Freedom!

The whisper of wind carried the scent of orange blossoms and freshly cut hay. On the roadside a mockingbird danced with a locust. The crescendoed whir of tires on asphalt and the rush of a passing car brought Bubbie back to reality. He fired the growling engine of his Harley and gunned the throttle; it always shocked his heart like a defibrillator. Looking back over his left shoulder he kicked the bike into low gear and slowly released the clutch. Ahead the pavement shimmered like water yet as fast as he rode he could never catch it; he knew it but it never ceased to amaze him. In Bubbie's view, these fleeting moments are as close as one can get to freedom in America today.

Boy Scouts of America

I asked Uncle Bubba where he got his strong sense of community and moral convictions. He laughed and said he was just wondering the same thing not long ago. In Bubbie’s view it came form spending the majority of his childhood involved in church and the Boy Scouts. As a cub scout he’d walk to the Turner’s house, where Mr. and Mrs. Turner held their weekly pack meetings. “My Lord!” Bubbie laughed, “I was only but 6 years old then! But what great and loving people. I was friends with their son Timmy.”

According to the BSA website, “Since 1930, the Boy Scouts of America has helped boys of cub scouts age. Parents, leaders, and organizations work together to achieve the 10 purposes of Cub Scouting:
1. Character Development
2. Spiritual Growth
3. Good Citizenship
4. Sportsmanship & Fitness
5. Family Understanding
6. Respectful Relationships
7. Personal Achievement
8. Friendly Service
9. Fun & Adventure
10. Preparation for Boy Scout”

Uncle Bubba then graduated to Webelos, which stands for We Be Loyal Scouts. It’s a 20 month program for 4th and 5th grade boys to prepare them to join a Boy Scout troop. Mr. Tom Martin was his pack leader and is still to this day, all these years later a positive influence in Bubbie’s life. Uncle Bubba then became a boy scout and eventually attained the highest rank of eagle. Bubbie reckoned he’d been brainwashed from reciting the scout oath, law, motto, and slogan so many times, but only in a good way; see for yourself.

Scout Oath:
On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my Country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

Scout Law:
A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.

Scout Motto:
Be prepared.

Scout Slogan:
Do a good turn daily.

He learned about citizenship in his community, the nation, and the world. He cheerfully performed many an act of community service. Why he told me that to this day he thinks about doing a good turn daily and doesn’t feel right until he’s accomplished it. You know, it’s one of those things that y’all don’t see the value in for years and years; then one day it all at once occurs to you. Thank God for good folks, adults with good values that take the time to mentor young’uns.

Tragedy in Binghamton

Less than 12 miles from Bubbie’s mama and daddy’s house, from his childhood home in West Corners, a tragedy occurred that made the national news; a gunman opened fire on a room full of immigrants taking a citizenship class, killing 13 people before committing suicide. Don’t y’all wonder why these idiots don’t commit suicide before harming anyone else? Cause he was mad I reckon. Mad about losing his job, mad about maltreatment, just mad... like insane! So of course the do-gooders start right in on preaching for gun control. In Bubbie’s view, had he been locked in a room with a “gunman”, he’d prefer to be armed.

Bubbie worries about his family there; it is such a traumatic event so close to home. Why do these things happen? There have been a rash of mass shootings lately; Alabama, California, North Carolina, and Binghamton in less than a month. In Bubbie’s view it is because of fear. Since 9/11 this country has been under the pressure of fear with our own government turning and tightening the screws. Our government that we expect to protect us had fallen short and instead of admitting it and taken responsibility, they played a trick on us; they blamed us, put us on the defensive, and isolate us by ethnicity, religion, and economics. We have been preached to daily to fear our neighbors, to lookout for and report anything to authorities. It’s become our national, communal mindset. Fear, like a cancer, spreads insidiously into every area of our lives, we don’t trust anyone anymore leaving us to feel isolated and alone in our own homes. But that is not how our society agreed to live! Remember united we stand, divided we fall?! Sure, we’re all mad; we’re mad at our neighbors who bought and built houses that they couldn’t afford. We’re mad at the banks--the bankers--that gave the bad loans. We’re mad at the congressmen and women that are so adept at berating their friends, the heads of corporations--whom by the way paid to get them elected--that make the “laws” that let them rape and ravish our banking and financial system. We’re mad at the cost of gasoline and groceries. We’re mad because we are fighting two wars in the Middle East. We are mad because our future is uncertain which breeds more fear. But we can’t lose our heads, we need to band together and take care of one another. We need to have positive talk and positive support for one another and we’ll recover. We’ll get back on track and, if we learn from it, we’ll be better off for it. Ain’t none of us gettin’ out of here alive, but don’t we love our families enough to leave them a better place to live? Wouldn’t you want to know that your loved ones are living in paradise?

