about wants to try Y… but Y isn’t getting you very excited. What do you do? I mean, you’re really into fly fishing? It takes up time and it is awfully expensive.

My family has fly fished and supported fly fishing for years. Skiing might not be my thing, but it can be a thing.  I might not be adding skiing to the content rotation on Casting Across and I might not even look forward to powder (is that right?), but we’re going to give it a shot as a family. I can be excited about it, because they might be excited about it.

If fly fishing doesn’t let me do that, then maybe fly fishing is the last thing I need.