The One, the Only . . .

You know, I have really missed inflicting my sometimes odd and other times infuriating opinions about things on innocent people. I enjoyed writing the View Askew but it was a LOT of work given its, shall we say, ambitious nature. So unlike the original format this version will be a much more modest affair (if there is such a thing. As a modest affair, I mean.) You won't have to read a lot before you can decide to change channels, as it were; you will know know right away that you're disgusted and will read no more!

So, rather than a long, grandiose monthly newsletter covering a bunch of things that I think are interesting, this version will (try to be) a shorter but more frequent quick hit type of thing focused on - hopefully - a single item that others may be as interested in as I am (or not.) My intent is to write something every day and, as with the original, try to approach it from a little different angle. Who knows if and how much I will be successful but we shall journey together - let us not waste time here!

(For those of you who are friends on Facebook I apologize for repeating myself, but this is a pretty damn good place to start - but I shan't do this again!)

Background: I pay great attention to the sun's journey across the sky. I'm not exactly a sun worshiper or anything but I just find it interesting how important the various stages of the sun have have been to societies around the world through the centuries. Especially the solstices. Solstii? Whatever. In any event, I have dedicated more time than is healthy for the last ten years or so to the solstice and especially the winter version because . . . well just because. This year, though, the summer solstice receives my laser like focus because it is so close to one of my favorite things to make fun of, Father's Day! So here goes the first post of the New View Askew. (Hopefully it will get better!)   

Father’s Day and the summer solstice, just a day apart this year. I wonder if there is a hidden message or meaning to this . . . proximity.

Everyone knows that Father’s day is the least important of all the made up holidays. You know what the greeting cards say, right? “Who cares?!” that’s what. For example, you can count on one hand the number of times you see a kid waving and yelling “Hi dad” on tv; it’s always “Hi mom!” And that’s okay, that’s the way it should be; dads are meant to toil in familial obscurity. We can’t compete with a mother’s love so all we can do is try to compete with brute sincerity - and the occasional game of hoops or playing catch. A dad’s love may not make for clever Hallmark cards but that doesn’t make it any less real (just a little less obvious.)

So we get this one day a year to pretend like we are an equal partner in the hearts of our family and what happens? It’s followed by the worst day of the year, the summer solstice! Don’t believe me? Think about this:

Unlike its winter alter ego which signals the beginning of hope, the summer solstice signals the opposite. The beginning of the end of long, sun dappled Minnesota days with blue skies. Of long, perfect drives and short putts. (Okay, forget that first part.) Of short nights with cool breezes by the lake. Of girls in tank tops and men in speedos. (Now forget that last part too.) It signals the beginning of the long slide to the depths of winter. Oh, the humanity!

Now think about this: the solstice is always about this same time every year yet someone in the US invented Father’s day in 1908 and parked it right next to this lugubrious day. Why not August (like Taiwan) or March (like Lichtenstein) when there aren’t any other holidays? Hmmm? Exactly - it’s a test!

One day a year a dad gains a bit of stature as the other adult in the house – and it’s quickly snuffed out by the gloom that comes with the summer solstice. How will I react? Will I snivel and whine about my fate? Will I complain about yet another snub to my male ego? No, damn it, no! This is where I prove to my family that an American dad can accept the abuse the gods heap on me with the calm and dignity that has made me famous at every sporting event of my kids that I ever attended. That my cluelessness to most domestic dramas was just my way of staying neutral. That offering a clumsy hug was my way of kissing to make it better. Well, I love and am loved so that will have to do.

In any event I wish a Happy Father’s Day to all my fellow dads –hang in there, only six months to the winter solstice!

And I still miss you very much, pop.

                                         Marv and Irene foxtrotting

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Thanks for reading . . . and try not to be a dope.