Last Fossil Trip ?

[RJB]

  Howdy folks.   I just got back from yet another fossil hunting trip and am very sore, very tired and very beat up.   Its always been nice to get back from any of my fossil hunting trips and get all cleaned up, have a nice dinner and sleep in a real bed but these last few trips, 2 trips this year to the GRF and now this last one to Washington, but this is the first trip ive done that I was wishing to be home before I even got to our first site!  This last trip was planned for 6 or 7 days but I was back home at the end of the forth day!   I sometimes was gone for 2 or 3 weeks but this getting older and being fat and out of shape, a bad back and this dang stroke has really slowed me down.  My mind says gooooooooo,, but my body says, noooooooooo!!!  Ha!   Im supposed to go to South Dakota in 7 days but right now I dont have it in me to go?  This last trip may have been my last.   

 

RB

[Ludwigia]

I think you're being sensible in thinking about that, Ron. I mean, maybe you could just do the odd day trip somewhere more comfortable from now on.

[Kane]

"The mind is willing, the flesh is weak" -- certainly something most if not all of us will have to contend with one day. It is sad when one can't pick up the hammer as often, but hopefully adjusting the rhythm and still being engaged in some facet of fossils is always on the table. And speaking of tables, there is always the prep table! Perhaps nothing scratches the itch better than a long hunt, but prep is a close second... And it is what we default to when the snows are flying. You also have the benefit of a lot of collecting experience to share with others as we all one day need to pass the torch (or the hammer!) to those who will take it up for the many years to come. 

 

Smaller trips, more prep time, and sharing your wisdom: you're still in this for the long haul!  

[digit]

25 minutes ago, Kane said:

Smaller trips, more prep time, and sharing your wisdom: you're still in this for the long haul!  

Yup. New chapter--same book.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Pemphix]

22 minutes ago, Kane said:

"The mind is willing, the flesh is weak" -- certainly something most if not all of us will have to contend with one day. It is sad when one can't pick up the hammer as often, but hopefully adjusting the rhythm and still being engaged in some facet of fossils is always on the table. And speaking of tables, there is always the prep table! Perhaps nothing scratches the itch better than a long hunt, but prep is a close second... And it is what we default to when the snows are flying. You also have the benefit of a lot of collecting experience to share with others as we all one day need to pass the torch (or the hammer!) to those who will take it up for the many years to come. 

 

Smaller trips, more prep time, and sharing your wisdom: you're still in this for the long haul!  

Yup, exact.

No need to sleep in tents, there are nice motels for sure around, a young enthusiastic collector who's carrying all the stuff for you in the fields... - so there are still possibilities !

Don't give up !

[Uncle Siphuncle]

One day I too will need to take on a protege so I can trade knowledge for brawn.  Beats staying home.  Till then...mus ha ha

[Fossildude19]

Hang in there Ron.  

Nothing wrong with slowing down. 

Take it as it comes, do what you like, and enjoy every bit of life that comes your way.  

 

[FranzBernhard]

2 hours ago, RJB said:

but this is the first trip ive done that I was wishing to be home before I even got to our first site!

This is very sad, but a clear sign to slow down a little bit! Fossilizing should be fun, enlightening, giving Ah-effects, collection of knowledge and wisdom of all kinds etc...

 

To sum it up: 

2 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

you could just do the odd day trip somewhere

 

2 hours ago, Kane said:

Smaller trips, more prep time, and sharing your wisdom: you're still in this for the long haul!

 

1 hour ago, Pemphix said:

there are nice motels for sure around, a young enthusiastic collector who's carrying all the stuff for you in the fields... - so there are still possibilities !

 

1 hour ago, Pemphix said:

Don't give up !

 

1 hour ago, Fossildude19 said:

Take it as it comes, do what you like, and enjoy every bit of life that comes your way.

That´s it - just adapt! And maybe, sometimes, you may fell energized enough to do a longer trip again. Maybe, maybe not. You will see.

