Hobbies That Break Away From the Ordinary

Got the January blahs? Life gone flat after the excitement of the holidays? Daily routine running rampant?

Well, here’s some advice: Take up a hobby.

OK, OK--so you’ve heard that before. And bowling, you protest, just isn’t enough of a challenge to sweep the ennui from your life.

This is where today’s sampler of new interests rides to the rescue.

If adventure fits your style, how about clanking around in the armor of a medieval knight or sailing high in the sky without benefit of motor or crawling deep beneath the Earth’s surface?

If the quieter life’s for you, how about a bit of juggling or working in neon art or learning a Gregorian chant?

Some of the activities on our list have a tinge of danger; so use common sense and caution, participate only under the guidance of an expert and use all recommended safety equipment.

Spelunking. Crawling through tight tunnels or into narrow underground chimneys without knowing what lies ahead is not for the fainthearted.

Those who make the grade as cavers are frequently rewarded with sights such as beautiful vaulted chambers lined with lacy crystal deposits and sculpture-like stalactites and stalagmites.

To discover whether you have a taste for spelunking, take a guided tour of Mitchell Caverns in the Providence Mountains, 100 miles east of Barstow on Essex Road in Essex, Calif. Call (619) 389-2281. Fee: $3 adults; $1 for ages 6 to 17, ages 5 and under free. If you want to park there overnight, it costs $6 per vehicle. Take warm clothing.

For even more excitement, head for Moaning Cavern, 50 miles east of Stockton on California 4, or California Caverns, nine miles east of San Andreas, off California 49; telephone (209) 736-2708. At both places, Steve Fairchild arranges spelunking adventures of various lengths. Helmets, gloves, overalls, ropes, rappelling equipment plus an experienced guide are provided at a cost of $32 for easy trips, $59 for the most arduous outings.

No experience is necessary for any of these, but participants must be age 10 or over and in good health.

Fairchild also arranges nine-day expeditions to Mexican caves. The cost of $895 includes accommodations, food, guides, all equipment and transportation from Mexico City.

Fencing. No movie buff who ever saw “The Three Musketeers” or Errol Flynn’s flashing blade could forget the beauty and grace of what has been called “a physical chess game.”

Fencing is based on the ancient reality of deadly, hand-to-hand combat. Modern fencing matches two contestants dressed in protective clothing and masks and armed with epee, saber or foil (the foil is the weapon used by almost all women fencers).

The sport puts a premium on skill, discipline, concentration, coordination and speed.

The Westside Fencing Center, 8735 Washington Blvd., Culver City, (213) 204-BOUT, a nonprofit organization, offers classes at $9 each and invites fencers to use its facilities (floor fee $3 per visit).

Tango Dancing. Former New York Times dance critic John Martin divided dancing into two categories--that done for the emotional release of the dancers and that done for the enjoyment of spectators. The tango, an erotically charged dance with roots in Argentina, is an example of the former. Its popularity reached a peak before World War I.

The dance carries the romantic image of a couple locked in each other’s arms, gliding across the floor, dipping deeply and swooping in intricate patterns.

The stage success of “Tango Argentina” revived interest in this terpsichorean delight.

Among the Los Angeles area’s many tango class are those taught by Felix Chavez at Dance Center West, 2339 Pontius St., West Los Angeles, 8:30-9:30 p.m. Mondays, $10 per lesson. Call (213) 479-4335.

Medievalism. The Society for Creative Anachronism--which has more than 500 members in its Southern California “kingdom”--caters to those who dream of the days when knights in armor rescued fair maidens in distress. It can offer you the opportunity to adopt, at least temporarily, a Middle Ages persona and a medieval-style name. Members say they learn a lot of history by researching music, costumes, food and arts and crafts of the era.

The Society for Creative Anachronism, P.O. Box 360743, Milpitas, Calif. 95035-0743, has numerous local chapters. To find out about your area, write to the society or call its answering machine, (714) 953-7608, and a member will contact you about membership or activities. It is a nonprofit organization you can join for $20 per year. Spokeswoman Jill Sevigny says the fee entitles you to a monthly newsletter and to participate in tournaments and banquets that feature period food and dancing. One approaching free event is the Unbelted Tournament Feb. 6, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., at Mile Square Park, 16801 Euclid St., Fountain Valley.

Visitors are welcome at these re-creations of the Middle Ages, but costumes are required. Those without the proper garb can ask for the Gold Key, which opens a storehouse of appropriate attire.

Hot-Air Ballooning. Gently floating above the earth in a hot-air balloon can be an intoxicating experience. As the balloon quietly drifts, the traveler is treated to a bird’s-eye view of seemingly endless countryside.

Ballooning demands a pilot, a ground crew to inflate the canopy and a chase vehicle to follow the balloon and to retrieve passengers at the destination.

Among the Southland firms that can get you sky-high are:

Balloons Above the Valley, (619) 324-2222 or (800) 233-7681. This Palm Desert-based company picks up its customers at a site in Indian Wells or arranges pickup at hotels in Palm Springs and surrounding areas. Flights are twice daily--half an hour before sunrise and 1 1/2 hours before sundown--and the fee is $125 a person a flight. The flights last about an hour; the duration depends on wind conditions. In addition, Balloons Above the Valley operates a flight school for aspiring balloon pilots. George Villegas, a marketing executive in the firm, said the company sometimes provides free flight time to people who volunteer for crew duty.

