June 19--Father's Day

[zyzyly]

We went to my step-sister Holly's place up in the foothills for a Father's Day lunch with my dad who is up there visiting. I got up early and made some au gratin potatoes, which everyone seems to like, since they always request that I make it. I tweaked my recipe a bit this time, and it turned out great, so I took the rare step of actually writing it down. I also took the even rarer step of going to the Walmart to get a mandolin slicer because I didn't feel like slicing a bunch of potatoes. Walmart early on a Sunday morning is tolerable. The slicer worked great.

It was a lovely day up the hill. They have a big spread--about 17 acres, a nice pool, a beautiful panoramic view, and so on. They lend the property below the house to the guy next door who raises alpacas. There must at least 50 down there, and maybe more. When you float in the pool, you can look down on the alpacas grazing.



It was good to see my dad. I have written previously of our often strained relationship, but it feels like we have moved past that. We stood out by the fence, looking at the alpacas and talking for about a half hour. We got called up for lunch and sat outside near the pool to eat.

There were only six of us. We had salmon, the potatoes, some steamed vegetables, garlic bread, and fresh fruit. It was delicious. We sat around and talked for a while, My other step-sister, Robin, was there. She was filling me in on the long lost half-brother they found out they had a few months ago. He will be up for the 4th of July, so I will get to meet him.

After lunch and conversation we got in the pool and stayed there for a good part of the afternoon. It was so relaxing to lie on a floating mat and just let the water gently rock me. My dad loves the pool, and when he is up there, he spends most of the day either in it or near it.



He is either 87 or 88--I think it is 88. His brother just turned 90.

In the late afternoon, everyone got ready to watch the NBA finals. My dad is a big Warriors fan, and was nervous about the game (turns out he had reason to be nervous--they lost). We couldn't stay because I had another assignment due this evening, and had to come home and do it. Anyway, it was a good day. Tomorrow will be getting caught up on stuff, and then out to the coast for a few days.

Comments

[pasticcio.livejournal.com]

Beautiful spot to spend Father's Day with your Dad .. I'm glad it was a good day for you and your family .. looks like some fun memories were made :)

[sunshine-two.livejournal.com]

what a beautiful pool.

[pinkroo.livejournal.com]

that pool is a little bit of heaven.

[brendamom.livejournal.com]

Love the photos. That pool is so inviting to those of us in the Midwest.

Lovely!

[liminal-space.livejournal.com]

As usual, your photos take me somewhere else. Thank you. =D

....

It sounds like the day was peaceful and good; any day you can count like that is a treasure indeed.

(Plus: alpacas!!!!)

[thoughtsbykat.livejournal.com]

Naked alpacas! it's so funny to see them shaved. I'm glad that you had a nice day.It's also good that you and your dad are getting along better. I miss my dad, he died almost 20 years ago. The infinity pool looks tempting and cool.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Your dad looks very healthy for his upper 80s--that's nice to see.

[howeird]

Good that you and your dad have moved past the strife. I had the same thing, the more I look back the less I understand why I used to hate him. We started to get over it when I was in college and he was working a few blocks from campus as part of an arctic research program. There were some rocky times after that, but we were reconciled when he un-disowned my baby sister. When we did start getting along, he reminded me he lost his father when he was 19, and never had the chance to iron things out.

[w. lotus (from livejournal.com)]

I like how bright and vivid your photos always are.