Father’s Day 2018

Happy Father's Day, Dad! Thanks for always being there and for setting such a great example.

Dad and Granddad

For Father's Day, it seems appropriate to look back and see Dad with his Dad, back sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Today Dad looks a lot like his father did back then! Sadly, Sean and I never got to meet Granddad, but at least there are some photos. 

Father's Day 2016

I'm on call this week, which means the Woods family will be celebrating Father's Day next Sunday. In the meantime, here's a shot of Dad teaching Sean how to ride a bike as I look on. Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Father's Day Ferry Ride

Sometime in the early 1970s, before Sean was born, Mom and Dad took me on a vacation to British Columbia, probably to visit Aunt Jean and Uncle John in Kelowna. I remember this ferry crossing vividly because it was very hot, I was tired and Dad gallantly carried me around. I also remember consuming too much strawberry ice cream and vomiting pink muck everywhere shortly thereafter. Good thing Mom shot this charming father and son photo before that unhappy event. Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Two Stories About William Woods

Hope and William Woods, July 1957

Today Sean and I took our parents out to Huckleberry's restaurant in Wetaskiwin to celebrate Father's Day and a belated Mother's Day. On our way back to Leduc, Dad related two stories about his own father, William Woods.

The first story is one of Dad's earliest memories. It takes place in 1945 or 46, when Dad was three or four years old and his family was working their farm in Moose Range, Saskatchewan. Granddad was attempting to assemble a stovepipe within a granary to provide warmth for some chicks. But however Granddad struggled, he couldn't make the pipe sections fit together. His temper slowly simmered and finally burst, and he heaved the stovepipe to the floor. "If you don't want to go in, you son of a bitch, you don't have to!" he declared, leaping into the air and flattening the pipe with one mighty stomp. Sweet revenge!

Later, when Dad was 17 and helping his father on their second farm in Dauphin, Manitoba, Granddad's tractor wouldn't start. The elder Woods' strong hands twisted the choke and cranked the key over and over to no avail, until finally Granddad - who was "5'2" and built like a box" according to Dad - leaped from the tractor's seat, delivered a spinning kick to the tire on the way down, and with balletic grace flung his felt hat upon the ground the moment his feet touched the earth. Dad was paralyzed with laughter, and indeed his driving became a little shaky as he related the tale, laughing still. The Woods temper is somewhat infamous, but luckily it's always vented against inanimate objects!

Images of Dad

As I noted on Mother's Day, I don't have sufficient poetry in my soul to properly express my love and gratitude to my parents. So this Father's Day, I present some of my favourite photos of Dad, who worked for decades - and to this day - to take care of Sean and I and to ensure that everything turned out all right for us. As these photos will show, Dad is a real Renaissance man - pilot, Mountie, sportsman, salesman, but most of all, the best Dad one could hope for.