It's Father's Day Again!

What I've Learned So Far...

It's Father's Day Again!

When my son was in about second grade, he made me a bookmark that features a sort of ransom note version of the words "Happy Fathers Day." The paper is bright orange (his favorite color at the time), and his teacher laminated the finished product in clear plastic to protect it from the beer and coffee stains we fathers can be counted on to get all over our things.

My son, who is now twenty-nine years old and has been out of second grade for a while, might be suprised to learn that I still have that bookmark - although, at the moment it is stuck in one of the stack of books I'm working my way through, and I haven't seen it in a couple of weeks.

There are a few things I have been called in my life that I really enjoy. "Honey" is fun when you get it from a super friendly (and usually equally voluminous) waitress in a Waffle House, and even better from the woman you've been married to for nearly 35 years. "Mate" is nice when spoken by either my friend from Australia or my friend from Cornwall, England. "Coach" is great to be called by a bunch of sincere and smelly little hockey players flopping around an ice rink at 6:30 in the morning.

But the best thing I've ever been called is, "Father." Likewise, "Dad," "Pop," "Daddy," "Papa," and even, under the right circumstances, "Old Man."

Read On...

Treat yourself to your own personal copy of What I've Learned So Far... Part I: Bikes, Docks & Slush Nuggets and get a 15% Online discount! Just enter the code: Y8NYMDN4 when you order your copy.

If you enjoy What I've Learned So Far... and would like to see it in your local paper, just send the editor an impassioned plea and this link to my Web site.

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- mike


Mike Ball

Author of What I've Learned So Far...
Winner of the 2003 Erma Bombeck Award

Web: whativelearnedsofar.com
E-mail: mike@whativelearnedsofar.com

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A Tale of a Tomless Dock

What I've Learned So Far...

A Tale of a Tomless Dock

One of the things that happens here on the lake every time winter goes into remission and we catch a dose of springtime is that we have to cobble together some sort of a dock. Having a dock gives us a way to walk out to the boat all summer without getting our flip-flops wet.

For the past fifteen years my main dock-slinging sidekick has been my friend Tom. Over this past winter Tom decided to desert the Ann Arbor area and move to Arizona, since it offers better weather, more employment opportunities, and the right to carry a handgun without a permit - or any conceivable reason. And the only down side is that, since he's from England, he will have to have his papers in his pocket at all times, or he could wind up enjoying the weather in Tijuana.

So Tom's departure left building the dock pretty much up to my son Pat and I. We chose a weekend not long after the thaw, our theory being that as we worked our way through the project the lake would be cold enough that we could use it to ice down our beer - along with any contusions, abrasions, burns, or minor fractures that might crop up.

Read On...

Treat yourself to your own personal copy of What I've Learned So Far... Part I: Bikes, Docks & Slush Nuggets and get a 15% Online discount! Just enter the code: Y8NYMDN4 when you order your copy.

If you enjoy What I've Learned So Far... and would like to see it in your local paper, just send the editor an impassioned plea and this link to my Web site.

Also, chase all your friends on over to my Web site to Subscribe (it's FREE!), so they can enjoy it too! They'll thank you, and so will I.

- mike


Mike Ball

Author of What I've Learned So Far...
Winner of the 2003 Erma Bombeck Award

Web: whativelearnedsofar.com
E-mail: mike@whativelearnedsofar.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

http://www.jmball.com/dlist/mail.cgi/u/wilsf/

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