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June 21, 2006
My Dad
I had a nice chat with my dad this weekend in honor of Father's day. I think Father's day has always been is a bitter-sweet holiday for dad. He has been plagued by what I call the "ties and flies epidemic". By this I mean, people, without fail, buy him neck ties, or fly fishing flies every year. The ties pile in his closet away from view---he hates ties, and he has a well founded paranoia about making himself look like he stepped out of a 70's sitcom. And the flies, well, this is a ridiculous gift considering he has his own professional fly tying business. The epidemic is really a result of the unspoken understanding that you don't ASK dad what he wants for Father's day. This is cause he's a wee bit eccentric and accident prone--a lethal combination. Not as if the tie, being much like a noose, is safe gift! The thing is, deep down my dad is a true scientist and probably would ask for: splicing tools (too sharp), explosives (self-explanatory), or camera paraphernalia (with which you run the risk of him gallivanting off to some cliff in pursuit of the perfect picture). For this reason, all his loved ones...including myself, are avid tie and fly buyers. When I say dad's eccentric, I mean it! Let's just focus on his teeth issues for a moment. About 10 years ago, my dad got his front tooth knocked out by one of our horses. With some prodding, he got a bridge thing put in. Well, a few years later, when my sister and I were presenting at a 4-H club meeting, my dad stood up, ran into a pole and knocked the fake tooth off the bridge. As mortifying as it was to have your dad nearly knocked unconscious and toothless before your peers, it was far more mortifying to walk into the kitchen with a friend to see dad melting his tooth back onto the bridge himself. He was using the kitchen stove, a soldering gun, and a paperclip. Not the best method of repair, but I will say interesting problem solving tactic. I also have memories of my dad being in the newspaper for classroom related accidents from him many years of teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade science. Like once, he took a big brick of some chemical and all his students to a local body of water to show dangerous it is to deal carelessness with chemicals. Noble cause, but he proved his point by dropped a chuck of the chemical in the lake which resulted in a massive fire and news coverage! My favorite of his moments had to be the stories my grandmother told me about when he got his first mini-chemistry set. The outcome was so horrific that grandma, a delightful, always-paint-the-world-rosy-kinda lady, prefaced the story with a "honey, you know grandma doesn't like to tell that story". I won't go into all the details, but I will say two words...Household Damage! For all these reasons, the fly and tie epidemic is, well, still an epidemic. Perhaps this year I could send him an assortment of Pop Rocks candy? Explosive yet safe? Really, at this rate he is never going to get a gift from me.
| By Heidi V. | 08:40 AM
Comments
Heidi, Pop Rocks is so passe. Send him some Mentos and Diet Coke!http://eepybird.com/dcm1.htmlhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5341058Your Dad seems Quirky Cool, and might I add that the apple did not fall far from the tree :)
Posted by: Neil at June 21, 2006 10:10 AM
what good stories!!! what about compiling a a collection of ones like these about all of your dad's kooky escapades? full of fun, laughter, photo documentation, interviews? you could put the pop-rocks at the end as a complimentary while-you -read snack.
Posted by: angela at June 21, 2006 10:57 AM
Good idea Angela! Neil, thanks! I do have a lot of things in common with my dad...we both appreciate fire and nature. I like a good camping fire IN a natural setting. He likes to set fire TO the natural setting.
Posted by: Heidi V. at June 21, 2006 12:15 PM
OH MY NEIL! I JUST LOOKED AT THE VIDEOS! AMAZING! Your right Pop Rocks are passe when you look at what mentos and diet coke can do! Hey, did you seem me running with Jen Dill, this morning? It may have not been you?
Posted by: Heidi V. at June 21, 2006 01:12 PM
Yes, the mentos and diet coke is amazing. Google those terms to see more craziness. You know, that was me this morning. I saw Jen, however, I did not see you. Perhaps it has do with the following:1) Jen's amazingly red hair, which might work in getting noticed more, just like red cars are pulled over more often by police, or so they say.2) That it was six freaking am.3) That this bear is rarely out of his cave that early, much less huffing and puffing along on a bicycle.It is cool to see people one knows in the park. Yesterday I saw Charlie Dill and today Angela's mom and Ann Henning.
Posted by: Neil at June 21, 2006 01:30 PM
Heidi - I love it! Your dad sounds hilarious. I'm sure I'd be laughing a lot around him (as I am with you). I'm glad I got to get to know him a little better through this. Someday I'll have to spend some time with your whole family...I'd be cracking up the whole time. But I love to laugh.
Posted by: winks at June 22, 2006 10:05 AM