Day Ninety-Seven - Gone With The Wind

My dad would have been 56 years old today. I have no doubt that he would have had an enjoyable day [and who knows, maybe he did? I'm not wise enough to speculate on this kind of thing] - the day after an exciting SuperBowl and it was beautifully mild out for a February - felt just like spring. Unlike me, my dad liked attention and even embarassment on his birthday - he liked/expected/demanded [ha!] gifts, parties, celebration...he would have gotten on incredibly well in ancient Rome. Anyway, I'm not trying to get weepy - a birthday is a positive thing.

Today I decided to pay tribute to my dad by doing something in his honour. Like me, my dad had a rather focussed amount of interests. Not to say that we are bit a obsessive about certain things, people, events, activities or whatever...but yeah, a little bit. I don't really share any of my dad's interests, but I know enough about them that we could speak about them. Except for the obvious one - my dad was a Civil War buff, while most of my Civil War knowledge comes from Gone With The Wind and that one episode of South Park. So today I researched the Civil War [while drinking a beer]. Wow. There's a lot to know - it was intimidating to even start this. My dad used to say that he forgot the content of books after he read them so he would just buy more [he had a lot of Civil War books and also a pretty graphic one of the Vietnam War that I read @ a tender age]. I am distanced from my dad in that I have a terrific memory [a good and bad thing], but I like learning the same things over and over again, too. Every time I think I will learn something new [like when I watch American Justice over and over] and I usually do.

So...yeah - I'm still not sure I understand what attracted my dad to this subject - I guess I was trying to make a connection. But then, I wouldn't expect anyone to get why I'm interested in the things I am either. I do get the psychology behind it though...we're both a little crazy.