Wednesday, March 17, 2010

One of my favorite blogs to follow is http://finslippy.typepad.com/. There may be a better way to post that but that’s how I know to do it. Alice is a professional blogger and writer and I truly enjoy her humor. She is considered a “mommyblogger” by the blogging world. I just like her view of life. She posted today about a lady at the gym that chose to be mad at her for what was in her opinion “no good reason”.
The mad for no good reason strikes a chord with me. I see it all around us today. I think it starts with folks not looking you in the eye when you speak. They don’t want the contact. They are afraid you will see inside. They might have to explain themselves or something. Folks go from zero to “bite your head off” monster at the speed of light. Their expectation is that you want something they aren’t willing to give.
The bible tells us to be slow to anger. I had to work on that when I first heard it. It’s a choice that you make ahead of time that you PREFER to not be mad. Those of us who live in the south are familiar with Bubba and the guys who will fight because you told them their mother wears Army boots. I now that sounds silly to a lot of folks, but it really does happen around here. Now, I know my mother. She does not wear Army boots. Bubba’s intent is to start a fight. But if I am not offended by the prospect of Mom’s ugly footwear, no fight happens. While I run in a pretty restricted crowd (sheltered) I still have to assume that no one I know is going to offend me on purpose. That is not to say I cannot be offended, it is just that it is not my first response.
How about you? Are you easily offended? By those closest to you? Talk about it. See if you can stop the mad.
Unclewesty, over and out.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010


Thirty-seven years ago today I married Andrea Woods. One of my better decisions.
I can remember the day with great detail. My best friend from the Navy was in town to be my best man. We wasted the day away with others of the wedding party at the pool hall in town. At the appointed hour we found our way to the church and the waiting room at the back of the church. McKee had my ring for safe keeping and managed to drive me crazy by rolling it down the table as we waited. The ceremony was uneventful save the ceremony itself. At the reception I found out that my boss from the Navy, Lt. Norbert Commons had come up from Pensecola to be with us. That was way out of the box for me. (He was kind of my hero.) We took lovely pictures and enjoyed the reception only to get in the car to find the works of Brother Charles. I had left my car in the personal responsibility of Richard Lynwood McKee. I expected the normal shoe polish on the windows etc., but I warned him about anything damaging to my new Vega GT. (bet you don’t know what that is). We jumped in, cranked it up and put it in gear. Let out the clutch and didn’t go anywhere. I didn’t know what was wrong nor did I care. I came out of the car VERY quickly looking for young Richard. He was already 300 yards up Blacksnake road and had no intent of stopping. Brother Charles had picked up my car and had cement blocks put under the back of my car. He picked it up again and the took out the blocks and we drove off none the worse for the wear. Our trailer was in Alexander City, I had been living there since I got out of the Navy. We drove there for our honeymoon. We stopped on the way at the car wash in Alex City to get that stuff off my new car. I didn’t have to be back at school until Monday morning. Hence the honeymoon.
Today we are still together. It is a choice we made thirty-seven years ago. There have been days that we both have questioned our collective sanity, however, here we are. I speak for both of us when I say we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Happy Anniversary to Andrea Woods West. I love you.
UncleWesty over and out.