Back To Portland, Again

My father was able to calm down after moving the family back to Portland, Oregon.  From here on out he would often be gone for extended temporary duty assignments (TDY).  But, when he was home he was occasionally the man I wanted to remember but mostly the man I do not.  He absences were so pronounced that in our little town that father was believed to have abandoned the family!  And when he was around it was not pleasant on my backside, punishments were meted out whether earned or not.  Something was really wrong with him internally, I was to realize as an adult.

Every summer, I would be able to go stay with my great uncle, whom I still admire and have to give him the nod for being the major contributor in forming my inner values.  He was my real father, the man whom visited our family I no longer knew.

Of course, my great uncle was ancient and only lived until I was 10 but those were important years for me.

If from father I learned to appreciate opera and Wagner, hiking and nature, the stars and space.  Then from Leonard I learned fishing, boat building, self subsistence, dairy herd management and everything there is to know about chickens.  But, he also taught me about wealth, generosity, helping the poor and honoring the dead.

Yeah, between the two of them I was shaped to understand technology and dream, as well as, to have my boots ground in the cow-pies and how to milk a cow.  Combined, this created a bit of a challenge for my future teachers......