Uncle Bubba told me he sometimes thinks about former president Bush. Sittin’ in his fancy new mansion in Dallas; wonder what he’s thinkin’? Never mind.

Susie Q's

Uncle Bubba was traveling, driving through the countryside and all of a sudden... BAM! he got hungry. Y’all ever get hungry like that? Like all of a sudden your belly is like a bottomless pit and you gotta eat, and you gotta eat now! Luckily he was comin’ up on Susie Q’s, a little ol’ barbecue shack on the side of the road in Sumterville. He pulled ‘er in and got himself a barbecue pulled pork samich with baked beans and a sweet ice tea. It was a beautiful day so he sat at one of the picnic tables on the side of the shop and thoroughly enjoyed his lunch. Mmm... the baked beans had generous pieces of barbecue mixed into it. His pork soused gaze fell upon the sign out by the side of the rode that read, “Stop! or we’ll both starve” and it got him to thinking. In these trying times don’t y’all just feel like independently owned and operated businesses deserve our patronage just that much more? I know, folks that work at chain restaurants need to make a living too, but in Bubbie’s view it’s time to get back to the independent spirit that America was built on. His lunch tasted all that much better at Susie Q’s.

A Nice Ride In The Country

I wonder if this happens to everyone; Uncle Bubba was driving the byways--intensionally avoiding the highways--and yet riding in traffic. I mean he was way out yonder where he should only see trees, grass, and cows. He had some great music on the radio and was throughly enjoying the scenic beauty of the pasture land and old farm homesteads, and yet a woman was tailgating him soooo closely. He checked his dash and he was 3 or 4 miles per hour over the speed limit, which was tenuously too fast for some of the curves on such a narrow stretch of road. Y’all know they can stretch that asphalt pretty thin on those country byways, no need for wide lanes and shoulders; it ain’t in the budget anyways. The lovely lady finally passed him nearly skinning the paint off of his bumper as she wheeled around him. “Well,” he thought, “sometimes we’re all in a hurry” and he drove on enjoying his trip. A few more miles down the road a big black shiny SUV came screaming around a curve headed in the opposite direction. Bubbie noticed that the tires looked like they were bending from the rims as they hugged the curve; straining to keep the black monstrosity from crossing the double yellow line and slamming head on into him and WHOOSH, it was past. “That fella can’t even realize the beauty he’s passing, and probably couldn’t care less”, he thought. “What a shame.”

Uncle Bubba spends a lot of time on the road, not by choice, but for his job. He can’t believe that everywhere he goes... everywhere he goes... everywhere... there is someone there, and guess what; they’re in a hurry. Thank the good Lord that bump drafting ain’t been made legal yet, though so many folks would just as soon love to run y’all over as look at you. It’s rude. It’s selfish. When are we all gonna get it that we are supposed to be looking out for one another, through the eyes of love? In Bubbie’s view, it better come soon.

A Cowboy's Rebel Heart

Uncle Bubba remembered, after I made the last post, that there was a sweet antidote that meant the world to him. He was singin’ his cowboy set at the museum and kicked ‘er off with America the Beautiful. He sang two verses and then noodled around on the guitar in the same key of D a little before seguing right into Dixe. He’d been a watching this fella standing at the entrance, about 15 feet away that was quietly singing along. As Bubbie started into Dixe that fella removed his cowboy hat and held it over his heart! He looked over at Uncle Bubba; smiled and nodded before closing his eyes again and quietly sang along. Bubbie was so touched at the thought that his music had stirred that cowboy’s rebel heart. Of course—it’s what’s in one’s heart that matters most. God bless.

