As I sit here watching a couple of Mourning Doves land in the grass next to me, I write this wishing there were more hours in a day and, almost as longingly, for more days in a week!

Aside from the most obvious that is my family, I have two passions at this point in my life.

My first is a game that I have played or been a part of since my first game of catch with my grandfather when I was 5. From that moment on, baseball has been a huge part of my life. Early on, I started listening to my Detroit Tigers being announced by the immortal Ernie Harwell through my grandpa’s radio during hot summer days. I played in neighborhood pickup games during my youth growing up in the inner city of Detroit and then playing for my high school team. Even now, at the age of a half-century, I play in a men’s baseball league and coach my son’s travel league 18U baseball team.

The second (and the reason I write these blogs) is birding. I have been birding almost consistently since 1999. From my first Chirstmas Bird count to today, I have been enthralled with the birds. I have been all over the USA with birds on the agenda at least once or twice a trip. I always check rare bird alerts looking for my next life bird to add to my list. Lately, I’ve gotten into taking pictures and blogging. Each May, with a cornucopia of species that migrate through, I try as hard as possible to see as many as possible because I know that when June begins, BAM, birding takes a back seat to baseball.

While I still look at the rare bird alerts, I know come each June, when the baseball seasons start, one of these passions has to take a backseat to the other. Because baseball is played only in warmer months, this one takes priority, and the birds have to wait. There are very few exceptions, such as a “Mega Rarity,” where I have to find a way to get there; however, that is the only time I put birds before baseball. At least where the kids are concerned.

When September returns and the time for my passions to switch to the aviary, I will miss my summer activities as much as I long for my birds in the summer.

Such is life when passions collide!