My Dad

After my dad retired he changed so much.

Me being born after his 40 th birthday I witnessed two sides of this man.

He always stern,would not tolerate idle talk or gossip,and was mostly quite before retirement.

I rember him still, going through a thick stack of yellow order resets from Peters home delivery groceries monthly, adding the numbers up by hand, to check for accuracy before paying the bill, and my mother calling Elderd Peters if an error was found.

But I also remember, after driving my first car late night coming home,and finding Dad, standing in the front entry waiting for me. He said: Don't you realize I worry for you. This was the first kind expression I rember my dad saying to me.

After retirement he became the playful, joyful and talkative man my children rember.

I rember often, his thrill and delight at my showing him a simple thing I discovered after coming home from the Navy. Kinser Creek, a small maybe 2 mile long water drainage 4 miles south of town on the gravel road where it drains into the Sauk River. It pools in several places, from limbs falling from the red oak ,willow, and cottonwood. These small pools are mostly concealed by brush.

Here in the land were Dad fished for the almighty Walleye in his Vic Pagansky 14 ft cedar built round bottom powered be the trusty 5 horse powered Johnson in deep clear Stearns County lakes, he found such joy, and I was so proud to show him a place were he could catch chubs, 4 to 6 inches long with tiny hook and line, rather than buy them from Minnow Mike, at the local bait shop. He giggled and laughed so much doing this.