A Cowboys Life

In the movies, between the indian attacks, shoot outs, and rescuing the beautiful ladies in distress; a cowboys life is one of long days of working chores, mending fences and tending cattle. This workaday part of a cowboy's life is still alive today and it is as far from glamourous as any lifestyle with little monetary reward, but a cowboy is at one with the environment--at any moment the victim of Mother Nature’s whims or champion by the grace of God. Nature not withstanding, their profit margin grows or shrinks on the turn of the market. A small portion of this life has been captured in an exhibit at the Florida Museum of History titled, “Florida Cattle Ranching”.

The Duke called on Uncle Bubba to join him at the exhibit this past week. It was the grand opening as well as the State Legislature’s Regular Session had convened and the Duke had to go press the flesh and lay down the law. Uncle Bubba has been known to play a little guitar and sing and, remarkably, the Duke asked him to serenade the patrons of the exhibit with some ol’ cowboy songs. Bubbie was honored that his friend thought enough of his musical talents as to think he could contribute to such a noble event. With Sweet Pea by his side, Bubbie sat comfortably on a stool outside the entrance to the exhibit and sang classic songs of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Eddie Arnold, and Sons of the Pioneers. The cattlemen and their families passed slowly through the exhibit with smiles and small talk. Bubbie met some of the folks that were featured in the exhibit including members of the Seminole Indian tribe. They were very complimentary about the music, and there was just a tremendous sense of goodwill. Once again Uncle Bubba and the Duke had pulled off a remarkable experience and come out better for it.

Bubba Hears A Who

Uncle Bubba was laid up in his hammock under cypress and swamp maple trees. He closed his eyes and an unrestrained breeze whisked across his exposed skin. Through his eyelids he could perceive the brilliant sunlight dancing through the green canopy in the cloudless blue sky. Then his eyes cracked open and he squinted, staring up through the delicate green foliage into that blue endlessness. It was then that he had one of those profound moments when one realizes that we are on this tiny round speck floating around in space. It is right there, beyond the tree tops; space. In our daily perspective is derived from our upright posture always looking forward rather than up. We lay prone in our beds at night, in the dark, looking at the ceiling. We avoid the perspective of living in an enormous galaxy of 400 billion stars and their planets which is 100,000 light years across. It never crosses our minds that the only thing that separates us from deep space is our atmosphere that we see only as that brilliant blue sky; and adding clouds only clouds our vision; it’s too much for our egocentric minds.

So our focus is on our puny little lives. We pompously debate issues such as global warming instead of taking care of our own backyard. We think that our use of chemicals to fight bugs, keep a green lawn, a clean house, our eggs from sticking to the pan and our hair in place is so small that it could never an mount to anything dangerous. We drive by the litter on the sides of our roads and shake our heads at the contempt of the litter bugs, but we never stop and pick it up. We spend billions of dollars on research to discover things we really don’t want to know or heed. We fight wars and wait for poor people to fail so we can swoop in and take what little they have. We separate ourselves by race, religion, and economics; never thinking that we are living on a speck floating in space. Who do we think we are?

New School

If you read the previous post about the Dark Ages, this conversation with Uncle Bubba came from that. He wanted to go on the record on the topic of public education. In Bubbie’s view, the current public school system is broke for the sake of being archaic. It is an outdated method for not just educating our children and improving their strengths, but serving the family, our nation, and future generations.

Our schools are failing because they are organized according to a bureaucratic, monopolistic model for which $115 billion is allocated over the next two years. And we all know this number will decrease dramatically once the Congress get their greedy hands on it, but nonetheless, this is a lot of money spend on a broken, hold the line, status quo, brick and mortar operation. Why not spend that money setting up an educational system that combines home schooling and technology? Each child in America could be set up with a laptop connected to a satellite WIFI secure network. They could work at there own pace for less hours per day lost in preparation, travel, socialization, and wasted time in group dynamics in the classroom. The thousands of teacher’s and administrator’s salaries would be eliminated as only a few will be needed to teach the entire country. How much money could be saved if we eliminated the hundreds and hundreds of school superintendents that individually make hundreds of thousands of dollars each year?

It is not unusual for a child to have a minimal average of 4 hours worth of homework per day; that’s home schooling folks. A side benefit of Uncle Bubba’s idea would force the interaction of parents increasing family time. Since the children are not tied to a fixed schedule, the parents can no longer use the excuse that their work robs them of time with their children; they will actually have to be accountable to their children.

