Birdwatchin'

When I was younger I was really into bird watching. I wore dinky plastic binoculars around my neck nonstop and carried around a little notebook where I would sketch and identify the different birds I saw each day. I was about seven when my interest was first piqued, and we were living in Saudi Arabia at the time, so it was kind of a weird setting to go looking for birds- we lived on a compound, which was basically like a big cluster of neighborhoods surrounded my high stone walls with a park and shopping center in the middle. There were plenty of trees- in fact, tons of vegetation, considering we were in a desert, and I was always spotting something strange and exotic. The only library I had access to was my elementary school's, which was a British private school, so the only bird books I could find really just listed birds indigenous to the UK. So when I kept finding all these birds not listed in the book, I really thought I was discovering new species and could name them. Oh I wish I knew what happened to that notebook.

When we moved back to the states a few years later, there was an elderly couple living next door to us that would invite me along to go birdwatching with them on the weekends at local nature preserves in Ohio. None of my sisters were ever interested in joining, so I'd just tag along with these folks by myself and we'd get excited together over bluejays and orioles.









These binoculars either belonged to my grandfather, or great grandfather. I caught my mom throwing them away a couple years ago and couldn't even believe it. I mean they're a little foggy, but they still work, and are kind of a family heirloom. sheesh, saved 'em. I'm the only one in my family that has what you might call a penchant for 'old things.'









I was in the market for a canvas back to tote around on nature hikes as well as city jaunts, and this one from PersunMall has been fitting the bill nicely. I like the simple, muted colour- it goes with most of my wardrobe- and it's so nice to have weight distributed onto both shoulders throughout the day. Purses were starting to kill my back!





outfit:
top: joe fresh
shorts and shoes: vintage/thrifted
backpack: Persunmall.com
pocket buddy: Handmade at Kitsune Vintage