Date:         Fri, 9 Jun 2000 21:18:44 -0400
Reply-To:     Jim Cain <jcain@MINDSPRING.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Cain <jcain@MINDSPRING.COM>
Subject:      Friday: George has a name!
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I know that some of you put great thought into the names you give
your babies, including your Vanagons and Westys.  I enjoy the variety
that I see on the list.  My brother-in-law named ours "Herbie"
because of that movie about the VW Bug that talked.  I never liked
it, the movie or the name, but went along.  Well, my wife went along
too, except she has gone along somewhere else and I still have the
car, so I have had a no-namer for a while and have given it great
thought.

A little background here:  My dad bought the first Westy in our
family in 1968, had it delivered to Stuttgart Germany where I was
stationed at the time.  I picked it up and drove at a week or so
before delivering it to him.  I later bought my first Westy in 1970
and he and mom eventually drove theirs to Tierra del Fuego, Chile.
He was a great fisherman (I'm getting to the point soon) and used to
fish from the dock in the Florida Keys.  There was often a Great Blue
Herron that landed on the dock beside him waiting for him to catch a
little fish that Dad would feed the Herron.  The Herron would not
leave until he was fed. This went on for several years and Dad got to
calling the Herron, George for some reason.  He would come in and
say, "Well I finally got one to feed George, so I could quit."  Well,
since that time, any time we see a Great Blue Herron, we call it
George.  You know, like we would come back from bird watching and
say, "We saw a Little Green Herron, two Ibis, and three Georges."

The point, finally:  Dad passed away two years ago next week, and in
his memory, I am calling my Westy "George".

They all three, the Herron, the VW, and my dad, were steady, and very
stubborn.  They all three leave a mess wherever they have been, Dad,
anything he had in his hands, the VW a little oil, and the Herron,
well, you know, little white spots.  I've cussed them all three many
times, but love them dearly, so it fits.  So it is now,

Jim in Atlanta with George, '85 Westy