My Dad was a church guy. Back in the day in the 1960's you basically had two different types of Dads. The ones who would go to church with the family and the ones who stayed home to watch TV. Now a church going Dad might not go first thing in the morning. My Catholic School had mandatory 9AM mass for all the kids where attendance was taken during the school year. So usually your Mom took you or you went with a group of kids from your block with one or two Moms watching over you. The rest of the year you could go anytime you wanted. I thought I was cool stuff when I went to the 12:15 mass with my Dad. Most of the fathers would be at that Mass and then would either go home for Sunday Dinner or go to their club to play cards or whatnot. My Dad would introduce me to his friends who were at Mass. They were all dressed in suits and ties and wore fedoras like they were on the Untouchables or something. That's what it meant to be a grownup. You wore a suit and tie and a hat to church.
He never missed a Mass on Sunday. Rain or shine he would get dressed and go. He was a big wheel in the Knights of Columbus, the Parish Council and the Holy Name Society. Since he was an accountant he always would have people who had questions about taxes or a letter or something and he would help them out. They would stop him in the street and he always had time for them.
You see the thing was he always had time for me. He would take me and my buddies up to Yankee stadium even though he was a big Met's fan. He would use a weeks vacation to go with us to Boy Scout Camp at Ten Mile River. He was always there if one of the other kids had something they needed to talk about and didn't want to talk to their own Dad about.
Today in Church Father Chris had all the fathers stand up and get a hand from the congregation. There were a lot of guys with their families. But also a bunch of guys by themselves who were my age. They proably went to church with their Dad and kept it up even after he had passed. Fathers Day is a great day to go to Mass and celebrate your Dad.
I think of you every day Daddio. Happy Fathers Day.
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We celebrated Father's Day Saturday by going out for a wonderful dinner.
Back in the 60s when my parents went out for dinner it was always a big deal. Dad would wash and wax the Impala Saturday afternoon; mom would go get her hair done. They'd dress for dinner - casual dining was something done at home - mom in a black dress, stockings, pearls and heels, dad in a pressed suit, white shirt with French cuffs and a black necktie.
They'd usually go to a supper club, someplace where they were known. Cliffords, maybe, or Ray Jackson's on Bluemound Road. Ray Jackson's was the special place of special places. A true steak and martini place. Players on the old Milwaukee Braves hung out there, as did most of the made guys in the Balestreri mob.
Ray Jackson's place burned down one Sunday morning, early. Italian lightening, most people though. Ray opened a couple of smaller joints, but none really worked, and he died a few years later.
Ray's kid Jimmy began working in the kitchen of his old man's places when he was in grade school. He learned the business well and early. Jimmy and his wife opened a small place - seats 30 maybe - in a old bar in an industrial neighborhood in West Milwaukee a few years ago. It's fricking awesome, and hard as hell to get into. It was included in a movie about Wisconsin Supper Clubs that played on PBS.
So we went to see Jimmy at Jackson Grill on Saturday. We dressed for it - Mary in a dress, me wearing a starched shirt, polished shoes and pressed pants.
Duck fries. Mmmmm..French fries cooked in duck fat, sprinkled with sea salt and parsley. Kobe beef steak. Veal porterhouse for Mary. Manhattans, Old Fashioneds, split a crème brulee for dessert. The last time we had a meal that good was at Emeril's in New Orleans. Heavenly. Jimmy came out of the kitchen with his usual "Howyadoin? Nicetaseeya! Yafoodokay? Good! I gotta go!"
What a night.
We are celebrating the day by traveling back from our Yellowstone/Cody/Rushmore/Minot trip. Worst flight ever landing in Denver. I thought I was going to have to drive home from here. Flight to Knoxville delayed. We'll get home around 3:00 am. Kids did wish me a happy Father's Day. Not a total loss.
Hoping the take off is smooth enough that I don't die and maybe I can sleep, since we have a bit more than two and a half drive after landing. Lewis Grizzard had a book, "If I Ever Get Back to Georgia, I'm Gonna Nail My feet to the Ground." I might do the same with NC.
Happy Father's Day, dads. And, moms, thank you for doing your part in making it happen.
My Dad was distant my Dad was close my Dad was a host
Of contradiction.
