The hardest thing

Do you know what the hardest thing about not having my dad anymore is?

Not being able to ask him questions.  Not the life-changing questions like "What is my calling in life?"  But the little ones like "Dad, where is the air tank?"  "Why doesn't the air compressor turn on?"  Both questions he could have answered in 5 seconds.

This feeling struck me and struck me hard this past week when I spent a couple of days up at the farm (as long as I live I will refer to that place as "the farm" which puzzles the Hubby because he says "We live on a farm".  Yes, honey, we do but it isn't THE FARM.)

Where was I??

Oh yes, I was at THE FARM and wanted to mow some of the vegetation (I refer to it as vegetation because it is so far removed from any resemblance of lawn) in the front yard.  One of the tires on the lawn mower was flat.  And I couldn't find the air tank.  So I drove the mower ever-so-slowly over to the shop.  Then the air compressor didn't have any air in it.  I dinked around and finally got enough air out of the compressor to fill the tire.  And as I was mowing, thought about all the questions that I will have for which my dad cannot answer and I never thought to ask.  Like where is the air tank.

When I parked the mower in the quonset and went to pull the door shut, I saw the air tank sitting on the west side.

And I shed a tear because I knew that had I called him even in Tennessee, Dad would have known exactly where it was.