Phil.

My grandpa liked to sit outside and look at things.  He would sit on his front porch and watch the rain.  He'd sit outside during the worst storms.  Actually got a zap from a flash of lightning once.  Made his hand go numb for a little bit.  He never said much...he would just sit...and watch. 

He would sit under a tree in his yard, on a bench by the river, in a lawn chair overlooking his garden.  He loved sitting outside and looking.

When he would visit us at my mom & dad's, he would take his gun and walk back in the woods where there was a little bench nailed to a hickory tree.  He built it, if I'm not mistaken.  He would sit on his bench and watch the trees and the weather and the wildlife.  Sometimes he would shoot a rabbit or a squirrel, but more times than not he would just sit there and look.

He would ask me to come sit with him.  I had no idea what we were looking at or why we were sitting instead of watching TV or playing.  He tried, but the sitting never lasted too long--I was too young to appreciate the solitude and life happening all around me.  So I'd go watch Godzilla vs. Mothra on channel 11.

I used to think grandpa was just antisocial or trying to get away from my granny or all the grandkids--which may be partially true--but now I get it.  Sitting outside and looking at things is fantastic. 

The older I get, the more I appreciate witnessing the subtleties all around me.  Things that we take for granted, that we overlook or just don't care about.  I don't really feel like waxing poetic about the wind and rain and trees and animals....but it's what I like looking at.  It makes me appreciate, it makes me feel alive, it makes me calm, and it makes me happy.

It may sound stupid to you, but I really like sitting outside and looking at things. 

Must have gotten that from Phil.