Dadisms

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who commented on my last post about my father. Here are some of the great stories you all shared:

Lani-
Does this ring a bell for anyone?

1) "Get my pocketknife. I'll fix it for you."
2) "It looks like you combed your hair with a shower shoe."
3) "If those long-eared boys come around here, I'll get my shotgun."

My question was always, what does "long-eared boy" mean? And where are the boys? Where? I never saw any. But then again, maybe when they showed up, he ran them off. Yeah, maybe I'll rewrite my high school years to include hordes of boys showing up at the house and being run off by my dad!!!!

Jill-

one day, we were down by the river there in idaho falls. dad had taken that geology class at i.s.u. so i asked him what kind of rocks were there...he picked one up, looked at it...turned it over and said...(are you ready for this....)river rocks...

how about when dad and i went to broulims and he got "greatest moments in sports history" and we told mom it was between that and "Anne of green gables?" i don't think mom EVER forgave him for that...nor did she ever find it funny when we would laugh about it...

or...christmas one...when we begged and begged to be able to draw names....dad said we had to keep it a secret....we were living in calf. at the time...got on the stairs..."peggy, who do you have?" "i have dad...who do you have?" "I HAVE DAD!" "Lani...who do YOU have?" "I have dad...who do you have?"
dad is downstairs just laughing....thinking he is so funny...actually, it kinda was.
 

Gwen Marie-

Favorite memory? Let's see... Driving all the way to Klamath Falls to get my "stuff" that had been sitting in storage for a very long time (about 2 years I think) we had some interesting conversations along the long long way.... First time we really seemed to relate as adults.

Trying to learn to drive a stick and Dad took me out for a spin in the rabbit. We got to a stop sign and the car started bucking. Instead of yelling at me, telling me what to do, he just calmly told me to figure it out myself... and let me! He knew I needed to learn from my experience, not from someone telling me what to do. I love love love driving a standard vehicle to this day.

OR how bout when Aunt Jo and Robert came to visit, it was the middle of winter, and we took Robert outside to see "stars up a coat sleeve". Dad was soooooooooo funny!

I miss you, Dad!

Beth-

I've been trying to come up with just one favorite memory of Dad and it has been pretty tough. I guess that I will always treasure the times that Dad and I, and sometimes Matt, would float the river from Annis to Hancocks after school. I particularly remember one time that it started raining on us. We couldn't get off that river quick enough. And I'm not sure if it was the same time, but I got skunked all the trip and could not catch one fish. But then we pulled into one last sandbar, and I plopped my line in and pulled out a nice german brown. That was pretty awesome.
I like to recall the times when Dad would call just to talk about what was going by on the tracks. And wouldn't you know, we'd be talking for about an hour and that same train would be going by my windows. I miss being able to call him when something cool is driving by.
I loved the Sunday drives to nowhere in particular...or to see the world. I think I get my spontaneity from him, or maybe just my wanderlust.

Penny-

hmm....there are so many,....lone pines....you might learn something....an old trick i learned from the indians.... :P my favorite memory of dad, however, is when us kids (penny pam matt beth (?) and kate) were watching bay watch, and dad told us everything that was going to happen, "guy sees girl in water, guy runs down to edge of water, guy takes off shoes and watch," etc. we were so amazed! how did he know what would happen?!? he just shrugged and said "well I don't know. I just do" come to find out he'd see the whole scene on oprah while we kids were at school. He sure was amazing! I miss him so much

ooh ooh, or what about the time he told us on christmas eve that for the first time ever we could open ONE present and after we got so excited trying to decide which one we would open up he convinced us to open uncle johnny's present. now, actually, it was a pretty cool gift (a grill for the campfire) but that's not the unfair part. Dad had opened it up already when he got it in the mail....so he knew what it was....that's so cheating!!!

Pam-
One time, Dad and I went bird hunting with Mr. Dean, our Principal/Superintendent. I don't think we were very successful, but we had a good time. At one point, Mr. Dean decided to show his birding expertise. We were looking at some small birds, which had landed in a group of rocks. Mr. Dean informed us that those were "rock wrens." With a completely straight face. Dad and I looked at each other, but didn't say anything. After we parted, we had a good laugh. Rock wrens? Seriously? I mean, if they had landed in a tree, would they have been "tree wrens"? After that, whenever we saw an unknown small bird on a rock, it was a rock wren. Or if it was in a tree, a tree wren. Or on a bush, a bush wren. No one else thinks that's funny, but to this day, when I see a small bird, I call it a _____ wren.

Kate-

one of my favorite memories is from my freshman year of highschool. it was a beautiful sunday afternoon, and dad and mom were driving me to get my patriarchal blessing.
when we got there, the patriarch asked if both dad and mom could say a prayer before we began. this was the first time i ever heard dad pray. it was the sweetest prayer, and when he was done, his eyes were misted with tears. i remember feeling so loved by dad.
i will never forget that day.

Tandy Gilbert-

One time I was staying the night at your house and there was something cool going on with the moon, (can't remember exactly what it was). But we all ran out to see it and while I was running outside, something hit me. I saw your Dad laughing and realized he through something at me. It was dark so I couldn't tell what it was. The next morning when I was leaving, I looked down and saw a gofer head. I looked up at the front porch and your Dad was standing there laughing at me. It was so gross!!

Your Dad had a great sense of humor! What a great guy!!


 

Thank you for everyone who shared stories. If anyone has anything to add, or another story to share, leave a comment, and I'll update this {hint, hint!}

Ok, so, as I was on a hike the other day, for some odd reason I had weird thought. I wondered if there were any "slow elk" around. Slow elk? Well, that was what my dad called plain, old domesticated cows. When I was little, he would get me every time with that. He'd say, "Oh, there's some slow elk up there on the hillside..." And I would fall for it, looking for the elk. My dad sure did have a whole lot of words and phrases for things. I call them "Dadisms": little  words and  phrases for things that were all his own. I want to make a list of all the ones I can remember, but I need your help, once again. I'm going to get us started. Let's see:

Slow Elk: Domesticated cows
Tree Bass: What you catch with your fly rod when you're too close to the trees on the bank
Gamboling and Cavorting: What deer do all day, as in "those deer are gamboling and cavorting up the hillside."
Potlicker: A dog that is basically up to no good, or can't do anything right (I hope that's not offensive to anyone)
Church Key: Bottle opener
Big (long)-eared boys: Any boy close in age to one of his daughters
Diet Pill- Fat Boy Ice Cream Sandwich
Boy Scout Juice-Gasoline. Helps boy scouts start fires.

I know there are tons more. Help me out! What Dadisms do you remember?

~Pam