Father's Day Memory Box
To earn a living, Dad was self-employed painting houses, restaurants and even some schools for awhile. I remember that many times we had to help him carry his long ladders to a job and all the while, I felt I’d die of embarrassment should anyone I know see me. Dad has always been a walker…a very quick-stepping walker…and as a young person, you really had to “go all out” to keep up with him. Dad didn’t drive or own a car, so it was the bus or your feet…with feet winning out as the method of transport most often.
As a young girl, I thought my father to be strict because he was the discipliner and after all, as he was always saying he went to “the school of hard knocks”. If we misbehaved for our mother while he was at work, we’d “get it” when he got home…this being straight in line with the TV show of the time, “Wait ‘Til Your Father Gets Home!” But as much as I thought dad was strict, he was also a jokester with a big heart. As kids, he’d often have us pull his “Peter Pointer” finger as he playfully kicked our feet out from under us; a sort of “rough housing”. He was also famous for his “whisker rubs” which sometimes resulted in unintended tears because it hurt. As a legion member, he’s spent many of his days visiting veterans in the hospital and delivering flowers to them.
Being a “wanna-be-showman” who loves “live theatre”, I’m positive it was dad’s decision to put all of us into some kind of dance or musical lesson which I’m sure was no easy task financially. I look back fondly and feel so lucky when I think of the times he took me to such performances as The Nutcracker Ballet, Sleeping Beauty and The King & I. Years later, in his own silly way, he’s lived out this dream by entertaining the elderly in nursing homes. Many times, he’s been the clown at his grandchildren’s birthday parties.
My father’s never walked along easy street in life but he’s always done his best with what he knows and with what he has; he’s always been a very simple man and I love him.
Today's Father
Today’s dad is more involved in child-rearing. Whether it is a guilt-trip forced upon him by current thought or simply because we are encouraged to become more in touch as parents--who is to know? Most males of any species are not nurturers by instinct and only as human society has become more self-focused have children been recognized as worship-worthy creatures.
Of course, this is a far cry from previous generation’s memories. Often people had children as workers or helpmates, they were cheap labor or born to guarantee linage survival. In some instances they were regarded as little packets of energy to be exploited or turned towards adult responsibilities all too soon. Sadly, in some countries today these attitudes still prevail for familial existence, although, historically we are not all that far ahead of them.
Many of our own fathers or grandfathers remember working or supporting the family at 12 years of age, some even younger. There were no help-lines available, nor did any question parental authority or corporal punishment. They remember “getting it” at school and later again, when their fathers got home—they had a different form of “hands-on” parenting. These were the guides of our fathers--the harsh rules and realities that later affected our own upbringing. Our dads became obligatory “bread-winners”, disciplinarians or in some instances “absent” out of their own past experiences.
From our side of the coin, we consider ourselves lucky to recall “quality time” from yester-year--an isolated memory or two when everyone let down the barricades of hardhearted culture and enjoyed a care-free family occasion. The past leaves us doting on an embellished instance of a day at the park, having an ice-cream cone at a long-gone hometown dairy, or an occasional ride to the A & W drive-in during summertime. We may have longed or craved more of these events, but coming out of times when “children were to be seen and not heard” it was something our child-minds could not conceive of asking for, nor dare to put our own fingers upon. Those modest treats which have become memory treasures are laughable by lifestyles of today.
Undeniably, each generation changes with some rule of thought for the times--once, Dr. Spock was revolutionary. He was ‘the’ household word. Who before him had dared suggesting to the masses that parenting required a manual? We have been ‘self-improving’ aspects of our lives ever since, but with all this extra dedicated personal improvement and parental time, it hasn’t necessarily made family life happier.
Today’s generation suffers through its own version of discontent. Our children know more but aren’t becoming better human beings. Emotional stresses plague them and peer pressures are feared more than consequences from “fathers”. Rather odd isn’t it? Reflect upon this before envying a father fussing over his newborn. Today’s dad is a different breed, taking an active role in birthing rooms, involved in coaching little league, volunteering for school field days and in some cases being the “at-home” parent. He also has the technological and information edge over yesterdays dad. But, before you give way to nostalgic regret, remember we were sufferers of the times, as our own parents were and as the current generation will someday find themselves.
How can we reconcile the past? I guess we embrace it as one would a favored pillow complete with flaws of thinking and action. That is more helpful than dwelling on what was lacking or what we couldn’t have. After all we have one lifetime to live--today is the gift, tomorrow the prize and yesterday our teacher—the father of future generations.
SUMMER (H)EATS
Does your appetite decline during summer weather?
If you answered that question with a yes--here’s why. Whenever you’re traveling, exercising or working outdoors in the heat, your body temperature increases suppressing your appetite. If this occurs, you become dehydrated and then nausea sets in.
Sweating makes you lose electrolytes too, so to prevent this dehydration, drink clear fluids or eat something sweet and mouth-watering. Choose a fruit that mainly consists of water like watermelon, or cantaloupe which is also full of potassium and vitamins C and A. Other melons and fruits will cool your body temperature as well and then your appetite will return.
Remember whether exercising, working outdoors or simply enjoying some recreation, to replenish your lost body fluids. Summertime is a great season to eat well too--take advantage of the great variety of fresh fruits and vegetables available at market. Keep them washed, chopped--ready and waiting at your fingertips. Enjoy a safe, healthy summer!
Blooming Art
Daisies are an old-fashioned perennial garden favorite. They bless us with cheerful outlooks and there are plenty of varieties to wake up our flower beds. With proper planning we can keep a variety of daisies blossoming through the spring, summer and autumn seasons. Recently though, the South African daisy, commonly known as Gerbera, has been stealing gardener’s affections and commanding it’s blooming share of glory.
Gerbera Daisies are sassy tender perennials--these will not likely survive frost so consider them as part of your annual plantings so you won’t be disappointed. They are available in a riot of jazzy colour combinations including yellow, crimson, red, orange, cream, pink, and even violet. Single and double forms are available, and the flowers range in size up to 4 inch diameters on 12 to 18 inch stems. If you try to propagate Gerberas from seed, it may take 6 months to get your first blooms—there is no need to wait though as most nurseries now carry a wide variety of them.
Try combining these flowers with a backdrop of pretty herbs like lavender or rosemary while softening the foreground with Alyssum, Cuphea or Pentas. Grow them in full-sun and keep the crown above soil level to promote flowering. Fertilize gerberas regularly, deadhead by cutting them off near the crown, and water thoroughly. Gerber daisies like well-drained soil.
Give these friendly-faced flowers a try, you surely won’t be disappointed!
