Father's Day, for me, is March 29th, 1989 the day my oldest was born, the day I became a father. That, in no way, diminishes my other two children in any way. They just happened to be born after I was already a father, which is probably why we have a specific day set aside for Father's, which is celebrated today.
The back photo is of my wife and me, 25 years ago next month on our wedding day. The front photo is of my three children, probably one of my top five favorite photos of the three of them together. They were 11, 8 and 4 years old in this shot.
This was taken in July 2000, the last time we camped in Yosemite. By the expressions on their faces, you can tell it was after the hike was over and not before. My daughter is pointing to where we hiked, the top of Vernal Fall. It was a 3 mile round trip hike with 1000 feet of elevation gain. It's a tough hike along the Mist Trail.
The Mist Trail is called that, because it gets misted with spray from the waterfall all day. There's a hand rail to help guide you because it's also very slippery. Stair steps have been carved or created into the rock face as you climb up to the top of the fall.
Of course, just as we got to the top of the falls, my youngest decided that it was at that time he had to break free of my grasp on his hand and run toward the fall. Fortunately, the guardrails are heavily reinforced mesh to prevent such nightmares from happening, but it was one of the scariest moments I've had as a dad.
I have another shot of the three of them at the top, with the water flowing over the fall right behind them. You're literally that close to the brink when you get up there, a spectacular view.
We spent a full week in Yosemite that year, hiking, taking photos, and sightseeing. It was a wonderful trip and hopefully a memorable one for them, although I would suspect that my youngest, who is 16 now doesn't remember quite as much as the older two do. I do remember him saying at the time when we were looking at Half Dome that he wanted to climb it when he was older. Hmmmmm.
Every summer, we end up going somewhere in the west for about a week to camp. We enjoy the scenic beauty our country has to offer, plus spend some time recharging batteries. Geocaching comes into play as well as it's one more thing the two of us (my youngest and I) enjoy doing together.
Last year, due to major scheduling conflicts we weren't able to go camping, so it's been two years and we are really itching to go. The plan is to leave next Monday for Zion National Park in southwestern Utah. We plan to spend four nights there, then head over to Bryce Canyon National Park where we'll spend the next three nights before coming home on Monday the 25th.
If everything goes well, we should also be able to have a day trip down to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Capital Reef National Park is also a possible day trip once we get over to Bryce Canyon. Of these, we've been to all of them before with the exception of Zion. Actually, I've been to Zion a couple of times, but my youngest hasn't been there yet. We're both looking forward to that.
The photo is more of a whimsical type of photo that I stitched together using PhotoShop Elements 9. It just shows that I can enjoy my summer getting ready to go camping while also working hard. It probably will look better if you view the real deal as opposed to the small package seen here.
I can remember when I was younger. Summer officially started in middle of June and ended in the middle of September. Now, it's generally recognized as beginning Memorial Day weekend and ending Labor Day weekend. My own school district ended our year last Friday on June 1st. We go back sometime the first week in August, a month before Labor Day, but I'm not going to think about that right now.
Apologies for not writing in a couple of weeks. The last couple of weeks of school are always tough and busy and that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it. My wife also had surgery on her thumb to correct a trigger finger where the nerve gets inflamed and adheres to the side of the nerve sheath. It rendered her thumb immobile, but the surgery was a success and she now has movement in her thumb again. She's supposed to be getting her dressings off tomorrow so then we'll get to see what the surgeon did as far as cuts into her hand.
Go Kings! I hope tonight the Los Angeles Kings can close it out against the New Jersey Devils. Hockey is probably the most exciting sport to watch with end to end action. It's very similar to soccer on ice, but it's so much faster with action going on anytime the clock is moving. The first time I went to a Kings game was when they still wore the purple and gold at the old Inglewood Forum, so no one can accuse me of being a bandwagon fan. But I think tonight's the night when the Kings will hoist Lord Stanely's trophy.
Lastly, but certainly not least, my daughter started a blog entitled Various Vanities. She only has one post at the moment, but I'm sure she'll expand on it.
