A mostly failed outing, a little silver lining

- Grand Central Station, TX -

Last weekend I planned on going to a concert in Lubbock, but the abundance of homeless people, a disappointing hotel, and forgotten tickets left me racing back to the house, driving at night, which I don't like to do. There sure are a lot of cars on US 84.

Amidst all this activity, we found a fantastic shop. Grand Central Station Antiques on Avenue Q had a more sparkling array of everything than I could fit in my eye. There were more than just antiques there and the place was huge and clean. The people were friendly and I just loved it. The prices ran the gamut, so you could buy something very high end, like a pretty crystal punch bowl for $400, or something for the kids, like a little bag of Hot Wheels cars for $8. Go! See!

The censor

-On the list!-

When I was attending school during what would be the final year before the fine architectural building known as Reagan Junior High was razed, to be replaced by the soulless structure now known as Sweetwater Middle School, we had a grand library in which I could hungrily search for the next literary marvel to devour. 

We called the librarian Miss Waller. She could have been a Mrs., but, as an eight-grader, this was not something I pondered. 

Miss Waller had her own way of censoring books in the junior high library, not by omitting them fully, but by taking an ink pen and marking out the unsavory, to her, I suppose, parts. I'm assuming it was a task she took upon herself. I can't imagine this was an order from our stately, elderly principal, Mr. Whittenburg. It was rumored among us children that he had been seen crying on the last day the school was open, when students ran through the halls defacing the walls and tearing open lockers.

In censoring books the way she did, Miss Waller had made her own reading list. The list of books we must read! I only had to pull out a book and see how much ink was in it to know if I wanted to read it. The more ink, the better.

I was a little thrilled to learn that John Irving's The Cider House Rules is on the list of books that might be considered for prohibition in Texas. Whether the list really means anything, or if there's even really a list, is questionable. I've seen reports of the list, but I haven't seen an original document. I suspect that a bland politician is using his non-actionable, highly publicized inquiry as a way of trying to get his face and name on display.

But as for authors, they should only be so lucky as to have made the list! I'm glad one of my favorite writers is being placed in the limelight, once again.

A little bit of ink can go a long way.

The sign of the grasshopper

-Grasshopper-

Grasshoppers have been manically jumping about and covering the yard, making it necessary to put my hands up when I walk outside for fear of having my eye put out. After the little frost we had Saturday morning, I realized I should pay heed to their activity, reading it as a sign of changing weather.

I cleaned out the woodstove flue and stacked some firewood and kindling inside. This might seem ridiculous, as we're still having very warm days, but I looked back to notes from last year and we had a winter storm on Oct. 26, not even two weeks after having a high of 90. In 2019, there was a frost Oct. 12 and freezing drizzle on Nov. 11. 

I was thinking we had another couple of weeks before we had a frost. What good is it to keep notes if I don't refer to them? I've been planting flowers like I was setting up a botanical garden. Maybe subconsciously I knew what the grasshopper flutter was about and I've been giving them something to eat before winter comes.

Following a trail to Mount Zion

- Mount Zion Cemetery-

I decided to follow up on my Nettie West story by taking a trip out to where she was buried, the Mount Zion Cemetery, between Rotan and Hamlin.

Expecting to find something like the Hobbs Cemetery, with a fair amount of graves kept up regularly by caretakers, I was surprised to find a fenced off acre or so with about 25 graves scattered in small groups. It was mowed enough to walk through, the back quarter of it in pasture. The most recent grave I could find was from 2014, a good many being from the early 1900's.

The cemetery is not in ruins, though it looks unfrequented. It is situated on County Road 241, going north off of State Highway 92.

There are discrepancies in the information I've found about Nettie West and her family. The article from The Farm magazine cited Nettie as saying her brother Jim Tazewell died in 1942, but his headstone has 1944 as his year of death. She said she was born in Illinois, but the death certificate information on the Find-a-Grave website says she was born in Texas. The certificate text gives her maiden name was Tazwell, but it was spelled Tazewell on her father's and brothers' grave markers. Genealogical researchers must have headaches all the time from trying to sort out such stuff, just from errors alone.

That same website says that Nettie married Charlie Bailey in 1900, and Johnny West in 1947. 

The site lists 42 memorials for the cemetery. There are graves there marked for the Bates family, Nettie's neighbors who took her to town.

An article about an article: Nettie West

- Nettie West, 1955 -

In an ongoing state of serendipity, I'm always finding interesting items while in the search of others.

I came across an article about Nettie West, a past resident of Fisher County, in a 1955 copy of The Farm, written by R.J. McGinnis, the editor of the magazine at that time.

Mrs. West was 78 when the story was published, she being a country widow living alone. A search on Find-a-Grave shows that she lived to the age of 87.

