End of an Era (of darkness)
I am still working on my Osaka summary giganta-post, and I have to get up early tomorrow to go to the immigration office in Korea, and fill out yet more paperwork in aid of completing my visa changes.
New advertising slogan : Red Tape Korea (replacing Dynamic Korea)
I have no idea how a government as bureaucratic and worshipful of red tape as South Korea's can survive on such a low tax rate. How does this country keep it together?? Mind you, I wonder the same thing about Canada, for different reasons.
My da' retired and his bash was this Friday. It was an important day for me as well as for him since a lot of the 'what' and 'why' of what I do is based on his frustration with work and the working world. Anwyay, I can't do better than to cut and paste my sister's description of the party and some appended back and forth comments between us. (hope this is Ok, sis?)
Hi half-moon bear (she really calls him that -ed) Although you weren't at the party, you were there. We displayed your photo in a prominent spot in the family room, and many a guest were asking about you. MoMo read your letter out loud, and we were all very touched. I might even say that dear old Dad was misty eyed...The party was fun, about 40 people showed up over the course of the evening. There was a keg of beer on the deck, and enough barbequed chicken legs to feed about 150 people. Because, of course, this was Dad's "Free Beer and Chicken Party" (after an old John Lee Hooker album). During the toasts and speeches, a few of Dad's old friends said some very nice words about him (!!) and told some great stories. I'll do my best to relay some of these to you
I realized that many of Dad's good old friends are his outdoor buddies. There's a neat bond that develops between people who camp, hike, paddle together. (birds of a feather risk hypothermia together -ed) One friend of his, Lance, made a wonderful toast. He scolded Dad for using old camping pots that should have been replaced long ago, but attributed it to Dad's Scottish thriftiness. In the same spirit of thrift he presented Dad with a set of pots--newer, but still well used--only if he could get the old pots in return. He also presented him with an old Peterborough beaver tail paddle, explaining that Dad has always envied his collection of paddling gear. Finally, he presented Dad with a pot containing a number of native plants that he had grown from seed. A number of other people told great Hiking Stories. It was fun.
Grampy made a lovely toast, telling a story about how, when growing up in Willowvale, Dad would come home from school for lunch and explain to Nana that he would likely skip out on the rest of the day and have a "nice little half holiday." Of course, Nana would shoo him back to school. Grampy closed the toast by wishing Dad the best as he has finally reached his true half-holiday.
Grandpa told the old "when I first met HMB sr." story. It had everyone in stitches. At the end of the evening almost everyone had gone home, but a few old friends stuck around and drank some scotch with Dad before finally calling it a night.
My reply:
The Free Beer and Chicken party is so perfect! I can remember the cover of that album in the living room of the old house. It sums up his sense of 'fun' , do you think?
HMB
ps. how did Grampy seem to you?
Her reply:
Well, in some ways Grampy is doing well, in that we weren't sure if he'd be healthy enough to come out to the party. Not only did he fly out, but hestayed up quite late that night and seemed to be having a good time. I think he must have put all of his energy into it, wanting to be a part of the fun.But overall, he's far weaker and thinner than I've ever seen him. His balance isn't so good, so he's using a cane. Nana is doing quite well, but you can tell that she's pretty worried about him.
An open message for Father Time : If I ever find out where you live I am personally going to beat your fucking head in with that cane.
New advertising slogan : Red Tape Korea (replacing Dynamic Korea)
I have no idea how a government as bureaucratic and worshipful of red tape as South Korea's can survive on such a low tax rate. How does this country keep it together?? Mind you, I wonder the same thing about Canada, for different reasons.
My da' retired and his bash was this Friday. It was an important day for me as well as for him since a lot of the 'what' and 'why' of what I do is based on his frustration with work and the working world. Anwyay, I can't do better than to cut and paste my sister's description of the party and some appended back and forth comments between us. (hope this is Ok, sis?)
Hi half-moon bear (she really calls him that -ed) Although you weren't at the party, you were there. We displayed your photo in a prominent spot in the family room, and many a guest were asking about you. MoMo read your letter out loud, and we were all very touched. I might even say that dear old Dad was misty eyed...The party was fun, about 40 people showed up over the course of the evening. There was a keg of beer on the deck, and enough barbequed chicken legs to feed about 150 people. Because, of course, this was Dad's "Free Beer and Chicken Party" (after an old John Lee Hooker album). During the toasts and speeches, a few of Dad's old friends said some very nice words about him (!!) and told some great stories. I'll do my best to relay some of these to you
I realized that many of Dad's good old friends are his outdoor buddies. There's a neat bond that develops between people who camp, hike, paddle together. (birds of a feather risk hypothermia together -ed) One friend of his, Lance, made a wonderful toast. He scolded Dad for using old camping pots that should have been replaced long ago, but attributed it to Dad's Scottish thriftiness. In the same spirit of thrift he presented Dad with a set of pots--newer, but still well used--only if he could get the old pots in return. He also presented him with an old Peterborough beaver tail paddle, explaining that Dad has always envied his collection of paddling gear. Finally, he presented Dad with a pot containing a number of native plants that he had grown from seed. A number of other people told great Hiking Stories. It was fun.
Grampy made a lovely toast, telling a story about how, when growing up in Willowvale, Dad would come home from school for lunch and explain to Nana that he would likely skip out on the rest of the day and have a "nice little half holiday." Of course, Nana would shoo him back to school. Grampy closed the toast by wishing Dad the best as he has finally reached his true half-holiday.
Grandpa told the old "when I first met HMB sr." story. It had everyone in stitches. At the end of the evening almost everyone had gone home, but a few old friends stuck around and drank some scotch with Dad before finally calling it a night.
My reply:
The Free Beer and Chicken party is so perfect! I can remember the cover of that album in the living room of the old house. It sums up his sense of 'fun' , do you think?
HMB
ps. how did Grampy seem to you?
Her reply:
Well, in some ways Grampy is doing well, in that we weren't sure if he'd be healthy enough to come out to the party. Not only did he fly out, but hestayed up quite late that night and seemed to be having a good time. I think he must have put all of his energy into it, wanting to be a part of the fun.But overall, he's far weaker and thinner than I've ever seen him. His balance isn't so good, so he's using a cane. Nana is doing quite well, but you can tell that she's pretty worried about him.
An open message for Father Time : If I ever find out where you live I am personally going to beat your fucking head in with that cane.
posted by Vivec at 2:20 a.m.
2 Comments:
that's cool about your pappy. i still remember the time he came to the house and had to throw you over his shoulder kicking and screaming so that you would come to your mom's sunday dinner instead of putzing around in your idleness as you were(are?) prone to. it was a full out slugfest. he won handily. it was awesome.
you were about 26 at the time i think.
oh the curse of lethargy!! tables are turning I suppose...
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