A child gloms onto something physical to make the most
Of his connection:
The Eisenhower jacket he wore so long, how could I know the cost
That strained affection?
I will be thinking of a proud Man who did not boast...
At my extinction.
Well said Trooper.
windbag, We just got back but drove, of course you're much further. I found Mount Rushmore just ok. Look @ it for a few minutes, read about the sculptor, and then go play some blackjack in Deadwood!
Haz, Tough first Father's Day w/o your old man. I'm sure it was melancholy. There are gourmet met hot dog place in Chicago called Doug's that cooks their fries in duck fat.
Happy Father's Day to all.
ndspinelli and windbag: Devil's Tower is definitely worth visiting between Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore. So is The Little Bighorn.
I liked Mt. Rushmore, but I liked the area outside of the tourist trap of Keystone much better.
My Dad was distant my Dad was close my Dad was a host
Of contradiction.
Yes. Thank you.
My dad's been gone 19 years. He was and still is distant, close, and a host of contradiction.
Sometimes I forget.
That image looks more like dad is teaching his son about the Book of Nephi.
Thanks, MamaM.
How many times do I have to learn that a poem should not be "published" in haste? I hope the slight changes in this version makes it a bit more right:
My Dad was distant my Dad was close my Dad was a host
Of contradiction.
A child gloms onto something physical to make the most
Of his connection:
The Eisenhower jacket you wore so long, how could I know the cost
That strained affection?
I will be thinking of a proud man who did not boast,
At my extinction.
P.S. I'm not totally comfortable with extinction, but conclusion or cessation seem even less right to me so extinction stays. Poetry's a bitch.
@nd, Rushmore was okay, but like you, a quick picture was about it. We did stay for the 13 minute film, narrated by commie Tom Brokaw.
@EBL, we just didn't take the time to see Devil's Tower. Maybe some other time? Was that the featured rock in "Close Encounters"?
Our flight was delayed by three hours and our departing gate was changed five times before we finally escaped Denver. Apparently, there were a lot of delays yesterday, because there were people laying around everywhere and tons of flights were delayed. The pilot told us we were actually quite lucky, because the plane that was supposed to fly us still hadn't arrived, but they scrounged up a spare and took us on to Knoxville.
The first thing we noticed back in the Volunteer State was how humid it was. The thermometer read 72, but it felt like 92 after the dry west. We took the back way home, since it was the shortest. Route 129--the Dragon's Tail, down NC28, and then down Needmore Road. Got home at 4:30 am.
Got to work to find a pine tree on my storage shed, two people had quit, a fryer is out, and the A/C had taken a couple of days off. That's why I don't go on vacations anymore. In the good old days, with a partner, those things would have been his problem to deal with. My manager held her own, though, and business is good (this month, at least).
Windbag, glad you had a good time, even if you had some catch up back home. Devil's Tower is one of those places that is better in real life than you anticipate, Mt. Rushmore is the opposite.
And yeah, it is the Close Encounter rock.
Evi, We passed on Devil's Tower but admit that was a mistake. I've read several books on Custer and Sitting Bull. The Last Stand was probably the best. The ranger we had giving the tour @ Little Big Horn was great. Here's something to tell Dems. The Lakota tribe had petitioned the president to change the name of the national park from Custer[naming the park after the guy who got his ass kicked is temerity personified] to Little Big Horn. That's the river bed where the battle took place. Old man Bush agreed and changed the name. The Lakota's then petitioned Bubba for 8 years to erect an Indian monument but he ignored them. W commissioned artists to submit a monument and a beautiful one, in a sacred circle, of course, sits there today.
I should have said the Lakotas petitioned prez's going back to FDR to change the park's name.
My father died nearly 25 years ago. In that quarter-century I have been working on coming to terms with the legacy he left me.
One of the things I had to do as a young child was go dig a hole in the frozen earth then plant the living Christmas tree.
I have continued to plant trees my entire life - today it was walnut trees that I sprouted from last year's crop of local walnuts. It was pouring rain and my thought was that if I plant during a downpour then I won't have to haul water to the tiny trees.
As soon as I got 4 of them in the ground the rain stopped. I was soaked to the skin but then, after I put the tools away, it started raining again. Yay - the seedlings are getting watered.
