father's day tradition

last sunday was father's day.  i suppose all of you knew that.  i, however, must have missed out that little bulletin, despite the fact that i hang around in front of the internet quite a lot and should probably have realized it.  i even think it was father's day in my country of residence, so i have no excuse.  and we equally forgot "far" on this side of the Atlantic as well.

what we used to do for father's day in the old days (when i was a kid), was go to the big South Dakota paint horse association paint-o-rama in Huron, thereby leaving dad at home alone in peace.  this way, he could commune with his tomato plants and then head to the golf club undisturbed by all that family togetherness.  we'd bring him home a dinner that we picked up at taco john's before we headed home and he seemed quite content with that.

the one and only time we dragged him to a horse show other than the local 4-H show when it was in Platte, was an open show in Tyndall.  i'm not sure it was father's day, but i'll tell the story anyway.  it was a beastly hot summer day.  like 106 degrees in the shade.  the lunch stand ran out of cold beverages.  then the swimming pool across the road dried up.  and the whole town eventually ran out of ice and liquids of any kind.  but did we go home?  no we did not.  we did halter classes, western pleasure, reining and stayed 'til the bitter end with the barrel racing and the pole bending.  only when it was all over did we pack up our wilted bodies and go home.

that was dad's last horse show.  and he didn't even have to stand around in the sun in polyester pants and a long-sleeved shirt and cowboy hat.

happy belated father's day, dad!!!