If you’ve ever been around a toddler, you’ve seen discovery and exploration in action. Everything is new and miraculous — from pill bugs to tree bark to the way an ice cube melts. As we get older, these things become old hat; we’ve seen them a million times before. Still, there are plenty of opportunities for adults to explore new interests or continue a lifelong interest with renewed vigor, especially once children are grown or full-time work is a thing of the past.
Explore the Skies
Having grown up in Seneca Gardens, Pat MacDonald would regularly sneak over to Bowman Field to watch planes take off and land. He says he was an “ADHD kid, very mechanically inclined, and fascinated by how planes could take off and fly around.” It’s no wonder, then, that he got his pilot’s license to fly for fun as a teenager and has only grown his love of aviation.
Pat flies a Van’s RV, an experimental aircraft. “They are all built by hand,” he says. “They ship you a bunch of metal, rivets, and some instructions and say ‘Go at it.’” When Pat bought his plane, it was already built, but he put in all new electronics and systems to modernize it. He spends considerable time just working on his plane, whether for regular maintenance or updates.
Pat flew around 325 hours in 2025 and is an active member of Smoke On Aviation, an all-volunteer group that specializes in formation flying. The group has performed at Thunder Over Louisville, BowmanFest, and Louder Than Life. While Pat enjoys just getting up in the air by himself, he also finds the social aspect of recreational flying to be worthwhile. “The pilot community is very welcoming,” he says, and notes that among the Smoke On members, there is a special bond due to the level of trust needed when flying in formation.
Of course, if someone is more interested in exploring the skies while keeping their feet firmly planted on the ground, they might take a page from Steve Katsikas, who has developed a passion for astrophotography.
Like Pat, Steve developed his interest as a child. Under the guidance of his uncle George, who owned a reflecting telescope, Steve became fascinated with the heavens. But in 2020, his interest really exploded when he decided he wanted to take pictures of what he was seeing through his telescope. With help from Louisville Astronomical Society member Ronny Yates, Steve became fully immersed in a new passion.
For Steve, this hobby checks a lot of boxes. “It combines everything I enjoy,” he says. “It’s 50 percent technical [and] requires learning how to use your tools in the right way. The learning process is pretty formidable. The other 50 percent is artistic and aesthetic. That’s a really good balance that makes the hobby forever interesting.” Plus, there is the social component of being not only a member of Louisville Astronomical Society, but its president.
Explore the Wild
Birding is now having its moment, but Meg Brown developed her interest in 2004. While she and her husband Steve always enjoyed being outdoors, when they met up with some avid-birder friends in the Rocky Mountains, Meg quickly caught the birding bug. She saw a grouse putting on a big display and was hooked. The Browns continued meeting up with these friends for vacations where birding was a big focus.
After retiring, Meg and Steve joined Beckham Bird Club and started going on field trips with other members, at which point Meg says they realized, “We don’t have to go out of state to see some of these birds.” Some of their favorite places to birdwatch are the Mammoth Cave area, Bernheim Forest, and the Parklands of Floyd’s Fork.
Birding is a balm in many ways. “It gives you a sense of peace,” Meg says. “You feel the interconnectedness of nature. It really hits home.” She says she gets antsy when she can’t get out and observe or listen for birds.
In addition to Beckham Bird Club, Meg participates in citizen science projects using Cornell Lab’s eBird, an app that allows birders to note which birds they see and hear and the location. This data is used by other birders and scientists to track bird locations and trends.
Explore the Water
It isn’t uncommon to see pontoons or speed boats on the Ohio River, but there is something special about seeing a sailboat with its brightly colored sails popping a bit of pizazz onto the water. Joe Collins grew up on the Finger Lakes in New York and recognized the appeal of sailboats as a 7-year-old when his dad bought one.
Joe’s enthusiasm for sailing only grew with time. He got his first boat when he was 12 or 13 and says, “We lived about 10 miles from the lake that we sailed on, and so in the summertime, I would get on my bicycle, ride over to the sailing club, and go sailing by myself.” Even now, sailing means freedom to him.
Joe owns five sailboats and uses them according to different conditions. His Sunfish is a good choice when the weather is nice since it is easy to manage alone. He often goes sailing along the same waterways locally but says that he sometimes sees nesting eagle pairs. “[Plus,] river traffic can be entertaining,” he adds.
Being on a sailboat can be a solitary endeavor, but it can also be social if Joe invites friends along or competes with others as a member of the Louisville Sailing Club. “Some people say, ‘Anytime you get two sailboats together, it’s a race,’” he says.
Joe has traveled with his boat for both vacations and competitions. “I’ve sailed all up and down the East Coast, from New Hampshire to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut,” he says. He has even gone so far as Hawaii, where he tried windsurfing. “That was fun getting on an airplane,” he says. “Talk about excessive baggage charge.”
Explore Your Limits
Exploring an interest always pushes a person out of their comfort zone, whether it is learning astrophotography, how to fly or sail, or the distinctive song of a Golden Swamp Warbler. But sometimes the thing you take an interest in is your own body. At least, that is the case for Scott Rountree.
“When I was younger, I did not see myself as an athlete,” Scott says. But as he edged closer to 50, he decided he didn’t like what he was seeing in the mirror. He began working out with his wife, Jackie, and doing “a tiny bit of running,” but he didn’t really like it. Still, they kept doing it and became volunteers with a weekly timed 5K running group (Joe Creason parkrun), where Scott would sometimes compete.
“I still didn’t like running; I don’t like running now,” he says. “But all of this started by falling in love with the results and the discipline of the process.”
Eventually, Scott and Jackie decided to participate in what he calls “group suffering,” also known as a half marathon. He went on to do two full marathons, one in Montana and another in Indiana. By the end of that year, Scott signed up for his first “sprint” triathlon in Oldham County, where he won in his age group. In August 2025, he competed in Iron Man 70.3 Louisville, then followed up with another triathlon in Augusta, Georgia, a month later.
“It’s remarkable what you can actually accomplish over time,” he says.
By Carrie Vittitoe | Photos submitted
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