(this picture was stolen from my mom's blog, mom you wouldn't happen to have that picture of dad from the last game at Tiger Stadium, would you?)

You Buy 'Em Books & You Buy 'Em Books...

My old man used to say this alot when I was growing up, usually jokingly. I never quite understood what it meant when I was a kid, but I think I get it now. I think it means that the elder buys the young little shaver books over & over again, but the punk never picks up on the information found in said books. I find myself saying this alot to my staff, who aren't much younger than myself. I hope I finally picked up on most of the lessons from those books. There were plenty of them.

My old man turns 56 today, & believe it or not, he doesn't seem all that old to me. Maybe because it's not too long ago when we'd play basketball out in the driveway every night in the summer time, or because he still has most of his hair, & half of it isn't even gray, yet.

My old man was always a bit of a contradiction; an old man & a little kid at the same time. Whenever we have family functions, he always seems the most comfortable when he's playing with the grandkids (has he introduced them to the sandwich machine, yet?) or when he's talking with the older people in the room. It's as if there's always more fun to be had with the young, & more to learn from the old. It always amazed me how him & my grandpa could sit in the den for hours on end talking about all kinds of things from farming to tools to politics. Part of me thinks he did it to give my grandpa somebody to talk to, but deep down I know he enjoyed it as much as my grandpa.

Here's another contradiction about my old man. You see him at church talking to people, reaching out to those who need it the most, remembering names of people who've only been there once or twice, making everyone feel welcome--you'd think he was a real people person. He's not. He's much more comfortable when he's all by himself working outside, chopping down trees, planting trees, mowing the grass (mowing the grass to him is being lazy), planting flowers, hoeing the garden, feeding sheep & all kinds of other things. This isn't to say that his work at church is an act, it's quite the opposite, his work in the fields & his work at church feed off each other. Some of his best sermons are when he ties together working in the fields with working in the mission fields. It's all the same, really.

I'm sure he doesn't think of himself as an environmentalist, but I do. For every tree he cuts down, he plants two. For every person who's been kind to him over the years, I'm sure he's been kind to many more in return. Who knows how many people have heard the good news of Jesus Christ through my old man?

Happy birthday, dad, you always were & always will be my hero.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Every Grain of Sand-Bob Dylan, Llubjana, 1999

In the Summertime-Bob Dylan, Avignon France, 1981

i'm still carrying the gift you gave, i got it with me now, it's been cherished & saved, it'll be with me unto the grave, & on into eternity...

Rock of Ages-Bob Dylan, Santa Cruz 2000

God Said No-Dan Bern, New American Language

Forever For Now-Harry Connick, Jr, We Are in Love (man, I haven't heard this in AGES!)

Raise a glass of Manschewitz, friends, grab yourself a cracker full of Winn Schulers Bar Scheeze, click on Click & Clack on the radio & wish my old man a happy birthday! Do you know what that paper was? Hot?

andrew