What makes this hobby great

[MikeM]

People come and go in every hobby. Today's obsession becomes forgotten tomorrow. With many hobbies, there is just not enough involved to hold interest for long. Koikeeping involves so many aspects that the obsession can burn a long time, and then mature.

It seems to me that when well-known koikeepers leave the hobby it has a scare effect on the kichi who remain. So much is invested in terms of time, money and opportunities, I think it is a bit frightening that you might awake one day with no interest in koi. Unimaginable!... but it just happened to the person you hoped to emulate. What do you do with that pond when you decide your spare time will be spent as a glassblower?

The hobbyists I admire are the ones who have made their koi hobby a part of their lives and not an escape from life. Their hobby is not an obsession. It is simply part of living. That's mellow.

[KoiCCAPW]

Ah, what makes this hobby great is spending the afternoon trying to figure out why one of your retro BD's is not sucking water. It's spending hours checking valves, changing valve settings, ect. and still only getting one of your two vac BD's to work. BUT....

Then sitting there after and watching the beautiful fish swimming so peacefully. All the frustrations of the day wash away, and you're left with the awe and peace of enjoying just watching them. They are my ultimate decompression tool! For me, it's all worth it!

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by KoiCCAPW Ah, what makes this hobby great is spending the afternoon trying to figure out why one of your retro BD's is not sucking water. It's spending hours checking valves, changing valve settings, ect. and still only getting one of your two vac BD's to work. BUT.... Then sitting there after and watching the beautiful fish swimming so peacefully. All the frustrations of the day wash away, and you're left with the awe and peace of enjoying just watching them. They are my ultimate decompression tool! For me, it's all worth it!

Barb, it was nice seeing you and Mickey today. I'll let you know on the goldfish when my neighbor is ready to cycle his pond. Have fun at the seminar tomorrow.

Tony

[Auntiesue]

For me it's the people and the koi and the ponds. I love to tinker with the mecanics of the pond. I love sitting by the pond and simply enjoying. I absolutely love meeting the people that share this hobby and totally absorbing myself in it for a weekend at a show!! Nothing better. I sometimes think how sad it will be when I grow older and can no longer care for my precious fish and that part of my life becomes only a memory!! Hopefully I'll have many more years to share with others.

[gspotmc]

This Hobby Gave Me A Lot Of Knowledge. Not Just From The Koi Itself. But Also From The People Within The Hobby. The Most Important Thing That I Learned Is That "patience Is A Virtue" For It Will Cost You A Lot Of Money If You Are Very Impatient And I Learned From My First Showing Instant Gratification Is Not At All That Fun. Along Comes With This Hobby Is The Husbandry Skill Needed To Keep The Beauty Of Your Priced Kois And Also To Keep Them Alive.

Michael

[cocoyboy]

For me, what makes this hobby great? Is the koi it's self! Going to the dealers, searching, finding and bringing it home to swim in your pond. Watching for the bloom or fade in them.
The never ending quest of tinkering with your filtration system.
Getting other people into the hobby and watch the past in you, resurrect all over again into the next new person.
There are a lot of cool, friendly, and humble people in this hobby, but I can also now see why someone can revert to becoming a solitary hobbiest.
The quest of searching for what your looking for in this hobby repeats it's self over and over again all the time for me and I love it!

[Steve Nguyen]

that's so nice of Steve Childers. Generous people like that are hard to find nowadays.

>People like Steve Childers is in a class by himself. Steve open his door and >house to a total stranger, me. Steve had no idea who I was, but he invited >me to his house for the weekend to spend it with him and his family. I have >to say that was one of the best weekends of my life. Not only did I get to >see some great koi and a great pond, I got to meet a great family.

my brother is in another hobby and some of his pen pals are in Africa and other part of the world. they come to his home in Los Angeles for a stay from time to time. when he travels to Africa, they take days off from work and show him around. they do countries hoping there.

Steve

Quote: Originally Posted by Tom C What makes this hobby great, is it the koi or the people? I would have to say it's both. In the 8 or so years we have been in this hobby I have seen a lot of koi and got to meet a lot of people. Some of you have made days wonderful for me. The day I went up to Champion Koi & Genki Koi was one of those days you don't forget. Not only did I get to see some great koi at both places. I got to meet some great people. It was like I knew them all my life. Another great day was at the Koi Kichi show. Not knowing some people and getting the chance to meet them was great. It was so fun watching Bob and his wife. It reminded me of me and my wife, but turned around. People like Steve Childers is in a class by himself. Steve open his door and house to a total stranger, me. Steve had no idea who I was, but he invited me to his house for the weekend to spend it with him and his family. I have to say that was one of the best weekends of my life. Not only did I get to see some great koi and a great pond, I got to meet a great family. Man, I can go on and on for day about all the people I have met over the years in this hobby. I just want to say thank to all those people and they know who they are. Tom