The Dad School
My Dad taught me many things. His greatest lesson: that love can be immeasurable.
"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get — only with what you are expecting to give, which is everything." -Katherine Hepburn
How to not run like a girl. How to maintain good posture, personal habits and self-discipline that last a lifetime. How to ride a bike. How to boot strap, chin up, soldier on. How to pack light, break out, blow the stink off, and be ready for adventure. How to not get mad, not get even, just get what you want. How to navigate without a map. How to walk on stilts. How to remain calm in crisis. How to avoid going to a special school for the hearing impaired. How to swim to the center of Half Moon Lake and back. How to balance a checkbook. How to prioritize. How to try anything 'cause you might not like it'. How to work with a passion, give without expectation. How to be of service to others. How to maintain integrity. How to solve all problems (50 pushups). How to open my eyes to what's going on in the world.
How to write and tell interesting stories. How to carve perfect slices of 'roast beast'. How to shoot remarkable photos with any camera. How to serve a delicious Smörgåsbord. How to back up an Oldsmobile 98 for 200 feet, perfectly straight. How to drive a nail in dead straight in three strikes. How to build an identical-to-original model train spanning the entire basement, with mountains, towns, rivers and a even a coal mine and stuff, that looks like a Hollywood film set. How to sand and refinish old furniture and restore antiques. How to handle firearms. How to be a guest without being a pest. How to leave every place better than I had found it. How to behave with impeccable manners like at the White House every night at dinner. How to volunteer and make myself useful - cheerfully. How to get a grumpy old farmer to let you drive his tractor. How to get a real job and not be a bum. How to make the bed so a coin will bounce off it. How to operate a band saw and other scary machines. How to turn a pile of timber into a cabinet, a cradle or a new kitchen table. How to stretch painting canvas, make a frame, cut a matte, frame a picture.
How to paint the house like a pro, build a deck, pitch a tent, make a campfire and cook over it; whitewash a fence, grow gorgeous roses. How not to be boring…or bored. How to mix a Whiskey Sour or a Manhattan. Road trips without a hitch. The signature brown paper packages tied up with string, and covered with vintage postal stamps. How to fight the toughest battles without getting steaming mad or showing weakness of anger. To systematically sweep a floor, make anything sparkle, spit-shine a shoe. How to compost, chop wood, fertilize, weed, prune, plant a tree, cut grass, grow flowers. How to make a great breakfast - for dinner. How to drive a 5-speed. How to barbecue anything, make an egg sandwich, bake clams, steam crabs and lobsters Yankee-style. How to choose and keep a mate for life. How to fight cancer 3x…and win. How to never look back. How to clean the plate of life.