Alternatively, we could use the old brick and mortar schools for daycare. It would be cheaper to hire babysitters and daycare professionals to watch over our children as they socialize and have play time while parents worked. Bubbie admits these are lofty thoughts from a simple old country boy like himself, but it seems that with little effort the details could be worked out; we just need to get out of these Dark Ages and into the light.

These Are The Dark Ages

One cannot turn on a TV, radio, or read anything that doesn’t expound the gloom and doom that our country faces; frankly, because misery loves company. Nothing was ever made better, no problem was ever solved by repeating over and over again how dire one’s circumstances are. Uncle Bubba shared an interesting perspective with me stating that these are the Dark Ages; adding that we have to realize where we are before we can map out where we want to go. He points to specific examples that I hadn’t recognized until he mentioned them. The best that the big three American auto makers can come up with for “innovative” design is to remake modern versions of classic muscle cars; the Ford Mustang, the Chevy Camaro, the Dodge Charger and Challenger. Of course we know they are preying on the aging baby-boomers whim for their youth; but if we look a little deeper, we see that they have proven that as innovators, this is the best that they can do. Come on, since the mid seventies we’ve known that these cars, any gasoline powered car would quickly become a dinosaur. This is the same generation that grew up watching The Jetsons. We are supposed to be riding around in hydrogen powered bubble jets by now.

This is but one example and in Bubbie’s view, here is the core issue. This Dark Age is exactly like the original period of cultural decline or societal collapse that took place in Western Europe between the fall of Rome and the eventual recovery of learning. The reason is that we have too much technologic information. Technology, especially computerized calculation of data has sped up time so that time is traveling faster than the human bio-rhythm of life so our best minds are working slower than even the potential of the current technology. It is going to take a renaissance in thinking to propel us to reach the potential that we all know exists. We cannot repeat the same old tired pattens and expect something new to come of it; that’s insanity. We need to stop resting on the laurels of smaller faster PCs and cells phones that do crazy, but useless things, and increase the quality of our lives across the board while saving money and the environment. We need to achieve the dreams of our dreams; where the light is.

Some New News

In Bubbie’s view, its time to get back to some basics. In particular, we need to turn off the news and get back to work. If we look up the definition of news in the dictionary we find that it is nothing more than a report of recent events and previously unknown information. The thing that strikes Bubbie is that it doesn’t say anything about reporting facts. So without fact, news can be a lie. Through technology, we have developed a non stop inundation of news, which has turned into machines of propaganda. Have you noticed that it’s everywhere? One can hardly go to a restaurant or even the gym without a 24 hour news channel piping in the propaganda.

Here’s the thing, there was a time when a man needed to know the weather and knew how to read the signs in nature. A few short moments were spent reading the newspaper because there was work to do, which by the way included making sure one’s neighbor was OK as well. Remember the first bit of news? The good news, the gospel; the news we were supposed to read and share.

So in Bubbie’s view it is time to start anew. Take the energy expended in worry, perpetuated by the news, and put it to work. Turn off the unceasing TVs and get busy.

Bubbie Memoirs - Uncle Gary

Memoirs are but a window shade that is drawn back just far enough to peer in and glimpse experiences, circumstances and relationships that influence one’s life. Recently Bubbie shared some memories with me that were too relevant to his life not to write down. He laughed raucously as he regaled tales of Uncle Gary. Uncle Gary is Sweet Pea’s uncle; her father’s younger brother, the middle of three sons. But for some years he was Bubbie’s close compadre and traveling buddy. Bubbie was in his twenties then. A time when he was living, existing, fighting, struggling, and yet enjoying the many of life’s moments. Don’t we all think we know it all in our twenties only to grow and know that we are so young, so inexperienced yet so alive. Uncle Gary was ten years older and that much wiser than Bubbie, or so Bubbie thought.

Uncle Gary liked his beer; Budweiser his preference. He also loved to cook out on his kettle grill and many a Sunday was spent in his backyard tending a slow cooking brisket, swapping stories, and sipping a cold beer. Between drags on his cigarette and sips of Bud, he’d lift the lid of the grill and throw a handful of pecan shells in the coals for some smokey flavor. This was so well choreographed that it was invisible to the untrained eye because the air was alive with his non stop spinning of hilarious tales that he always swore was the “gospel truth”. He’d recall how Sweet Pea’s daddy, Butch, made him smoke cigarettes they stole at 7 years of age. They took then from home and the only way he could stop Gary from squealing was to make him smoke them too. Then there was the time at about the same age, that Lowell Baldwin run over him with a tractor. Yep, it run right over his stomach and if the ground hadn’t been soft beneath him, it’d a killed him.

