i think of my dad

Now that the weather is warmer, I have a list of big projects staring me in the face, daring me to put them off another year. And when I think of big projects, I think of my dad. And I really, really wish he was here...

So in honor of his would-be birthday this week, here is a short list of the projects Dave and I remember most, in no particular order...

• Cooking a turkey in the old wood-burning stove at the cabin one year.
• Taping the Endeavor's numbers on with duct tape the first year at the Bonneville Speed Show.
• Water-witching in the back-yard on Barker. Presumably there was a reason for this...
  
• Tractor-pulling.
  
• Putting a stem on Dave's orange Bug to dress it up for Halloween.
  
• Paul's Dodge Do-More.
  
• Packing all our belongings on a flatbed truck and hauling them 800 miles home, in an early October snow storm, just to avoid renting a truck.
• Installing a push-button starter in Dave's bug to by-pass the actual starter (it was quicker than fixing it.)
• Taking the whole family to the bowling alley on a school bus.
• Countless last-minute musical numbers at McCombs Family Reunions.

And the list goes on and on...