I have tried all day to ignore the fact that
it’s Father’s Day. I lost my dad to cancer in 1996, but we never did anything
big on Father’s Day. It underscores how much I miss him, anyway.
My father and I had a sometimes contentious
relationship, but we loved each other very much. I think we had a
hard time getting along sometimes because we are so much alike. I get along
better with Mother because her personality is so different.
I got up early this morning – well, early
for me, 7:30 – and fixed a cup of tea and went outside and fertilized and
watered everything. I came in and
showered before breakfast. It’s so hot [88] that in order for yard work to not
be miserable, one has to start early, before full sun hits.
We decided to “Go to ride” this afternoon. I drove down to Social Circle, Georgia, about 45 minutes away, but we couldn’t
eat at the famed Blue Willow Inn – too many people there. We can try again
sometime. It’s a famous restaurant because it’s in an antebellum home and they
serve a feast of southern cooking. I’ve never been but I’ve always wanted to go
- http://www.bluewillowinn.com/ is
the website. I also want to go through some of the historic old homes in
Madison, Georgia. It has a lot of old homes spared by Sherman because his
girlfriend lived in Madison – at least I think that’s the legend. http://www.madisonga.org/
We ended up eating at a fairly new Ruby
Tuesdays in Loganville, which was fine. Some things were good, some not. I
talked Michael into trying a Bison burger, by telling him [truthfully] that
Uncle Bruce always orders the weirdest thing on any menu. Mike genuinely liked
the burger though – bison is delicious. I’ve had it. Ted Turner owns several
bison restaurants around here.
I wanted to keep the kids out of the pool,
for one day in the week, so we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie, The
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I was disappointed. I love Indiana Jones and
recently purchased the first 3 movies in a set. However, this one seemed to
spell the end of the franchise. Harrison Ford has always been sexy but c’mon –
he’s an old man. As in, the bullet dodging was ridiculous. This one really
strained credibility. Shia Laboeuf was too intense, totally unbelievable. The
plot was rather complex, too. I kept wanting to stop the film and make notes –
not a good sign. Like Pirates of the Caribbean At World’s End, the filmmakers seemed
to think the more complex, the better, and that’s not true. Making a complex
story feel simple and linear is the real feat. It wasn’t boring, but the new
Indiana Jones movie is the last one I’ll see.
For dinner, we tried a new place just opened
up nearby, Five Guys Burgers and Fries. The burgers were excellent. http://www.fiveguys.com/menu.html.
I just wish we had eaten there instead of taking everything home. I have sort of a thing about my food being hot
and fresh.
When I turned off the movie and said we was going to bed tonight,
Alesia said sarcastically “Sure you are. Uh huh…” like I was some recalcitrant
3 year old. She and Michael hate the fact I say I’m going to bed, then I write.
Every day. So I gave them a little lecture on how I‘ve given up all
extracurricular time in my life to devote all my non-working hours to them. I
explained that I NEED about 30 minutes before bed, so I can function the next
day as a sane person.
Alesia said “You don’t have to do that!”
“No, you don’t get it. I WANT to spend all
my non-working hours with y’all. You are my life.”
Left unspoken was my regret that I couldn’t
spend time with them when they were younger. Maybe one day they’ll really know
how it feels, to hate being separated from your kids.
