A Dad's Day Colllection

A random collection of things on this Father's Day:

• There are some in our society who don't give fathers the respect they deserve, and there are some who even question the necessity of having a father in a child's life in the first place, apart from that of a sperm donor. (I should mention that this idea is the polar opposite of how I feel on the subject.) But if you want to see the importance that fatherhood in the raising of kids--especially boys--you don't even need to stay inside the human race; we can learn from elephants.


• Today's Dallas Morning News has a cool story in its Travel section about a father-son hiking trip to Utah.


• Don Surber asks: "If we are serious about the importance of fathers, why not move the holiday to sometime in the school year when kids could do something in class for Dad, just like they do Mom." Well said.


• And finally, on a lighter note, the Church of England found an unusual way to convince dads to attend services today: free beer. (And bacon!) Hat tip: Dave Barry's Blog, where the commenters are having fun making puns by combining beer brands and hymn titles

And let me repeat something I said a year ago on this day:

I certainly had my share of classic father-son moments as a kid (many of them involving baseball games), but I also treasure the interaction we have now, as he's moved on to the role of trusted advisor. The "parenting" may have stopped a long time ago, but the mentoring that replaced it has proven equally as valuable. It may seem as though I'm waiting a long time to become a father myself, but I won't be lacking for a role model. I hope that all of you out there are so lucky; if your father's still around, call him. Now. (And not collect; does anyone even do that anymore?)

Happy Father's Day to Dad, as well as my brother-in-law Justin (who's a dad to three potential future dads himself) and my cousin Matt, who's celebrating this day as a dad for the first time...and to all the dads who are reading this blog.