Today is my Dad’s birthday. In his honor, I present to you…
3 Things I Learned from my Dad
1. Ability to drive anything. My Dad taught me to ride a motorcycle when I was about 10, not long after he taught me to ride a bicycle. Before I’d turned 16, I’d driven lawn mowers, a pickup truck, cars, snowmobiles, and a van. Once I got my license, he let me drive everything in his ever-evolving fleet. My favorites were the Camaro and the three-speed pickup trucks. I loved those trucks. Three-speed on-the-column manual transmission, no power steering, and slow as molasses. They were tanks, and no one got in your way. I loved driving those suckers. When I was all of 5 feet tall and 100 pounds, they made me feel invincible. My extensive experience in driving as a kid has served me well as an adult. I’ve never been afraid of any vehicle. Doesn’t matter if it’s standard or automatic, front-wheel-drive, four-wheel-drive, big, small – whatever. I’ve towed trailers, rented an ATV to drive around the wilds of Hawaii, taken a turn behind the wheel of a boat, and was the only girl at my high school driving in on a motorcycle in the morning. I can’t really say that I’m a motor vehicle connoisseur, but I like that I can get where I want to go, no matter if it’s highway, dirt road, or no road.
Hey Dad, did I tell you that Emily & I rented one of those little go-cart thingies at New Smyrna Beach? I thought about renting a bicycle, but no… I got one of those little cars that look like they just fell off the carnival truck. The sound of that little two-stroke engine brought back some memories! It was a blast chasing the seagulls down the beach in it.
2. Creativity. My Mom was great about supporting our creative efforts as kids, giving us plenty of opportunities to color and paint. But my Dad was often the hero when it came to Halloween and Easter. Poor Mom – she’d spend hours laboring over Halloween costumes or boiling eggs and preparing the messy egg dyes. And then just as we were about to finish up, Dad would swoop in with a huge streak of creativity and take everything up a notch! One Halloween my brother wanted to be Frankenstein. With help from Mom and his two sisters, he’d come up with a halfway decent Frankenstein. But then Dad came in just as the costume was “finished” and declared that it just needed a couple more things… Next thing you know, my brother had “bolts” coming out of his neck (courtesy of a couple of spools of thread and a wire coat hanger), and his shoulders were massive thanks to some inventive padding and another wire coat hanger. It went from being a passable Frankenstein to a fabulous Frankenstein! At Easter, we’d create some pretty yellow, orange and pink eggs. Then Dad would come in, and next thing you know, there were tie dye eggs and stripy eggs and two-tone eggs. Mom was the tireless laborer, but Dad was all about flourish! His creativity got expressed in a love of music too, something that got passed on not only to all three of his kids, but also to all of his grandkids. A self-taught guitarist, he played often, constantly picking up new songs. To this day, no campfire is complete without a sing-a-long with a guitar accompaniment. The one song that I will always associate with my Dad is John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads. If my memories of my Dad had a theme song, that would be it.
Hey Dad, did I mention that I’m taking a graphic arts class? I created a logo for a fictitious holistic animal clinic, and although I’m sure it’s amateurish by any professional’s standards, I’m pretty proud of the end result! I was playing violin for a while, but had to take a break from it (life is way too busy right now). I love the way that I went from barely being able to squawk out something that vaguely resembled a note at first, to being able to play simple songs a month later. Even more remarkably, I found this sense of serenity and satisfaction from playing this one particular song. It’s called Au Clair De La Lune, and it turns out it’s the European version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (the first song everyone learns to play on every instrument). But still, it was a great feeling – the first song that came to feel effortless. Very cool.
3. Love of nature. My Dad was a hunter when I was growing up, which seems like a weird thing to say now, because I can’t imagine him shooting an animal any more. I don’t know how much he enjoyed the kill. l I think for him the enjoyment came mostly from being in the woods and tracking. I remember lots of hikes through the woods with him in the off season, and I remember his contagious excitement when he’d point out tracks to me and talk about the process of figuring out where to find the deer. We used to camp at Sargent’s Campground in Vermont, and at dusk the nightly ritual was to hop in the car and go deer spotting. No guns, just a spotlight. By the time I was 8 or 9, I was the designated spotlight operator. Dad would pull up to a field and shine his headlights into it, and I’d sweep the tree line with the spotlight. Deer were so plentiful back then that you’d see a couple dozen in a single field at times. One memorable 3-day weekend, we counted over a hundred deer in 3 evening drives. All these years later, I still sweep the tree line as I drive past fields at night. Old habits die hard, and it’s still a thrill to catch site of a deer or two. A couple weeks ago my Dad sent me a picture of an armadillo that’s taken up residence in his yard. There was no talk of how to get rid of the bugger. Instead, he referred to it as his new neighbor. He knew I’d be excited to see this, since I’m known as an animal lover, and I was. I’m really hoping to get a glimpse of the little guy next time I go visit. Last week I spent a good part of my vacation hiking, biking and kayaking, and thought of my Dad many times. I know I got this love of outdoor adventures from him.
Hey Dad, I forgot to tell you. Last week I was in Acadia National Park in Maine. The kids & I saw a big buck crossing the street – biggest rack I’ve ever seen on a living deer! And then there was the worlds CUTEST porcupine! I stopped traffic in both directions to let the little guy cross the road. I heard loons while out kayaking (what an amazing sound!) and then had one pop up just off the bow of my boat. The people on shore were falling all over themselves to get a picture of it, and I’m sure they were quite ticked at me for being between then and the loon. I’m probably in most of their shots!
Happy Birthday Dad! I love you!
© Kimberlee Martin, 2017. All rights reserved.