J M Wetherington Sr

Our 14th Anniversary With Bella

Posted on April 12, 2025 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

It was 14 years ago today that Bella became part of our family. She was the second dog to join our household and, since Cindy and I just celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary, that means she has been with us for half the time we’ve been married. I thought I might look back on the years she’s been with us as we celebrate our 14th anniversary with Bella.

I’ve already mentioned how we came to have Bella in our lives in previous posts here and here.

But if you read our travel blog you know how important she is in our lives each and every day. The joy, love and comfort Bella brings to us day in and day out, up and down miles and miles of roads, and in campgrounds all over the country is difficult to quantify. She’s been silly, playful and comedic. She’s been a protector, a guard and a defender. She’s been a constant friend, companion, and sidekick for all our adventuring.

Bella never liked car trips. When we would drive from Orlando to our cabin in North Carolina or back, she would always get carsick. First it was regurgitation, then diarrhea. We would always have to make several stops early in the trip for her to go to the bathroom before she would get it out of her system and settle down.

So we worried about how she would do when we were driving from campground to campground across hundreds of miles of distance. But once we started she adjusted. It was almost like she figured out that this was life as it would be for a while. Now, she is never nervous about getting into “her seat” (which is a nice, comfy dog bed with her seat belt on and her peeps directly in front of her. In fact, on moving days, she is only nervous as we “pack it up and tear it down” UNTIL I pick her up and put her in her seat, slip her seat harness on, kiss her on the head and tell her she’s a good girl. Then she settles down for the length of the drive, mostly snoozing as we ride down the road.

She loves to go on walks at every campground we visit. When we get to a new one she is like an explorer; seeking out every new sight, sound and smell. Even today, in her later years, she has a spring in her step and her tail in the air as she sets out to see what’s in each new place. She equally loves every opportunity to sit outside with Cindy during the day, lying on her mat and soaking up the sun, breeze and scent of woods surrounding our site.

Bella is smart as a whip, but likes to pretend otherwise. She always gives me a knowing look when I say that to her. She also likes to pretend she can’t hear you if you’re telling her something she doesn’t WANT to hear. But if, while she’s napping or off in our bedroom, you open the creaky cabinet door where her treats are stored, she is there in a flash with her ears up and her tail wagging.

Below are some collages I’ve put together of Bella over the years. Choosing from hundreds of photos and remembering each event, adventure or memory was an incredibly joyful trip down a 14-year long memory lane. Suffice it to say that our mundane existence has been unbelievably enriched by Bella’s presence in our lives and home. If you have a furry family member, you know what I mean.

I hope you get as much enjoyment looking at the collages as I had putting them together.

Happy 14th Anniversary With Bella!

[Show as slideshow]

Posted in Family | Tagged Bella | 2 Comments

Happy 100th Birthday To My Dad

Posted on April 9, 2025 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Today would have been my father’s 100th birthday had he not passed away on December 2, 1999. Though he is never far from my everyday thoughts I, of course, find him front and center on his birthdate and the date he passed away.

April 9, 1925 was a Thursday in High Springs, Florida when James Mathew and Martha Maggie Wetherington welcomed their son James Edward into the world. He would be the youngest brother of George Carlton, Louise, Audrey and W.J. Wetherington. His mother would pass away within two years. His eyesight would be so bad that he would attend the School For The Blind in St. Augustine. I remember that both his brothers (my uncles) also had bad eyesight and, like him, would wear glasses with thick lenses; the kind we used to call “coke bottle glasses.”

Many years ago I saw a photo of my paternal grandfather and was amazed at how much alike we looked. I’ve always looked more like my mother than my father, but my grandfather and I looked very much alike. My grandfather passed away early in my father’s life and his sister Louise would be more like a mother to him during his younger years.

I’ve already written a couple of posts over the years remembering his birthday in this post and this post. And I wrote some remembrances of my father in this post.

On what would have been his 100th birthday, here are some more.

I remember two stories my father told me about his youth. One was when he decided that he wanted to learn to chew tobacco like other, older males around him. I don’t remember if it was one of his brothers or not but someone took him out to a big oak tree near their home, gave him a “chaw” of tobacco and told him to start chewing it. After a while the other person told him, “Now, swallow it” so he did. He said he got SO sick from it (dizzy, nauseous, passing out) that he never ever wanted to chew tobacco again, which was what the other person was trying to accomplish. My dad eventually took up smoking, but he never, ever chewed tobacco again.

