happy father's day (which then turns into a political diatribe...)

Today is hot, sunny, and nice out, and D decided to work on the dirt-digging on the side of the house (I swear I didn't ask him to do it on Father's Day!). It's great, bricks lining up nicely, water draining away from the side of the house, and A played with his water table outside in his undies. Sigh. We had blueberry pancakes for lunch, and D's favorite, pizza, is on the menu for dinner. Easy peasy. I am a lucky lady.

My own dad is in Gettysburg, for his mostly-annual get-together of re-enactors for some sort of living history weekend. He is also a glutton for punishment, as he wears a wool uniform in the heat and runs around artillery pieces for skirmishes and such. We certainly have a colorful family. When overgrown cemeteries on lonely hills make you feel nostalgic for family-time, there's something seriously abnormal going on. But the fact is, I do enjoy cemeteries, wondering what people's lives were like and how old they were when they died, what hardships they endured so long ago, what they wore and made and built. My fascination with history can be directly pinned on my parents, and that's a great thing. Somebody has to know what went on in the world, so we don't repeat our mistakes or become arrogant or sloppy. And it helps in this time of hyperventilating haters, who insist that any victory for the opposite party will set our world back forever. Not one president, except maybe Washington or Lincoln, has ever made that much of a mark, for good or bad. What makes our government a good one is that one personality doesn't have the power to forever alter the course of the country. They can inspire, or direct, or cause setbacks or even catastrophes, but the constitution will not be destroyed by one man. Lincoln took far, FAR more power during his Presidency than Bush would dare to try, but since no one knows history, people can perpetuate the belief that Bush is dissolving the constitution with every Halliburton contract. Give me a break. I'm not happy with Bush, not at all, and I'm sad at the state of American life now, but in the grand scheme of things he is a blip. A blip, I say.

Whew. I meant to write about fathers, and here I am getting all hot and bothered about politics. I really enjoyed Obama's speech today, and it's right along the lines of the Juan Williams book I read a couple years ago (Enough: the phony leaders, dead-end movements etc...). I'm interested to see how people react to it. They'll probably say something dumb, no doubt. People really are stupid and do not examine life, bless them. The ones who do examine life are all on anti-depressants. Ahem.

So one amazingly great thing: to celebrate father's day today, I'd like to commend my dad for quitting smoking after about 48 years. I know it's been an uphill struggle, an expensive proposition as well either way, but he has done it. I can't tell you how proud I am, and relieved, and grateful that my dad might be adding daily to his life instead of taking away precious minutes and hours with each burning stick. I know that quitting smoking is more difficult than heroin, and it's easy to backslide and have withdrawal and all these awful things, but he's doing so well and I am so happy for Dad. He's always been awesome, optimistic and honest. Now he can be all those things without having to leave the room every hour for a cigarette. He doesn't smell like himself, but that's something I can get used to as well. I love you Dad!