OK folks, this week in our Write Your Roots class, we discussed
character sketching and used our dad's as subject matter. That was
pretty easy because dad's can be kind of quirky, display strange and
unusual habits, and generally easy to pick on. So I've reserved a spot
on the blog for my students to post their character sketches. Have fun! I'll go first... here's my character sketch about my dad:
"The more I spoke, the sleepier he became. It seemed like my
conversation’s purpose was to lull him to sleep. Earlier, I found Dad working
in the yard, determined to fix his broken gate. The problem was suppose to be
an easy fix but ended up consuming his entire morning and part of the
afternoon. By now, his short temper got the best of him so he put down his
tools and decided to take a break. 
It
was around 3:45 in the afternoon when Dad finally retreated to his medium green
recliner. He was wearing blue jeans and a plaid button-down shirt and I could see his
gold cross necklace through the open top three buttons. No matter how hard Dad
worked, his silver grey hair was always neat. By this time in the day, his
rough, olive-toned oval face was casting an early five-o’clock shadow.
Dad
never looked as peaceful as he did now. His wide-set apart eyes were closed
like a garage door slammed shut. Carefully, I reached for the toothpick that
typically hung from his mouth and slowly began to slide it out. That’s when he
opened his eyes and said, “I was just resting my eyes.”
Now it's your turn :)
Chrissy
Posts
19 comments:
Sweaty and covered in grease dad walks into the family room from the carport. After he gets a drink of water he will sit down on a desk chair. With his laptop in front of him he watches YouTube videos on how to fix the motor mounts on the van. Slightly refreshed my dad will grab a couple of cups and holler "Anybody want to go get a coke with me?"
At 7:00am, my dad wakes up and shuffles to the bathroom to get ready for the day of hard work ahead of him. After getting dressed, he sits himself down at the island in the kitchen with his navy blue and white business shirt that says, "Larson Rug Cleaning" and navy blue pants on. Before he gets the cereal out, he turns on the TV to the local weather to see what the day will be like then, to the local news. After he has found the right channel, he gets up to get the milk, Mini Wheats cereal, and bowl. after he pours his milk over his Mini Wheats, he doesn't dive right in; instead he pats his cereal down into the milk. When he has finally finished, he scrapes his bowl so loud to get the last bits on whats left. (He has even been know to wake the kids.)
My dad pulls up a few minutes early to pick me up from dance in his orange Honda Element wearing his battered Atlanta Braves hat and a Westsode soccer Club sweatshirt. "Hey how was class?" He asks as I climb in the passenger seat. He rolls down the windows because he knows I'm super tired and sweaty after a long day of dance. "Pretty good! We rehearsed for what felt like ages." I reply. As we drive he turns up the radio and sings along to our usual 80s rock music. We pull into the driveway and grab the groceries from the back seat of the car. We walk through the door and dad takes his usual route upstairs to change. After about 5 minutes he walks back downstairs in his pair of red, plaid pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. Dad sits on the couch and sighs with a glass of homemade sweet tea in his hand. He lounges in his usual spot (the far end of the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table) and asks us each about our day while he flips through the tv channels looking for the latest soccer game.
I came in from outside and I saw him sitting on the couch wearing his gator shorts and a tee shirt. With his laptop studying rosetta stone i don`t know what he could be studying German, Spanish, French, or Portuguese? He studies them to learn, and teach my family. Not knowing I walked inside, he looked up with a puzzled expression on his face and says Glen have you done your school work?
Great Job Glen, Abbey, Lily and Grayson! I know some of you had a tough time with this one. I asked several of you to re-write, but your finished product is so much better than what you first submitted. Remember, I'm not able to see your dad in his typical environment so you have to make sure your description takes me into the room!
Let's see how the rest do,
Chrissy
My dad, tall and tired walks in thru the front doors, not even bothering to lock them. He lumbers up stairs to get on his red flannel pajamas. After he gets them on, he blunders down the stairs and flops down on the couch in front of the t.v. When we come in he smiles and sits up. We talk till eight till my mom comes in and tells us to go to bed. My dad stays up until 11and then keeps the t.v. on. When we wake, we hear a sound that sounds like a herd of rhinos. We come downs stairs and see the television on and my dad snoring. When we shake him awake the first thing he says is "I wasn't snoring."
This is so funny!!! Our poor dad's... they are the perfect targets for character sketching!
Way to go, Jared :)
Chrissy
Every afternoon you'll see my dad come home in his blue jeans and a polo shirt. He goes straight to the dinner table where everything is already cooked and ready to eat. After everyone is done eating, him and my mom clean off the table and dishes. He then slowly goes up the stairs as it creeks beneath him. He then casually changes his clothes into shorts and a worn out shirt. He cautiously comes back down the stairs and relaxes in the soft cushiony leather recliner while watching cartoons and Americas Funniest Home videos with the girls and Mikey.