That photo is my dad, my mom and my baby brother shortly after his birth in 1962.

Dad, mom and my brother Mark shortly after his birth in 1962.

Dad and Jeff on Christmas morning 1966 of 1967.

The other was when he was in school. Some kid behind his desk in class was bothering my dad and wouldn’t stop. This was in his early teen years. The school was undergoing some construction and there were some concrete blocks in the classroom area waiting to be used. He told the other boy to stop bothering him and the other boy kept poking at him verbally and physically. My dad finally said, “Look, if you don’t stop I’m going to bust one of those blocks over your head.” The boy laughed and kept it up. So my dad stood up, bent over and picked up one of the blocks, then raised it above his own head and brought it crashing down on the other boy’s head. He did indeed break the block and the other boy had his head split open. My dad got in a lot of trouble, he told me, though I don’t remember if he said what kind of trouble. The bigger point of the story to him was that the other boy never bothered him again. And if he told someone he was going to do something, they tended to believe him.

That photo is my dad and I on Christmas morning 1966 or 1967.

My father was never the smartest person in a room. I don’t think he went past the 9th grade in school. He did like to read the newspaper and watch the news on TV and he had his opinions about things he read and saw. I never thought my father was stupid (except maybe during that time in my life when all teens think their parents are dumb) but sometimes I think he felt that way when my brother and I were learning all kinds of things in school that he never imagined.

When I was four and five years old he would sit with me in his lap at the breakfast table on Sunday mornings and read me the color comics in the Sunday newspaper (remember those?). I clearly remember one Sunday morning he was reading but was leaving out some words. After I pointed out his omissions a few times he finally picked me up, stood me on the floor, handed me the comics section and said, “You don’t need me to read you these any more. You can do it better yourself.” I was unhappy but my mom told me years later it wasn’t my fault, it was just that it embarrassed him that his 5-year old son could read better than he did.

That photo is my Nana, my brother, my dad and my mom sometime in 1971.

Sometime after that I remember he took some night school courses. He may have even gotten his GED, but I don’t know that for sure. What I do know is that he tried.

One thing my dad was that I have never been and that is the friendliest person in a group. I often noted how he could walk into a room full of strangers and would have talked to all of them and known something about most of them before he left. He was gregarious and engaging. I always envied him for that. With some effort I can fake it and have done so in different jobs I’ve had, but it is not in my nature or my comfort zone. My default is to always sit or stand and watch in a group, engaging only if I must. Especially if it’s a group of strangers. But for my father it seemed no one was a stranger; just a friend he hadn’t made yet.

That photo is me, my dad and mom in August of 1999, about 4 months before he passed away.

I’m almost 70 years old now, but I still wish my dad was around. I think we’d have a lot more things in common to talk about now that I’m older and I’d love to hear more stories from him.

I guess it goes without saying…but I will anyway.

I miss my dad.

11 Years Ago Today

Posted on April 5, 2025 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Eleven years ago today, April 5, 2014, Cindy and I drove down to Clearwater, Florida to visit my brother and have lunch at the Arigato Japanese Steak House on Countryside Boulevard. Sadly, Mark’s wife Pia was not with us because, if I remember correctly, she had flown back up to New York to spend time with their grandchildren.

Still, it looks like we managed to enjoy ourselves. If the photo is any indication.

Good memory!

Cindy, Jeff and Mark at Arigato Japanese Steak House in Clearwater, FLorid on April 5, 2014.

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What the Hubble Telescope Saw on My Birthday

Posted on April 1, 2025 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Here’s a fun little thing. NASA has put up a website that will show you what the Hubble Telescope saw on YOUR birthday (or really, any day/month you submit) and describe what it saw for you. Obviously, if your birthdate was before May 20, 1990 when the very first image from Hubble was taken, there won’t be an image to show. That’s why you don’t enter a year, only a month and day

I put in the month and day of my birthday and here is what the Hubble Telescope saw on that date in 2011.

