Dad's Day

Oh my, I wish my Dad was here! I want to show him my garden. He'd like it I'm sure. Over on my writing blog Crazy Jane, I wrote about how he's influenced my practice of writing. Here I'm going to talk about my dad, the gardener, the inventor and the fun Dad!

Keeping up with last year's tradition I will break this down into Daddio aphorisms.

1. Start small with your garden. Don't wear yourself out before you get a chance to get entranced with the whole thing. This has been helpful advice to me. I tend to plant first and plan later and I can get away a bit with that if I keep it small. My vegetable garden is three beds, enclosed to keep the chickens out. I am switching it around to find what works for me. Last year I grew a lot of squash plants but not as many actual squash as I want. This year - mid-June we're eating lots of salad already. I think the tomatoes will be good and the basil is everywhere. I try not to get anxious but the smallness really works. I have to decide what will go in - what is tried and true and what is a delightful risk (strawberries this year). Dad didn't grow lots of flowers that I recall - he was more a veggie guy. None the less, if he arrived here from London, Ont. where he and my step-mother live, he'd like the crazy front garden I think.

2. When the going gets tough, the tough get going! When things don't work out just like I like, I remember this and jump back at it. In my mind, I've incorporated this to mean that I chose my life so don't bother whining and whinging - get digging and delving. I never heard my Dad complain when he and mom and us kids would have to uproot and move across the country for his work. For that matter, I never heard my mom complain about it either. Each of them knew that this is what they'd chosen.

3. Fun is the real mother of invention. Now my Dad never said this but he did it. He invented numerous games to keep things fun. Games of choosing a new home, or getting us kids to do some chore, or ways to keep boredom at bay. When he found out he had to ride a stationary bike for his bad back (ah gee thanks Dad for that inheritance) he decided to ride around the world. He figured it out and mapped his journey. He made what might have been very boring - interesting.

4. Nature is healing. Again, not something he said but it was something he showed us. He made sure we understood the beauty of the world was worth noticing and keeping. He dragged us off to all sorts of National parks and introduced us to boating and hiking and camping. Of course, he could be either quite pedantic about it by times - teenagers really don't care for history - or just downright funny. Upon taking us the lip of the Grand Canyon he intoned "Well, seen one grand canyon, you've seen them all."

this is my Dad and brother, Don

Everyday and in every way I want to thank my Daddio for pointing out the important things in life. Thanks Dad!