A cross-eyed mule and a leaky barn roof

That was all The Terminal Advance, a newspaper published in Fisher County's White Flat area, could tout in 1906.

One issue of the Terminal sold on ebay this week for $83.45, offered by Paperworks of Austin. Apparently, White Flat was the terminal point for the Texas Central Railway, hence the newspaper name, and soon to be the site of Rotan. Seems like not much was going on around there at that time, as the writer was really having to reach for a story. I can't imagine what it would be like to be in the middle of nowhere with a fancy printing press at my disposal. Some sort of writer's bliss, for sure.

Today you can buy a 1929 Rotan class ring and a 1950 Yellowhammers year book off of ebay. I couldn't find anything on Hobbs. Not the Texas Hobbs, anyway.

I've posted the football schedules below for Rotan and Roby. I got my free schedules at Thriftway in Rotan. Just click on the schedule for a larger view. I believe Rotan, Roby and Sweetwater schools will all start Aug. 25.

Now for the newspaper rundown.

Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance for August 7, 2008:

• Hammers poised for surprise run (photo)
• Lions two-a-days (photo)
  
• Roby CISD returns to school
• Expectations high for Rotan volleyball (photo)
  
• Commissioners enact burn ban
• Captain David Nowlin takes command of Headquarters Company, 7th Communications Battalion (photo)
• Garrett Dowell awarded TILF Scholarship
• Incumbents file for re-election, newcomer Dana Groat
• Obituaries for Delbert Oran Bridges, Ruby Francis Smith Green (photo), and Garland Moore (photo)
• Fisher County Sheriff's report
• Visit the Clothes Closet in Roby, M-F, 9-4
• Airman Joedon Carrillo graduates Basic Training (photo)
• Filing for Roby school board open until Aug. 26
• Upcoming Olympic games anticipated by many
• Rotan Class of 1948 reunion (photo)
• Representative Joe Heflin urges attendance of hearing in Lubbock, Aug. 12, 1 p.m., of the Select Committee on Property Tax and Appraisal Reform
• Grievance Committee convened Aug. 8 to discuss salary grievance
• Roby CISD school supply list
• First Financial to open new bank in Merkel (photo)
• Tumbleweed Smith: Enjoying Summer is all in the Attitude
• Roby CISD bus route changes
• Fisher County school ratings
• Fisher County Rodeo Queen contestants needed
• Cullen Terry had a 90th birthday party yesterday at the FBC in Roby
• 2008 Fisher County Fair
• 4-H District Fashion Show and dress review (photo)
• Randy's Roundup: Standing up for our troops and veterans; coming soon - energy & economy updates in the 19th district
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Rotan Booster Club meeting
• Notice of calculation of effective tax rate
• Fisher County Rodeo 2008, Aug. 22-23
• Rotan and Roby Coaches (photos)
• Commissioner Staples announces approval of Crazy Ant treatment, Termidor SC
• Pet care for your fuzzy friend this summer

Get your subscription by emailing radvance@rotanadvance.com.

All the stars up in the sky

I got up a five this morning, made a pot of coffee, then stepped out on the front porch and remembered why I truly love country living. Standing there in my pajamas I could see every star ever created and not a neighbor in sight to see me in my wherewithals. And it was quiet, except for some crickets. I'm telling ya, folks, there ain't nothin' better than a beautiful Texas morning.

There were stars shooting all over the place, but I couldn't find a calendar listing a meteor shower this a.m. I woke Jess up to show her, so I have a witness. We also saw a little flash of lightening off to the southeast, but I couldn't find anything on radar.

The photo today is from the StarDate website for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory. You can figure out how to identify constellations and all other kinds of things astronomical.

My friend Judy Green has a website, Sweet Cottage Charm, that you should check out. It's a Texas/Vegas mix with a lot of beautiful photos and daily chronicles. She also has an ebay profile where she sells sea shells by the seashore. Not really, she sells elaborate, upmarket items.

Okay, here are the essential headlines for the Roby Star / Rotan Advance July 31, 2008 issue:

• Rotan School Board approves change of order of election, hires four new teachers
• Filing for Roby School Board opened July 27
• Rotan YHQ special registration
• Hobbs teacher of the year (photo)
• Start thinking about your entries for the Fisher County Fair, Aug. 22 - 23
  
• Roby High School band camp
• Annual tax-free weekend scheduled for Aug. 15-17
• Fisher County Hospital Board tables bid property, approves purchase of chemistry analyzer, approves raise
• Obituary for Dolores Mijares (photo)
• Faith comes through for soldiers (photo)
• Letter to Editor: Snake in the bathtub
• Notice of registered sex offender James Don Gandy
  
• Gabel Family Reunion
• Randy's Roundup: America's energy independence, standing up for taxpayers and supporting our economy, failing to address Medicare's future shortfall, CRP update
  
• Tumbleweed Smith: A palace on wheels
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Fisher County Queen contestants needed
• Sheriff's Report

It's time for that vacation to Ruidoso or Colorado as the mercury will rise to 100 & Jeez! The weatherman says we'll cool off to the mere 90's by midweek. Be cool, stay cool!