Bubbie and Uncle Gary made many tales of their own. They had an agreement that they go into the beer drinkin’ business and occasionally finish drywall on their days off. Uncle Gary could tape and bed three coats of drywall mud as glassy smooth as Michael Angelo polished marble. He’d bark at Bubbie, “ Just dust the sander boy, don’t sand it hollow!” and then he’d half laugh, half bluster as he told of all the times he had to fix some laborer’s overly profuse, ignorant mistakes. He was a true craftsman and took pride in it, and wouldn’t mind telling you as much. On occasion Bubbie found Uncle Gary’s arrogance tiresome, but more often it’d make him laugh. Bubbie always figured and man that doesn't have much needs something to hang his hat on. Uncle Gary didn’t have much. Outside of his family--his wife, and four beautiful daughters--a few constants were his drywall finishing skill, an old truck, his drywall tools and his golf clubs.

Uncle Gary idolized his older brother Butch, but he could never reconcile Butch’s propensity for meanness. Gary was a friend, not a fighter; Butch was the opposite. Gary marveled at what he saw as Butch’s ability to manipulate people, “just like Tom Sawyer”. Nevertheless, Gary tried in vain to emulate is big brother through imitation. Bubbie recalled a morning when they were headed to work. As usual, Uncle Gary rolled up to a waiting Bubbie and he’d jump in, anxious to start the day. True to form, Uncle Gary, puffing on a Marlboro cigarette, regaled him with the events of the previous evening as he navigated the old tuck about a 30 mile ride through the winding, 2 lane country roads and rolling hills towards Ithaca, NY. His brother-in-law, Todd, had come by and Gary was exceptionally proud of himself in that he convinced Todd to change the brake pads on his truck. Convincing Todd was always as easy as handing him a cold beer and complimenting his mechanical abilities. Next thing you know he is covered in black grease, buried up under the wheel-well of the flimsily jacked vehicle with Gary standing, watching over his shoulder, coaching and keeping the cold beer readily on hand.

Bubbie and Uncle Gary were finishing drywall in housing units for Ithaca College students. As Uncle Gary spun his tales, they made their way through the early morning light to Route 96B which waves along the high hilltops before diving deep down a long, long, steep, straight grade into the town of Ithaca. There was an intersection and convenient store about half way down the hill that they stopped at for a morning coffee and to fill the cooler with Budweiser and ice for the trip home. As they neared their turn, Uncle Gary pressed firmly on the binders. From under the front end came an awful whirring sound that grew as he stood harder on the brake pedal. They slowed some, but passed right on by the intersection! His thigh muscles pulsed as he pumped the brake pedal harder and harder; Bubbie could hear Uncle Gary choke back the panic in his voice as he cursed Todd. Finally the old truck, whirring and squalling, whoa’d at the bottom of the hill just short of running out of road and near catastrophe! Uncle Gary turned and made it all the way back up the steep grade without a word; as if it was just business as usual. Bubbie held his laughter as Uncle Gary glided her to a stop in the small parking lot of the Jiffy store. Trying to keep a serious face he slipped out of the passenger side door and took a look at the front calipers.

“Oh my God!” declared Bubbie, “The pads are on backwards! He’s got metal on metal and the pad against the piston!”

I knew I shouldn’t have taken my eye off of him,” Gary ranted, “ I only went inside for no more than a minute to use the John!”

It was a few hours and a few beers later by the time Uncle Gary cooled down enough to talk about anything else but what an idiot his idiot brother-in-law was. Bubbie offered to help him fix the problem when they returned home, but Gary grumbled, “Naw, I’m gonna make Todd do it.” as he drove off.

A few days had passed before Bubbie saw Uncle Gary again. A man sometimes needs a few days to get his dignity back after a big event. Bubbie figured he need a cooling off period and little was said about the incident for a long while... until Gary could laugh about it himself. The triumph of it was that he could. Uncle Gary taught Bubbie so many valuable lessons in life, often what not to do, but lessons none the less.

