J M Wetherington Sr

Father’s Day 2014

Posted on June 15, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

It was an early start for us this morning as Cindy has another day show in Highlands, NC. We called her dad and wished him a Happy Father’s Day; he has been suffering with a bad cold the past few days. It was too early to call Cindy’s son as they’re an hour behind us, so she sent him an email wishing him a Happy Father’s Day.

I received a call from Cindy’s daughter the other day telling me that my middle granddaughter had made a Father’s Day card for me in daycare. I’ll get to see that on Tuesday when they arrive at Wolf’s Haven on Tuesday.

Last Thursday I received the card below from Cindy’s son and his family. I am always so pleased and humbled by their expression of love.

And finally, last but certainly not least, I received this beautiful card below from my daughter. She has always been my Princess and I remember my mother telling me that no matter how old your children may grow to be, they are always your little ones in your heart. She was absolutely right. I have always tried to balance how I see my daughter in my heart with the beautiful, caring, loving, intelligent and spectacular woman and mother she herself has grown to be. It’s not always easy to keep in mind that while she is still my little girl to me, she has also become a wonderful mother and an adult that I am always so proud to have in my life.

I hope that if you’re a father you have a wonderful day today.

UPDATE: Just received a funny cartoon and Father’s Day wishes from my son.

Posted in Family | Tagged Children, Family, Father's Day, Grandchildren | 3 Comments

Rhodes Big View Panorama Shot

Posted on June 14, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Driving back from Cashiers to Highlands this afternoon, I stopped to take this panorama shot of the Rhodes Big View, about halfway between the two towns. It really is much more spectacular in person.

Posted in Photography | Tagged North Carolina, photography | 1 Comment

Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls – Glen Falls and Silver Run Falls

Posted on June 14, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Cindy had a show today (and tomorrow) in Highlands, NC, which is about 90 minutes south of Wolf’s Haven.

Amber and Abby are coming up next Tuesday for 10 days and one of the things that Abby wants to see is waterfalls. So, my job today was to scope out some of the multitude of waterfalls in the area around Highlands and Cashiers.

Here are a few pictures of two of the waterfalls I hiked to and from today.

This is Glen Falls, a beautiful waterfall but the hike would be too much for little Abby.

On this shot of Glen Falls I adjusted the shutter speed to change the effect of the falling water.

Silver Run Falls, about 4 miles south of Cashiers, NC has a nice swimming area that Abby would enjoy.

A wider shot of Silver Run Falls.

Posted in Photography | Tagged North Carolina, Waterfalls | Comments Off

Throwback Thursday – Mikey and Granddad Superman Shirts

Posted on June 12, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

In honor of Mikey’s 13th birthday yesterday, this week’s Throwback Thursday is a photo of Mikey and I both wearing Superman shirts when he was almost 6 months old.

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Happy 13th Birthday To Mikey!

Posted on June 11, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Thirteen years ago today my daughter brought my first grandchild into our world. He and I have had some great times through the years and I’m looking forward to more of the same in the coming years. Today, he is getting to spend the day at The Magic Kingdom with his mom and little sister, and from the photos I’ve seen thus far he is having a wonderful day.

Here are a couple of photos from that wonderful day 13 years ago.

I remember being a bit reluctant to hold Mikey because I was afraid I would accidentally crush him; he was so tiny. But I did finally hold him, didn’t crush him, of course, and Cindy took this shot.

My beautiful daughter holding my beautiful grandson and me looking on in wonder.

Posted in Family | Tagged Birthday, Family, Grandchildren, Teenager | Comments Off

Sunday Afternoon With My Daughter And Oldest Grandchildren

Posted on June 8, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

I had time to spend about an hour and a half with my daughter and my oldest grandchildren, Mikey and Heather, this afternoon. We had a good time talking and visiting. With Heather it was mostly about how well she has done in school and what she’d like to do over the Summer vacation, while her mom and I talked about Game of Thrones. Mikey was not in the best of spirits, but he has the built-in excuse that he is about to become a teenager later this week.

Posted in Family | Tagged Family, Grandchildren | 1 Comment

My Favorite Comic Book Artists – Lou Fine

Posted on June 8, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

My Favorite Comic Book Artists is a series of posts about my favorite comic book artists through the years; why I liked them and a little bit that I may know about them. Nothing fancy, just a look back at some of my favorites.