Thunder only happens when it's raining

Or that's what Stevie Nicks says, anyway. I always thought, "Well, that's not so", so maybe she's saying the opposite of what she means, like in that song where the guy sings "God don't make little green apples, and it don't rain in Indianapolis in the summer", but then she says "Players only love you when they're playing" and that sounds probable. I surmise that I don't know what Stevie Nicks is talking about.

I do know that I like the sound of thunder and we're hearing it this morning. I pulled the latest radar photo off Lubbock's KBCD Channel 11 website. Looking at radars can be like playing with a Magic 8 Ball. When a scary storm comes up, I look at a radar that only shows where it's raining intensely. When it's dry, like now, I look for a radar that shows every particle of moisture that may be in the atmosphere from here to the moon (such as the one I've shown here).

My favorite radars are KTXS in Abilene; NOAA, the Texas radar; The Weather Channel, a very cool looking radar; KBCD, Lubbock, as above; and GOES, another page on the NOAA website, that shows water vapor in motion. I gotta keep my mind occupied when a bad cloud comes up.

The Perpetual Easter Egg Hunt

One of the things I do to make a living is sell gourds. Yes, the little round gourds that grow in every ditch across West Texas. I have to admit, hunting gourds has become more than a way to make some money. I'm addicted.

My mom always told me, "It's not the having, it's the getting," and if you saw what gourd prices are right now, you would say that's accurate. I'm not making diddly on gourds, but, man, do I like to look for them.

I'm especially excited this week because the state has mowed right-of-ways and I can safely see and pluck gourds instead of tentatively stepping off into a bar-ditch filled with 7-foot high Johnson Grass. I saw a rattlesnake a couple of weeks ago, and I tell you, I was motivated to jump very high, practically back into the front seat of my pick-up.

If you're thinking the photo of the gourd I posted looks odd, it has had the shell peeled away leaving the fibrous inside that is filled with seeds. It almost looks like a loofah, you know, those Louisiana gourds that you dry and peel to use for scrubbing, but they aren't quite as sturdy.

Anyway, if you see some lady jumping around in the ditches with a red bucket, you'll know you've spotted me, getting the eternal thrill of finding the little round orbs.

Here's the rundown on the Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance issue for July 17, 2008:

• Fisher County Hospital receives grant from Meadows Foundation
• Foursquare Church in Rotan has new co-pastors (photo)
• New handicapped ramp installed at courthouse in Roby (photo)
• Roby CISD hires Judson Oppegard as new ag teacher (photo)
• Domestic shooting still under investigation
• Obituaries for Corilla Adelle Turnbow (photo) and Louise Driver Parham
  
• Teenagers and summer jobs
• FCAA holds regular meeting, next meeting to be August 11, 6 p.m. at the Rotan Lions Cub building (photo)
  
• Results from July 4 golf tournament
• Sheriff's sale August 5, 9 a.m, 1994 Mercury 4-door Grand Marquis LS
• Rosie Dry celebrates birthday 103 at Home Place Manor (photo)
  
• Newsbriefs: Rotan Athletic Booster Club meeting
• Fisher County Sheriff's report
• Engagement announcements for Jessica Lynn Porter to Cody Matthew Fulton; Stacy Morrow to Steven Holliman (photos)
• Commissioners Court fields reports, holds executive session
• Rotan City Council adopts curfew ordinance, sets new rule for swimming pool
• Local children attend Texas Lions Camp (photo)
  
• Eyes of Texas on copper theft
• Rotan man arrested for manufacturing and delivery of controlled substance
• TxDOT urges motorists to be on the look-out for motorcyclists
• Fisher County Roundup
• Save money at the grocery store
• West Central Texas rainfall totals - National Weather Service report
• Tumbleweed Smith: Two-wheeling in the mountains

Try to keep cool, we're in the part of summer where all you can do is hunker down and hope for a renegade thunder storm. Or go to the beach.

Can you smell that smell?

There's nothing like the smell of a rain storm on a hot July day. We know we're at summer's apex when the cotton is a certain height and the cicadas are working overtime. I was watering my mother's flowers yesterday and wondered what it was about the smell of water on dry, hot dirt that's so exciting. I posed this same question to Fred while we were watching the rain gauge fill up last night (.8, by the way). Maybe it's because it's so rare around here. I guess if we lived in Seattle, a little thunder shower might not be so exciting.

