A Father's Day video

I've been trying to keep busy this Father's Day, since it is my first without one.

Last month my aunt delivered some furniture to my house that came from my grandparents' home of thirty years. The collections of memories in that tiny brick rancher was astounding. I'm now happily writing this post from the handmade desk that my grandfather built. In his tiny office, dark and dense, it was hard to see his perfect craftsmanship, but knowing him meant you knew that anything he built would be perfectly constructed. This desk is solid, and I'm thrilled to now call it mine.

With the desk and other bigger things, came a small box with a few dishes, a tea set, and two VHS home videos. I cannot play home videos because I own neither a TV nor a cassette player. It took two weeks to have the VHS tapes copied to DVD. 

I watched them for the first time Friday night. Here is an excerpt for father's day. I can't recall seeing this video before. It was filmed by my uncle, John Van Vliet, in 1991, in Fresno, California at our house on Crystal Avenue. The family is packing up our belongings getting ready to make the road trip home to Maryland, just in time for Halloween. While John visits, we have a little fun in the front yard.

Never took one lesson, mind you.