"YYEEEPPPP!"

So my dad is a man of few words. He usually takes everything in and doesn't say a lot.  This makes bonding hard to do with Big Wayne. Last weekend when he asked if I wanted to go to an auction with him, I jumped at the chance.  A little father-daughter bonding time never hurts.  My mom agreed to babysit so off we went on a Saturday morning.
Riding in a truck with my dad is exciting -  I talk about everything and he usually just agrees or disagrees. We I talked about land, trailers, his upcoming business venture, Daniel, the weather, dogs, and food.  I ran out of topics so we just rode in silence for awhile.  I was worried what I had gotten myself into.
When we got there, I saw a different side to my dad. Gone was the solemn, quiet man.  His eyes lit up. He talked about everything. He told me how the auctions worked, we compared notes on items up for bid, prices, people at the auction, and food served. He opened up to me about work, family, his dogs, grandkids, and random other topics.  I really got into the whole auction atmosphere and I HAD A BLAST.  My dad bid on a cash register (and won) and a chain thing (and didn't win).  His knees were bothering him but he didn't complain when I said I wanted to stay longer. When we had enough auction for one day, he bought me lunch at a small diner and we were back on the road with the cash register riding in the truck between us.
When I'm old and grey and I'm thinking back to really great times in my past, I will think about this trip to the auction with my dad.  I will think about that normally somber man that got really excited over doing something with his daughter and sharing his "fun" with her. 
Love ya, Dad.

Big Wayne and his previous auction find - "the bike"