my father

my absent father was here this week for three days. i hadn't seen him for 27 years. it was strange, i wasn't feeling much of anything, we didn't talk at all about his lack of support and contact with me. maybe i just wanted to learn a little bit about who he is. it was exhausting. he's a talker and i didn't have the space to say very much, i also didn't know what to talk about. it's been so long, where to start?

Him: he collects guns, likes to hunt, target practice, fish, reads science fiction, shops at whole foods, eats one large meal a day, takes lot's of vitamins, believes in alternative medicine and yoga practice. he's retired, has a big house in minnesota, has been living alone since 1982, has stacks of stuff and clutter in his house, hasn't been upstairs for years, loves his dog rocky, wants to move to washington, south dakota or somewhere that doesn't take income tax. he made a decent living but has spent it all, he likes honey in his tea and coffee, likes to bake bread....

he told me a story: WHEN I WAS 6 MONTHS OLD I RODE IN A CAR WITH CHARLES MANSON. my mom, uncle peter, my father and myself were on our way to a wedding in a very large car. my father's friend was driving and very high on drugs and alcohol. he saw two hitchikers in loincloths and decided to pick them up. we were in the desert and their destination was on the way to the wedding. one of them was trying to convince the driver to come stay at his communal house. he spoke of how magical it was, beautiful. everybody would be fed and taken care of. the driver wanted to go, to forget about the wedding. my father said no and was also working on the driver to convince him not to go there. he said the one hitchiker was very strange and he had a bad feeling about him. the guy became angry at my father saying he was being negative. the riders were dropped off near their house and we went to the wedding. a couple of months later my mother was watching the news and saw the same man. she ran to my father and told him to come see. it was charles manson, the same man that they had picked up. he had been arrested for multiple murders.... wow, i've had an interesting life so far

i also learned that i have quite a bit of german heritage. had no idea.