Today's photo is of marigolds in my garden. I was going to show a photo of the whole thing, but what I'm so proud of probably looks like a mismanaged weed plot to others. If you want to see a class act garden, go by Anson Martin's place at Camp Springs. We cruise by real slow while oohing and aahing his wonderful garden and orchard. The man's got lots of talent. And a water well. That's imperative. I gave up watering when I realized I was growing a $25 cucumber.

Here's the rundown on the July 10, 2008 issue of the Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance:

• Bee call in Rotan (photo)
• Roby City Council meets with Kay Howard of HOWCO, discusses & tables animal ordinance
• Kent Ruffin new superintendent Rotan ISD (photo)
• David Ritchie new athletic director, head football coach Rotan ISD (photo)
• Accident results in DWI arrest (photo)
• Riley Barnett named new Fisher County Extension Agent (photo)
  
• Obituaries for Dorothy Mary Blackwelder and Jack McClure (photos)
• 2008 Softball tourney results
• Velma Moore Smith celebrates birthday 95
• email Rosemary at rosemary@rotanadvance.com
• Fisher County sheriff's report
• Tumbleweed Smith: Waiting for a Train
• Local student qualifies to compete at world's largest rodeo (photo)
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Pool Safety by Lisa Donham
• Randy's Roundup by Congressman Randy Neugebauer
• Fisher County Historical Commission meets

Also, there will be a meeting of the Frank Cockrell Art Association Monday night.

Have a good Sunday. It's still overcast here, so we're off to a good start!

Town hall meeting tonight, 6:30 p.m.

PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING CURFEW ORDINANCE FOR THE CITY OF ROTAN TO BE HELD TONIGHT, JULY 8, 6:30 P.M. AT ROTAN CITY HALL

Hey, ya'll! Been a while, hadn't it? Hope your holiday was good.

I saw this pretty little fella(or gal) on the floor the other day and I just had to take a picture of him(her). I love the designs that are on the crunchy critters I find around our place. I think that designers and artists have been getting their creative ideas from bugs since the beginning of time. Probably some engineers, too. Check out more at A&M's entomology page and at Tom Murray's Beetle Gallery. Just lovely!

I've been trying to pick up the pace on my home menu by using recipes from the Old Farmer's Almanac. I like it because I can search by keyword, in other words, I can look in my freezer and use the name of whatever I have in there to find a recipe. I really, really like it because I can find a recipe with ingredients that I already stock and recognize. I made braised pork chops yesterday and they came out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Okay, here's the rundown for the July 3, 2008 Rotan Advance / Roby Star Record issue:

• Lion Buckner named Vice-District Governor (photo)
• 30-year employee retires from Big Country Electric Co-op
• Sano Upshaw retirement reception held June 30 (photo)
• Rotan FFA Officers attend camp (photo)
• Obituary for Thomas Rodriguez Yanez
• Rotan ISD Board hires teachers, new athletic director
• Roby students attend health camp (photos)
• Sheriff's report
• Engagements announced for Sara Ramos & Josh Yearwood, Rusty Goodwin & Keri Robertson (photos)
• Birth announcement for Miller Sims Cave
• Tumbleweed Smith: Adventures in Oakland, California
• Joanna Lee of Rotan named to Dean's List

Have a good week, hopefully some raindrops will fall today!

Roby items on ebay

I was looking around on ebay this morning and found a couple of interesting Roby items. A postcard of the First Methodist Church, pictured here, and a 1957 Tumbleweed yearbook. Couldn't find anything for Hobbs or Rotan. I guess I need to look up Camp Springs and a couple of surrounding areas. Be sure to look up round gourds, too. That's my specialty item!

Hay! Happy Father's Day!

Okay, that's corny, but I've been looking for an opportunity to use this photo of the hay-stuffed house on Scott's Corner. It makes me feel full when I look at it.

I have a bookmark folder with Story Ideas written on it, and it's just full of sites that I come across that I think are interesting, so I'm going to share some of these with you before I get to the paper review.

• At USA.gov, you can check to see if the government owes you money.


• TexAgs, is a forum about strange West Texas connections with references to Fisher County.


• USGS has information about Texas earthquakes.


• A Hog Fest Biker Rally will be held in October at the old rodeo grounds west of Rotan, and this site has the 411 on that.

I could really just go on and on, but then I would need to have another website just for my favorite links and I believe someone has already created a site for sites, so we'll move to another subject, now.

