One time, when I was a kid, I asked my father what religion he followed. He said, “Me? I'm a Druid. I worship trees.” And then he smiled that smile of his, and I knew he was pulling my leg. Years later, during one of our last, long talks together, I asked him about that comment and he gave me a rather lengthy, detailed response about how Druidism probably best fit his outlook on life and nature, but that in the long run he followed no organized religion and mostly thought it was bunk.

Now you know where my own lack of faith comes from. I am my father's daughter.

Another time, we were discussing reincarnation and I asked him what he would love to be if he could come back in another form. “A sea otter,” he replied. “Why on earth a sea otter, Daddy?” I asked, laughing. He turned thoughtful, and simply said, “They have so much fun, don't you think? Just playing around in the water all the time, floating and swimming and eating. I envy that.”

My father had a sailboat. For years he docked it in Great Neck and he'd take my sisters and I out on the water whenever he could. Invariably, however, as with most sailboats, his needed a lot of upkeep, and the docking fees got outrageously high, to the point where the sailboat spent the rest of its life sitting in the backyard of the house. Daddy could be found outside every weekend, in his cut off jeans and a t-shirt, sanding and painting, sanding and painting. He finally got rid of it, and for years there was a triangular patch of dead grass in the yard, the boat's final footprint.

When talking of his impending death, my dad sometimes joked that he either wanted a Viking Funeral, or simply just have his body thrown into the ocean so he could feed the fish. When my father passed away, it was my hope that we could honor his real wishes and have his ashes scattered over the Long Island Sound from a boat. Alas, too many laws and regulations got in the way. I hope he understands that we really did want to do it, though.

Anyway, what got me thinking about all of this is an article I found this morning at WordPress about Druids. I am very happy to see that Great Britain has decided to finally give Druidism the legitimacy it deserves.

Somewhere, my father is dancing naked around a tree, smiling.

(Cross-posted from Once Upon a Paradigm)