Father Son Time

            On New Year’s Eve this year, as Georgia and I were dragging some wood to the fire in the fire ring she told me “Mom, I really enjoy our Father Son Time.”  We had a good laugh as she pointed out how many things we do that fit into that Father Son Time category, and then I cranked up the chainsaw to cut up some more of the cedar trimmings so that they would fit well in the fire ring. 

            I got a good laugh out of it and posted some pictures from my super-duper cell phone to Facebook.  I had these great plans of writing a blog all about our Father Son Time that night.  Like most men, I didn’t get around to it.  Wait, I’m not a man.  Never have been, and although our everyday life may at times seem like stuff guys scramble to pull off for their Father Son Time, THAT’S NOT WHAT IT IS!!!!  IT’S OUR REGULAR STUFF.

            A full month passes as life goes on.  We’ve done some more clearing out here, Barbara Ann and I cleared out the beginnings of a trail.  The other day we brought home a build it yourself storage bench, you know, the kind Moms the world over love getting for Mother’s Day, and put it together.  It’s what we do; build things, clear things with the chain saw, cut up oak wood to smoke a brisket for a friend’s birthday at his girlfriend’s request.  Drink some wine (so not a guy thing) while smoking the brisket all through the night.  You know normal everyday stuff.

            So tonight as we’re driving home in the big four door F-250, Barbara asks me what we were supposed to remember to do together.  Of course, as children do, she was asking me a question she already knew the answer to.  Barbara Ann was excited and anxious to see my BB Gun so that we could go shoot together.  I took my BB Pistol (it’s a pistol and not a gun but I didn’t go into that with her) and she grabbed her shiny new pink air rifle that her Dad’s Santa had gotten her for Christmas and we went out to what wants to be the creek so we could shoot with the bluff for a backdrop.  Safety comes first of course.

            After shooting at a bucket in the creek, some reflections in the water, an old Coke can, and some leaves we headed back to the house discussing the best way to clear and mark a good path to the dry creek in our back yard.  Before we got into the house I fired up the grill so it could get pre-heated before I threw the steak for dinner on it and headed inside to get the rest of supper rolling.  Again, I was thinking of Georgia’s comment about how much she enjoys our Father Son time together. 

            Barbara, Georgia, and I have shared so many of these non-traditional activities, well non-traditional for our gender.  It’s a bit ironic that we do more of these “Father Son” activities on a daily basis as a matter of our lifestyle than many Father’s ever do with their Sons.  We are blessed to live in a world and in a time when it is acceptable for a woman to be independent enough to teach her daughters to be self-sufficient in much the same way men would do with their sons.  God Bless America and God Bless our way of life and our freedom to live the way we want to.