 

I am not very old, but I had to adapt my "geological behavior" several times in about 35 years. Due to special circumstances, last year (2018) my trips were restricted to 4 hours each. This year its better - sometimes 6 hours a day, but less often. But day trips - with longer driving - are still not possible. I had one day trip in 2017 and two in 2016. And: What the heck is a multi-day-trip ?? I have done this last times exactly 17 years ago. But that´s the way of life - adjustment. Without my stringent time schedule, I would not have collected the Campanian near me so thoroughly - oh yeah, too many rudists from there already in my collection, but the amount is still growing...  

 

Stay happy with fossils, @RJB!
Franz Bernhard

[crabfossilsteve]

When the pain exceeds the pleasure, its time to switch gears and adapt new strategies. Maybe your sons need to be the suppliers with the stories and pictures and you continue your art of the prep more and less as able.  You could start writing the RJB Fossil chronicles, "My Life Obsessed by Fossils" subtitled Old Rotten Life...he he.  I know how it can suck, haven't been out on a hunt for a year and didn't do my annual trip to the Pacific NW in search of the beasties you and I love and sometimes hate...crabbies.

 

Rest up, be happy and keep moving.

 

              Steve 

[facehugger]

5 hours ago, RJB said:

I sometimes was gone for 2 or 3 weeks but this getting older and being fat and out of shape, a bad back and this dang stroke has really slowed me down.

It's never too late to turn that ship around, RJB...

 

 

[Pagurus]

We always want to push ourselves a little more but sometimes the old body just screams, stop! This getting-old business really stinks sometimes, but it sure beats the alternative. I don't know how you've done so much already, after your stroke, but it sounds like the ol' bod needs a bit of a pause. Just a bit, though.

[Randyw]

This post hits me where I live. I’m sorry to hear you’re reaching this point. Having already gone through this I can tell you it’s a hard decision to make but eventually it comes to all of us. You will miss that part of your life but you will find other parts that will fill it. The worst thing you can do is try pushing it until you lose your love for it.

fake it until you make it has turned into fake it until you’re hospitalized. Many of the others has said it better then I can but even though one part of your life may be closing you still have all the other parts to take over. And you’ve still got that whole stash of stuff to work on! Don’t let anyone else talk you into going to far. You’re a sensible fellow and will know if it’s the right time to stop. Don’t do like me when I went through that stage. I kept pushing and now it’s 100 times worse then if I hadn’t. All of us here are ready to support you in your choice and I’m sure you will keep your hand in in 100 other ways! And we’re glad you’re part of this community and are looking forward to seeing your prep posts and hearing your wisdom for a long time to come!

[FossilNerd]

I don’t think I can add much more to the kind and supportive words that have already been said. I can say that I whole heartedly agree with them.  

 

I think that I can add this... If you ever do make a trip out my way, I’d be honored to carry the gear and take you to a few spots that are easier to get to. I’d be the brawn and let you be the brains. Although that isn’t too much of a stretch for me.  It would be the least I could do for someone who has contributed so much to this community! 

[Gentleman647]

18 hours ago, RJB said:

  Howdy folks.   I just got back from yet another fossil hunting trip and am very sore, very tired and very beat up.   Its always been nice to get back from any of my fossil hunting trips and get all cleaned up, have a nice dinner and sleep in a real bed but these last few trips, 2 trips this year to the GRF and now this last one to Washington, but this is the first trip ive done that I was wishing to be home before I even got to our first site!  This last trip was planned for 6 or 7 days but I was back home at the end of the forth day!   I sometimes was gone for 2 or 3 weeks but this getting older and being fat and out of shape, a bad back and this dang stroke has really slowed me down.  My mind says gooooooooo,, but my body says, noooooooooo!!!  Ha!   Im supposed to go to South Dakota in 7 days but right now I dont have it in me to go?  This last trip may have been my last.   

