Category Archives: Dad

Happy Fathers Day Dad – 2014

This is my Dad. He used to be pretty skinny, not so much any more. Same thing with me. It might be a genetic disorder. I think this is high school graduation photograph. I just love that tie.

This is Dad with brother Bob and me on Dad’s knee. I just love that hat of mine. I wonder what ever happened to it? I’ll have to hide it from Heather if I find it. She has a way of throwing away my most treasured hats. I don’t know why.

I am not sure where this is. I’m sure we were visiting relatives somewhere. How come everybody Dad is color coordinated. The little girl is my sister Ellen. Dad looks like a KGB spy here. Mom is no longer with us. I really miss her. She and Dad made a great time.

Dad wasn’t really a KGB agent, he was a Forest Ranger. Why a forest ranger is baby sitting cows is something I can’t figure out.

As far as me and my brother were concerned nobody ranked any higher than Dad. We had the run of whatever Ranger Station we were at, and we considered ourselves deputies. One time at Payson, Arizona we came across a National Guard officer of some sort who was waiting to talk with Dad about a big fire that his outfit was going to fight. He was kind of joshing Bob and I along, we must have been about 7 and 5 years old at the time. We told him that he better wait and check with Dad on that before he did anything. He thought that was pretty funny. Yeah, well, we were serious.

Here is another shot of Dad the Forest Ranger and brother Bob and I. I am wondering whatever happened to my Smokey Bear. I am not sure why brother Bob is looking the other way. Probably he is looking that way because he was told to look the other way. Brother Bob can be bad about stuff like that. Me too sometimes.

Here is a more recent photo of Dad. He is a great guy to sit and talk.

Happy Fathers Day Dad, I love you.

One Reason That I Think My Dad Can Do Anything

When Logan and I walked the dogs last weekend we came upon this truck parked in the lot of a gasoline wholesaler’s office just off the greenbelt. I am pretty sure that they don’t use it any more. It is up on blocks and all that. I love it. Old gas trucks like this always bring back a memory from my childhood.

Back in the 60’s we were on a family vacation and we were in Nevada. I forget just how, but Dad discovered that we had a gasoline tank leak. He found out while we were in the middle of nowhere and Nevada has lots of nowhere spots. In fact there is more nowhere than somewhere. So, to keep from getting stranded Dad stepped on the gas. Back then Nevada didn’t have posted speed limits. I don’t remember how fast we were going but it was fast.

We got to whatever little town was next and Dad swung into action. We went to a motel and got checked in and then he went to a gas station. I tagged along with him. Remember gas stations back then. They could actually work on your car way back when. They put the car up on the lift and removed the gas tank and found where the leak was. If I remember right it was in one of the welded seams. I can’t swear to it.

(Geocaching last summer with my Dad and Sister. The shadow is world’s greatest BIL and photographer, Irv.)

The owner of the station couldn’t repair the weld but knew somebody who could. The owner had a gas truck much like the one pictured and he just gave Dad the keys to it. We loaded up the gas tank in a small box at the back of the truck and Dad drove it to the welder’s shop. The fixed it up pretty quickly and then we took it back to the gas station and they put it back on the car. Can you imagine such a thing these days?

Dad at Geronimo’s gravesite, Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Yes, he is smiling. He and I have the same smile. You should see his frown.

Anyway, that is just one reason that I think my Dad can do anything.

Do you know somebody who can do anything? Who?

Signs, Signs, – Fire Danger

Anyone who drives through our National Forests will see signs similar to the above reminding us to be careful. These signs have been around a long time. This photograph was taken by my father in the early 1960’s and I scanned it from a slide that he had made. The sign was just outside Payson, Arizona on the Tonto National Forest. Dad was the Tonto District Ranger for the United States Forest Service at the time.

Signs, Signs

Wednesday Flashback – Santa Fe early 1960’s

I’ve been a bad blogger lately and I’m sorry. I’ve been traveling. I used to prepare posts in advance for that but I don’t generally any longer. I like the interchange and conversations with other bloggers and it is hard to do when I am on the road or visiting somebody. Plus it is nice to get away a little bit and refresh and get more ideas and photographs and stuff.

The family went up to Idaho for a family reunion and to visit my Dad and we had a great time and I’ll be posting about the trip in the coming days.

I took my fancy schamancy all purpose scanner with me and scanned several hundred of Dad’s slides from the 1950’s and 60’s while I was there. The above photo is one of them. The little girl is my sister Ellen (Check out her blog News from the “Pole” Yard), then me to the left, and brother Bob to the right. It is on the square in Santa Fe and I’m guessing that it is 1962 or 1963. Santa Fe back then was a tourist town sure but real people lived there back then and they did their shopping downtown in amongst the tourist shops.

Note the 29 cent hamburgers, and the guys walking down the street with their cowboy hats on. Also note the rolled up cuffs on the jeans Bob and I are wearing. Anyway, there has not been a dime store on the square in Santa Fe for decades and I’m sure that it is some sort of expensive art gallery now. Hamburgers are probably a bit more than 29 cents also.