Bubbie has so many fond memories of Uncle Gary and other characters that filled his life with love and laughter. I’ll do my best to share more of his memoirs in the future.

God Bless Billy Powell

God bless you Billy Powell. You became a roadie for Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1970, eventually promoted to keyboardist and a full fledged member of the band. What a life, you played on some of the best Southern Rock recordings ever made, you survived a plane crash... a plane crash in McComb, Mississippi in 1977! And you were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. So many accomplishments for a young man taken from this earth at age 56. Rest in peace and tell Ronnie, Steve, Alan, Cassie and Dean we miss them all, and keep rockin’! God bless you Billy Powell. You brought me great happiness and contributed to the theme song of my life.

God speed!

Another Stuper Bowl

What can one say about yet another Stuper Bowl? Sure, it satisfies the need for greed in a few overbearing rich dudes. It’s sometimes even entertaining, sometimes. However it, as NASCAR, has reached the point of no return. The show is bigger than the event; like eating chicken broth from a gold plated tureen. The NFL quite successfully stages the façade to presume that the “game” is for everyone, but it’s not. It’s only, and has always been only for the fans of the teams competing. But for the rest of us, it’s as good a reason as any to have a party.

In Bubbie’s view, some of the funny things include the players introducing themselves. Yep, these fellas obviously get paid too much money for beating people up. I’m sure the dean of UNC was proud of his former student declaring he played at the University of NORF Carolina! Or that skinny little number 10 that plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers declaring that he always wanted to be a super star, and now he is one. Hmmm… a little pretentious? But it was a good game, sure to be declared one of the greatest, but then aren’t they all? Bubbie says that with that kinda hype up front, it’s sure to lead to a pile of bull left behind.

Inauguration Day

No doubt that there were Americans that didn’t regard today as anything but mundane. Some have been overheard to mutter that inauguration day is no more than an exchange of politicians, all liars and “the same old thing.” Well Bubbie is not one of them. Though Bubbie did not vote for the statuesque man at the podium with his left hand on the bible, Lincoln’s bible, his right hand in the air; Bubbie cannot cast aside the feeling of hope, hope for a better America in his heart. In Bubbie’s view, you can’t deny the ugliness of racism, especially within the lifetime of Martin Luther King Jr., and appreciate the significance of the inauguration of President Obama. Let's get off on a good foot; start anew, raise the bar, and work together to build America back into a prestigious country, a world leader that stands for good.

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

Uncle Bubba drove to town. He turned from the hard road out on to the 4 lane and wound up his ol’ pickup, stabbed ‘er into 4th and motored on. “My Lord!” he thought, “When times are good our senseless leaders do spend some money.” as he noticed the plethora of signage littering the roadsides. Good God almighty, have we become so dumb that we need large yellow diamond shaped signs telling us that the speed limit is going to change, just prior to the slower speed limit signs? Some of those suckers are so big they take two posts to hold them up. As he slowed from 55 mph to 45 mph to the town speed limit of 35 mph he passed 4 signs within a couple hundred yards to let him know what 2 signs did before. Yessir, now we need a sign between two signs to tell us that the next sign is going to be differ’nt.

Well, in Bubbie’s view, during the housing bubble the tax revenue flowed like an overflowing river after a spring thaw. Our commissioners and such had an abundance of money and a scarcity of vision. They spent it all. On signs.

Today, Lucky Today!

In Bubbie’s view, TODAY he is the luckiest man on the face of the earth. He supposes that it may be that he has lived just long enough to see the braided threads that create the colorful fabric personifying his life's history and the advantage of a vision that enables him to see far beyond his corporeal senses. Of course there may be an evangelical southern preacher or two that will declare that there is no such thing as luck, that God has blessed us all and fate dances with faith to a silent tune heard only by babies, madmen, and prophets. True as that may be, Bubbie doesn’t pay that much mind for fear of silencing the vibrant song in his own heart--you know, like finding love only when you stop looking for it. He knows what he knows and today he knows that a secret may not be truly a secret, only a sound that cannot be heard by all. He knows who is playing his tune. He knows that TODAY he is happily floating in grace with his head bumping against the sky blue sky. As he bumpity-bumps along, the vibration will create a precipice between the cotton clouds that he can slip through--rising to the next level. He also knows the rhetorical result, that he hasn’t lived long enough to know what’s coming next and peace abides in the moment were he also holds his attention. TODAY, RIGHT NOW, THIS MOMENT!

