Yep, I’m a Dad who happens to love the Andy Griffith Show – if you haven’t been able to tell by now. I was not around when they began the show but like a lot of people I found myself watching it later on. I began to watch it after our first child was born… and kept watching it after the second child… and after the third… and after the fourth… and after… well let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Even though this website encompasses our current projects and conversations, the theme of the whole thing had to echo an underlying feeling. That being, I hope to instill in my kids a wonderful sense of honesty, fairness, morality, ethics, justice, discipline, compassion, playfulness, respect, love, and of course simple pleasures. Those are the trademarks of that show and admirable ones at that. All of these things seem kind of rare these days and maybe that’s why I gravitate toward the show and its composition.
Recently I read a quote on Joey Fann’s website that rings true for me about that Mayberry feeling:
“… it would seem that the quest to return to Mayberry is more about a mindset than a physical society. And this realization may help to explain how a simple thirty-minute sitcom can provide such comfort in a world full of uncertainty. Recent events have been a vivid reminder of mans inhumanity toward each other. In contrast, The Andy Griffith Show continues to provide a wonderful lesson of humanity.” (quoted from Joey Fann’s website http://www.barneyfife.com)
Regarding the tagline of this site:
There is a scene in the Andy Griffith Show where the ‘Darling family’ is going to start playing a song (If you haven’t seen the show, they happen to be incredibly good bluegrass musicians from way back in the hills). Briscoe Darling, the father of the clan, is a jug player and not musically technical in the least. At one point Andy wants to play along and picks up his guitar and asks, “What key?” to which Briscoe replies, “Just jump in where you can and hang on!”.
So as you begin to navigate the MayberryDad.com site… that’s the motto.
Have fun!