Fathers day and ribfest

Father's Day has come and gone once more. I actually had a pretty good one this year.

For starters, we kept the grandkids Saturday night and enjoyed the first evening under our new backyard lights. By the time I dragged my bones out of bed Sunday around 9:30 their mother was already there to pick them up. Then Jane made me a grand breakfast.

I was surprised with some swell gifts this year too. Jane got me the pictured Bose Soundlink Bluetooth Speaker. For something so small it works really well and will be put to good use! She also got me a box of chocolates.

The Feipel clan gave me a box full of nuts, sausage, cheese, and crackers. I could take gifts like this for just about any occasion! These are some of my favorite things. Plus we then hung out together at Ribfest in the afternoon.

Isaac and Ricci got me Jason Ringenberg's newest CD 'Rhinestoned.' Jason stuck a note in with it that we've been friends and supporters of his music for 45 years now! There's a little ditty here about how he put the album together. It's a little country for my tastes, but he's an amazing person. Isaac also called Sunday evening.

RIBFEST

The annual blues, brews, and bbq celebration is perhaps one of the few traditions we have. At least it had been. I wasn't even concerned about going this year. The past few have just not been that good. They seemed to struggle to find legitimate bands, and the sound quality had been SOOOOOOO BAD. Perhaps having to take last year off was good for them, because it seemed better this year. The band lineup was still kind of iffy, but the sound was so much better this year!

Just the two of us went for a bit Friday night, then we returned Sunday and stayed later than we planned to. It was nice to see live outdoor music again, run into some friends, and we appreciated all the bands we saw.

A FIRST

I suppose it's worth noting this was the first Father's Day without my dad. We never had a very good relationship, which was mostly because I was never a very good son. I always hated that he was the high school principal; I probably resented him for it even. Yet it occurred to me this weekend that I didn't necessarily dislike my dad. I think I wanted to like him, and respect him... But when so many of my friends and others I knew seemingly DIDN'T like him, I I felt like I couldn't like him or I would risk them not liking me. It sounds pretty silly now, but I'm sure it's one of the reasons I'm as messed up as I am. Plus, our family has just never done relationships and emotions and stuff like that very well.

Anyway, there ya have it. June is almost over, the summer if flying by, and it will be snowing before you know it.

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"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord." - Jeremiah 17:7