When I was about 11 or 12 I came across a reprint of a comic book from the 1940’s called “The Black Condor” and fell in love with the artwork I found inside. At this point in my life I had been reading superhero comics, mostly DC (think Superman, Batman, Justice League, etc.) and Marvel (Spider-man, Fantastic Four, Avengers, etc.) since I was 7 or 8 and this was one of the few comic books where the art truly seemed to almost leap off the page with its action scenes.

At this point in my young comic book loving life I could recognize the art of a few artists that I had grown used to seeing on a regular basis like Steve Ditko in Spider-Man, Jack Kirby in Fantastic Four and Wayne Boring and Curt Swan in Superman, but that was about it. Being a reprint from the 1940’s, the artist in The Black Condor story was, of course, unknown to and unrecognized by me, but I really liked what I saw in those panels.

A few months later I found a reprint of a comic from the same period named “The Ray” and immediately recognized the same artist by his distinctive style. That would be the last time I would ever see the art of Lou Fine until the advent of the Internet some 30 years later, long after he had passed away, but I would never forget his art through those years.

The best way I can describe his art is the word “dynamic” because at the time, with the except of a few like Ditko and Kirby, most comic book art was static or still in appearance. But the word “graceful” also come to mind as that was the feeling I got when looking at his drawings, especially the fight scenes. Most comic book fight scenes were only discernible by a swing fist and a sound effect of “Bam” or “Thwok” and drawn lines of impact to indicate a punch had connected. Fine’s fight scenes showed the whole body moving to punch or reacting to a punch.

Here’s a short little video about Lou Fine and they are absolutely right about one point; I was always drawn to comic book artist Gil Kane’s work in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s because it reminded me of Fine’s art, though I never knew that Fine had such an influence on Kane until many years later.

Posted in Comics | Tagged Lou Fine, The Black Condor, The Ray | Comments Off

Slip Slidin’ Away

Posted on June 7, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Our three youngest grandchildren were over at Cindy’s parent’s home this morning and had a good time on the , slide for tykes. Even little Maxwell, who wanted to copy his older sister and cousin, did great with the first time experience.

Take a look at the video below.

Posted in Family | Tagged Family, Grandchildren | Comments Off

Friday In Orlando

Posted on June 6, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

My day began at 3am. My last flight of the day arrived in Orlando at 12:45pm and it took another hour to get to the gate, down to baggage claim and actually retrieve my luggage so by the time Cindy and I arrived at the Chili’s near the airport for lunch it was almost 2pm. Other than 15 almonds I brought with me on the flight, I had not eaten since breakfast at 3:30am. So, we overdid it and ordered a dessert to share after lunch.

Then we stopped by my daughter’s house to see her and my two oldest grandchildren. We didn’t get to stay long and I hope to get a little more time to see them on Saturday. After that it was over to Cindy’s parents’ home where we grabbed a quick 30 minute nap before her son and daughter-in-law arrived with our two youngest grandchildren that we had the pleasure of babysitting tonight while their parents attended a wedding. It was good to see what I call our Texas-annexed family. After they were on their way to the celebration, I left for a few minutes to go pick up my middle granddaughter from daycare so the cousins could all play and visit with each other. We had a fun playtime, a good dinner, and then the girls (joined sometimes by Maxwell) got to watch “Frozen” for probably the 1,000th time.

Being the youngest, Maxwell was in bed first and after some more playtime, the girls came and asked Granddad if he would read them a bedtime story before the Sandman paid a visit.

I was originally supposed to end my work in Little Rock NEXT week, but it worked out that my departure was moved up a week and the timing was just great, as it allowed me to see ALL my grandchildren, including the ones living in Texas who just happened to be in town this week for the wedding and if I had come back next week I would have missed them. Thankful for the serendipity of fate.

And now, 19 hours after rising this morning, I believe it may be time for the Sandman to visit me as well.

Posted in Family | Tagged Family, Grandchildren | Comments Off

Last Night In Little Rock

Posted on June 5, 2014 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Here at the hotel almost everything is packed, other than what I’ll need in the morning. And it will be an early morning with a 3am alarm and a 6am flight which should bring me into Orlando via a 2 hour layover in Charlotte around 1pm local time.

I’m looking forward to seeing my wife, our family and our grandchildren, all of whom will be in Orlando Friday night since the Texas-annexed part of our family will be in town for a wedding.

We had a going away lunch today for those of us who are heading home. We had an enjoyable meal at a BBQ place named “Whole Hog Cafe” and the food was delicious. Here’s a photo I took of my coworkers.

Back at the office I finished up my work and check out procedures and just before I left I took this “selfie” of the reminder I left everyone that I was there.

Got to hit the sack.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Arkansas, Little Rock, Travel | 1 Comment