The Acorn Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree

Or maybe that should be the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Well, thehorsefarmer has finally entered the world of blogging and is demonstrating his inherited talent for conveying his version of events onto the worldwideweb. You should check it out here.

Now, I think all of us got a bit of ability to spin a yarn of words from the Gentleman Farmer, my Dad, Bob Lee, Sr. He was a journalist and a damn good one if I do say so myself. In addition to being the Editor of a weekly newspaper for the Catholic Diocese in southern Missouri, he also was published, at least twice, in Catholic Family Digest. Accomplishments that netted him some much needed farm implements or a tent trailer camper.

I am from a family of 5 boys and 5 girls. I know, whenever I mention this to someone, they are usually dumbfounded. It is almost unbelievable in today's times. I will always remember Dad saying the reason he had 10 kids was the fact he kept wanting a blonde haired, blue eyed child, as he was. The last one, Joan, was a blonde so I guess Mom and the Gentleman Farmer decided to settle for that. Or Mom developed a perennial headache. We all have brown eyes, I guess because we are all full of it!

So now onto the subject of this post.

While all of us boys, at least, got the ability to spin a yarn from the Gentleman Farmer, only one of us got his looks and his mannerisms. As thehorsefarmer relates here, he, like the Gentleman Farmer, now requires a hearing aid to see and glasses to hear. Dad was the same way. I remember him telling me, while talking from the Sunshine State to the Ozark Mountains, 'Hang on, let me put on my glasses so I can hear you'. I had forgotten this until reading thehorsefarmer's blog. Thanks for jogging my memory, Tom.

I remember one year Dad got, from I have forgotten who, a headset device to hear the TV without the sound being at full volume. Of course, Dad used it for about 30 seconds and then it gathered dust on top of the TV set. Alternately, he would act as if he didn't hear you, as did his Mom, my grandmother, Moo, so they could pick and choose what they wanted to respond to.

So, in addition to this inability to hear without glasses or see without a hearing aid, thehorsefarmer is the only one in my family to inherit the Gentleman Farmer's looks.

Check the following images out.

The above image is thehorsefarmer and me sitting on his three wheeled cart just outside the newly built Coop deVille this past summer.

Here is a shot of the Gentleman Farmer on his much desired sailing trip. He later disclosed to me the idea of a two week sailing cruise was much better in his imagination than in his experience of it.

Here is the Gentleman Farmer in San Antonio at Christmas, according to Mom's handwriting on the reverse side of this photo. Bonus points for identifying the cars in the background. Years are required.

Here is a shot of the Gentleman Farmer in a pair of his signature suspenders. I remember Dad wore a red pair of these to one of my sibling's wedding, emblazoned with "Budweiser" on them. Fittingly, thehorsefarmer wore them to the Gentleman Farmer's internment ceremony.

This is a shot of Dad a few years before he passed, circa 1998.

Now having seen these pics of the Gentleman Farmer, can you believe the following image of thehorsefarmer. Not only did he inherit the Haven Lee Farm name, he got Dad's looks as well. Sorry about the brown eyes though.