Rant #2,433: Papa Was a Rolling Stone

Happy day-after Father's Day to all the dads!

We had a good Father's Day weekend, certainly our busiest weekend in a couple of months or since the pandemic hit us smack dab between the eyes.

On Friday, as I was getting my eyes checked--the doctor found some blood in one eye, but later tests found that it was nothing to worry about, although I do have to go back in four months--my wife finally spoke to her father via FaceTime. She actually could see him and speak to him at the same time, and the chat went well. She said he looked good, and I think it was great for both of them to get together like this.

New York State still prohibits nursing home visits, so it is the best we can do for now.

On Saturday, we traveled out east to visit my brother-in-law, and also there was my other brother-in-law and my nephew, and everyone's spouses.

Once again, we spoke with my father-in-law, and he seemed to be in good spirits seeing everyone there this time. He did look pretty good, we know he is well, so that started a nice day for all of us.

We had pizza, kept our social distancing, and had a nice afternoon and early evening.

When we drove home, I said to my wife that not only did it feel real good to give my car some exercise--40 miles there, 40 miles back--but that this was the first time that I had driven the car at night in months.

The funnier thing is that even though I had my headlights on, I didn't really even need them, because June 20 is the longest day of the year as the dovetail into summer.

Thus, although we got home at past 8:30 that evening, the sun was really still out a bit even when we arrived home, so we never really drove in the dark.

Yesterday was the big day, of course, and on Father's Day, I did exactly what I wanted to do for once, meaning that we had a great barbecue--nothing fancy, just hot dogs and hamburgers and some fish and chicken--but it was a great barbecue.

For some reason with me, the first barbecue of the summer rarely is the best barbecue of the summer, but yesterday, everything went the way it was supposed to.

The charcoal burned the right way, the food cooked well, and everything just fell into place the right way.

My family was there, my parents were there, and my sister and her family were there, too. We were careful, and it went well.

And during these two days, the protests continued, with Saturday's being a so-called "Children's March."

Yes, it is so nice to hear about what oppression means from five year olds, but in this pandering environment that we are in now, what could anyone expect?

People say racism is taught at home, but so is uncivil behavior, I'm afraid.

Well, I expect that I will never participate in these marches, which again, I believe have turned into modern lynch mobs, looking to strong up white people, police and anyone who stands in their way.

Enough is enough, but evidently, some people don't believe that, so these marches go on, destroying any sense of civility in the world we live in.

President Trump had his rally in Tulsa, which you just knew was going to be overstated and overwrought and overdone.

I have no doubt that people were scared away from the rally by what they thought was going to happen there and around the arena where it was held, but again, so be it.

It happened, and there really is not much more to say about it.

But all the while that all of this was happening, my family, at least, tried to have the best Father's Day that we could have in this pandemic and anarchistic environment we are in now, and I think that we succeeded.

And we all said that we hope that Father's Day 2021 will be much better than Father's Day 2020, that we can return back to the way the day should be celebrated, rather than have the day being shaped by viruses and unrest.

We can only hope for that, can't we?