{"id":1263,"date":"2017-06-18T20:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T00:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/?p=1263"},"modified":"2017-06-19T04:15:25","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T08:15:25","slug":"some-thoughts-on-fathers-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/blog\/2017\/06\/18\/some-thoughts-on-fathers-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Thoughts On Father’s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
Greetings and Salutations;<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

I thought I would take a moment today, \u00a0since it is Father’s Day, to talk about something that is not a political rant or a discussion of bees and their world.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
From Left: Unknown Fingertip, Dr. J. O. Mundt, Earl Mundt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My Father, \u00a0John \u00a0Orvin Mundt, \u00a0had a pretty amazing life. \u00a0 He was born in Wisconsin, \u00a0 \u00a0and grew up on a farm, \u00a0where he certainly learned the necessity for, \u00a0and the value of, \u00a0hard work! \u00a0This ensured that he would keep a large garden planted with enough produce to feed three families going every year to the day he died. \u00a0This was a family affair, too, \u00a0as not only the kids \u00a0got to be yard slaves taking care of weeding and picking the produce, \u00a0but, even Mom was pulled into it. \u00a0On the positive side, \u00a0she was the one that ensured that we always had a goodly area of the garden covered in flowers (that we could enjoy, \u00a0but did not have to pick) \u00a0However, his “Safe Place” \u00a0and Zen Temple was the three, 200+ \u00a0foot rows of Raspberry plants that he lovingly cared for around the year. \u00a0He would come in from work in the late Summer and through the Fall, \u00a0and work his way slowly through the tangle of canes, \u00a0trimming them, \u00a0removing the stubs of old canes, \u00a0weeding, \u00a0and carefully squirting a drop of shellac onto each cut end to keep the Cane Borer beetles from burrowing down the soft centers of the plants, \u00a0laying eggs and hurting the plants.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0As a young man, he survived the Great Depression, \u00a0although he nearly starved to death during it, \u00a0and, it left some scars that never did heal. \u00a0 Because of that experience in his life, \u00a0he was \u00a0not willing to let a single morsel of food go to waste. \u00a0 We had to clean our plates of every bite. \u00a0 When we processed the produce from the garden, \u00a0we had to get every last sliver of tomato, or kernel of corn \u00a0into the jars. \u00a0 We pressure-canned everything, so it would stay good for a long time. \u00a0Now, \u00a0with up to four kids and two adults in the house, \u00a0we made it through the rest of the year on those jars of canned produce.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0When he was a boy, in Wisconsin, \u00a0he felt he was not welcomed at Church. \u00a0As a poor farm boy, \u00a0he did not have nice clothes to wear. \u00a0His worn, but, clean, \u00a0coveralls and shirts were looked down upon by the other members. \u00a0However, \u00a0in spite of that, \u00a0he persisted in the teachings of the Lutheran Church, \u00a0and, while he struggled at times with the conflict between Dogma \u00a0and reality, \u00a0he did, \u00a0I believe, \u00a0gain much spiritual growth from the Church and its teachings. \u00a0He, like all of us had his failings, \u00a0but, \u00a0as long as I knew him he always exhibited the best of Christ’s Message…He loved and cared for all, \u00a0and had no prejudices against other people because of cultural, sexual, or racial differences. \u00a0He also did his best to pass on those attitudes to his children, \u00a0and, I have to say, \u00a0 looking at my brother and sisters, \u00a0I believe that he did a far better job of that than he believed he had done.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0He was a quiet man, \u00a0who was prone to NOT<\/em> talk about himself to any extent. \u00a0 Was it because he still had painful wounds to his soul that he did not want to reveal? \u00a0 Was it because he was more interested in others than himself? \u00a0 I believe that both of these are true, \u00a0but that the latter came to be the dominant factor in his life. \u00a0Lord Knows, \u00a0he had some wounds too! \u00a0 Decades after his death, \u00a0after many conversations with my siblings, \u00a0and comparing notes, \u00a0I have come to the conclusion that my father either WAS one of the German-Americans that were interned during World War 2, \u00a0or he was very close to those that were swept up in that debacle, \u00a0and it rattled his world. \u00a0 Perhaps the worst part of this, \u00a0is that Dad \u00a0was always kind of in awe of a country where a poverty stricken farm boy from rural Wisconsin \u00a0could get access to such great support and educational resources at little or no cost. \u00a0 These allowed him to continue his education to become a world-renowned Microbiologist, \u00a0speaking many languages and reading more, \u00a0with many discoveries in the field to his name, and, being able to influence the life Journey of many, many students.