An Ordinary Bob's Brush With Greatness

You know how there are things in this world that you are reasonably sure you'll never see in your lifetime? For some people it might be a place, for some it might be a particular thing, and for some it might be an event--Whatever the seemingly unreachable item is, almost everyone has had those thoughts at one time or another. I saw something last night I never thought I'd ever see (not that I lay in bed tossing and turning about it though): A Christmas card from The White House. Yep, and for what it's worth I actually got to take it out of the envelope and open it. Woo eh? It was like my brush with fame or something.

Suzie and I were slow risers yesterday, and at about noon decided we'd take a ride down south to Melinda's house. That's where I had my truck registered a few months ago, and she had the title for it there for me to pick up. We also had a cheesy old 1993 calendar that she found at her uncle's house in California that we wanted to give her. It was a donkey calendar with an "ass" theme. Each page had something like "I'll fix his ass..." or "Peddling my ass off..." and things like that. I also wanted to stop into Cabela's on the way and look for a new jacket.

After getting a late start and stopping at Cabela's (I did find a good deal on a quilted shirt/jacket thing), we arrived at Melinda and Danny's house kinda late in the afternoon. We visited with them for a while out in the barn while they were putting all their animals to bed, once again enjoying the friendliness of their miniature donkeys. At that time Melinda suggested we all go out and eat Mexican food at the next town over.

That's where we met Bob.

We were sitting there in Plaza Jalisco in Napvine, Washington with big margaritas in front of us--And not your average margaritas either. I think Melinda called these things "Cadillac" or something. They came mixed like your average margarita, but also included a shot glass with Grand Marnier and a shot glass with more tequila (maybe it was above-average tequila in the shot glass--I didn't ask). You drink the margarita down far enough to pour the other two shots into it and finish it that way. Pretty good!

So it was about that time that Bob ("The name's Bob, with one O..") wandered over. Apparently, every bar or restaurant in the world has a Bob in it. He was an older guy (post retirement). You know--The kind of guy that wears those "puffy" farmer-style baseball cap? Obviously he knew Danny and Melinda, because he bee-lined his way over to them. He said something to them like, "You'll never guess what came in the mail for me." He handed them an envelope and said, "Look at the return address." As he was talking I was looking at his cap. It said something like U.S.S. Constitution on it. As he was saying that to them, the thought of the White House Christmas card popped into my mind, and sure enough that's what it was. They handed it over to me and there it was printed in the upper left corner of the envelope:

The White House

He was very proud of it, and rightly so. He apparently had some sort of military history that put him on the "elite" list with The White House. Yep, you don't often get to see or touch a genuine Christmas card from The White House, signed by the president and his wife.

Especially in beautiful downtown Napavine, Washington... Population 1,449.