What's Your Story? - Ep. 2


I met Bill while out for a hike with the hubs and my baby girl. Bill was out bird watching with a couple of his buddies (of whose stories you will hear about in future episodes). The hubs, baby girl and I had gone for a short little hike because the hubs, being a bird nerd too, wanted to check out some birds he had heard were in the area. Baby girl and I were playing down by a pond throwing some sticks in the water (the ultimate excitement for a 2 year old). We were just heading out when we crossed paths with Bill and his bird nerd cohorts. The hubs said he wanted to check with them to see if they could confirm a bird ID down at the pond, so I played around with baby girl while we were waiting. Then it occurred to me...the hubs had already met these gents so the door was open for me to start chatting with them too.

I'm sure Bill thought I was rather strange when I started asking questions about his personal life outside of their birding conversations. As I continued to pry show interest into his personal life, I figured I better tell him about my project. His interest peaked when I told him what I was doing and he was then so happy to share his story with me...

Bill has lived here in SoCal for 50 years out of his 70 yrs of life so yeah, I would consider him from SoCal. Out of his 70 years he has spent 60ish of those years birding. His interest in birds was peaked when as a kid he would watch his grandma feeding birds in her yard. His love of bird watching only grew from there and he was able to dedicate serious time to his hobby when he retired from his job as a district manager from a bread company. Twice in the last year he has traveled to Arizona just to see one particular bird. That's some serious passion right there!

When I asked Bill how long he has been married he chuckled and asked "which time?" Pausing for a moment he told me he had been married 22 years and this one was definitely a keeper. I found out later his wife is a psychologist and thankfully tolerates his random bird trips. Bill's justification is that he could have worse hobbies. *chuckle*

I asked Bill to tell me one little known fact about himself as well as one piece of advice. His little known fact: In 'another life' he would have loved to have been a chef. Since his wife still works, he has taken over all the cooking responsibilities at their house. What a good husband. I should have tried to get us a dinner invite. :)

Bill's words of advice: "Spend as much of your life as possible outdoors." I concur, Bill.

Meet Bill:

13 comments:

Jeanne said...

Such a fun project to do, and is so much fun meeting people that you did not know and hearing their story.

Tara said...

How neat! I love this project! Bill is awesome!

Amy H said...

I'm loving this project! So cool.

Mari said...

Fun post!

Cindy said...

you had me laughing at, "bird nerd cohorts." great project. and...nice to meet bill!

Kristin said...

Great photo Misty! Are you getting people's contact info to share your photos with them, because I bet Bill, or at least his wife, would love to have this shot of him!

Kim said...

How cool. I love this project of yours. Very neat. I love reading about your interaction and adventures with them.

karren said...

This is A GREAT photo! what a cook idea...it was fun to read about him.

Laura said...

excellent photo...his open-ness and relaxed California style come through in your pic.

Amy said...

I'm loving this project! Great shot of Bill.

Jamie said...

Hello Misty!!!!! What a great portrait of Bill. Love his story :)

longneys said...

Great start to the project! I love the pics and the stories that go with them. I can't wait to get started on my project. I'm without a camera for a few more days. I'm hoping to get started this weekend. Thanks for the inspiring start.

Lisa Gordon said...

What a beautiful portrait Misty!
This sounds like such a wonderful project.