Here is the synopsis for The Rotan Advance / Roby Star Record June 12, 2008 issue:

• Storm rages through Rotan area (I didn't mention that before, did I, see you really need to subscribe to the paper to get all the info!) (photos)
• Roby CISD Board hires Amy Huseman and Nick Dickson
• Rotan resident Rachel M. Martinez, 24, killed in one car accident (photo)
• Frank Cockrell Association hangs murals (photos)
• New Directions to perform at FBC tonight
• Josh Love skateboarding at Summer Youth Program June 17 & 19
• Obituary for Mary Ella Wright Brown
• Letters to the Editor: Justin Moffet complains about grassy ditches; response from Mary Mahaffey regarding school on Memorial Day letter from last week
• USDA deadline for Livestock Disaster Program
  
• YHQ artistic students (art examples)
• Summer Youth Program report
  
• Tumbleweed Smith: Running 100 Miles Uphill
• Fisher County Sheriff's Report
• HOBBS High School "Brighter Baby Baskets" Service Learning Project (photos)
• Joy Walker's Fisher County Roundup
• FCAA meeting minutes(photo)
• Commissioners Court hires Riley Barnett as Fisher County Ag agent
• Progressive Agriculture Safety Day July 1
• Birth announcement for Cole Aiden Barr (photo)
• Fisher County Historical Commission meeting minutes
• Jared Welch graduates from China Spring High School
• Recipe Corner: Tasty Tuna Pasta
• Rotan Elementary honor rolls

I hope you all enjoy Father's Day and the chances for rain we have through Wednesday. Good thoughts to all of you!

When pigs carry sticks...

...the clouds will play tricks, according to June weather lore from The Old Farmer's Almanac. I haven't tested that one out, but I do know it is good weather for holding onto your hat and not wearing skirts. My step-dad told me yesterday that June is actually the windiest month of the year, although everyone thinks March is. What amazes me is that I am always surprised by what the weather does, even though I have lived in a 30-mile radius all my life. Silly human.

I realize that the entire month of May has gone by without a newspaper update on my behalf. I think this would be the perfect opportunity to apply for a subscription of The Rotan Advance - Roby Star Record and to also back-order all of the May issues. Just click on the newspaper link to the right-hand side of this page.

I believe the Rotan paper to be the best local newspaper around, and I mean that they beat out Abilene, Sweetwater and Snyder. I will agree that all contain useful information, but the Rotan paper only puts local news on the front page, the subjects of the photos are identified, and the news within is local and relevant to the community. Get yours today!

Okay, I'll give you a little taste of what you would be purchasing. Here is the bare bones of the June 5, 2008 Rotan Advance / Roby Star Record issue:

• Rotan Pool to open June 13
• Fisher County Senior Scholarships
• Rotan City Manager Harold Sanders retires (photo)
• Deputy Kenneth Martin retires (photo)
• Bertha Johnson and Emily Harris named Yellowhammer Band president and drum major (photo)
• John Flores recognized by the United States Achievement Academy (photo)
• Levi Posey winner in Financial Literacy Challenge test (photo)
• Obituaries for Vesta Lee Orr and Molenen Burnes Sumerlin (photo)
• Annual Yates Reunion held at Roby
• Birth Announcement for Jett Preston Taylor (photo)
• Rotan Elementary 2008 Awards
• Rotan High School Academic Excellence Awards
• Tumbleweed Smith: Calling Varmints with Burnham Brothers
• Cassidy McBrayer receives Doctoral Degree (photo)
• Rotan Jr. High honor roll 6th six weeks
• Letters to the editor: Ed Patton enjoyed the "Apples, Oranges and Hardrock Candy" article; Danny Coker feels that school should be closed to commemorate Memorial Day; Ken Taylor can't quit making "Fond Memories" lists
  
• Rotan Jr. High Second Semester Honor Roll
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Fisher County Hospital announces scholarship awards
• Rotan High School 2007-2008 Extra-Curricular Awards
• Jeffrey Turner named to President's List
• Ag Safety Day to be July 1 at the Taylor County Expo Center
• Rotan Jr. High Academic Excellence Awards (photo)
• Fisher County Sheriff's report
• William Gruben receives scholarship
• Rotan ISD Subject Awards
• Fisher County earns Gold Star Safety Award

There you go, I hope I have helped you with your Fisher County addiction. I don't blame you, this is a great place to be.

Graveyard Excursions

I've found a new hobby that I can see is going to be addicting and also costly. Perfect!

I've been logging into Find a Grave and contributing photos and memorials. And you (or, rather, I) thought that it would be fairly easy to find graves and take photos and bring happiness to the world, but after two hours of looking for my own grandparents graves in the Snyder Cemetery, and, mind you, I had been there before, I decided it might be a little more challenging than I anticipated.

This morning, just as the sun was coming up, I went to take a photo of the Grady Cemetery up by Rough Creek. This is an off the beaten path, farm to market road that eventually turns into dirt. Let me tell you, right at 7 a.m. it became Grand Central Station. Well, there were at least 5 cars, and around here that's busy.

I think I'm fixing to try to find Cottonwood Cemetery. There is a request for a photo there and it would be a nice excursion off into the rough. It just seems like anytime I've ever found it has been by accident, and then I accidentally find my way home from there. I also hear it is haunted. I looked closely at the map, though, and hopefully that will help. If nothing else, I can throw bread crumbs out the window on the way there. Think that will work?