Time Spent with Dad...

Well, it’s been a week since my last post.  The last time I blogged, Jonathon was getting ready to leave for soccer camp in Kansas.  Since then, he has gone and returned home.  He had a GREAT time.  He said it was so hot one day that they just turned on the sprinkler system and watered the field while they trained!  They have a great staff who is always watching out for the safety of the kids… What a neat idea for a way to stay cool in the heat, let the kids run through sprinklers while training for a soccer match!!  The Ohio South boys did very well, they only lost one game.  Jonathon was approached by several coaches during the week and felt like he had a good chance of making the Regional team, but when they announced the Regional Pool his name was not called.  So, he is home for the summer.  He will play a few times here and there, but for the most part, he has about a 6 week break.

I also indicated in my last post that my father was coming to town.  My father LOVES Jaguars and the National Jaguar club was having a get together here in Columbus, so he was literally ¼ mile away from my office during the day and less than 5 minutes away in the hotel, but it was more or less a business trip for him with activities every day and every evening, so I spent pretty much all day with him on Sunday, but didn’t see him the other days he was here.

He recently bought a Jaguar XKR175, and that is the car he drove from Las Vegas (his hometown).  He let me drool on it drive it and we went out for a spin….  We went to a large parking lot where I had about 750 feet by 750 feet of unencumbered space to play around with.  The XKR175 can be switched between Automatic and Manual transmission, and the Manual Transmission can be adjusted from “Assisted” to “Semi-Assisted” to “Full Race” modes.  Dad refers to Automatic as “Old Man Mode” and even in “Old Man Mode” I accelerated from zero to 70+ in no time (ok, it was like 7 seconds).  That was the first time I "hit it”, so I was a little tentative, I wasn’t sure what it would do. 

After about three more runs, and a few “laps”, dad put it in “Assisted Manual Mode” meaning it would shift for me if I didn’t do it soon enough (the car never took control…), and then he let me drive in “Semi-Assisted” mode, which meant the only thing limiting my control was the rev limiter (that was so I didn’t blow up the engine).  I kicked the limiter once, and I was glad it was there, but after that I was just having a ball!  I hit 90 MPH in that small space, and took corners like it was on rails.  I can't wait to get it out on an actual race track where I can really put it through it's paces...

It is funny how many people do double takes when they see a nice, very rare car drive past.  I know I do, but rarely am I the one driving said car!!  I really noticed how many people looked twice; several even sped up to pass us and then slowed down as they did, just to get a better look.

Joshua, my 19 year old, and I were about to go pick up some Pizza for dinner when my father tossed JOSH the key fob and said, “Here, take mine”.  I wasn’t too surprised that he was letting Josh take it for a spin, after all, Josh got to drive it before I did back in June when he went with Poppy to race it in Nevada.   Before dad left, he took Trish for a quick spin through the neighborhood, and YES, she was smiling ear to ear when they got back!

I thank God regularly for my parents.  While they are no longer together, they were instrumental in molding who I am today, and for that I am eternally grateful.  I have had several friends lose their fathers recently, and it just serves to remind that we should spend EVERY moment we can with those who we love.  Create memories because before we know it, they’re all we’ll have.

As I told dad, my visit with him is what I cherished.  Sitting in the Living room talking about life in general, discussing how awesome it was that the USA Women beat Brazil in World Cup play.  Discussing what he and Jill were doing next on their several week long trip around the country.  Those are the moments I cherish, but any visit with Dad always involves a car… he likes it that way.  He has always been passionate about cars.   

And if I’m totally honest… I like his cars.  He has some pretty cool cars.  I like that he enjoys showing them off and that he has something that he is passionate about.  I’ll never worry about him being out on a race track, or racing in a road race somewhere, I would however worry if he was sitting at home “enjoying” his retirement.

Dad's XKR175 the day before he and my son
raced it Nevada last month.

Race On Dad, and Drive Safely!

Until Next Time,

Paul