it's not all about the money

yesterday i spent the day with my seventeen daughter which is something i 've been doing less and less of since she turned about thirteen. and it's not because i haven't wanted or tried to do to, it's just that she'd rather be hanging out with her friends instead of dear old dad.

my daughter and i would hang out all the time when she was younger. we'd go to little five points, atlanta's bohemian hippie neighborhood and just people watch for a whole afternoon. we would hang out at bookstores where i would read to her for hours, but some of the best times were spent in my apartment where we would make up games. one was called 'fix it shop' where one of us would be the fix it guy in the shop and the other would bring things in to the shop, my closet, to be fixed. each customer would wear a different costume, my clothes, and have a different accent from all parts of the world.

we also traveled a lot too. three overnight trains trips, one to new york city, one to d.c and one to new orleans. once there was a deal for a $39 round trip flight to indianapolis. i had no idea what there was to do there but it was inexpensive and more importantly, an adventure to an unknown place. we stayed at a little b and b owned by a very nice young couple who made great breakfasts. we paddle boated in a little lake in the center of the city and had a very nice dinner at a jazz restaurant where the musicians came to our table and played a special song for my daughter.

well yesterday we took an hour ride to a 'you pick it' farm where we picked 8 1/2 pounds of blueberries in about two hours. then we went to the blue willow inn in social circle, georgia for lunch. the blue willow is a buffet style restaurant serving classic southern food. the fried green tomatoes are my favorite and all the vegetables are cooked with pork, ham of fatback. i'm a vegetarian and the cook was nice enough to make me a special plate.

sorry, back to the subject. so most people go to 'you pick it' farms to save money and i did too, kind of. 8 1/2 lbs. of luscious blueberries for $11.60. ok, so i drove my 20 mpg suv and used about 1/4 of a tank of gas, these days about $18 worth. but in the winter in atlanta you can pay $4 or more for 1/2 pint of tastless berries shipped from who knows where. but that's not really the point. the point is, i got to spend a day with my favorite person one on one and to me, that is priceless.