As I watched rain early on the week in Sulphur Springs, and try to catch up from a day-long 4-H regional horse show, I decided to dedicate some time to reflect over father’s day celebration. In the way I feel it, fathers are a fundamental part of our society sometimes taken for granted. As I was talking to my 11 year old son about father’s day, he came to the following conclusion: Mother’s day gets celebrated while classes are in session and children can create something for their mothers. Father’s day, in the other hand, is celebrated early summer and children do not get a chance to create something for their father at school. My son is a little man. He will not willingly create a project to celebrate anything or anybody INTENTIONALLY. I know he loves me, and he hugs me and tells me so from time to time, but those are short bursts of affection here and there. As he develops, I have been granted the blessing and opportunity of watching how a man grows. The interactions with my son are many times speechless. Compare to ladies, that share everything with basically everybody (or at least my wife does), male to male communication many times happens without words. When you study how humans transfer information, more than 60% of the communication happens without words, even with ladies. I think guys rely heavy in communicating themselves without using words hence our capability of working or recreating without talking all the time (think on fishing, hunting, etc). IT does not necessarily mean we are upset or we do not care, we are just communicating in a different way. Recently I got a phone call from a gardener upset about deer eating his crop. The call was brief. In few sentences, he was able to express to me how upset he was. The complete conversation lasted few seconds. There were many pauses between his few words trying to describe what was happening. We talked about his options, none of those he was very excited about. He does not want to kill the deer, nor put a big fence around his property. The conversation finished with a pause and a brief thank you. As I went over research done in Georgia, I found the use of deer deterrents to avoid damage to gardens. Later on the day, I was able to talk to Organic Resource Company and found a potential product to deter the deer. Few hours later, I made a visit with one of my Master Gardeners trainees (another guy) to the deer affected garden. We visited the area, he showed me the deer damage and foot prints. I briefly talked about my idea and handed him the research papers. He looked them over and he looked at me saying softly: If you want to do these do it fast. I want to protect my garden now. We shook hands and I drove away. We hardly talk during the visit, but he “communicated” with me how much he cared about his crop and the much needed help. So, if you have a father or a father-figure to celebrate today, a sincere gesture showing that you care might be all that is needed to make him feel appreciated.
Next June 27th, 2015 we will be celebrating our 3rd annual Hopkins County Tomato Festival. The festival will have two components, one for the tomato growing and another for the recipe contest. There is no need to pre-register for the event. IF you have good tomato fruits (not the plants)(3 fruits make an entry) or tomato based recipes bring them at 5:30 PM at the Sulphur Spring City Hall Courtyard and look for the tents and signs of the contest. Award will be given to top contestants. The Hunt County Extension Office has planned their Pesticide Applicator CEU’s Session for June 24th in Greenville. Call 903-455-9885 for more details.
Mario A. Villarino DVM, Ph.D.
