So, on to the next big thing

Huh, six months can go by pretty quickly. Guess how many plays I’ve read? 0. But in my defense, I’ve completed many other projects; for instance, my fence. While I must confess that this has been the only project completed, it should not be diminished in importance. It took over my entire one-week vacation. Well, that and staining the house. It wasn’t just putting it up, it was taking down the old one, cutting up the old one and hauling it to the solid waste & recycle site (I would like to add here a short note on the humor one finds at a recycle center; namely the South Transfer Station where they ask you if you have wood or metal and if you say “My wood has nails in it, is that okay?” the response will be “You have to pull out all of the nails” after which approximately two seconds of silence, they laugh hysterically) pulling out the cement footings of the misplaced original posts, correctly placing the new posts, and then screwing in the panels after you discover this handy concept called torque and if your drill isn’t at the correct torque level (torquage?) it makes a horrible ratcheting noise announcing to your neighbors that you don’t completely know what you’re doing. That took a week.

It is now taking one month for me to trim the tops of the fence posts which is probably the easiest step in the process. Maybe subconsciously I don’t want the project to be over. I have no idea why I wouldn’t want this to be over. Maybe my subconscious is a sadist.

Today is not only five months and sixteen days since I last posted something; it is also Father’s Day. Or is it Fathers’ Day? Shouldn’t it be Fathers’ Day since it’s supposed to include more than one? I have just googled it and have found journalists who have used both. Someone should be penalized.

I hate both Father’s(s’) Day and Mother’s(s’) Day. People with wonderful parents don’t understand this but then they may not fully realize that they don’t need a day to think about how wonderful their parents are. I’m willing to bet that thought crosses their minds quite often. What this day does is really drive home the point to people without wonderful parents (or parents at all) of what they don’t have. It brings up very specific painful memories of when you used to plug your ears with your fingers so hard that your fingers would go numb, or it carries a certain tension in the air the entire day of how bro isn’t here anymore and if he were here, the day would be much better but since he’s not, there isn’t anything that can be done to make it good. Once, for Father’s (s’) Day, I stopped at the cheese shop on Hwy 8 in Wisconsin to pick up some excellent cuts of beef (because no matter how anyone feels on any holiday, you can always eat), and was surrounded by families; they were all very happy just to be together. They didn’t have to be going anywhere in particular. In fact they probably weren’t, that’s how they ended up at the cheese shop, because it looked like a pleasant place to stop for a minute. If you’re wondering why I would stop for beef at a cheese shop, you have to understand that that’s what they do in Wisconsin. So I left that pleasant picture filled with smiling people to drive to my parent’s trailer where there was no one for miles to eat in silence.

I was very surprised once to hear a former Department Head state that she hated Mother’s (s’) Day. This was a woman who never showed the remotest sensation of anger, stress, annoyance; I don’t think she ever even shook her head in dismay. We met up in the mail room briefly and exchanged the usual “What are you doing this weekend?”’s when she said “I hate Mother’s Day”. She didn’t look at me and left after saying it. I initially was surprised but then it made me feel better. I was very relieved to learn that I wasn’t a bad person for hating that day. Here was someone that was very well respected in her field, very well liked by just about everyone and she hated Mother’s Day. It somehow gave me permission to go ahead with it also.

It’s not just some kids that hate the days, it’s some parents also. I know they’re out there. There have to be some. It’s the same sentiment, just the other side of the coin. I don’t think I used that analogy correctly. Anyway, what I mean is that a person can suddenly have parenthood thrust upon them and have to make a series of painful decisions which they have to keep making for a very long time since when you become a parent, you never stop being a parent, and you have to figure out how to create a person that can at least be functional on their own some day and avoid all of that judgment you think is being made of you by everyone else only to have the kid say horrible things to you and sometimes you wish they would just go away but you’re afraid that if someone heard you say that, they would think less of you. It can be a rough day for many. I think that’s why I subconsciously avoided the Back to the 50’s Car show this weekend (all those dads walking around happily). Maybe my subconscious isn’t a sadist.

So my next project is going to be restoring a ’78 Camaro. You may feel that this is above my paygrade, but I have nothing but time…and a two-car garage currently with only one car in it. This is going to be epic.