Tinker, Sailor, Hero, Pyro

Trip to MN

I got to ride with you and Maggie when we made the trip from Pittsburgh to Lakeville. We were in the car with Maggie so long we must have just gotten used to the smell. It was when you got out for lunch or had a bathroom break and you re-entered the car that you realized how bad her breath was and how much air she had breathed out.

I'm guessing it wasn't that trip where I dropped my Big Mac on the floor. If I dropped it on the floor with Maggie around, it would have been gone pretty quick. I guess I was pretty upset about it and made it clear that I would not be eating it. I assume you may have tried some negotiations and in the end your distaste for grit in your food lost out to your desire for forward movement. You traded with me and all were satisfied, as far as I know anyway.

Andy Kester

Lakeville

I don't have a lot of memories from Pittsburgh, most of my memories are from Lakeville. I remember helping you in the garage and in the yard. I remember a lot of wood-related work. Stacking, re-stacking, re-re-stacking and so on. I remember also showing a great deal of enthusiasm for helping you in the garden. Could just be my memory but I recall that you would have to make me stop weeding at the end of the day so that I would come in for dinner and I was always asking when we could get back out there.

Andy Kester

The Dukes of Hazzard

The Dukes of Hazard: Boss Hogg, Cletus and a couple of good old boys, never meaning no harm.

Not sure how we stumbled upon it but we must have just been flipping through the channels on our 11 inch black and white tin foil topped TV when we came across a show that was one of the funniest things we had ever seen. I think we laughed so hard that the rest of the family came in to see what was going on.

Not sure I illustrated this perfectly in my stories, but you have provided me opportunity to develop character, a strong work ethic, morality, and an ability to see eye to eye and connect with my own children. Thanks, Dad!!

Andy

The Big Sailing Trip

The big sailing trip.

I was at least eighteen, and not sure of much in my life, contrary to all appearances. Dad asked me to start out his largest voyage to date.

I was honored, and needed some good time with dad, but also the solace of the open water and a little adventure too.

I saw the greatest sunset of my life there with dad. We passed through clouds of giant biting flies. I got to enter cities as a person of the water and not just a passenger in a car.

This was a different way to approach civilization, and with the time on the water was so much more valued.

Dad and I had good talks, and we even got a little tired of each other. Either way my world got bigger in those two weeks and I thank him for it.

This trip, was a microcosm of all the time I spent with dad on the boat. I started off thinking of the sailboat as slow and boring, but the shore as full of intrigue and smelly things. Now I think of all those times with Dad, whether spent in the cabin, on the deck, or exploring the shore, fondly, and a big part of who I am now.

Thanks Dad, you shared your passion with me, and helped me learn to have passion.

April Kester