"Spider-Dad"

The Title to this Blog is out of fun... One of our children is having a Birthday coming up and he insist on having a "Spider-Man" birthday Party... So everything is spider-man, his underwear, shoes, shirt, You name it. So I had to draw invitations to send to friends & family for the occasion. I Love doing these things for our children anyway. I love to stir their imaginations to get them to think outside the box so to speak. My youngest daughter, I was hoping will become an Engineer some day, so I kept her around me while I was building & drafting my scale models buildings, and many of my Painting sessions in the Attic back when she was still in her walker even... As a matter of fact all my kids have spent some time with me in my creative activities over the years. Now that their getting much older, they have their own activities they concider their interest and fun things to do, well so did I. But in many ways it is like being a "Spider" as a Dad. You make a sticky interest (like a web) to your own activities, to keep them interested in what your dong to keep them close by, and have their interest at heart too... But children grow up! I'd only hope they move on to wholesome, inspiring careers one day soon. College can really be the "Ticket" to getting them into more social activities (positve ones) they will adhere to and experience, along the road to being responsible adults! Having fun in doing so, too... I don't want to leave that out.
My older daughter is into Comics and drawing too, as a Teen these days. Art is good, it helps to inspire the imagination to thinking and creating your own type of Art & Stories... Well that's the way it had been for myself, and I try to share my Ideas, so that others will enjoy my "ART"!
Well, at least with my Kids, I think they get a "KICK" out of it... But what do I know, "NOT A THING"...
I'm sitting here, talking to myself, as I here them giggle, and say; " Daddy's so silly"...

"Men And Maturity"

They say that it's a know fact that men Mature slower than Women, much slower... It is said that 25 years of age is when it hits! Boom! Wa-la your Mature. I can only look at myself when it comes to that and looking at what I had to experience to that point in my life.

I believe that I was of the fortunate few to have matured a lot earlier than most. Doing time in the US Navy was a wake up call for one thing. I had to stay on my "P's & Q's" so to speak, to step up to the challenge of my peers and older more seasoned Men... I was 17 when I join the NAVY.

It was a real wake up "Call", Period...I don't have no idea as to how fast I had to mature, but it was pretty darn quick! I had to defend myself, because there was no one else I could depend on but me... The minute the Kitty Hawk CV-63 Air Craft Carrier set sail, the reality hit me like a ton of bricks... Once I saw an endless horizon that was a 360 around the entire ship, I knew it was for real, for real! I found a new sence of responsibility and took my job as a cook seriously. I took correspondence courses from Penn State, to make rate quickly. However once I saw my sleeve start to look heavy, My ego kicked in! I thought I was the "coolest" dude on board that ship... My friend "AL" too...
I made E-4 and recieved an a comandation for testind highest in my class. They handed me a clip board and a small space, no bigger than a desk could fit in, to check in supplies for our sector of the "Galley". I was next to the Salad locker where Al was. I had to supply all the kettles where stuff like soup, gravies, rice, grits and pasta's were made. I worked 12 hours on & 12 off, and I had to be in the Galley at 3am every morning to set up. I was in the "aft Galley" the largest of the three on board the ship. Al was fron South Carolina, and boy did we have a blast! Weaving our way through the "Lifer's, Hipsters, Down-Home-Rebel's (Rednecks), & Gun-Ho, M*#F'S you'd ever want to meet...or don't". On the other end of that scale were the "Suck-Up's, want-na-B's, Sissy's, and Slacker's", by Naval standards, not mine! We had nerds too. It was a social convention daily in the Galley... The "Brother's" In Hood row, where the only way to get in was to give the "DAP" all the way down the Row to the End, every meal time... The point being, could any one of them that was twenty five years of age concider themselfves "Mature". I can't say, I never made the age of 25 in my Naval Career to tell you.
I don't know much of anything. However I do know this. You had to use mature logic and the right decisions in a dangerous environment, because the wrong one, could be your last, period. We were young men. Were we mature? Well mature enough to cross an Ocean, fight a War (Veitnam War) and get out of harms-way in one piece. I'd have to say, that's a pretty mature thing to accomplish... A majority of us made every effort to stay alive and respect the laws of nature being "MEN"... I know, I did. I did what I was told to do, and the rest of the time, I tried to learn and have a good time too! Not to forget, I was earning an income also...But what do I know... Waite a minute. Do women mature faster? I'm not a psycologist. Like I always say, I'm just talking to myself... (Of days gone BY!)