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0His work at the University of Tennessee, \u00a0with the students, \u00a0was another example of his caring for others. \u00a0 He made it a point to learn as much as possible about the students he was advising, \u00a0and honestly evaluate their prospects in the field. \u00a0 Being German Lutheran, \u00a0he was quite willing to tell a student that they had no aptitude for the work. \u00a0 However, unlike many advisers, \u00a0he would go on to talk with them about their strengths, and to suggest alternative degrees that they ought pursue. \u00a0MOST of the students he had to do this with came to appreciate him quite a bit…because he had been absolutely right, \u00a0and they ended up in a degree program that fit them far better and gave them much more happiness and success. \u00a0 Some students ignored his advice, and pushed on. \u00a0I have, over the years, \u00a0run across a few of these, and a number of times, \u00a0they had gotten a degree in Microbiology, \u00a0and then had ended up in a career change to something that had nothing to do with the topic. \u00a0 Dad was not perfect…he did make mistakes and some of those students he had advised to bail out, \u00a0attacked the subject with greater determination than ever, \u00a0and successfully got their degree. \u00a0 They may well have found a niche in the broad field that really did fit them well, too.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I could go on at great length about the successes and failures of my Father, \u00a0and how he taught me much from both of them. \u00a0 Perhaps, though, \u00a0that is more for a different post. \u00a0I wanted to finish off by saying that we had a rough relationship for a lot of my life. \u00a0My brother and sisters were FAR more successful in the areas that he held important. \u00a0 I, though was that little, 9 year old, third child who lost his tools all the time. \u00a0 HOWEVER, \u00a0perhaps the best memory I have, and at least the one I am proudest of, \u00a0is that, several years before his death, \u00a0our relationship was shaken up and re-formed into a friendship between two adults. The somewhat shocking moment of realization I had that this change had happened was one weekend when he asked me if I would come and speak to his lion’s Club meeting about the world of computers and programming – focusing on it as a career. \u00a0 I went in, \u00a0and did about 45 minutes extemporaneously, \u00a0with some props \u00a0I had printed off, \u00a0and (which will surprise those that know me) kept it relatively short. \u00a0 Afterward, \u00a0as we were driving home, Dad observed that it had been quite a good presentation, \u00a0and that I had not used any notes… \u00a0He seemed rather impressed that I had become a knowledgeable enough person, \u00a0and was well spoken enough to be able to do that. \u00a0 He rarely exhibited surprise, \u00a0but he did at that…<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The fact that we became adults, and friends that could speak honestly with each other is both one of the most touching, and biggest honors in my life. \u00a0 He died years ago, yet, \u00a0 for some reason, I feel him with me\u00a0 today, \u00a0I am sad that he is not here and I cannot show him my house, and help him with his Raspberries a bit.<\/div>\n
Thanks, \u00a0Dad.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

=-=-=-=-=
\nPowered by Blogilo<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greetings and Salutations;   I thought I would take a moment today, \u00a0since it is Father’s Day, to talk about… Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,708,6,9],"tags":[709,168,710,712,711],"class_list":["post-1263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ethics","category-family","category-general","category-humanity","tag-fathers-day","tag-honor","tag-j-orvin-mundt","tag-raspberries","tag-zen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1263"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1278,"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1263\/revisions\/1278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beemandave.com\/beemanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}