By Judy Collins
My father always promised me that we would live in France
We'd go boating on the Seine and I would learn to dance
We lived in Ohio then, he worked in the mines
On his dreams like boats We knew we would sail in time
All my sisters soon were gone to Denver and Cheyenne
Marrying their grownup dreams, the lilacs and the man
I stayed behind, the youngest still, only danced alone
The colors of my father's dreams faded without a sound
And I live in Paris now; my children dance and dream
Hearing the ways of a miner's life in words they've never seen
I sail my memories of home like boats across the Seine
And watch the Paris sun set in my father's eyes again
My father always promised us that we would live in France
We'd go boating on the Seine and I would learn to dance
I sail my memories of home like boats across the Seine
And watch the Paris sun as it sets in my father's eyes again
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I spent Father's Day with my father and father-in-law, plus my mom and mother-in-law and husband and kids, beginning early when my father picked Adam up to play tennis with him. After lunch Paul's parents arrived and we went with them to Great Falls to ride the Charles F. Mercer canal boat through the lock in front of the tavern and up the canal for a couple of miles while park rangers in period costume talked about the history of the canal (which Adam declared an epic failure because it took 40 years to build, made a profit for only a couple of those years, and wound up a national park only because the B&O Railroad bought it to prevent competitors from building a railway along its towpath, used it as collateral for back taxes, then let the government have it rather than paying the taxes). I learned that it is the second most-visited national park behind Yellowstone, and it is my second-favorite national park behind Yellowstone (well, all right, third, behind Devil's Tower), so I think it's an epic success.
The C&O Canal boat approaches the lock in front of the historic tavern at Great Falls National Park.
Park rangers help guide the boat into the lock...
...and visitors help the staff open the lock after the water levels are raised so the boat can move through.
Once the boat is through the lock, mules pull it up the canal...
...and annoy the geese along the way, which must get out of the way first of the mules, then of the boat itself.
On the return trip the boat must be lowered in the lock.
This shot was taken from the same spot as the one before, after the water was let out of the lock.
You can see the golf tournament reflected from the TV in the frame over the men's heads.
My mother had offered the night of Daniel's graduation to have everyone over for barbecue on Father's Day, so we went there, though both grandfathers were distracted by the U.S. Open, which was going on just a couple of miles from Great Falls -- we could see the MetLife blimp from the Falls Road-River Road intersection. I find golf less exciting than watching bugs in the grass, so I don't know who Rory McIlroy is or exactly how good 16-under par is, but I'm glad he did it at Congressional Country Club since everyone in the DC area seems to think this is fabulous and will make everyone shut up about Tiger Woods, who didn't show up for the tournament. We had burgers and lots of munchies (hummus, cheese, nuts, Utz chips brought by my in-laws from Hanover), and both a blueberry pie and the leftover chocolate mousse cake my parents' friends got them for their anniversary. I got Paul a book on programming Android applications so we'll see if he gets interested in that!
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