Dear Old Dad

Today is the Fifth Anniversary of my fathers death. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him and speak to him. This collage of images show him in the many poses he'd let me do with him while I was in High School playing around with my camera. He never said no. He was a man of few words. Soon after he retired, my job was close enough to his house so for about a year I would go to work early just to sit and have a cup of coffee with my Dear Old Dad. Sometimes we talked and sometimes we just shared parts of the paper. What memories! I have many more like this but this one is one of my favs. I miss you dad. Our backyard campfire talks, our coffee outings to Alterra, our........(poem)

Victor Anthony (Mecyssne) is one of my favorite musical artists. His words and music are so smart and touching. He is an amazing storyteller. Below are the lyrics to his song Dear Old Dad from his Skinnybones CD. He also is an amazing photographer. You can check out more of his work at his blog, Leica Diary.

Dear Old Dad
Daddy had a voice like a seersucker suit on a
muggy summer day
Mama met him in a train station during World War II
Pretty soon I was on my way
He'd spin me around and around in the air
And never let me fall
Later on he was always there
All I had to do was call my

Dear old, dear old, dear old dad
My dear old, dear old dad

Cars today all look the same
They all look like orthopedic shoes
You got to squint real hard just to read the names
"Cause you can't tell a Chevy from a Subaru
He always had the finest rides
That the bank would let him borrow
When I was just a shaver he'd bend the law and
let me drive
Made me feel like a silver dollar my

Dear old, dear old, dear old dad
My dear old, dear old dad

Got a picture of him by the lake
With his stogie and a pole
Cigar keeps the bugs at bay
That's what my old man told me

We laid him down in the cold, dark ground
On a muggy summer day
Friends and family all around
All that I could think to say was

Dear old, dear old, dear old dad
My dear old, dear old dad