Raining!

Can ya'll believe it? Lots and lots of lovely rain today, temperature around 71 degrees. Just had to share it with everyone, since I'm the first to complain when it's too hot.

In case you wondered which county on the radar is Fisher, it is the block immediately to the right of the word Snyder.

Hotter than a horse's back under the saddle

Pretty dang hot! The only refreshing thing I could think of to photograph today was the water coming out of the hose. I guess I should have taken some pictures yesterday while we were at the pool. It's usually nice there, but it became very humid after a cloudburst dropped a quick rainshower and the sun came back out. I was leaking embarrassingly from every pore and had to take refuge under the air conditioner at Goodwill while the kids got their swim on. All this occurred in Sweetwater. There is no public pool or Goodwill at Hobbs.

If you'd like to look at some truly refreshing photos, Ricky Niell has some nice ones on his site, taken in Whittier, Alaska. There's snow in these photos, something to take your mind off all the sun outside your window.

Some items of note: Three years ago this month George Maule died; Rachel (Rasberry) Halstead recently opened her hairdressing studio, "The Salon", in Sweetwater; Randi Etheredge made South Plains College Dean's Honors List for the second time.

Here are some online sites where I found news relating to Fisher County this week: Topix: Articles & Obituaries; University of Texas Libraries: Francisco Xavier Jacques; agriLIFE: Wildlife Predator Awareness. Sometimes it's hard to figure out if they're writing about Hobbs in Fisher County or Hobbs in Bell County, or, of course, Hobbs, New Mexico.

I watched a documentary a couple of nights ago called Other People's Pictures and I was really taken with it. They examined a few different categories and my favorite was photos with the photographer's shadow in the foreground. It was very interesting when they showed several of these photos one right after the other. Although there were photos from different years and locations, it seemed like it was the same photographer's shadow in each print.

I'm selling some Hobbs Panthers yearbooks on ebay, so you might take a look. And to look at some other local ebayers' goods, just go to the right on this page and click under Fave Ebay Sellers. If you like Avon, check out Georgie McGough's online catalog, also linked to the right. Shoot, just go through and click on all the links to the right!

Patricia Claxton update

I talked to Penny today and she had called Sally to check on Trisha's condition. Physical therapy has her walking and sitting up by herself. While this is good news, I have the understanding that a true baseline, or prognosis, cannot be formed until six weeks after such a traumatic accident. Still, I'd rather hear that she is moving about instead of lying in bed unresponsive.

I don't have information about Gerald's status at this time.

Update on the Claxtons

Penny (Price) Arnold and I went to Lubbock to see Trisha on Saturday. She is in University Medical Center and her husband, Gerald, is just across the way at Covenant.

Sally, Trisha's mother, was there when we got to the Trauma ICU. Trisha finally opened her eyes Friday night. She is on a ventilator hooked up through her trachea. She looks very good, the only outward signs of trauma are a scrape on the side of her face and temple, and her right arm is bandaged. I believe she has had skin grafts.

It is really too soon to tell anything, yet, is what I'm understanding from the different things I've heard. Although Trisha opened her eyes a few times, it wasn't like she was waking from sleep. She was never fully conscious.

Hospital personnel did a physical therapy session while we were there, and we stepped out of the room. Afterward the therapist told us that Trisha was where she should be for someone who had suffered this type of head trauma.

An interesting thing the therapist told us was that once the person has opened their eyes, you need to communicate with them in short sentences or maybe something as simple as thumbs up, thumbs down, because the patient needs more time to process what is going on around them, or to figure out what you're trying to say to them. I kind of felt stupid after the therapist told me that, because I had been talking a mile a minute to Trisha.

Sally said that Gerald is not on a ventilator and he is responding, but when he starts becoming fully awake, he is very combative and has to be sedated.

It looks like recovery is a long way out, and they're not even to the edge of the woods yet. Please keep them in your thoughts. If an address to send cards to or more news comes my way, I'll let you all know.

Gerald and Patricia Claxton in serious motorcycle wreck

I just received news that Gerald and Patricia (Parks) Claxton were in a serious motorcycle crash near Ira, Texas on Friday. They are in separate hospitals and in very serious condition. Gerald woke this morning, but did not speak. Patricia was still unconscious.

Please keep them and their families in your thoughts.

Overbey accepts award at Pentagon

Judy Martin Overbey, daughter of Ivin and Beth Martin in Fisher County, Texas, traveled to Washington, D.C. last week to accept the Gen. Thomas D. White Environmental Award for Restoration. Awards ceremonies were held at Andrews Air Force Base and the Pentagon, followed by a reception for award recipients.

Overbey has worked in the environmental flight program at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas for eight and half years and is currently the Restoration Program Manager. She has a BS from Hardin-Simmons University in Biology/Chemistry/Science Education and a MS from Abilene Christian University in Management and Human Relations.

Overbey worked briefly as an environmental specialist for West Texas Utilities before returning to the field of human resources management after WTU’s environmental department was moved to Dallas. The opportunity to get back into the environmental field has enabled her to utilize both her science and management degrees and provides her with great job satisfaction in supporting the mission of defending the country and protecting the environment.

Overbey is a 1972 graduate of Hobbs High School in Hobbs, Texas.

D-Day 65 years ago

Today the D-Day invasion of Normandy is being remembered around the world. The photo I've posted is from Wikipedia and I found a good article in The Times-Picayune relating to the personal experience of Tom Blakey, a paratrooper with the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division during WWII. There are many images on The War Page and a WWII timeline at wwiiarchives for dates of events.

Camp Springs reunion reminder

Tomorrow (Sunday) the Camp Springs reunion will be at The Shack in Snyder from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Dutch Treat. Hope you can all come!