Thanks to Dad for Cold Hands & Endless Truck Rides

This week’s post is more personal and clearly a divergence from my normal discussions but I thought it was relevant and in the wake of Father’s Day I was given the opportunity to reflect and be grateful for all the wonderful things I have in my life.  The list is long and my children and wonderful wife are at the top along with my parents, family and friends both internal and external to my brokerage business.  My Father easily shares the top tier and it has occurred to me recently, he is likely directly responsible for my appreciation of land and wide open spaces.  He first introduced me to the rivers, marshlands and the agricultural landscapes on the Eastern Shore through hunting and what sometimes seemed to be endless journeys around the Shore.

While we were not a farming family during my childhood, on more than one occasion we frequented farm lanes and barns as we rode around on Sunday afternoons.  During these trips we often stopped in to speak with folks and learn the news of the day.  These conversations often focused on mundane facts of the day and usually surrounded how little rain or how much rain they were getting or not getting.  As a young person, it took me some years to figure out that although it sounded as if the farmer was on his last penny and one more day without rain would ruin all his crops and lead to his own personal bankruptcy, this was just cover for not being boastful or too pleased with one’s position in life.

The humble nature of Eastern Shore people, I have come to understand is a well crafted standard of the rural social order and I work to honor it each day.  Perhaps the most important aspect of these encounters was not the information that changed hands but the acknowledgement of the connection between my Father (our Family) and theirs.  That connection with both the people and the land I can attribute to my Dad.  I am grateful for the never ending trips around the Shore and the cold boat rides setting or picking up decoys for duck hunting.  Were it not for these experiences and appreciation I developed for the outdoors I would not be writing a Blog about land and real estate in the first place.  Thank you Dad, and Happy Father’s Day.