Happy Father's Day... Part Two

I have more possible options for writing a composition at 11:53 pm than one could possibly imagine. I could start with a poem about watching my friend walk into the distance on Kentucky Street, or a reflection on what an amazing day of music I experienced (both good and bad) at Cotati's celebration of New Orleans, or a deeply political analysis of the really great conversation I had tonight with the proprietor of Finbar Devine's, an "Irish" pub at the heart of Petaluma (but that is a discussion fated for George Washington's Cousin)... but as I was arriving at my house, I chose to look up at the amazing clear sky above my head and that made my choice very clear. I could pick out the big and little dipper and Casiopea. Beyond that, my brain, powers of observation and clarity of vision were stretched beyond any viable observation and analysis.

What I was struck by however... almost immediately... was that there was only one reason I could identify anything at all in the heavens above my head, and only one reason why identifying those celestial objects mattered... My Dad.

My dad not only gave me life, basic training in the way the world works, and a desire to think and do things that matter... he gave me a love for and an ability to identify (in some reasonably basic manner) my place in the universe.

It is the rare evening that I do not look up at the sky and identify some planet, star, or constellation (usually the foggy west coast air patterns are to blame when I miss it)that my father pointed out to me with his finger, a set of binoculars or a carefully targeted telescope. The fact is that my father gave me the universe and THAT has made all the difference in my terestrial life.

Thanks Dad... Happy Father's Day.