Thanks Dad

Happy Sunday everyone. Happy father's Day to all you men who stop by or to the father's in people's lives. Today my post is full of things inspired by my dad, although none of them are exactly relate to my dad.

If that makes no sense I hope can explain in this post.

My art today is a page from my Japan Travel Journal. My journal is not necessarily a fancy art book but  place to create some memory pages and hold all the bits I brought back from the trip. 

 Our sister city, Nichinan, is where the Hiroshima Carps play their spring training/pre-season games, and while there we visited the stadium. I found it interesting how  baseball crazy Japan is. I knew they liked baseball, but didn't know they liked it that much.

I made my background simply with paper tape, and then I added this postcard and a few other little bits to complete the page- a coin I brought home (for 1 yen which isn't worth more than a US penny) and also this cool postage marking. (And I m linking up to Gill's super challenge Inspired By over at Art Journal Journey I am also linking up to Try It on Tuesday and their For The Boys challenge.)

I am posting this page today because my Dad loved baseball.  It was the only team sport he enjoyed. As I grew up in Massachusetts, it was all about the Boston Red Sox. When we were younger he took my brother and I to a few games and taught us all the rules.

The thing is I don't know how my Dad would have felt about me visiting Japan since he was in World War II in the Japanese theater.  When I first bought a Toyota car back in my 20's he wouldn't even ride in it or look at it. He did come around after a bit and decided it was a really good car, but he had memories that I didn't have and came from a different time and place.

And my Dad  taught me to fish. He loved fishing. But he was a freshwater and fly fisherman. My husband is the saltwater fisherman. And since it is Father's Day yesterday the hubby, my daughter and I went out fishing, first for mackerel and then for Striped Bass. Of course, the fish weren't really biting yesterday, and my husband didn't get anything, but I caught  2 mackerel. I'm sure that annoyed the hubby down deep, not that he would ever admit that, but I will say it made me happy deep down to skunk him. Not that I would ever say anything either. :)

Thanks Dad for all the skills.

And lastly, I need to credit my Dad with my artsiness. My dad was an architect and the artsy member in the family. When he was younger he was also a photographer and I grew up with lots of camera equipment in the house.  So today I will show you some architecture photographs I took while we cruised out to the fishing grounds in the hubby's boat. Dad taught me about using a camera, he taught me the ins and outs of designing homes (one of my childhood  hobbies was drawing home plans) , and inspired me to use color in my life.

Sorry I don't have a photo of my dad. I lost him in 2004 and none of my photos are digital. I still miss him and his advice and his inspiration. Of course, he was my dad.

I hope everyone has a great rest of your weekend and a great day.