Symbols and a Hobbs Reunion

I was cleaning out the kitchen window this morning, thinking about how cluttered it looks with so much junk sitting up there above the sink. I've just always enjoyed having a bunch of stuff there to look at while I wash the dishes. If I analyze the pieces, each one has specific meaning to me. The duck belonged to my aunt, the rocks are from a friend who lives near the beach in northern California, the picture of the patron saint of animals is from my best friend, the jar was found in the back pasture, the feathers come from a trip to North Dakota, the colored glass bits come from a game of Pente that I used to play, the rooster belonged to a friend that died the year my son was born, and all the snuff jars remind me of my grandma, who was a dedicated Sweet Garrett woman.

I'm overwhelmed to think that every living being has their own set of symbols, reminders, markers. Things that make no sense to anyone except the owner. I don't know what it means, but it seems existential. I'm probably being crazy; lately, life events have me thinking about the importance of what we do, what it all means, and how we should live for the moment. Isn't that all we really have? You can't make special, it just happens. I know, the last sentence doesn't fit into this self-psychoanalysis diatribe. I just thought of it last week and I've been dying to use it.

Onto the reunion. A Doc Hardin hosted reunion of the Hobbs High School Class 0f 1959 will be held October 17 at Buck's steak house in Sweetwater, 10 a.m. If you have any questions, just email me and I'll try to find the answer.

I was looking around on YouTube and found a video made at the Quail Research Ranch, formerly know as the W.T. Martin land at the yellow light intersection of US 180 & FM 611 here in Fisher County. Agricultural wildlife specialist Dr. Dale Rollins stars in the show, along with some canine friends. The ranch will be having a Field Day Sept. 25. For more information on that, you can contact Rollins: 325-653-4576, d-rollins@tamu.edu.

We were watching Ted Nugent's Spirit of the Wild on the hunting channel last night, we just had to see what a "swamp donkey" was. Nugent has an over-the-top personality, and he puts that to good use as a philanthropist, with programs like Freedom Angels and Hunters for the Hungry . He also is active in the Make-a-Wish Foundation, allowing children with life-threatening illnesses to spend time on his ranch, SpiritWild, in Waco.

We're in the rain and enjoying these temps, not even out of the 70's. We heard some ducks out on the tank yesterday, so maybe fall really is coming, if the fowl are going south. I guess we all KNOW that it's coming, but you know me, always looking for signs, always collecting symbols.