Things My Father Did

Going through some photos of my Dad today, Fathers' Day, I came upon the 3x5 cards I had used to write down my thoughts for his memorial service. Throughout my Dad's adult life he kept a stack of 3x5 cards in his front pocket to help him organize everything in his life from work projects, to movies he wanted to see, to repairs at home. These cards went with him everywhere, I can't find a photo without them peeking out of his front pocket.

When he died in 2001 it struck me that his cards were things left unfinished, things he had wanted, needed, or hoped to do. I decided to write him a list of things he had done, things he did for me:

1. Told me why the sky is blue
2. Showed me the top of Aspen Mountain
3. Taught me why baseball is so essentially American
4. Got me my first job and made sure I would succeed
5. Helped me grow to understand religion, faith, spirituality were not found only in a church
6. Taught me a deeper meaning of the word Dad than I could have known myself

7. Gave me my first look through a telescope at the stars
8. Was the first “Horsey” I ever rode
9. Took me to my first opera and mad sure I stayed awake
10. Taught me what war really was
11. Played me Pete Seeger and sang me A-Be-Yo-Yo with all the voices
12. Showed me how hard it was to lead a noble, honest, and passionate life, but why it was so important

-Taught me chess, swimming, skating, canoeing, soldering, soccer
-Guest-lectured at every physics class I ever took, sometimes without an invitation
-Took me to Broadway Danny Rose and showed me why Woody Allen was so funny
-Gave me a sister, 2 brothers, and a wonderful mother

-Showed me that even Matchbox cars obeyed the laws of physics

My Dad the Über/Anti-Geek

My dad worked at Fermilab, you know, the lab in Illinois where the Tevatron lives and people in places named CDF and DØ search for things like the Higgs boson. He was a high-energy particle physicist and an expert in installing the 10-ton super-conducting beam magnets used in particle accelerators- CERN even brought him over to Geneva to consult on their installs. He was however decidedly old school, preferred working in Fortran rather than use the mouse and graphical interface on the Mac they gave him. He continued to used a slide rule into the 80's, even I was using a scientific calculator by then. I still have one of his classic pocket slide rules in my desk.

What cements his status as über/anti-geek for me is that while he seemingly could grasp the intricacies of esoteric physics and math, the practical world was sometimes a blur for him. He had me and my sister soldering electronics together at Fermilab by the time we were 10, but he would refer to Star Wars, the greatest movie of all time, as "that movie Space Battles." He discovered how to use crystals to split particle beams more efficiently than millions of dollars of magnets, but only after watching the bulk of Austin Powers did he realize Mike Meyers was playing half the roles, which sent him reeling in manic laughter. He lived so deeply in physics, his "geek", that he was oblivious to most of the culture a more modern geek would typically thrive on. Driving with him anywhere while he was absorbed in a problem was like riding sidekick with a Mentat while they piloted their spaceship, lots of mumbling and hyper-focused, he wouldn't even respond to conversation at times. (He would totally not get that reference).

We once bought him an electronic pocket planner as a gift to replace all the 3x5 notecards that he used to organize his life and work, cards he carried with him everywhere in his front pocket (yes, just behind his pocket protector). After he passed away, I found it sitting proudly on his shelf unused, 20 some years later.

My Dad's Study 2001

2011 Rocky Mountain AudioFest

I went to this in 2007, loved it- Colorado and all that sexy audio equipment to see and hear. But I haven't been back since. I'm making plans....