Random Memories....

Marcia:
Marcia was remembering the other day that Dad liked a neatly set table.  In fact if possible, he wanted the table to be set all day long, however, if that was not possible he at least wanted the table set properly at meal time.  I guess the Sawmill broke him of that desire:)
Bill:
Marcia reminded me that when Dad was in the Seminary/Institute program he was knows as Bill 'Tech' Bodine.  I guess he took church ball pretty serious and was always getting technical fouls and being ejected from games.

Marcia:
 Dad loved westerns, you are right Clint Eastwood and John Wayne were two of his favorite . He loved the white hat black hat type. Where it was obvious who was the good guy and who was the bad. The scene in the John Wayne movie McCintock ( may be a mis spell) where they had the big fight in the mud puddle with the Indians made him laugh till tears ran down his face. My favorite movie is Quigley down Under. I think that is because it is the last western I saw with him. He loved "Paint Your Wagon" and "Cat Ballou".  It had a drunk horse leaning against the barn.  I remember loving watch him laugh and loving life!

Marcia:
Do you know he got into long bike rides at one time. We lived in San Diego (I was in the 5th grade ) he rode to Andrews Air Force base and he was so tired he had to call mom to come pick them up and take them back home. Lol

Bill:
I remember going on a least one really long motorcycle ride with Dad on our Honda 175cc.  It might not have been that long, but as a 12 year old, he let me drive and it seemed like we drove for ever.  It was the greatest.

Marcia:
Dad went to school to get a solo air plane license . Don't know if he ever finished . He was not good at math and that was very hard for him. So I don't know if he ever got his private pilot license. But he did try! Not afraid of most anything, but never arrogant , always humble!

Bill:
I remember him going to pilot school as well.  When I got home from my mission, he and I studied for a while to get our Real Estate licenses.   Neither one of us studied enough and when we went to take the test, we both failed.   Who knows, maybe we could have been Real Estate tycoons.

Bill:
There are people that have to always being doing something.  Even if it is just fidgeting in place.  The Dad I remember was NOT one of those people.  I think that is what made him so comfortable for me. That's why 3 hour rides to Scottsdale each week were enjoyable.  If he went to the mall shopping, he was content to find a bench and just wait peacefully while everyone finished their stuff.  When we would go visit Dad, we didn't have to be out DOING something.  We could just relax in the house and enjoy each others company.  We took him on a cruise to Alaska before he died.  My memory was that, while he enjoyed the excursions we did, he was just as content to sit on the deck and relax.  Of course that was when he wasn't cheating at the card games we played.
Right now, Heather and I love to spend our Sunday evenings in the front yard doing nothing but enjoying each others company.  I can see Dad fitting right in with that.

Bill:
Dad hated cats (not sure if the animal rights people would appreciate me putting the Dad-Cat story on the internet), but he loved Dogs.  Gidget was the last dog he had.  If I remember right, he spent more time petting dogs with his foot than he ever did with his hands.

Bill:
Towards the end of his life, he used to always go on walks with Gidget at the Golf course there by his house.  While on the walk, he would hunt for golf balls.  He had to have had hundreds of balls there at the house when he passed away.  I think I only went on one of these walks with him, but these hunts must have been epic.  Now, when I am in St. George with the family, we like following the same route on the Gold course that Dad would have taken.  I always come back with ripped shirts, bloodied arms, backs, legs and heads and plenty of balls.  Picturing Dad as a weekend 70 year old scavenging for these balls is fun.  If I remember right, one of the last times he went was the time he really went deep into the brush after a ball and fell in the creek, making a bit of a dam, that runs by the Golf course.  I think he was stuck there a while. That had to have been a scary ordeal.  I hope that someone who has even more detail on this will elaborate.

Bill:
Like many of his generation.  Dad loved Clint Eastwood movies.  A no-nonsense guy in all his movies that exacted quick and decisive judgement.