Beware of the answers.

I'm late in getting this posted, mostly because there's a fear of self-aggrandizement in anything I write as an attempt to praise fathers and fatherhood.

I learned very early on that in school, if you asked a question, you'd get an answer at the lowest common denominator level. If you asked why the sky was blue, you'd be told 'it's because that's what your eyes see' which is a non-answer at best and misleading otherwise.
Now, if I went home and asked Dad, I'd get a short adventure into the land of wavelengths, an explanation of refraction and scattering of light, and maybe a touch of particle theory as the sprinkles on the cupcake of knowledge.

The latter was almost worse than the former, as I knew that I didn't understand it, but, unlike the educators that didn't seem to trust me with the straight dope, Dad did. He never dumbed it down, which made me feel that even if I didn't get it now, he knew I'd get it eventually.

Unfortunately, when Burke asks me why the sky is blue, I have to tell him that it's the reflection of the oceans as I never remember the right answer.

Somewhere along the line I seem to have inherited Dad's tolerance for pain. It's entirely possible that I was the reason he had such a high tolerance... I don't think I was all grace and beauty when handling hammers, tennis racquets, fireworks, anything thrown, any heavy machinery, cars, my own sweet self... I don't know that any baker's dozen guardian angels could have kept up with intercepting all of my randomness, but Dad did. Or at least knew how to stop the bleeding and/or fix the gaping holes in the ceiling.

It's traditional when accepting any major award to declare that you were lifted on the shoulders of giants and able to see beyond what had been done before (unless you're Murray Gell-Mann, in which case you announce that you were surrounded by dwarfs.) I haven't gotten any awards recently, other than the supreme ones... the love of my wife, the happiness of my children and the knowledge that the world is a lot more secure and we aren't lost or destined to be miserable as humans. Really, I guess those were things that were awarded to me, not that I earned, but I'm grateful nonetheless. It's good to have been raised (in both senses of the word) to see the things that matter, to see a life lived in accordance with the words spoken, and to feel hope and love as concrete items.

Nice work Dad.

P.S. We're not going to take the kids back until they know Avogadro's Number and what it means. Hey kids, guess what you get to do instead of playing on your vacation! Physics! HOORAY!

- Ryan