Piuma Aircraft, (818) 888-0576 and (805) 584-6181. This firm flies mainly out of Moorpark

and Camarillo in Ventura County. Its fees are $125 a person for morning flights and $150 a person for afternoon flights. All outings last about an hour.

Piuma Aircraft will swap flight time for crew work, according to Bruce Keown, part owner and one of the pilots. The company also trains people seeking to meet Federal Aviation Administration requirements for a hot-air balloon pilot’s license.

Balloon Adventures, telephone (800) THE-RIDE, is an enterprise related to Piuma Aircraft. Balloon Adventures flies out of the Lancaster, Palm Desert, Indio and Del Mar areas and the Perris Valley. Fees are the same as those of the Piuma Aircraft operation. Keown said on a number of days each year, 20-minute flights priced at $39 a person are available near Lancaster and Perris; call for details.

Gold Prospecting. If the gold bug has bitten you, you might want to be up a creek rather than in the nearest jewelry store.

The tools of prospecting include a pan (about $5), a sluice box (around $25) or a dredge ($500 and up).

Piru Creek and the San Gabriel River are two nearby places where today’s prospectors can still get lucky. Tiny specks may be all you’ll discover after hours of work, but what a thrill when you “strike gold”!

On these waterways, nuggets have been found that are large enough to incorporate into rings or other jewelry, said prospector Sondra Brockus. Brockus will teach a half-day beginners prospecting class at Ventura College, 4667 Telegraph Road, Ventura, (805) 654-6459. The first class is from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 12, followed by an all-day field trip (for students and their families) March 19. The class will be repeated, 9 a.m.-noon April 16, with the field trip set for April 23. The fee for both the class and the field trip is $30. Brockus will share maps and a list of prospecting sites. Juggling. Through the centuries, circus performers have juggled for their daily bread. Recent decades have seen more and more amateurs learning the techniques of keeping things up in the air for the sheer pleasure of it.

Juggling costs nothing, can be done almost anywhere and might be just the thing for those people who aren’t cut out for team activities.

You can begin with simple exercises. And there’s no limit to the challenges you can create for yourself.

A good place to start is by reading “Juggling for the Complete Klutz,” a paperback by John Cassidy.

Gregorian Chanting. For two weeks starting June 19, Clement Morin, a priest and emeritus dean of the faculty of music, University of Montreal, will teach Gregorian chanting at Cal State L.A. His courses, given through the Continuing Education Department, are Music 898--Performance of Gregorian Chant and Music 454--Interpretation of Gregorian Chant. Instruction in this medieval music will culminate in a students’ concert.

In June of 1989, a limited number of students from these classes will go to the Abbey of St. Pierre de Solesmes in France for 14 days of intensive study.

The American students will sing Mass at Notre Dame de Chartres and Notre Dame de Paris.

The students who go to France must pay their own travel and personal expenses.

For additional information, contact Robert Fowells, Gregorian scholar and coordinator of the Cal State L.A. program, at Cal State L.A., 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, (213) 224-3448 or (213) 224-3501.

Neon Art. Neon artist Lili Lakich, who created the Museum of Neon Art (MONA), says, “Europe has its castles, cathedrals and statues, but America’s monuments are her neon signs.”

Since 1910, when Frenchman Georges Claude discovered that glass tubes of neon could be electrified to produce glowing displays, “benders” have been creating colorful designs.

What was once used solely for commercial advertising has now become an artistic medium displayed in museums.

Information about evening classes in neon art is available at MONA, 704 Tracton Ave., Los Angeles, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, (213) 617-1580. MONA is temporarily closed until Saturday.

Dog Sledding. In the 1970s, the Bill Boaz family’s two pre-teen sons received an Alaskan malamute puppy for Christmas. Soon, they switched to Alaskan huskies, which they started breeding and racing. Starting with a three-dog team with a wheel cart, they practiced on a dike along the Santa Ana River and Riverside County roads, then used sleds in snow at Wrightwood and raced six- and eight-dog teams at the Palm Springs Tramway. The family members’ interest became so consuming that they moved from Orange County to Truckee so they could participate more in their sport. In 1985, son Mike was the International Sled Dog Racing Assn. Gold Medal Winner in 10-dog team racing.

A good place to experience the excitement of this “Call of the Wild” hobby is at the Moosehead Sled Dog Classic, held in Long Valley at the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. The tram’s lower terminal is on Tramway Road, off California 111, Palm Springs; call (619) 325-1449. Preliminary heats are March 12, 13 and 19, 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The finals will start at noon March 20 (snow conditions permitting).

Visitors are urged to be at the tram terminal by 10 a.m.

There is no fee for viewing the races. The tramway fee is $12.95 for adults, $7.95 for children ages 3 through 12; children 2 and under are free.

Another California contest is the Truckee Lions Sierra Sweepstakes Sled Dog Races at the Truckee-Tahoe Airport. On Feb. 13 and 14 at 9:30 a.m. each day (call to see if snow conditions meet International Sled Dog Racing Assn. requirements), more than 70 mushers and their dog teams will race the clock for a piece of a $5,000 purse. There will be related activities, including a weight-pulling event. Spectators are requested to leave their dogs at home. Admission (proceeds go to local charities) is $6 for adults, $3 for children 7 through 17 and for senior citizens 65 and older, children 6 and under are free; there is a family-maximum rate of $15. The parking fee is included. Call (916) 587-3276.