On July 2 in 2011

Necklace Nebula

The Necklace Nebula contains the glowing remains of an ordinary, Sun-like star shedding material at the end of its life. The nebula consists of a bright ring, measuring 12 trillion miles across, dotted with dense, bright knots of gas that resemble diamonds in a necklace.

Pretty cool!

Posted in Science, Special Days | Comments Off

Happy 28th Wedding Anniversary To Us!

Posted on March 30, 2025 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

It was the last Sunday of March 1997, an Easter Sunday though that meant little to us beyond that the following week was Spring Break from my classes so we could go on a honeymoon to Key West. March 30, 1997 was the start of a wonderful journey that proved the lyrics “When you love a woman, you see your world inside her eyes” to be true and that we each finally found someone. And it means today marks a Happy 28th Wedding Anniversary To Us!

I wrote about our wedding 10 years ago on our 18th anniversary in this post. I don’t have a lot more to add to that, except to look back on an additional decade of love with the most wonderful woman in the world.

Believe me, I know that not everyone gets as lucky as I did at this, and I am thankful beyond words that I was as fortunate as I have been. Building and living a life together with someone who loves you and understands you is a feeling that stays with you. It steadies you, warms you and makes you grateful that whatever fates there may be have seen fit to smile on you.

And I know, I know, it’s not always smooth sailing. There are and can be differences. No two people are going to be in agreement on everything. What’s the old saying?

“If two people agree all the time, one of them is unnecessary.”

We have each learned from the other. And over the past 28 years what sharp edge sticks out from one of us is found to fit into a soft curve of the other. My faults fit into her acceptance and understanding. As do hers into mine.

When I look back on the past almost three decades, it is like viewing a beautiful mosaic of multi-colored and different shaped pieces that form one beautiful whole. Things that may not have seemed to make sense at the time have been found to be some of the most colorful parts. Rough patches add to the smoothness, creating a picture of two lives joined into one.

Cindy, I love you so deeply. You make our lives the wonderful experience that we get to enjoy every day.

Happy 28th Wedding Anniversary to us, my love!

Posted in General | 1 Comment

No Mo’ Domino’s

Posted on March 24, 2025 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Cindy and I love pizza. At least at every other stop along our travels, we try to find a place to get some Italian Pie. And usually that is at Domino’s because they are so ubiquitious. So why No Mo’ Domino’s?

Screenshot of Domino’s order page on website with sauce choices highlighted by a blue circle.

Here’s where we’re at when it comes to pizza chains. This does not apply to standalone pizza restaurants which are usually of a much higher quality, but also much higher price.

Neither of us like Papa John’s. It’s always tasted like cardboard with tasteless sauce and cheese. Your mileage may vary.

Little Caesar’s is “eh”, in that we’ll eat it if there’s nothing else available, but there usually is. Again, they may be your favorite.

Pizza Hut is good. We like it, although for some reason we prefer to eat it at their sit-down restaurants as opposed to taking it home from their carry-out locations.

Then there is a first place tie between Domino’s and Marco’s. I discovered Marco’s while deployed to Puerto Rico and then was glad to discover it is also on the mainland. But they don’t have always have locations where we’re stopped at.

So, it’s usually been Domino’s. It tastes (tasted) good, is usually a good value and is practically everywhere we travel (they have 5,469 locations in the U.S.). The taste and quality are almost always consistent, kinda like getting a burger at Culver’s.

Screenshot of Domino’s order page on phone app with sauce choices highlighted by a blue circle.

But several months ago we started noticing something. When we would place our order online, there would be different sauce choices. Which is fine. I enjoy the Alfredo sauce on a feta and spinach pizza, but really have no desire to have Honey BBQ, Ranch or Garlic Parmesan sauces. For the most part we prefer good old-fashioned Hearty Marinara tomato-based pizza sauce with a flavor that doesn’t overwhelm the toppings or cheese taste. They also had a ROBUST Inspired Tomato Sauce.

Then a few months ago, we found that if we wanted Hearty Marinara pizza sauce, it would add a $1 to our cost for each pie. There was no extra cost if you ordered the ROBUST Inspired Tomato Sauce. That seemed a bit strange. We’re all about economy of existence, so we tried the ROBUST Inspired Tomato Sauce.