And that's today's story from the wilds of NC.
Hey Nick - Leslyn's book arrived at stately Haz Manor yesterday. It must be pretty good - Mrs. H grabbed it and hasn't let me take a peek at it since then. It has become her late night reading.
The ranger we had giving the tour @ Little Big Horn was great.
Was it some young Indian guy (I am not sure which tribe he was from), all passionate about the battle? I watched him give it twice.
Haz, You just made my bride and my day. Thanks very much. Honest critiques when completed please.
Evi, They have Park Service and Lakota tours. We took the ranger walking tour. He is a art history professor from Texas and a seasonal ranger. He submitted a proposal for the Indian monument but didn't win. There were 200 entries.
When I went to Little Big Horn/Custer Battlefield it was a Park Service ranger who was Indian (he could have been Crow but I assumed he was Lakota). He gave the presentation at the Visitor Center (under the covered outdoor area).
I've said this several times but I miss AllenS being here. I've said that to him. I ask others do the same.
Why did AllenS drop out?
blake, I dunno. Titus was almost certainly part of it.
I never see him online any more. I don't go to TOP and he doesn't tweet. But I join the chorus of those who miss him. I think Darcy mentioned missing him a long time ago and I (figuring his absence was temporary) didn't think much of it.
blake, He's A TOP, that's where I've communicated w/ him. I think Baron Zemo needs to reach out to him.
He is a pretty steady commenter over at TOP. He cuts to the chase, is incisive, and takes no BS.
But I can't speak to why he doesn't comment here.
@Nick - Update. Mrs. H has 42 years as a teacher of film, theater and English. As is her habit, she has read the first third and last third of the book and tells me that it has a very readable style, nice story development, good flow. She's now in the bathtub reading the middle third.
It reminds her of books written by Victoria Houston that are set in northern Wisconsin and are a good read. I'm going to try to take it from her before she gives it to a girlfriend who lives in Roxbury and with whom she swaps female-oriented novels.
Haz, Thanks much. I would encourage your wife[I didn't know her work history!] and yourself to leave a comment on Amazon if you wish. If you knew how much work she put into this you would know how much this means to us.
Hopefully she keeps the pages dry!
Hey, someone look at this PBS page on how badly SS is and see if they see an ad on the middle right called "New Adventures For Older Workers":
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2013/06/how-the-government-is-fooling.html
Do you see it?
Is that =Meade=?
Yep, I miss Alan S.
Miss my Dad too. Although he'd never go to Church. Liked that my Mom did, but after a tough work week, he wanted to relax.
Don't blame him. He got better after retirement.
@Nick - Done. "Wonderful"
Moo
AllenS should come back.
Haz, I'll pass on your bride's review. Thanks.
Evi, I once again just invited Allens over @ TOP on the Paula Deen thread.
TY, Taken For Granted is now available on kindle.
Update: It takes 12 hours for it to be ready on kindle so ~midnight it will be available.
Haz, Your bride is very gracious, our thanks to her.
Only $3.99 on kindle.
Been sittin' here for the last hour trying to figure out why Nick would "pass" on a good review before realizing he was going to "pass it on".
She is lovely, Nick. Well done.
@ Spinelli
Cool about the Kindle thing. My husband just bought me a kindle fire for our anniversary. I will download your wife's book and do a review. I generally like sci-fi and fantasy, (I'm in the middle of Dance with Dragons right now), but also avidly read murder mysteries.
Didn't think I would like to read books electronically. I was WRONG!
The Patriots have a killer team this year.
"The Patriots have a killer team this year."
Right about now our focus has to be on the Bruins.
Tony Soprano isn't going to audition, right?
DBQ, Thanks. I'm the same as you. I inherited my bride's old kindle when she upgraded and I love it! They are much better in bed..well, you know what I mean.
blake, Thanks much.
Nick, a friend once offered to loan me a Kindle, and since I read about your wife's book I have been trying to make that happen - what can I say, I am cheap.
No Kindle yet, but once I get my hands on it I will buy a copy of Taken for Granted.
Sixty, Thanks. Virtually everyone I know loves kindle. I know our host is a big fan. Being cheap, you get books really cheap on kindle.
I'm a Nook user in a Kindle world. Figures.
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