My esteemed and beloved father-in-law honored me in his Christmas letter this year -- the kind where you tell the world what your whole clan has done the past year, all 4 generations, and get it all on one page -- by saying that when I'm not sitting on a bench somewhere, I'm playing with my toy helicopters, but that it's totally selfless because I do it solely to share joy with little kids.

Actually he exaggerates, but then he's 83, so he can be forgiven for forgetting a few times when I do it for the sheer solitary enjoyment, as in my immediately-previous blog, Mosquito Fix.  As one of my most-loyal 3 readers, he surely had read that.

Not that teaching younger generations how to play with my toys is not a big job!  It certainly is, and one I take very seriously.  Making work out of play is something I learned from my late father, the honorable Professor D.J. Haigler, Ed.D. -- which explains why I sometimes forget things, being an absent-minded professor's son.  Daddy didn't have much time to play, so he insisted on doing it very efficiently.  No time wasted. 

So my son Justin and I were very serious about our play this past Thanksgiving in Dallas.  I got him a toy fighter, we went over to his church, Bent Tree Bible Fellowship, and he flew the plane up on top of the building.  I took some stills & video of that, but they didn't turn out too well, so you'll just have to take my word for that. 

Then he took me over to HobbyTown USA, where I bought an EFlite Blade CX2 toy helicopter, and here I am left, opening the box at his house.

Notice he's sticking the camera in my face when I'm trying to get something done.

Wonder where he got that from?

Not only that, but he interviews me about the dang thing, while I'm simply trying to concentrate on how to charge the batteries up.

How in the dickens can I explain how to fly the dang thing when I've not only never flown it, but have not even charged up the batteries yet?

Where is the patience of the younger generation?  Watch the video embedded below and see. 

 

Today we attended the Highland Jazz & Blues Festival at Columbia Park in Shreveport.  We caught some songs by A.J. Cascio & the Two-Tone Blues Band, left.

 

 

The place was mobbed, right.  We had to park 2 blocks away to find a place.

 

 

There was a cute chubby baby dancing to the music, below left.

 

 

 

And my sweet babe was smiling to the music, below right.

 

 

We got some footage of the band playing the Slim Harpo favorite, "I Got Love if you Want it." 

 

That video was uploaded to Facebook and can be seen by clicking on it below: