That was the headline for an article in the LA Times this Father's Day morning. My curiosity was peaked. If only to see how ridiculous my own dad (now 85) would find it. Indeed, we have several suggestions for Dad (sic), not just hiking. There is running too, of which the article writes: Let Dad pick how far he wants to run. (How far? Run? Are you mad? I don't think my father has ever run in his life, he may not even know what the word 'run' means, seriously).
Then, there's the birdwatching. (Birdwatching? Really? My father, in spite of his rather large back garden, barely knows what a bird is. He certainly doesn't know that there is more than one type).
Then, there's forest bathing. (Forest is another word that my father may not be aware of. You see, in Scotland, they have cut all our forests down and replaced them with factories and motorways. Factory bathing, maybe?)
Then, lastly, of course, there's the hiking. Routes for Father's Day hikes abound, the LA Times writes. Maybe you want to take him to Inspiration Point? (And my father's thinking, can we drive there?)
So, there will be no blood, at least none that is moving, this Father's Day for dear old pater. His car is his body and his feet are wheels. The last time he went for a walk was when I forced him on one in Warsaw when he came to visit me 12 years ago. This was the same last time he visited a park (perhaps the only time), and certainly the first when he saw a red squirrel bounding up to him (to which he almost fainted). So, nature is not the first port of call for father, having spent almost seventy years sorting out other people's electrics as an electrical engineer (whilst ignoring his own body's engines and electrics). I could take him to John Lewis' though.
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