My dad walks in from work, keys jingling, as he removes them from the key hole. He takes a deep breath, and releases it in a sigh which turns into a smile. He changes into some plain clothes, and goes and plays with Matthew and Annalise while my mom reads to the rest of the family from a book like 'Around the world in 80 days' My Dads powerful arms throw matt and annalise high up into the air, catching them before they come crashing into his chest after a while he says, "Enough for tonight. Daddy's tired." and reaches for his bible and journel, do do some studying of God's word beofore he finally falls to sleep.
Preston,
A vivid picture of your dad's routine - You did a fantastic job :)
Chrissy
Zach,
What a precious memory you have of your father. Thank you for sharing this with us. Once again, we are reminded of what a wonderful man he was. His legacy lives forever :)
Chrissy
It's a chilly Saturday afternoon when Mom walks by the living room, laughs and shakes her head at Dad. He is lounging on the couch wearing beat-up blue jeans, a well used sweatshirt and ankle length white socks. Why does mom laugh? Well, because Dad's socks are hanging off the end of his feet with about four inches of sock actually on his foot, starting at just above his toes. His head slowly relaxes against the couch as he begins to snore softly at first but soon with more gusto. As the T.V. continues to drone on with the voices of sports announcers, I am tempted to pull his socks all the way off his feet. I restrain myself knowing that he wears his socks in the unique fashion because "I don't want my socks to tight on my toes".
Briana,
These dad's of ours are such quirky creatures!
Thank you for such a descriptive paragraph :)
Chrissy
My father is a hardworking man. When he gets home from work, there's two things on his mind... eating and sleeping. Those thoughts are on every hardworking man's list. Some dads find a nice comfortable spot to "rest there eyes," like a couch or easy chair. Instead of finding a nice spot on the couch, my dad falls asleep in the kitchen, on a stool, at the island with the TV on next to him, until one of us comes by and tells him to go to bed. Just like every other dad, he says, "I'm just resting my eyes." But once the battle is over, he shuffles back to his room, then takes a shower and passes out in his bed.
You nailed him Garrett. That's Dad to a "T!"
One day we'll be making fun of you too.
Mom
Dad walked lazily into the back bathroom wearing the usual navy blue baggie shorts and lose navy blue shirt ripped and stained from previous work days. He stepped in front of the mirror and pulled out the bottle of sunscreen that was hidden in the cabinet behind the mirror. Though tired from a restless night of sleep dad had the look of determination to not get the sunscreen in his eyes and big bushy red beard. After applying sunscreen to the face dad moved onto the rough leather like sunburned arms and legs. He then walked into the kitchen where his wife and three kids still in their pajamas awaited him. He sat down at the dining room table to eat the eggs that his beautiful wife had made for him. After finishing breakfast dad prayed for his family’s day
“Dear heavenly Father bless my family’s day. Let it be fruitful and give them the patients that they will need today to accomplish the tasks ahead. In your heavenly name we pray, Amen.”
Dad then kissed each family member and headed out the door for a long hot summer days worth of work.
As I glance over at the sidelines, I can see a tall man with one hand on his beard-like goatee, stroking it and looking over at us as we warm up for the game. As the game begins, he starts giving instructions to my whole team, from his position on the sidelines as he paces. Let me tell you, he is kind of like a back seat driver, but instead, he’s a sideline coach. Whenever we get the ball, he yells commands at us to “PASS THE BALL” “SHOOT” or “GO, GO, GO!” After the game he comes over to the bench and tells us that we did a good job, even if we lose. You see, in most situations this man is quiet and mild-mannered. On the soccer field however, his years of coaching can’t be quieted. I don’t mind this man’s loudness, even if it is really thunderous, because he’s my number one fan. By the way, did I mention he is also my Dad, and the only one I’ll ever have.
After the long day of work my dad comes home and is still not done. My red-headed father opens his squeaky trailer and retrieves the broken edger. With his big, rough, strong, cut up, hands, he begins to work away at the equipment. As I watch I find a new hole in his t-shirt. He grinds his teeth trying to loosen the bolt and gets frustrated. He moves into the garage from the drive way because he needs the light to keep working. Thirty minutes later I meet him inside for dinner.
Autumn, Evan, and Samuel,
You did a fantastic job on your character sketches of your dad. Each of you used very descriptive words and put him into action. Therefore, I was able to get a good picture of who this wonderful man is. I can tell he's strong, hard-working, passionate, and most of all, loves all of you!
Good Job,
Chrissy
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