FATHER’S DAY
Backwoods Blog;
in the woods and on the road…
George Hutchinson at a bowling alley in Massachusetts (1960)
Since Father’s Day is this weekend, I am continuing my annual “shout out” to my Dad in this week’s blog entry by going through the photo collection and selecting a few of my favorites. And what the photographs may lack in quality, is more than made up for by the moment they capture. This polaroid picture of my father at the bowling alley had a caption written on the bottom (probably by my mother) saying, “Give it a heave, Hutch!!” Dad was never much of a bowler, but he’d give just about anything a good try.
For years now, I find myself calculating my Dad’s age at any given time and comparing it to what I am doing at the same age. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of sons do this “comparative exercise” related to their father. For instance, right now I am 64 years old, so what year was my father 64 and what was he doing? My father was 64 in 1974 and I would have been in eighth grade. He was still farming at the time, and would do so for another five years before he “retired” and start working part time in a potato house for his nephew, Raymond Wotton. Although my father didn’t have any athletic interests, he was always active and busy which served him well as he aged. He also had to keep up with my mother who was twenty five years younger, so that kept him going…I don’t know what I’ll be doing in five years, but five years from now I’ll think of my father and say, “Ah, that’s when Dad parked the tractor for good.” We follow our fathers in many ways (intentionally or unintentionally) as we look back and we look ahead. Here’s to fathers everywhere.
Happy Father’s Day!
In the woods,
Dave
June 12, 2024
George and Vera Hutchinson (1961)
Looks like Dad is trying to sell a washing machine…
Late night snack at the summer cottage.
Dad sporting a balloon mustache… (1976)
George Hutchinson at age 93 (2004)
George Hutchinson (1964)