Her maiden name was Tazewell, born in Illinois; later she was a Bailey, then died as a West. She outlived her father, two husbands and two brothers. There is no mention of children, but at the gravesite, among the Tazewells, is a small stone plaque, engraved with the initials M.J.B.

She mentioned some neighbors, the Bates, who would take her to town, Rotan or Hamlin, to shop and bank.

McGinnis wrote, that in 1953. Nettie benefited from royalties in the best well on the Round Top Field (Palo Pinto) at that time.

Fisher County Commissioners to meet Tues Oct 12

Commissioners will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning in the county courtroom at the courthouse in Roby. 

Common items on the agenda are departmental reports, county auditor accounting, and the burn ban. 

Other items of interest to be discussed are a curfew ordinance, the Community Development Block Grant, an estimate approval for improvements at the Fisher County Museum, approval of tax forfeiture bids, and appraisal district nominations.

Weekend wandering to Wichita

- Royal Theater, Archer City-

The Spur Hotel in Archer City had no rooms to let, so I stayed on in Wichita Falls Saturday night. It's not too far of a drive.

The to-do was pretty interesting, with a lot of people who did and didn't personally know Larry speaking. It was a good way to study the different facets of a persona, a mix of perception and personal knowledge.

It was surreal to be in that area, in that town, in that building. Watching the movie, I kept thinking, "We are there now". I could turn my head a little and see where a scene had taken place. Then, driving home from Wichita Falls, I kept musing that cyclists driving along the highway were Duane, on the way to see his therapist. 

Driving from the North Plains to the Rolling Plains, with a big sky, endless horizon and little traffic, gave me a couple of hours for rumination. Deep thinking on a Sunday morning, what luxury.

I'd like to make a correction on an earlier article. Booked Up, McMurtry's bookstore, is on South Center Street, just south of the courthouse. There are faded letters on a building on the square, and another ghost of a sign next to the current location, that indicate the business has been in a couple of different places. The current store is housed in a few buildings, on both sides of the street.

Quail ranch complex off the ground

-RPQRR, present and future-

The new headquarters for the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch is now a standing structure. On the south side of US180, just across the road from the current site, the framing and walls for the new buildings can be seen coming up out of the prairie.

Originally, according to the RPQRR newsletter, the complex was going to include a research center, an education center, a lodge and kitchen, and a guest cabin. A more current article in the Lone Star Outdoor Newsletter cites three new buildings: a research lab, an education center, and a guest lodge; totaling 6,400 square feet of new working space.

RPQRR has been operating since 2006. Dale Rollins, executive director since the beginning, has changed roles to outreach director. Brad Kubecka, a protege of Rollins, is the new ED.

Another thing about Larry

Speaking of Larry McMurtry, as I was, the Wichita Falls Times Record News and The Dallas Morning News have ran articles about an upcoming get-together in Archer City to honor him. This coming weekend, Saturday Oct 9, writers are going to show up and talk about him, then the movie The Last Picture Show will be shown outdoors. It looks like all this will occur in or around the Royal movie theater, across from the court house in Thalia. I mean, Archer City. I'm not sure if the writer's deal is for the public, but it looks like the movie will be, and free to boot. A one-of-a-kind event, not to be missed. Lecture at 7 pm, movie to follow, around 9:15 pm.

Fisher and Nolan county tax sales tomorrow Oct 5

Perdue Brandon has lists of properties that are going on the block for unpaid taxes tomorrow. The Fisher county sale is scheduled for 10 a.m. and the Nolan county sale is set for 2 p.m. The sales will be held on the courthouse steps of the relevant county.

Texas Communities Group has many ongoing auctions, including some for Anson, Hamlin and Sweetwater. Be sure to click on the Live Auction tab for separate listings.

Thinking about Larry

- A few of my books-

I was reading a book the other day, and one of the characters said, "I'll give you one piece of advice about the oil business, the one you're going to be running starting tomorrow, and that's return your phone calls. Don't put it off and don't skip any, even if you think the person you're supposed to call is an asshole or a flake."

That's a good rule of thumb in everyday life, too. I've had high-falutin' people drop the ball, like lawyers and realtors, and it's shameful. I won't do business with people who don't call back.

Larry McMurty wrote the above lines in his book Duane's Depressed, when Duane hands over his oil business to his son, Dickie.

I drove through McMurtry's home town of Archer City the other day, hoping to shop in his bookstore Booked Up. It's on the courthouse square, but was closed that day. From what I've read on the interweb, since his death it has been managed by his store partner, Khristal Collins.The website featured some of the same books I have (see photo, just a part of my collection), and that made me proud.

At a glance, the town looked like what Roby and Rotan might look like put together. I couldn't figure out where Sam the Lion's pool hall would have been, but I was just passing through and had to be on my way.