What's Your Story? - Ep. 4


Arnie (isn't that a cool name?!) was the third of the three bird nerd gents I got to meet. When he heard me questioning his other cohorts he answered my questions before I even had to ask him. I love it when people are excited to help out with my project.

Arnie is the "youth" of the three (see episodes 2 and 3) as he likes to call himself at the ripe young age of 63. He hales from Indiana but has lived in SoCal for quite some time. While back home visiting his family many years ago, he wanted to spend some time with his brother who was an avid birder. Not being a birder himself, Arnie decided it would be worth it just to go along with his brother bird watching just so he could spend some time with him. That day changed things for Arnie and now for the past 25 years he proudly wears the title "bird nerd".

Like me, Arnie is also a photographer. He said his kids grew up with his camera constantly in their faces and though they may not have enjoyed it at the time, now, all these years later, they love sitting down and looking at all the memories their dad captured for them.

A cool little fact I found out is that Arnie's wife, Bill's wife and Bruce are all psychologists. I'm impressed! Being married for 31 years, I'm sure Arnie has many pearls of wisdom he could have given me but one quote he did leave me with was this, "Brighten up a room when you enter it, not when you leave it." I must say I laughed out loud as did we all, but what a quote to dwell on. When do you brighten a room?


Three years is all Arnie has left till he can finally retire from his job in sales. I must confess I didn't quite understand what exactly he sold when he was trying to explain it to me. It sounded impressive though. :)

Arnie shared a personal story with me he asked me not share on the blog, but let's just say that three different times, God spared his life and Arnie firmly believes he is here for a reason.  What a pleasure it was to find a new friend in Arnie.

Meet Arnie:

8 comments:

黄清华 Wong Ching Wah said...

Great portraiture of Arnie !

Linda said...

Arnie sounds like a good friend to have and great photo of him!

Tara said...

wow! Very neat! Love the advice! ;)

Carrie said...

Arnie looks like a sweetheart! Great capture.

Jamie said...

I love how you tell their story :)

Kim said...

I really like this photo of Arnie. I think it really captures his passion. Great job.

karren said...

Nice photo of your new friend. I like his story....LOVE the tree bokeh behind him.

Laura Delegal - Leroy Photography said...

Thanks for the introduction, Misty. I think you captured him well. Lovely portrait.