Happy Father's Day, Dad

I haven't told my Dad that we have given up cable for the summer or that I'm now writing a blog. Not because he wouldn't understand the choice, but because I'm unsure of how I would respond to the questions he would have. "How are you going to follow the Sox?" or "What the heck is a blog?" he would ask... 


The good news is I have a great answer to following the Sox and as I type I have the iPad streaming the NESN feed of Remy & Orsillo as they call our boys fielding in the 6th; already up on the Brewers 9-2.  I mean, that's pretty cool. Even though we live 851 miles from the town I grew up in I can still listen to the same broadcast of our games that my dad does. 


The second question is a bit trickier, and as I would try to explain it I think I would realize that it sounds pretty silly, even to me; someone who's grown up during the rise of the internet, cable TV, blogs, Facebook, and so on. Prior to all of this technology we had an antenna on the roof that would get us 3.5 channels and a huge back yard... you can guess what we did to entertain ourselves as kids. And that's just it, we could, and would, entertain ourselves. Rain or shine, hot or cold we would let our imaginations run wild all over the yard or the neighborhood; we weren't allowed to be reliant on the TV.


And even though they now have DirecTV my parents still are not the type of people to be lured into an afternoon of channel surfing or movie watching. Case in point, I called my dad earlier to wish him a Happy Father's Day and after some chit-chat I asked him what he was up to today. He told me about their early breakfast and then a 100 mile motorcycle ride through southern VT. As luck would have it, I happened to catch him in the house during lunch and then his plan for the afternoon was to finish mowing the lawn and work on clearing more brush beyond the stone wall out back. So much for "a day off" I joked, but that's just it, dads of his generation don't really take days off. They don't really use email, they don't text message, and they probably wouldn't write just for fun; let alone publish that on the internet for everyone to read. 


So it makes me wonder if all of this technology has made us better off as a society or not. Of course, it's very easy to argue for advancements like the internet, caller ID, and Tivo but at what point does all of this start to degrade our values, our focus, and our friendships. At the verge of tumbling down that rabbit hole I digress, but it does make you think twice.


I'll conclude today by wishing all of the fathers, grandfathers, and expecting fathers a Happy Father's Day. May you each enjoy a day of doing whatever it is that makes you happy; whether that be a motorcycle ride or watching a movie. 

And to my dad, I want to thank you for raising 3 wonderful children the right way; your way. We gave you some grief along the way, but looking back its easy to see that everything you did was for us. So that we could have opportunities to grow and better ourselves. So that we could get our college educations, spread out across the country, and live fulling and enjoyable lives. We couldn't have done any of it without you and mom and for that we owe you everything. I hope your beer is cold and the cigar is a good one tonight; you've earned them both.