My Dad,(concluding remarks)? Maybe!

This was c1970, another birthday for my Dad.

What was my Dad really like?
To me at 10 years of age, a hero,
To me at 20 years of age, Too cautious, too careful with money, but still a bit of a hero
To me at 30 years of age, A great encouragement and a fund of knowledge. Always good to have around in any crisis.
To me me from 30 years of age to 50, all of the above, a great gardener, a spotless well serviced car and home with everything in working order, a father and a friend.
To me at 75 years of age, a good memory.
Though he has been gone for 25 years, I still thank God for him whenever I think of him, and the amazing thing, he still appears in my dreams at times, and I think that is wonderful.
I myself have felt the joys of fatherhood along with the responsibilities and some times frustration which has brought me to a greater understanding of my own father.
I have 6 sons, 5 of which are fathers themselves and for the 6th one the chapter is not finished by a long shot.
This morning while contemplating this blog with my mind wandering around "Fatherhood" I have been thinking of various kinds of fathers, some that came to mind
Forefathers, the church fathers, delinquent fathers, ex fathers, Sperm Doner fathers! offending fathers, non biological fathers and so the list could go on.
I also found myself wondering about Germany, The Fatherland, Mother Russia, and Mother England
Then there are the sins of the fathers and the faith of the fathers.
What a great gift is the mind and the memory.
Of course I would have to mention the Fatherhood of God.
I've also been reading about Father's Day, the 3rd Sunday in June in many countries, some hold it in November, while here in Australia it his held on the first Sunday in September.
I heard some wag say that father's day was nine months before mother's day, he may not have enjoyed a really healthy sex life!
On that note I shall return to my cogitations

My Dad (not)

I have just been out the back clearing much of my vast,(according to Ben), firewood supply from the side back fence in order to stall off its demise with some repairs. The boys next door are very sporty and their various types of balls come over so often I've told Them just to climb over the fence and get them, the results of this of course is that the fences threatening demise is being somewhat hastened.



While this is a Claytons Blog about my Dad, I can't help mentioning him again as he was a great fencing man. Being a pioneer mallee farmer he had to build and maintain literally miles of fences


Many times I heard him say "Good fences make good neighbours"
I am not sure that when I say "truth is a slippery thing" I am right or not. Perhaps I should be saying "Truth is a immovable rock".
What a dilemma
It may be true to say, when speaking about the millions of western world suburbia that good fences make ghostly neighbours, unknown neighbours, aloof neighbours.
I have just walked a few yards down to our corner and taken a photo in each direction










And you may note that I haven't even mentioned the "Gated Communities" that are springing up every where








Here is a nice little fence in the Cottswolds UK

Every Boy Needs A Dad

Perhaps one can only watch this space for so long.
Now, My Dad
My Dad was special, probably more so for me as,
1. My mum died when I was just 6 years of age and his role in my life became more important that ever.
2. The isolation of life on a mallee farm brought those around you into a sharper focus and into a position of greater dependency on one another.
3. He was just great.
Here is a rare photo of Lu Lu Burgess, the house keeper, my Dad in his Sunday best, and my sister Lorna




My Dad had big hands, as a child I loved to climb on his knee and examine his large work scarred hands before looking once again at his familiar tin of log Cabin Tobacco




I still remember the old familiar sound as he rattled round with the stove in the kitchen, getting the fire going while I lay in bed on a frosty morning thinking that I would get up when the fire was well alight.
Our stove was not as flash as the one in the picture nor did it have tiles around it


He used to cook soup with everything in it and said that after a couple of days it would become stew. I think that the "cooking gene" in our family must have come from my wife's side, however I thought what he cooked was pretty good, then again he was good at so many things was a superb shooter, a great driver, a fixer of thing par excellence, and a wonderful presence in a crisis.
The funny thing was that my older brothers and sister couldn't really see it. I still smart about their sniggers and and smart little comments out of his hearing.
Of course I now know what I only suspected at that time, that their frontal lobes had not at that time fully developed.
Just one story at this time will speak volumes.
I was standing on a dam bank with my brother Murray, and my Dad. Dad was holding a rifle in his hand, and in the distance, far across a mallee paddock the dust was being kicked up by some of our dogs pursuing a very fleet of foot hare, the hare was about 3 chain in the lead. It was time for a lesson. Dad explained to us that to shoot this hare one would need to elevate the rifle to point about one chain above the hare, and considering the slight breeze, the speed of the hare, and the distance to cover one would have to lead the hare with the rifle by about 2 chain. (The exact distances have faded from my memory). The lesson having been given, my Dad lay down on the dam bank to demonstrate, he took careful aim allowing for all the earlier calculations and fired. It seemed to be a matter of seconds had passed, when, behold, the hare bowled over and over on the ground in the distance and laid very still. My chest swelled with pride, Murray was wide eyed, and my dad a little surprised.
I was not at all surprised, my mind went back to a marauding goanna that was stealing our chooks eggs, had not my dad shot him through the heart as he ran at high speed in a cloud of dust over the bare mallee earth.
That's my Dad, and there's more!