Today would have been my father’s 79th birthday. My father passed away on June 20, 2015, seven weeks before I could visit him. I had planned to visit him right after my World Scout Jamboree adventure in Japan. To celebrate his birthday, I dedicate this post in his memory by telling about my adventures with him.
My first adventure with my father was when we first moved into our Melawati house in January 1977. On one weekend morning, my father decided to walk along the nearby pipes to find out where it would lead to. I tagged along but did not have the stamina to continue far enough to find out if the pipe led to a dam as my father thought it would. Little did I realize then that I would walk the same pipe six years later with Scouts from my Fridtjof Nansen patrol – this time with the intent to reach and ascend Bukit Tabur.
The pipeline trek imparted my father’s love for outdoor and adventure to me. In that same year, I had the adventure of my life when my father took the family with him to live in Oregon for two and a half years. That experience broaden my view of the world and indirectly inspired me to unconsciously always seek/create adventure. It was the best gift I received from my father – it provided me the opportunity to learn through real-world experience. My father, on the other hand, had mostly learned about American culture through books and movies till he arrived in Oregon.
My father introduced me to Scouting two years later. He told stories of his Scouting adventures as the patrol leader of his Lion patrol. He later became a troop leader and Scoutmaster. He spoke of a fixed blade knife he had as a Scout. He incorrectly called it a dagger – I guess it was because of his boyhood memories of the Tarzan movies starring Johnny Weissmuller. According to him, he and Scouts in Malaya at that time had fixed blade knives made in Sheffield, England that included a leather sheath. (I recently learned from a Scouter that the American Scouts had similar knives but made in Michigan, USA.)
Over time my father acquired knives, namely, Schrade, Buck, a knock-off Bowie, a Japanese fixed blade knife similar to the one he had in his youth, and Swiss Army pocket knives. He gave me a couple of Victorinox pocket knives when I visited him in 2000. Since then I have cultivated an interest in knives, especially American-made ones, and have started a collection of my own that included Schrade, Buck, Victorinox, Ka-bar, Case, Bear and Son, and Remington. Like my father, I believe that I will probably use them for my next great outdoor adventures coming my way later in life.
Another interest I shared with my father was the love of photography. My father had a high regard for Pentax — probably because his peers had it — and bought his first SLR camera (Pentax ME Super) in 1981. As a result, my first SLR camera was also a Pentax (MEF). My peers had Nikons (EM, FA and F3HP), whereas I was the only one using Pentax (LX). As an adult, I shifted my preference. Not because my peers influenced me. I just find Nikons to be more useful and practical, especially from a photojournalistic perspective.
My father’s liking for second-tier things extended to the performing arts. This was apparent as he was a fan of neither Elvis Presley nor the Beatles. Although Gene Autry was more popular and perhaps a more talented entertainer during my father’s youth, he liked Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger. In Oregon, he enjoyed listening to a radio program called Country Crossroads that played Roy Rogers songs.
My father introduced me to 1940s, 1950s and 1960s music. I think of him whenever I listen to the oldies music performed by Johnny Horton, Vera Lynn, Guy Mitchell, Russ Hamilton, Roy Rogers with Dale Evans and the Sons of the Pioneers, Bing Crosby, Jim Reeves, Slim Whitman, Lennon Sisters, Andrews Sisters, Eydie Gorme, Rosemary Clooney, Dinah Shore, Skeeter Davis, Nat King Cole, Kitty Wells, Bobby Helms, Claude King, Hank Locklin, Conway Twitty, Frankie Lane, Marty Robbins, David Houston, The Platters, Lawrence Welk, Neil Sedaka, Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon and the Four Seasons, Everly Brothers, Ricky Nelson, Brian Hyland, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Vee, Jimmy Clanton, The Cascades, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Notice that the Beatles and Elvis Presley are missing from the list….
Part of the music adventure I had with my father was the love of folk, country and gospel music. Songs included This Land is Your Land, Blowin’ in the Wind, Where Have All The Flowers Gone, If I Had a Hammer, Sounds of Silence, Puff the Magic Dragon, Turn! Turn! Turn!, Happy Trails, Red River Valley, Don’t Fence Me In, South of the Border, High Noon, The Yellow Rose of Texas, Deep in the Heart of Texas, My Elusive Dreams, Church in the Wildwood, In the Sweet By and By, Will the Circle be Unbroken, I’ll Fly Away and I Saw the Light.
Lessons from these shared experiences with my father included:
- Seek adventure. Be passionate about what you do. Be aware of, seize and/or create opportunity.
- Be pragmatic. Always ask yourself…is it good enough? Use, don’t keep. There’s a reason for everything.
- Simplify. Be real. Be constructively critical. Make time for what’s important to you.
These adventures are part of the legacy and memories my father has left me. Happy trails dad till we meet again.
