Father's Day

Not so much a melancholy day here at BOSAHFOW rather one of remembrance. Today I was up early so I could drive up to Pop's grave and put some flowers and a couple of small things at the grave side. I'm not one to hang out at a grave and talk to a head stone or marker, I'm just not that type. Honestly, I view father's day as MY day to go up there, I'm his only son everyone else gets the rest of the year I just want that one day and just a small time frame at that. I spent all total an hour up there making things just so. I cut down some dog wood blooms for his marker vase with his old tin snips. It's not with some jealousy that I hear everyone else's father's day plans and to a small degree would want one more father's day with Pop. I think all of us who has lost someone we love wishes the same.

I had the grave yard pretty much to myself since I was up there just after dawn. I got use to rising way early for nursing school stayed in the habit now. It's paying off now I find that just after dawn is really when most people are just not out just yet. I got Dauset to myself for hours with that this past Saturday the 14th.

It was really nice. I loved that I did not have a human soul within a few miles of me that morning. I got to see wildlife and enjoy a nice cool morning doing that elusive thing I like so much. "soul riding" which happens less and less these days.

Let's get back to Father's Day here. I can't say what Pop would approve of now and his last clear directive towards me was "Live your life" which I do my best with my ongoing philosophy of work hard/play hard. Really in all honestly if it was not for Pop driving me all over the south east to BMX race I seriously doubt I'd still be riding today. Pop was no huge cyclist and he only cared about bicycles because I did, he did support me and carry me to the hospital or bike shop as needed. He was the same with boy scouts too. I can't think of a time when he was not involved, taking a vacation day here and there to ferry us to whatever trip, sleeping out in the rain, heat and cold with the rest of us. He was no great woodsman one thing he did was care and was there.

Pop came from a time when it was unusual for a woman to raise kids on her own. His father bailed on them when he was a kid. Pop broke the cycle of dysfunction with me and without knowing it gave me some real corner stones to my own life. Cycling, being outside and a work ethic are among them. I'm thankful for those. As long as I am close to Georgia I'll make the effort to go grave side, it won't always be the case though.

Road trips to go riding always remind me of the BMX trips Pop and I took. Getting up at or before the crack of dawn and heading out, it's a special feeling to have in a sense because I still do that and think of him when ever I have the truck loaded to do such a trip. I'll close with that thought. Thanks for reading.