May 24th

I know-it's Bob Dylan's birthday.
But also my Dad's and also my parent's anniversary.
They'd have been married 66 years-jeezus-if they were alive.Dad made it to 90 and Mom to 89. Both long-lived and bothhad a fairly good death, if there is such a thing.

Today I remember their wedding, (which I did not attend) and, oddly enough, thinkof my grandfather, Poppy (as he was known to me)…I imagine him smoking at the wedding and wonder about his thoughts. I wonder just what he thought of my Dad-or for that matter, his daughter…

A practical man, who could do anything, fix anything and (as I believe) always wanted to be a farmer and till the land to make his living. He was a baker among other things.  I have a terrific photo of him, braced against the side of a barn and (seemingly) racing his bicycle. He was wounded in the Great War-a sapper on the front lines in (?) Belgium or France.

I always thought my Dad could fix anything, but I now know that he could and did not. He sure as hell made a good show of it…I think only his insecurity let him down and he second-guessed himself and left certain problems untouched.

One of these problems he left untouched was his shyness. He (seemingly) never questioned it and it saddled him AND my Mom.  As a result, my parents as a couple rarely mixed with others and even family parties could present a problem.

I said to someone the other day that I'd grown up very shy. There was disbelief in their eyes.
Guess you could say I've come a long way since I used to hide behind they house when I heard a stranger approach down the street….now I have a hard time shutting up.

This is a ramble, but that's just what i meant it to be….

I'll attach my latest, which is a re-do/re-working of a sculpture-i think this one finally "works"
for me…Bill