 

RB

No worries RJB, my initials are also RJB I will take up this mantle as I am just commencing my fossil journey. But still hope you can take the time to enjoy your passions...

[Wrangellian]

Even if you were to stop completely right now, Ron, you can still be mighty proud of what you've accomplished in terms of fossils - more than many of us probably ever will. I guess you've had the luck to be in the right part of the world in the right time in history to collect what is getting harder to collect in quality and quantity, and many of us never bother to take up prepping, either, so you're leaving behind a legacy of fine prepped specimens, as well as the outbuilding(s?) full of unprepped ones. You can rest on your laurels, but like the others have said, I hope you can continue in some capacity.

[RJB]

  What a good bunch of folks!  Quite touching!  Thank you so much for the kind words.   yeah, im just gunna do what I can do and try to enjoy myself.  Still love prepping but can only do it for 2 or 3 short days a week.  I stocked up on lots of fossils already this year so i have about 4 or 5 years worth.   Life is still dang good. 

 

RB

[FranzBernhard]

1 hour ago, RJB said:

I stocked up on lots of fossils already this year so i have about 4 or 5 years worth.   Life is still dang good. 

Indeed! 
Franz Bernhard

[grandpa]

RB,

I just want to add my thoughts and my support as well.  I'm right there with you my friend in terms of physical limitations getting in the way of one of the things that I like doing best.  I know the sense of loss it leaves.  I keep telling myself that I will regain my strength and get back out there, but time ticks on and problems continue raising their heads like a whack-a-mole game.  I'm not ready to say "last" yet, but I wonder if I'm deluding myself.  That's why I think your missive struck me so hard in the gut. 

 

I have found that I continue to remain involved by using this forum for "virtual" fossil hunting.  Also, over the years, I have collected more fossils than I can ever fully curate in the years I have left - but I continue to enjoy trying to get through them.  Looking at fossils I haven't seen in some time - that have been stored for later classification and preparation - is like reliving the hunt again.  I can still remember where I found a given specimen, how I felt (adrenaline rush all over again), who was there with me to enjoy the find, what others found that day, how we enjoyed the evening post hunt at a restaurant, . . . all the things that make for a good hunt.  And, sometimes I will recognize a really neat specimen that I picked up that I didn't know was a neat specimen at the time - so it is, in that sense, truly a new fossil hunt, in the comfort of my back yard. All of these things I still have and now have time to enjoy. 

 

But most importantly for me, I have a wonderful family - a wife of now 51 years, two wonderful daughters each 30 min away, a wonderful son-in-law and two of the most precious grandsons anyone could have.  These are the things that I really enjoy the most and that keep me going so that I can enjoy my hobby.  I hope you have a support network as well.  If so, focus on and enjoy them and the rest won't matter as much.  AND you always have us here at TFF to be there for/with you.

 

On that last note, I was particularly impressed with @FossilNerd  Wayne's offer.  I am sure he was sincere, and that could be a real option for getting out into the field again.

 

Stay well my friend,

 

Tom

[FossilNerd]

5 hours ago, grandpa said:

On that last note, I was particularly impressed with @FossilNerd  Wayne's offer.  I am sure he was sincere, and that could be a real option for getting out into the field again

Thanks Tom. I wasn’t trying to impress, but I was absolutely trying to be sincere! I meant every word.   

[grandpa]

2 hours ago, FossilNerd said:

I wasn’t trying to impress, but I was absolutely trying to be sincere! I meant every word

I absolutely know you were sincere and meant every word, and that's what is impressive!

[Jeffrey P]

Thank you Ron for sharing. Your internal turmoil over this is very apparent. I'm glad to hear you're paying attention to your health and wellbeing and choosing to suffer less. In terms of experience, skill, and accomplishments you've certainly earned the right to a noble retirement. However, never ever cease writing and sharing on the Forum.

[Ludwigia]

18 hours ago, RJB said:

     Life is still dang good. 

 

RB

Now you can't hear nothing better than that