Thanks Dad
Flashback to the early 80's with me if you will. To one of the many 'Griswald-like' vacations my family took. Imagine four boys a dog, and way too much luggage all crammed into one of those awesome old station wagons with the sweet wood paneling on the side.
Every summer we'd set sail for some tourist trap of my dad's choosing. Disneyworld in Orlando. The Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. And the epic of all epic adventures, our trek to Gettysburg and Hershey in Pennsylvania, then up to the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, then ending the excursion in Niagra Falls in Canada.
The planned destinations were by no means the highlight of these trips though. No, the best parts, although I doubt that I realized it in the moment, were the bizarre, random attractions that my Dad loved so much. It only took one flashy billboard and we were off on a detour to see the world's oldest standing house of mud, or some place with supposedly the planet's only three headed snake. More often than not, these side trips were always disappointing. To everyone but my dad of course,his spirit of adventure(though sometimes misguided) never wained...he was perpetually in a good mood and his enthusiasm was infectious.
His love of music was infectious too, although much like with the side adventures he took us on, I don't think I appreciated this until MUCH later. I can remember dad busting out his Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, and Roy Orbison cassettes for these trips and thinking that he was punishing us by making us listen to this stuff.
Flash forward to right this second, and my Itunes has HUNDREDS of tracks by all of these artists, and more that he loved. The Everly Brothers, The Righteous Brothers...and most of all Elvis. Dad was an Elvis man til the day he died. Actually, even longer than that. At his funeral we had an album of hymns by the King playing on a constant loop. Very cool way to go.
It is actually amazing HOW much of what i listen to know is rooted in what he used to listen to. I think my pops would be pleasantly shocked to see my music collection...and to see his imprint all over it.
Here is a little mix tape inspired by him, the greatest dad a guy could have.
Happy Father's Day everyone!
And...something a little more modern...
The Streets - 'Never Went To Church' MP3
Every summer we'd set sail for some tourist trap of my dad's choosing. Disneyworld in Orlando. The Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. And the epic of all epic adventures, our trek to Gettysburg and Hershey in Pennsylvania, then up to the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, then ending the excursion in Niagra Falls in Canada.
The planned destinations were by no means the highlight of these trips though. No, the best parts, although I doubt that I realized it in the moment, were the bizarre, random attractions that my Dad loved so much. It only took one flashy billboard and we were off on a detour to see the world's oldest standing house of mud, or some place with supposedly the planet's only three headed snake. More often than not, these side trips were always disappointing. To everyone but my dad of course,his spirit of adventure(though sometimes misguided) never wained...he was perpetually in a good mood and his enthusiasm was infectious.
His love of music was infectious too, although much like with the side adventures he took us on, I don't think I appreciated this until MUCH later. I can remember dad busting out his Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, and Roy Orbison cassettes for these trips and thinking that he was punishing us by making us listen to this stuff.
Flash forward to right this second, and my Itunes has HUNDREDS of tracks by all of these artists, and more that he loved. The Everly Brothers, The Righteous Brothers...and most of all Elvis. Dad was an Elvis man til the day he died. Actually, even longer than that. At his funeral we had an album of hymns by the King playing on a constant loop. Very cool way to go.
It is actually amazing HOW much of what i listen to know is rooted in what he used to listen to. I think my pops would be pleasantly shocked to see my music collection...and to see his imprint all over it.
Here is a little mix tape inspired by him, the greatest dad a guy could have.
Happy Father's Day everyone!
And...something a little more modern...
The Streets - 'Never Went To Church' MP3
Labels:
Father's Day,
The Streets
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Touching. Makes me miss my dad.