To the fathers in my life...

A day to you, a day for you!  May this Father's Day be one filled with grateful hearts, memories and some well deserved put-up-your-feet time.  A poem that describes well my father, the father of my children, and most of the fathers I know.

Only a Dad

by Edgar Albert Guest 

Only a dad with a tired face,

Coming home from the daily race,

Bringing little of gold or fame,

To show how well he has played the game,

But glad in his heart that his own rejoice

To see him come and to hear his voice.

Only a dad with a brood of four,

One of ten million men or more.

Plodding along in the daily strife,

Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,

With never a whimper of pain or hate,

For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,

Merely one of the surging crowd

Toiling, striving from day to day,

Facing whatever may come his way,

Silent, whenever the harsh condemn,

And bearing it all for the love of them.

Only a dad but he gives his all

To smooth the way for his children small,

Doing, with courage stern and grim,

The deeds that his father did for him.

This is the line that for him I pen:

Only a dad, but the best of men.

peace

By request...

It has been requested by some friends to post pictures of our latest pet.  So I am pleased to introduce you to Cinnamon our sugar glider.  He is a nocturnal marsupial native to Australia with adaptations similar to that of the flying squirrel we have here in North America.  In the wild, a sugar gliders diet consists of harden sap from the trees it lives in as well as insects.  So we feed him fruit as well as insects.  He is in fact eating a meal worm in the second picture.  We got this little guy in March from one of our friends and educators who was an animal rehibilitator.  He had rescued a sugar gilder, Barkey and Cinnamon is Barkey's son. Our friend recently passed away so this pet has special meaning for our family.  Oh, and we also found out (after we got him) that sugar gliders can live up to 15 years in captivity.  Wow, guess we just made a commitment.  Good thing he won't be going to college like our other two slightly unexpected commitments (that we love dearly, of course.  What?  Don't look at me like that!).

What's the strangest pet you ever owned?

peace