Way too spicy for our palettes! We tried it a couple of times to be sure it wasn’t a “one-off experience” but nope, it was too much. It overpowered the rest of the ingredients. So we started paying the $1 extra per pie. But then one of the locations only offered the ROBUST Inspired Tomato Sauce version, so we got our pies from Pizza Hut. The next place did offer the regular sauce with the upcharge, then the next several locations did not have it on the menu.

We haven’t been able to find a location that offers the Hearty Marinara sauce at all in the past couple of months. I know I have a “baby mouth” when it comes to spices but Cindy doesn’t. Yet we have both found that our mouths and tongues burn with the spicy overload of the ROBUST Inspired Tomato Sauce.

So we’ve finally had to say “No Mo’ Domino’s.” Again, you may love the ROBUST Inspired Tomato Sauce, but we have found it is not for us.

Our last few pizza stops have been at Marco’s when we can find one, and Pizza Hut, though usually at their carry-out locations.

I don’t know what led to the sauce change/exclusion at Domino’s, but for these two customers it has led us to their competitors in the chain pizza market.

So, until they return the Hearty Marinara sauce, it’ll be No Mo’ Domino’s for us.

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Happy Pi Day 2025

Posted on March 14, 2025 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Happy Pi Day 2025. I wrote about it 7 years ago in this post, and (unsurprisingly) not much has changed about it since then.

Happy Pi Day graphic with Pi symbol and March 14 date.

Posted in Special Days | Tagged Happy Pi Day | Comments Off

The Passing of Rep. Raul M. Grijalva

Posted on March 13, 2025 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

The Associated Press is reporting the passing of Arizona Representative Raul M. Grijalva today at the age of 77 due to complications from cancer treatments.

I met Rep. Grijalva 5 years ago when I was handling a Congressional Visit he and other congressmen made to Puerto Rico to tour the damage caused by Hurricane Maria and see the recovery efforts being handled by FEMA. He was kind and gracious during the two-day visit.

A few weeks after his tour I received a letter from him expressing his appreciation and commendation for the efforts that were made to be sure the Congressional Visit was informative and made the best use of the time we had to show how and where recovery was being made in Puerto Rico. That letter meant a lot to me at the time.

Today, it means a little bit more.

Rest In Peace Raul M. Grijalva.

Posted in Obituaries | Tagged Puerto Rico, Rep. Raul M. Grijalva | Comments Off

Meta-Free!

Posted on February 12, 2025 by J.M. Wetherington Sr.

Today, after taking back all my information from them, I deleted my Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and Threads accounts. I am Meta-Free!

I’ve been almost out the door of Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Messenger for the past few months. I’ve only participated enough to mostly wish friends a Happy Birthday, share our Wandering Wetheringtons blog posts or “like” my wife’s posts. But now that Zuckerberg and Meta are not only encouraging hate speech (allowing gay and trans people to be referred to as being mentally ill or referring to immigrants as trash) on Facebook without any official refuting, fact-checking or removal, as well as opening the platforms to Neo_Nazis so as to promote their version of toxic masculinity, I feel I must leave all Meta products.

I just cannot support that level of evil any longer by actively participating or even being counted as among its members. I left Twitter (before it became X) when Musk took over and began opening the doors to the same type of crap and can see no reason why I should react any differently to Zuck’s/Meta’s actions (or lack of them).

These billionaire tech bro oligarchs are just not my kind of people and I have no desire to keep giving them my data for their marketing to make more money.

So, today I deleted my Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and Threads accounts. I am Meta-Free!

It was not a fast or easy decision. It is one I have struggled with over the past few months. Over the years, Facebook has made it easy to stay in touch with far-flung family, friends and former co-workers and I will miss that ability.

But moving forward I feel like I will confine my “social media” participation to the blogs I own:

This, my Personal Blog

My Writing and Book Review Blog – The Word of Jeff

Our Travel Blog – The Wandering Wetheringtons

as well as Mastodon and Bluesky, where I have become part of nice communities.

If you wish to keep up with my “shouting into the abyss” you will find me at those corners of the vast Interwebs. I hope to see you here and there.

We all must do what we must for own conscience, as well as our own mental and emotional well-being.

Your mileage may vary, but Zuck’s/Meta’s products are no longer conducive to such for me, and so I must go to be Meta-Free!

Posted in Social Media | Tagged Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Messenger, Meta, Threads | 1 Comment