Bad Little Kitty

Uncle Bubba found a cat. It was old, scrawny, and haggard but it had all the appearances of potentially being a cool cat. As it turned out, it had been left for dead several times and was virtually alone. He brought it in an nurtured it, fed and watered it, tended to it wounds. Before long it began to grow healthy and in spite of its quirks Uncle Bubba grew more fond of it. Unfortunately as it's strength came back it would occasionally nip and scratch at Bubbie until one day he was floored as it pounced on him and bit him hard! It was then that he realized why the cat was alone when he found him. Not only that but he hated cats! In Bubbie's view, that potentially cool cat turned out to be just a miserable ol' pussy.

They will know we are Christians by…

When Peter Schools wrote the song, “They will know we are Christians by our love” based on John 13:35, I don’t think he meant our love of rude behavior. But y’all see it everywhere…right? Why just driving home from work two minivans cut me off with no turn signal. I was tailgated by an untold number of Christians. I know ‘cause they all had some sorta Jesus bumper stickers, or fish symbols on their vehicles. Yep, bump draftin’ for Jesus! I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items for Sweet Pea and a couple of them Christians nearly run me over in the parking lot ‘cause I guess driving Christians have the right-a-way of walking Christians. No, in Bubbie’s view I think were are supposed to be loving each other not just ourselves.

Bail Out

Miss Dixie, the Duke’s faithful bride, called Bubbie with an urgent message. It seems that the Duke’s fishing boat that he keeps moored at the river had sunk. She asked Bubbie if he could take a look at it and figure out what to do. Bubbie reckoned he could deal with it and he’d head there after work. Miss Dixie’s voice seemed strained over the phone and Bubbie asked her if she was alright. She said she was, but she didn’t want to mention anything about it to the Duke ‘cause he was having a bad day and she didn’t want to make it worse. She explained how the Duke started the day by slipping on some ice in the yard and hitting his head on the birdbath on his way to landing in a rose bush—thorns and all! The image of his caught Bubbie as comical, but thought better of it.
“I hope he’s alright.” Bubbie asked.
“Yessir, he’s fine.” she said, “But with all the other things he has going on right now, this doesn’t help.”
Bubbie assured her that he’d deal with it and not to worry. Word travels fast across flat pastures, though Miss Dixie's best intentions were to protect her man, his buddies were all to happy to needle him and within minutes the Duke called Bubbie and recited the same story Miss Dixie had told him about his boat being undered. Bubbie smiled to himself and assured the Duke that he would take care of it. Hanging up he chuckled to himself that it was funny that the Duke left out the part about slipping on the ice and whacking his melon the birdbath; but a man has to have his dignity.

Later that day Bubbie was on his way to bail out the Duke’s boat and he ran into Sweet Pea as she arrived home from work.
“What in the world are you doing out here in your bathing suit?” she asked laughingly, “its December!”
“The Duke called,” he laughed, “and his little fishing boat is under water. Come on, I’ll tell ya about it on the way…”

Bubbie spied the boat and sure enough, it was sitting on the bottom of the drink. About an inch of the black 25 horse Mercury was sticking out of the water. It looked as though it got hung up as the tide went out and tumped over. As the tide rose again, the little boat was catawampus just enough to let the water slip over the top rail at the stern. Neary a minute passed and Bubbie slipped his body over the seawall and slid into the cool river water. Sweet Pea laughed at his trembling as he hooted and his eyes were big as saucers. He released the motor from the transom and lifted it from the stern of the boat. He balanced it against the seawall and then managed to get he little boat propped up with a plank like a floating bathtub. After an uncounted number of scoopfuls of water with a 5 gallon bucket, the little boat was bailed out and floating freely. With Sweet Peas help, they roped the motor and pulled it up and onto the seawall as the sunset.

Sweet Pea wrapped Bubbie in a big beach towel and they laughed all the way home. Friends take care of friends. Bubbie has bailed the Duke out more than a few times and vice versa, but this was the first time it was literal. Let’s hope it’s the last; but if not, let’s hope it’s in the warmth of summer.