The Essence of Father's Day

This is a little late in coming, but what can I say I'm busy, I'm popular, I'm famous, whatever ... I went down to Florida for Father's Day/mom's birthday weekend. It seemed QUITE the thing to do and it ended up being loads o' fun. I went by myself and no other siblings were there - so the peace flowed like a river. Kidding!

We enjoyed all manner of food, frivolity and family time ... but during my trip I started to notice some things about myself. You may remember my Memorial Day post about the $25 Target pool I bought to turn my home into a resort. Since that time I've had many inquiries as to where that BRILLIANT idea might have come from. At first, I took 100% of the credit ... after all, if this brilliance had been inherited, surely it would have presented itself in other family members a bit sooner, yeah? So I went off merrily on my Father's Day trip never having imagined I would find the source of my creativity. However, a few days after my arrival it became glaringly obvious. The source of the brilliance, sickness - can be laid directly at the feet of this man:

My father

I had contacted his bride a few weeks before my much anticipated arrival and asked what sort of gift would be appropriate this year. She immediately had an answer - a hammock. Not one of those cheap, fabric hammocks and CERTAINLY not one that hangs betwix a frame. THE VERY THOUGHT! No this needed to be a rope style, tree hammock. Not only that- she even had a brand. Now let me stop here and inform you non-southerners, hereby known as the Texans of the group :) (come on, Texas is NOT southern, it's a place unto it's own) ... IF you dare to aspire to own a hammock and you hail from the great state of South Carolina where yes, MICHAEL HOPKINS, people DO own and most of the time wear shoes, you would only have hammock from Pawney's Island, SC. Google them, it's an old old company with the finest hammocks George Washington's can buy. So I placed my online order and shipped my hammock in.

The hammock arrived, before me, as planned ... and being the generous, caring daughter I am- I let him open it a few days before Father's Day. I did not, however know, that meant I would have to go out in sweltering temperatures and hold the ladder my poor daddy was perched on, whilst fighting off mosquitos and frantically looking around for snakes. But (sigh) I did ... we hung this hammock the old fashioned way- with tree hooks and when it went up, it was A-MAZING.

He tried it out and within minutes was consorting with my mother and this is where I found out about my disturbing inherited quality: as you can see the apple does not fall far from the tree.

Yes, that IS an electric fan hooked up and FULLY OPERATIONAL, outside, pointed at the hammock. You can't see in this rather peaceful picture, but the fan is plugged up to one of those endless, heavy, orange extension cords that leads to the guest house. The entire thing is rather brilliant and puts my pool idea to shame. The other thing is, really, it was a co-project. The parental units actually tag teamed this - they thought of it in conjunction - it was a team effort. They aren't even blood related (obviously) and you can see that brain power is SCARY and after 30 something years, it clearly rubs off on those around you. They have come up with the essence, if you will .. of Father's Day.

Kah