My dad, my hero, my Mr. Fix-it

Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, story-tellers, singers of songs.     
                                                                                                  -- Pam Brown

Week 11: D is for.....

When I saw that the theme for this week's Day2Day project was 'D is for...', my very first thought was 'Daddy'.  I guess that as young children learning the alphabet, that is one of the first associations we're taught to make - especially if there isn't a dog in the house.  Then when I was looking for an appropriate quote for the week, the one I've chosen just leapt out at me.  I love the idea of it - that dads are just regular guys to everyone except for those who love him as only their children can.  What's really great about that is that I don't think it matters how old you get, or even how wise to the ways of the world you become - your dad is still a larger-than-life figure in your mind.  At least, I hope that is true for everyone!  I know it is for me!

While I don't remember Daddy doing much singing or story-telling, he was (and is) certainly my hero, and I think of him as an adventurer.  He was also a guy who could fix most anything!  Well, maybe not car stuff or electrical stuff, but most anything else.  He was a great problem-solver and was used to working on a shoestring budget, so he didn't run off to the hardware store every time he started a project.  As much as he liked to fix things, he liked to build things even more.  In his garage workshop was Daddy's pride and joy - a Shopsmith 'Greenie'.  In case you're not familiar with this incredible wood-working tool, it's a five-in-one tool - a table saw, a lathe, a drill press, a sander, and a borer - and it's also got a router (not a computer gadget!) and a shaper.  With this tool, the knowledge how to use it, and some wood, you can make most anything!

From the time I was about 10 years old, my room was adjacent to the workshop, so every Saturday morning (EARLY!), I woke up to the sound of the Shopsmith - sawing, sanding, shaping - and to the smell of fresh sawdust.  I can't go into the lumber section of any home improvement store without being transported back to my childhood and without shedding a tear or two.  Daddy always wore one of those one-piece work coveralls when he was working around the house - I still have two of them, because I just can't bear to part with them, even though he last wore them 26 years ago.  It's how I picture Daddy, even though he was most often in a suit at work or at church.

I still have a few things that Daddy made for me - a couple of dressers and a bookshelf, at least - but he was great at seeing a need for a specific piece of furniture and making exactly what I needed - even if I didn't know I needed it!  When I was in college, he made me a bookcase that would fit in my small dorm room and that had a special place for my stereo.  I think my daughter still has it.  He made a little corner table for David and Kim when they were little, and then a bookcase designed especially for their books - I still have it.  I have another tall, skinny bookcase that he made for my teenage bedroom, which fit in a narrow spot and was just right. 

When Rex and I moved into our house in Asheville, when Kim was just six weeks old, it was the first time that we'd had a garage.  Daddy knew we would need good storage there, so he went to Lowe's and came home with all he needed to build two full walls of floor-to-ceiling shelves and a full-sized workbench, ostensibly for Rex but really for Daddy and me.  Every time he came to visit us, I knew that I'd better have a LONG Honey-do list for him or else he would find things that needed to be done anyway.  I remember one time when I didn't have enough for him to do, I looked outside to find him single-handedly building a treehouse for David.

I shouldn't have been surprised about the treehouse, since our yard (in the house I grew up in) was the one where all of the neighborhood kids played.  In addition to our treehouse (which had a green fiberglass roof AND a fireman's pole), a bag swing with a three-tiered platform (for jumping off), and a roller coaster (made of wood).  And before that, when we were little, we had a swing set and seesaw that he made.  When I decided to run hurdles when I was in the 7th grade, Daddy made me a set of regulation-sized wooden hurdles that we set up in the front yard.  He set them up so that I had to run slightly uphill, which sure made it easier to win races on flat tracks.

I miss my dad a lot, for many, many reasons, but I really miss having my own personal Mr. Fix-it.  I have some of his tools - his hammer is my favorite one - and I am forever grateful that he taught me how to use them.  I love it that my kids counted on me to do the drilling and the fixing, and I hope I taught them how to make at least a few repairs.  When you grow up with someone who never hired a 'handyman' but you marry someone who is not handy, you learn what a blessing it was to have had a dad who could fix things.

