I remember...

So I stopped by the Home Depot the other day to look for some paint colors. Funny thing when I get something in my head - I just can't seem to get it out ~ I am my father's daughter. So there I am looking for just the right shade of blue...crayola really doesn't have anything on these "paint color" guys. Find what I think is "it" and I am out...

Home Depot is NOT my favorite place to go, since I really don't really remember or understand most of it ~ I'm a girl :) However, on this day I was struck with the most amazing memory of my father.

When I was little - I would do just about anything to hang out with my dad. I learned how to fish, I learned about football, fixing cars, build stuff, fix stuff, mow & groom stuff...ANYTHING to just hang out with my dad. So, nails, screws & tools of all sorts were of particular interest to me. If I knew the correct wrench or the correct nut & bolt to give my dad I felt like I had accomplished my mission. Very proud of myself I was!

I made plenty of trips to the hardware store with my father - such a treat to ride along with him in his big red work truck...loved it! However, once there I was almost always stuck with the "impossible mission" my dad called it finding the needle in the hay stack. He would give me a single nail or a single bolt or nut & have me go find another one just like it. ISH...such anxiety it would give me if I couldn't find it (I mean have you seen the nail and bolt aisle)...but what JOY when I did. It became quite the ritual between me & my dad.

I know now however that my dad just found some random nail/bolt or nut to give me with instructions to find another to keep me busy so he could take care of his business. It ALWAYS worked!

So, the other day when I wandered into the "nail aisle" I was transported back to the age of 9 riding in that big red truck & searching for the impossible...the smell of the fresh cut 2x4's made it all the more real. Small memories in strange places, always seem to make me smile!