Midwestern Mommy » I got your tickets to the gun show RIGHT HERE!

I got your tickets to the gun show RIGHT HERE!

Posted on June 15, 2007
Filed Under Uncategorized |

During a recent get together with some St. Louis blogging babes, Reba talked about her honey’s love of man crafts. Yes, man crafts.

You know those deer heads people like to mount on their walls? Man crafts. Or how about those dead animals that are posed then stuffed? Man crafts.

My dad is one of the finest man crafters in the bi-state area. Guess what he makes? Knives. Yes. Custom hunting knives. (This may be the only remotely interesting thing about me.)

From pocket knives to swords and everything in between, dad’s been making knives since I was a wee, tow-headed lass. When high school boyfriends would pick me up for a date, my dad would take the boy to the shed to show off the ginormous, already sharpened ones. (Now that I think about it, I never had any problem with handsy dates after that. Pauses to think. I always thought it was because I must have excreted some sort of sexual repellent. Hmmm. Maybe it was the knives?)

He even sells them at gun shows. And yes, I’ve been to a few. (Come on. What ‘tween-age girl hasn’t?)

His clientele varies from celebrities to ordinary joes who just like to hunt. His knives have even been featured in knifemaking magazines.

Every now and again dad will hear about how an original buyer has sold one of his knives. At first he was upset.

“WHY did he sell that knife? What’s wrong with it?” he’d ask. When he learned sellers were turning a profit, he didn’t know whether to be offended or flattered. Now he knows — his knives have increased in value over the years. His reputation is as solid and shiny as the finished product.

I once joked, “Wow dad, since your knives increase in value as you age, imagine how much they’ll be worth once you’re dead!”

He didn’t like that comment. Surprising. As my often tasteless, warped sense of humor? Is totally from him… (And my ornery streak too.)

I like to razz my dad about alot of things. But I’m happy that he has a productive and creative outlet for his energies. He has a passion for his hobby. And it brings him an immense amount of fullfillment and joy. Kinda like me and the blogging…

Hmmm. Maybe the apple doesn’t fall so far from the tree?

P.S. If I start making comments like, “I feel like I just gave birth!” after a bowel movement or you see my head bob up and down while I watch some busty girl on tv run, I then have become TOO MUCH like my dad. In that case, you have my permission to beat me.