Saturday, June 16, 2007

My Dad.

Generally speaking I ignore the bullshit around all ‘days’ except birthdays. Valentines is the first on my list of brainwashingly unnecessary bollocks days. Mothers Day is on a different date in the UK than the US and as hefty as the marketing machine is, from across the pond I still manage to ignore it-sorry Mum I’m such a slacker. St.Paddys……just not my cup of tea. Over here (as in half the world) there are those days that should be renamed “thank god we’ve severed all ties with the empire day”. Case in point, July 4th is coming up and as far as I’m concerned it’s just a brilliant excuse for a three day weekend.

So it’s interesting that this year ‘Fathers day” is giving me pause to write about my Dad. Perhaps it’s because I pulled out the old Tesco bag that contains his shoe polishing gear to give my boots the attention they deserved. When I was a kid on Sunday nights Dad would take my brothers and my school shoes and give them a good shine. To this day I still feel better if my shoes are buffed to perfection and when I travel nearly always get a shoe shine at the airport (unless I'm in tennies!).

He was a simple and kind man. On some level I feel like I didn’t really get to know him as I left the country at an age when you normally begin to transform family roles into friendship. Still, I’ve got some peculiar tendencies that are all his and I treasure my little eccentricities that could only have come from Tone.
*Sneezing 10-16 times in a row.
*At a moment of unexpected annoyance, a veritable conveyor belt of swear words will stream out of my mouth.
*No matter where I am in the world I’ve got to go to the local market.
*Fat of any description on food will be painstaking cut off and all bits neatly put to one side of my plate.
*An eye for a good photograph.
*The creases in my face that run from nose to chin are turning into a crevices-thanks Dad! (ok I know this ones cheating as it's a physical feature & not a trait....)
*A desire for well polished shoes turns the task of cleaning them into a labor of love.

The above pici is a self portrait he took whilst taking a photography class. I like it because he never read the business section.

As an aside Giampaolo peels apples the way my Dad used to peel ‘things’......in one long spiral. I like that.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice tribute, Sharon. And a great self-portrait, too!

Hope to see you over the next two weeks.

Sharon said...

I'm heading to Kanaha for a swim....see you there?!

Nancy said...

Very Nice Sharona! My dad gave me the gift of being left handed and ingrown toe nails....and his sense of humor... :-)

Nancy said...

Aw...you inspired me to write about my dad...thanks!!

Anonymous said...

The biggest thing you inherited from your Dad is your love of v. expensive shoes - and plenty of them. That's the reason he enjoyed cleaning them so much "it kept the leather in good condition". I have never cleaned a pair of shoes since he died - cannot be bothered, just run a cloth over them if necessary.

Please may I have a tribute next Mother's Day? It's all very well doing them when people are six feet under but it would be nice to read them whilst one is still alive. If you have problems with thinking "nice" things to say about me, call and I'll give you a list of my attributes.

Mater x

Anonymous said...

BTW Tone would be horrified at you keeping his cleaning utensils in a Tesco shopping bag - they were always housed in a wooden box in the garage.

Mater x

Anonymous said...

Mater, you crack me up!

I'll give your daughter a good tongue lashing when I see her later this week!

cammar said...

"Generally speaking I ignore the bullshit around all ‘days’ except birthdays"
Good, do even better and ignore the birthdays too!
...when is your birthday again? I swear, I haven't a clue.

Very cute post.

Sharon said...

Mater: Well given that they don't have Tesco's on Maui that must have been your Tesco bag!

Ely: Promises-promises!

Cammar: You do well ignoring birthdays & I do well celebrating them. As you so often say "it's good we're all different".
Jan 28th you ignoramus!!

Anonymous said...

Whilst we're on the subject
18th November. A simple aide memoire for ALL your readers :-)

Ely, give Sharon a 'nug from her Mater, don't wish to know about the tongue lashing - she may prefer that for all I know.

Mater x

Anonymous said...

Great pic and it is a great reminder. As far as dates are concerned forget them. Live life as you find it and do as you would be done by with others and you wont go far wrong. Dont expect anything from anyone and you wont ever be let down. :-)