Sunday June 15, 2014

Father's Day: today I talked with all three kids. They called to wish me a happy Father's Day. I appreciate it. I often think of my Father. Most of the time it is about small things we did together. Lately I have been thinking of my evening trips with my Dad when he had to attend a Road Commission meeting. In the 40s and 50s Road Commissions usually had evening meetings, especially in rural areas. One of my Dad's clients was Iosco County. The Road Commission office was about 80 miles south of Alpena. In the summer when I did not have school Dad would ask me to ride along. We would get in his big Pontiac and head south on US 23. Dad would drive about 80 mph. On hot summer evenings we would have the windows open (pre AC) and the radio on full blast listening to a Tigers game. We would talk usually about the game. The Road Commission office was outside of Tawas City. The office was located in a loft above the garage. I could smell the fumes from the trucks parked on the garage floor. The Office usually had a bug strip hanging from the ceiling. The Chairman got to hold the fly swatter. Dad was usually last on the agenda so I had to sit in the waiting room listening to the boring meeting. Dad was a good sales man and I think the Commissioner's respected his opinion. Dad would wear a suit and tie. Several Commissioners were farmers and wore bib overalls. He usually ended up with a contract for a road or bridge design. After the meeting we would stop in Tawas City and get a hot fudge sundae. We got home about 2300. Today we got up at 0700. Nancy went swimming and I did my calisthenics at MVP. We did the usual shopping at Meijer's. Gas today was $3.96. Nancy fixed her world famous scrambled eggs for breakfast. We also had waffles. I did take an afternoon nap. I finished the afternoon with a nice four mile walk. The great weather continues. We had BLT's, potato salad and corn on the cob for dinner. For dessert Nancy had sherbet and I finished the rhubarb sauce. We watched some world cup and then finished the evening watching Midsomer Murders on Netflix.