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Hey Dad,

There are few things in life as exhilarating as standing beside your sons as the first shot is fired from your homemade potato cannon (walking down the aisle with your daughter on her wedding day might edge it out).

After talking about making one for the last two years, we finally did it. We bought the parts, put them together, and collected a few spotted apple "bullets" from our ancient apple tree.

I had my doubts. I assumed that the spark from our little gas grill igniter wouldn't work or that we would have a fatal flaw in our design. Anyway, we set it outside the garage and pointed it towards a big tree on the edge of the woods.

Tension was high. Ben shoved the apple down the barrel, I added a three–second burst of hairspray into the firing chamber, and then we screwed the ignition cap over the opening.

"Here we go," I said to the boys as I pushed the igniter button …

KERPLOW!! With an explosive burst, the apple disappeared up over the woods and into the neighboring county. We looked at each other in disbelief.

"Awesome!" Ben and Sam said, as though they had just witnessed a great moment in history.

Now if that isn't cool, I don't know what is.

It was also ETERNAL. No, not the cannon part, but the time we spent together and the feelings they felt. That will last forever.

I almost missed it, because as you've noticed, summer is winding down. And the time to get such ETERNAL things accomplished is almost over.

It's a problem we dads have. We assume that we will always have "tomorrow" or a "later."

I've been reminded several times in the last two weeks that we may not. In fact, next week I'm going to tell you about my friend Robert and how his entire family was taken away in an instant.

Until then, Dad, you are not guaranteed a "tomorrow," nor are your children. Remember those plans you made at the beginning of the summer? You talked about going fishing with the kids, a trip out west, a picnic at the park, or a bike ride to a favorite spot.

So, if you have some summer promise to keep—make it happen.

You 'da dad! [Todd]

©Copyright Todd Wilson, 2004. Used by permission.

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