Fifty Fridays #40

This Sunday is Father's Day so I will, of course, be featuring my Dad this week.  I thought I would share two things that were his vacation from work and home.  When I was a kid, we never really took vacations away from home.  I was never too concerned because very few of my friends ever did either.  It wasn't as common as it is now.  But now I wonder if there wasn't another reason. 

Every summer my father would disappear for a week.  He took his Air Cadets off to summer camp.  This is a photo of Dad and the other leaders of the squadron posing in front of their barracks at Sea Island.  This is where the Vancouver International Airport is now.  When I was much younger, the name seemed magical.  I never went there and I guess I didn't see this photo of the huts.  Kind of takes the magic away for me.  But not for Dad.  He loved being away with the young fellows (not co-ed then) and sharing his own air force flying experience. 

Dad not only loved the air but also the sea.  Once he moved to his island home, he liked nothing better than to get into his little boat and motor about pretending to fish.  When he retired, the first thing he bought was a sailboat which was a source of constant pleasure for him.  I can't say that I share his enthusiasm.  I believe that I stepped on his boat for a quick recce and then got off as fast as I could.  Not a chip off that old block, I'm not. 

And even in his last days, when he was very ill and not always thinking clearly, the boat was on his mind.  He would dream about sailing and think his hospital bed was his boat.  

So, Dad, here's to you! Hope the wind is blowing fair.