Remembering my Father....

It is difficult to believe that 22 years have passed since my Father died.I have the proof directly in front of me in the form of a Daughter age 23 who was sitting in his lap playing with his gold chain at 8 months old. Or having my baby Daughter 20 now. It seems like a long time and at the same time, a very short time. I am now 49. Dad was 49 when his cancer was found and he had surgery. It looked like he might not survive the treatment. I remember going into the SICU after he came back from surgery and seeing him lying there with so many tubes and machines and feeling so hurt. Here was my larger than life Dad who was so tiny and hurt lying there on that bed! Just the day before we had gone over to a racket club and played a set of tennis. It was his passion. Now he was lying there fighting to live. Over the next weeks he continued to lose weight and be unable to eat. I think a turning point came one weekend he and Mother came down to our house in Lanett. Bev and I had started eating lots of Bryer's Ice Cream with all the toppings. Chocolate syrup, bananas, nuts, and whipped topping. When he was offered some, he accepted and was able to eat it and keep it down. It tasted good to him and he was able to nourish himself from it. He went on to gain back weight and went on to get back playing tennis again. He looked for the world like he had beaten the odds. But it wasn't to be. He began to have some pain in his side and it turned out to be the cancer coming back with a vengance. He died on May 29th of 1984 a little less than 2 months short of his 53 birthday.

Having arrived at that time of life myself, I realize how young he was. And I realize how much was left for him to live. There is no way I can know if I will live to great age or if some accident or disease will cut it short. But if I live over the next few years and beyond, I will be living those years for the both of us. I will remind myself that each day is a gift and that there are no guarantees. I find within myself traces of him. I sense him in some of my attitudes and feelings. I am my father's son.

Happy Father's day, Dad.

Catching up

After my recovery period for Covid, I went to Cullman on Monday the 8th and started catching up on the mowing and farm stuff. Pretty much everything needed mowing. The big tractor made short work on the main north fields and David helped me with the field across from the pond. The grass had grown quite long and with the two week absence, I simply started and mowed all of them. There is always some mowing to do. At least no trees had fallen. There were some indoor projects pending. A couple of shower fixtures had to be replaced. The screen door latch didn't hold and had to be improved. The old JD mower needed a bit of tuning so it would climb better and the mowing deck replaced. And the garden needed to be disked and more corn and okra planted. David should have had a shot on the groundhog at the old house but forgot to check his ammo. The hammer fell on an empty chamber. I got the conibear traps out and caught one of the groundhogs that lived by the spring. David had ...

Spock

Spock is my favorite character in all fiction. A character who bridged the gap between two worlds and faced disdain from each. Who strove for excellence and exemplified strength, character, intelligence, and control. His nearly emotionless demeanor was a perfect foil for those who would attempt to intimidate or insult him. It was a style I would endeavor to imitate to thwart those attempting to insult, demean, or scare me in my own young life. I bought this little figure to remind me to guard against letting my defenses down and allowing emotional hurt to strike me.

Island Walk

I always try to help Rachael with Hubbard/Rockford if asked. They had me down for 3 days but at last minute asked for the other day. Work at Rockford is slow so working isn't hard, but not following my usual routine tired me out a bit. I still had some work I could take care of up in Cullman. Some bushhog work and other little items but the high temps held me back a bit. I did ride my bike a little and got in some of my walking in addition to some chores. Max needed to be delivered to Charlotte, SC for his drum major camp. I volunteered to take him. I was glad to be able to perform this chore for him but the long trip up and back combined with extra heavy traffic in the Atlanta are, which extended to within 30 miles of Alabama, combined to really tire me out. There had been a problem with my left rear wisdom tooth for over a year, so I decided I should get it taken care of before I wound up isolated somewhere in PEI. The extraction didn't appear to be problematic until just be...

diddlee

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