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"When they zoomed past us on little railroad motor cars like a bunch of clowns at the circus, minus the make-up and the red foam noses, my son asked, &amp;quot;What are they doing?&amp;quot; Two dozen or so men who seemed to have nothing better to do on a Saturday than ride the rails raced by in brightly colored mini-railroad cars. &amp;quot;Getting the heck out of the house,&amp;quot; my husband mumbled. Aha! So that&amp;#039;s why men have so many hobbies that women seem to have little interest in, like car shows, hunting and fishing in remote locations. They do it to get away from people who might ask them to sweep out the garage or figure out how to work the Tivo. And it all starts in their parents&amp;#039; yards when they&amp;#039;re boys. I know, because I&amp;#039;ve seen it myself. There are not one, but two homemade forts in the woods behind my house. Apparently, two camps of neighborhood boys are at war with each other, with one group launching an &amp;quot;attack&amp;quot;: aiming hockey sticks at the other boys and demanding more territory. Sometimes it&amp;#039;s like &amp;quot;The Dangerous Book for Boys&amp;quot; meets &amp;quot;Leave it to Beaver&amp;quot; around here. But now I understand why: It&amp;#039;s all in preparation for manhood. Like the men on those railroad cars, my boys have their male-bonding hobbies that require them to leave the house. The other day, my fourth grader and his buddy were taking turns sitting on a skateboard and racing down the driveway. Add 30 years, an engine and some railroad tracks, and you&amp;#039;ve got The North American Railcar Owners Association, an organization of 1500 people, no doubt mostly men, who partake in organized day trips in their antique motor cars down the rails. Meanwhile, my third grader and his friend were hiking through the woods with sticks in their hands, seeking out &amp;quot;bad guys&amp;quot; from behind trees and by their fort. Replace their sticks with guns that shoot blanks and their Lands End fleece caps with tri-cornered hats, and you&amp;#039;ve got a weekend Revolutionary War reenactment. Men&amp;#039;s hobbies are just like boys&amp;#039; hobbies, only with more money and greater distances. Also, beer. Males just need to be together, and to get the heck out of the house. The neighborhood girls don&amp;#039;t spend their afternoons perfecting their forts or making up new sports involving tennis balls, golf clubs and buckets, but my boys and their friends do.  And I didn&amp;#039;t see any women pass by on those railcars that autumn Saturday afternoon. I guess that when it comes to certain hobbies, it&amp;#039;s a guy thing. I know, because I&amp;#039;ve seen it myself \u2013 right in my own backyard. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/parenting/a2163/good-grief-120407/?src=shelter_footer>