Changes in the view

- Bugs on FM 419 -

Besides the oil and wind industry changes in the landscape, a few other things are looking different around here.

Up on Rooster Corner, named by me and my kids, just north of Nunn Hill (what TxDOT guys called it) and Bus Wreck Curve (named by me, from a school bus wreck I saw in 1968 or '69), nothing is left except two eternal Volkswagen Bugs. It was always a topic of conversation to try to identify whether the old brick house that sat there was occupied or not. A long time ago there used to be roosters in the extensive pens, but trees had grown through them and they sat empty for decades.Sometimes there were dogs there. It's looking pretty good, now.

About a month ago, I noticed the old jail in Roby was being cleaned out. I mean desks, shelves, everything. I wonder what they're going to do with it. It has the best facade in the county, I hope it's not going to be razed.

The Rotan school looks like a big purple building as you drive in from the west. That's just the new construction, not the final exterior. It looks like it's where that weird little sidewalk from the south side of the cafeteria used to be. My kids were always falling down and hurting their legs there.

I took a drive back into Rough Creek, where I recently saw my first Mountain Boomer (Collared Lizard). He was so colorful he didn't even look like he was from here. He was so quick, I didn't actually see his collar, just a lot of aqua-blue and green. On a second drive, I saw the female, pretty, but mostly brown. I didn't see the male that time, but I'm glad he's not out there alone.

Driving farther down that road and coming up behind Koonsman, I saw a huge solar farm in the beginning stages. It had Criswell in the name, so I'm guessing it's on that ranch. It's in Scurry County.