Sublimity Captured

Waking Up to Too Many Gifts & Buddy (Of Course)

The clan gathered yesterday to make me feel entirely too special on Father’s Day.  My son and wife refused to allow me to do any manual labor yesterday which led to an interesting breakfast tutorial for my wife.  While I have become a master of scrambled eggs with cheese, this was her first effort.  She got an “A” simply based on determination if not taste.  They then showered me with undeserved gifts and my daughter called to reveal a secret stash of even more gifts she'd left behind for me.  It was a truly humbling experience.

The Wife in the Middle of Her Blooming

By early afternoon the MEF and her parents joined us for an afternoon spent outside on a glorious New England spring day.  There was nary a cloud in the sky, comfortable temps, and my wife’s flower gardens in full bloom.  The only thing missing was my daughter and my wing man.  She was staying in New York since her best friend is on short final approach for delivery of baby #1 while wing man is tickling the ivories in a Minneapolis recording studio.

And More

They were sorely missed but that didn’t distract from the day which saw the simple pleasure of hanging around people you treasure.  When they asked me what I wanted to do for Father’s Day I said – backyard BBQ and hangs.  We’ve established a tradition where we alternate years with the MEF parents and this was our year for Father’s Day in Charlton. 

The MEF Showed Up!

My wife had acquired several huge, bone-in sirloin steaks that we successfully quarantined from Buddy (not without effort).  My son applied his demonstrated grilling acumen while the rest of us lounged on the back deck.  The prohibition against any physical labor was briefly lifted when the grill caught on fire (again) and I had to douse the conflagration (got to get around to cleaning the damned thing out). 

With Her Parents!

Two Fathers Felt Blessed Yesterday

The steaks were divine and were followed by several games of bocce ball on the back lawn.  The MEF’s mom demonstrated skills she attributed to some wing man coaching.  Buddy provided a loose security blanket to insure the game was not interrupted by a squirrel intrusion.  It was simple day and it’s hard to capture in words how special it was.  I felt loved and honored these incredible people chose to spend it with me.  As with all days of this ilk it ended way too soon as the disparate parties headed for their home bases.

Son, MEF, and MEF's Father on the Bocce Court

I was geared up for the season finale of Game of Thrones which was good even without the anticipated appearance of Lady Stoneheart.  They used the episode to kill off old Tywin which was satisfying, get Arya on her way to Bravos and plant Brandon under his tree but c’mon, ending the season with the death stare of the Lady would have been perfect (it must have conflicted with her time on 24).  My daughter called late at night after the show and we commiserated on our shared disappointment in the Lady’s failure to appear.  This season still rocked. 

The Lady M.I.A.