Happy Father's Day

Just stopping by to wish a Happy Father's Day to all the hard working, steady, responsible gents out there. Here's to the guy who stands head and shoulders above the rest, charismatically and confidently supporting his offspring through all the pitfalls and chaos in life, while highlighting for his brood all that is good, and proper, and manly.

As for the rest of us who have been that minivan driving, stroller pushing, barely sentient butt wiping schlub, this is our day too.

I need to take a moment, if I may, to honor my Dad for all that he has done for me, and how that affects the attitude I hope these ramblings express.

My father is a man who came from meager means, and yet without fail, has worked every day, without complaint, disdain, or regret, to give his family every opportunity to thrive. That spirit infects everything I have ever seen him attempt, almost to a fault. He embodies the nature of turning nothing into something. I have watched him commit himself to great feats of engineering with supplies to which a cave dweller would scoff. Commonly this path is taken to extremes, like building a tool that could be purchased in spite of it's low cost and ease of availability. But it is his example of not only making due with what you have, but thriving with it, that has shaped much of the picture of the man that I aspire to be.

His methods are at the core of more than just the projects and ideas that I intend to submit for your consideration. They inform my understanding of how life works, and how it should work. I'm not casting dispersion on the haves, and elevating the have nots. I'm offering up the concepts of of appreciating what you have, doing more with what you have worked for, and building up more than collections of pricey knick-knacks. It's all about refining yourself, building upon what you can be, and utilizing what you have learned to better those who rely on you most.

Lofty goals to say the least, but many of us were lucky enough to have had a mentor there during those critically impressionable years that set the bar high enough to make the most extreme goals seem achievable. Today lets thank those men, our fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, or whoever was there for you, for showing us what is possible, investing in our potential, and giving us the confidence to aspire to be more.