I didn’t have anything figured out for Mother’s Day this year (like any other year). Thankfully Jo had planned a lovely morning for her mother in the hill country and we stopped at several small towns that I had never or rarely visited before. We started at Boerne, strolling along Cibolo creek and the stores on Main street till we chanced upon a beautifully landscaped old stone building. It turned out to be a linen and soap store and the woman was an expert sales lady. The store smelled amazing. I begged Carol and Jo to help themselves to soap to make up for not having got mother’s day gifts for them. Evan and Vivian, and yes, I too, jumped into the soap frenzy and a good bit later we staggered out laden with local handmade soaps of the most exquisite fragrances. Having secured our personal hygiene for the foreseeable future, we drove to the tiny town of Comfort (next to the town named Welfare) where we ate a light lunch at High’s Cafe and Store. We continued through the hamlets of Sisterdale and Kendalia before taking back country roads back to Canyon Lake. Happy Mother’s Day!
A few weeks later the ads on the radio were hawking the Big Green Egg and beard oil for Father’s Day and Evan said “What – there’s a Father’s Day?”
We were going to be traveling on Father’s Day, so the day before Jo and the kids gave me my Father’s Day gift and a lovely card. Jo had ordered this very cool kitchen knife from a Japanese company. The knife gets free sharpening service for life as long as I pay postage both ways to Japan. The knife company used to be the emperor’s sword maker, but after the Meiji Restoration and the end of the Shogun period, they switched to making kitchen knives and scissors instead of samurai swords. But a little sign on my knife bears the royal chrysanthemum and below the company logo, it modestly says “Established 1279”. No stalk of broccolini will every feel safe around my kitchen again. Thank you, Jo. Happy Father’s Day to all you dads, your dads, and everyone identifying as a dad out there.
Notes from Dad 