Daddy's handy ways are only part of the story, but this blog is long enough for today.  Sometimes I just start writing without knowing what's going to come out!  So here's to you and your dad, who I hope is your hero, too - have a wonderful week and let me know what some of your special 'D' words are.

Jan

Good friends, good food, good fun!

“I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny, but we can have lots of good fun that is funny.” 
                                                                                                                                       Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat

Week 8: Fun!

It's hard to complain about temperatures in the 70s and 80s during the third week of February, so I won't.  I'll just say it would have been really spectacular if the sun had been shining!  But like Dr. Seuss reminds us, you can have fun on the rainiest of days.  This past week was a really good one for me.  Last Monday, I was remembering my dad, as he would have been 96 that day.  Today, I'm remembering Rex's dad, who passed away on this day seventeen years ago.  They were both good men, men of the Greatest Generation, and men who imprinted their values on Rex and me in ways that still catch us by surprise sometimes.  We were lucky to have them as our dads, and I miss them both so much.  In honor of Daddy's birthday, I made his very favorite birthday cake, which was really cupcakes.  Blueberry, with maple pecan frosting.  Mmmm!  I love cooking, and while baking isn't my specialty, because I thought of Daddy while making them and while eating them, making these cupcakes was a fun activity worth a trip to the store for canned blueberries.  In case you're hungry, here are the recipes:

 

I had a lunch date with a friend at Olympia Grill (mmm - Avocado Greek Salad!!) on Tuesday, and while driving home along the seawall, I decided to get Crockett and bring him along for a walk on the beach instead of just walking around the neighborhood.  It wasn't a sunny day, and it was really windy at the beach, but it was fun to be out on the sand where we could hear the waves pounding the jetties.  We walked out on one jetty, and Crockett was a little bit spooked when he realized he was surrounded by water.  Thankfully he did not try to jump in!  He got really sandy, and so did my car!  Wednesday found me in Galveston again, enjoying lunch with my Tiki neighbors at Willie G's before I hopped on the Galveston ferry and headed for Bolivar peninsula and points east.  I was hoping to beat the heavy rains that were forecast since I was driving to Birmingham for the weekend.  I spent the night with friends in Abita Springs, LA (thanks, Linda and Rawlin!) and then had a relaxing trip through Mississippi and Alabama the next day.  I wandered around little Laurel, Mississippi and had a great burger and onion rings at the PDI (Phillip's Drive In), where it was both hot and sunny!  On my drive, it was clear spring has sprung - pear trees are in full bloom and leafy trees are greening up.  I hope we don't have a big freeze in March!

Once in Birmingham, I promptly fell asleep and woke up just in time for a Forever Connect meeting followed by a late Mexican dinner and a huge delicious margarita.  I knew, since a family text on the subject had awakened me that morning, that it was National Margarita Day, so of course we had to observe the solemn occasion.  Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I shared my love and a little bit of knowledge about Forever Artisan and digital scrapbooking with the group of women attending Fran Smitherman's weekend retreat.  We had a great time, and another special thank you to Ann for driving me around all weekend in search of food and drink!  It was fun to meet more scrappers and say hi to old friends, too.  I had lunch with Caroline on Sunday before hitting the road for North Carolina.  I rolled in to Anne's house about 8:30 last night, and even at that hour, she had dinner ready when I got there.  I listened to The Great Alone on this trip and finished it Sunday afternoon.  I'm now listening to the hilarious book, The Ladies Room, by Carolyn Brown - it had me laughing out loud down the highway.

I'm writing tonight from Dave's home in Wake Forest, where I have gotten a good start on Happy hugs and fun with the kiddos.  So it was a FUN week (as most are!) and I'm looking forward to lots more fun and laughter this week.  Sure hope you find fun every day, too!