Happy Father's Day one and all. Yes, I really mean it!
Growing up my family didn't celebrate father's day or mother's day. They were seen (quite rightly I believe) as a cynical cash grab by retailers trying to create business out of feelings of gratitude, obligation and guilt. My parents didn't do it, and so neither did we. But now I am a father and a husband, and my daughter and I really enjoy getting mother's day gifts and making cards for my lovely wife Ann, and I know they enjoy doing it for me. My in-laws have always celebrated these days and they are wonderful occasions, nothing to do with the dreadful orgies of excessive materialistic conspicuous consumption my siblings and I imagined when we were younger. My daughter's school organizes a father's day breakfast each year which is great fun and it's nice to see all the other Dad's dressed in their business suits or high vis vests spending a bit of time with their kids before rushing off to work.
This year was a bit different though. It's getting close to three months since I lost my Dad and, though I still think of him often I am slowly getting used to the fact that he really is gone. This is a strange process this grieving. You think you're going fine and then something will cut through you when you least expect it. This time it was a reflection at the breakfast, it described a father's love for his child as the child makes their own way through life and how the father wants to shield his child from harm but knows he can't if the child is to grow and learn. That was my Dad to a tee. I miss him dreadfully and this father's day is a really poignant one for me and my brothers and sisters.
Anyway, despite the fact that he couldn't relate to much of my music at all (Dad was heavily into J.S.Bach and a bit of Mozart and Handel) he didn't mind the odd fiddle tune. I think it reminded him of a Bach fugue so I've selected a Wrenboys set of tunes for father's day. This set features the fine fiddling of Ewen Baker, I'm on assorted guitars and mandolin, Will Oldmeadow on bass and Fred Abery on drums.
I've also posted a picture of Dad as I'll always remember him. This is myself, Dad and my brother Tom having successfully wrestled an old bandsaw into position in Dad's shed. It took all day to do. We had to pull the back fence down to get it into the shed and it weighed nearly a ton. As was so often the case with Dad's little projects this machine has never actually cut a single fiber of wood since he bought it but he had a lot of fun trying to bring it back to its former glory.
So, this is for my Dad and for all the Dad's. Happy Fathers Day to you all....
Growing up my family didn't celebrate father's day or mother's day. They were seen (quite rightly I believe) as a cynical cash grab by retailers trying to create business out of feelings of gratitude, obligation and guilt. My parents didn't do it, and so neither did we. But now I am a father and a husband, and my daughter and I really enjoy getting mother's day gifts and making cards for my lovely wife Ann, and I know they enjoy doing it for me. My in-laws have always celebrated these days and they are wonderful occasions, nothing to do with the dreadful orgies of excessive materialistic conspicuous consumption my siblings and I imagined when we were younger. My daughter's school organizes a father's day breakfast each year which is great fun and it's nice to see all the other Dad's dressed in their business suits or high vis vests spending a bit of time with their kids before rushing off to work.
This year was a bit different though. It's getting close to three months since I lost my Dad and, though I still think of him often I am slowly getting used to the fact that he really is gone. This is a strange process this grieving. You think you're going fine and then something will cut through you when you least expect it. This time it was a reflection at the breakfast, it described a father's love for his child as the child makes their own way through life and how the father wants to shield his child from harm but knows he can't if the child is to grow and learn. That was my Dad to a tee. I miss him dreadfully and this father's day is a really poignant one for me and my brothers and sisters.
Anyway, despite the fact that he couldn't relate to much of my music at all (Dad was heavily into J.S.Bach and a bit of Mozart and Handel) he didn't mind the odd fiddle tune. I think it reminded him of a Bach fugue so I've selected a Wrenboys set of tunes for father's day. This set features the fine fiddling of Ewen Baker, I'm on assorted guitars and mandolin, Will Oldmeadow on bass and Fred Abery on drums.
I've also posted a picture of Dad as I'll always remember him. This is myself, Dad and my brother Tom having successfully wrestled an old bandsaw into position in Dad's shed. It took all day to do. We had to pull the back fence down to get it into the shed and it weighed nearly a ton. As was so often the case with Dad's little projects this machine has never actually cut a single fiber of wood since he bought it but he had a lot of fun trying to bring it back to its former glory.
So, this is for my Dad and for all the Dad's. Happy Fathers Day to you all....
Patrick, Ray & Tom Evans plus the 'big bandsaw'