An Empty Bottle

I'm thinking of my Mom and Dad in heaven.  They're back when they were young before they had any kids.  Or maybe Dad is in an old honkeytonk bar on the east coast before he met Mom.  Maybe he just got out of the army and he's  thinking about going to school and becoming a Veterinarian.  George Jones  is playing on the jukebox.  An empty bottle, a broken heart, and you're still on my mind.

One area that I disagree on with my buddy Zachary K. Hubbard is the idea of an after life.  I think my Dad had a pretty strong faith in Jesus Christ.  One time I was trying to show off to him and show him how smart I was and I was talking about Neil Diamond's song where he says Ho Chi Minh and Gunga Din, Jesus Christ and Fanny Brice, Genghis Khan on down to H. G. Wells.  Oh boy was I one smart son of a gun.  I knew it all.  There was no way this old man was not going to have to hand it to me for rolling out such pearls of wisdom.

But he was quiet.  Didn't say anything for a minute.  It was a beautiful night out on his back patio in his beautiful home that he had had custom built for himself and his wife and his three boys overlooking the beautiful foothills of southern Colorado in the united States of America, a country that he had a  deep love for and in his home he had paintings of the founding fathers framed and hanging on the walls of his  office and copies of the united States constitution along with books on American history and veterinary medicine.

It was a clear and warm summer night in the small rural country town where my parents had ended up to raise their kids.  And me being outside of my beloved big city downtown Denver with the bright lights and emergency sirens and twenty-four-hour excitement sat there looking up at the bright stars in the sky thinking how smart I was and how this dumb slow old man certainly did not understand the real truth of life like I did.  

He had read us stories written by Jack London.  The Call of the Wild.  About Buck the dog.  But I had  gone further and studied the author himself and being so smart I quickly dug up Before Adam and The Sea Wolf.  Jack London was an atheist and by God he was Jack freakin' London man and look at me and how smart I am.  I am Wolf Larson.  I am the captain of The Ghost.  I was Martin Eden.  I was the next Jack London.  How could this old country animal doctor not see that he was just a slow Joe who worked hard and was a good man but just didn't understand the big city game.

Well I'll tell you one thing as a side note.  Dad had grown up on the east coast in places  like Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City.  I doubt there was much about the big city that I could tell him.

And after a long pause he says, "I wouldn't put Jesus Christ in that list of names."  Ho Chi Minh and Gunga Dinn.  Genghis Khan and Fanny Brice on down to H. G. Wells.  Heck, I still don't even know who H. G. Wells is.

It took me about another 30 years to finally come around to believing that you are right Dad.  Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary.  Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the light.  I'll bet my Dad may have come through some things that would make whatever I have come through in life look like small potatoes.

But Zachary K. Hubbard is not on that page.  Not yet.  Every knee shall bow and The Man will come around.  That much is certain.

So I called Mr. Zach on the phone.  I was listening to his live show before the NFL football games started yesterday morning.  Sunday.  On any given Sunday.  And Zach is taking calls for his show.  You have to love the internet.  I'm not a veterinarian but I have studied the technicalities of the internet and it has given me a good life.  A life where I can sit here in my comfort zone like J. J. Haverty back in Atlanta in 1885 and just sit here and write words on a blog and surf the web reading fake news all day long and not even have to worry about the rent coming due on the first of the month.

And so Zach is taking calls on his radio show and he says 678 go ahead 678.  And I asked him if he published his picks before the games started.  Boy howdy did he get upset with that one.  I'm telling you he went off on how stupid my voice sounded and how I was obviously a troll and after a few choice words he hangs up on me.

I was kind of  taken aback.  I pretty much expected any kind of answer from him other than that.  I may have even kind of expected him to say, and what sports predictor could argue with me here I know not, I mean even Jimmy the Greek would say who he was betting on before the game started.  But Zachary K. Hubbard oh no.  No he's like this guy is an obvious troll whatever that means and block him from the comments and block all of his calls and hang up on him immediately because he asked me if I say who I think is going to win before the game starts instead of gloating and bragging that I was right but only after the game has ended.  Come on man.

So long story short, I like Zachary K. Hubbard.  I'll guarantee you he will bring up some strong emotions and his blog is not what you want to talk about at the dinner table with family on Thanksgiving Day but I like the guy.  Now is he just another Alex Jones or David Icke?  And what about Andrew Tate?  Was the 2020 election rigged?  Don Trump seems to think it was.  Why is there division amongst even the preachers of the gospel?  Even my good friend brother Willie on Facebook strongly disagrees with me on many things.

Like Rodney King said, can't we all just get along?  Well here at The Doug Kenline Newsletter we all get along just fine.  Because this is my comfort zone, and here I am the king.

God bless America.