The sale is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. September 2. One property is east of Sweetwater, the rest are in town.
I'm reading a book where, after his mother's death, the author relates dreams about carrying her through unfamiliar streets, not being able find guiding signs or landmarks that might lend a clue to where they're going, and it reminded me of the dreams I used to have after my mother died. It's coming up on fifteen years since she's been gone.
I would dream that I would be caring for her and she would slip down in a split between two mattresses and disappear, or that I would forget about her for weeks, or even years, and go into a panic, fearing she had starved in my absence.
Thankfully, those dreams don't come to me now. I guess time and life have knocked the edges off my feelings of guilt, and slowed down my mental rearranging of events in the the last year of her life, trying to think of things I could have done to make her more comfortable, to help her rest easy.
There was one powerful dream I had about her that was fitting and satisfying. In it, I had driven up to the house that I live in now, which belonged to my parents back in the 1960's. There was a crowd in the yard, a party going on. People were holding drinks, talking to each other and laughing. There were a couple of shade tents set up, with coolers and food sitting on tables beneath them.
I saw my mom come edging through the people, holding a glass high above her head, and laughing as she tried to part the crowd to hand someone a drink. I called out "Mom! Mom!" to get her attention, but she couldn't hear me over the sounds of merriment. I could see she was having a good time, and it made me feel happy for her.
She still shows up in my dreams, but now it's just to say some everyday thing like "We need more corn" or "I'm going to town". She's not lost or forgotten, and I'm not riven with guilt. Of course, she's always with me. I stood in Goodwill just the other day with tears rolling down my face because a song was playing that reminded me of her. "Now that she's back in the atmosphere, with drops of Jupiter in her hair, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh..."
When she first died I could only think how ridiculous it was, how stupid, how unbelievable. The strongest person I know, the one who knew me so well, had just vanished.
Now memories of her are woven into the context of my everyday life, as constant and un-intrusive as a clock on the wall or a hand towel next to the sink. Well, I'm kind of lying, because she could never be that ordinary. To tell the truth, I'm still learning to live without her.
Here's a list of some local casual (no college degree needed!) employment opportunities:
Texas Department of Transportation
Western Texas College - Snyder
A couple of other sites to browse for jobs:
Some of them expire soon, so get a move on if you're interested!
The notice was published in the Double Mountain Chronicle July 11 issue.
Property - Half interest in 224.8 acres in parcels 3035 and 3352, address listed as 1025 East US 180, McCaulley, TX.
Sale 10 a.m. August 5 at the north door of the court house.
These lists were published in the July 16 issue of The Snyder News.
Hermleigh has 8 tracts of real estate:
Snyder has 4 tracts of real estate and 8 tracts of minerals:
Tracts may be sold in groups or individually.
Sites used for researching properties: Scurry County Appraisal District, Railroad Commission Map, Texas General Land Office Map, Scurry Self Service and Google Earth
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| - July 2025 agenda - |
Items on the agenda include approval of payment for vehicle radios and a new tractor with shredder, and an agreement with Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases.
There will also be a budget workshop.
The agenda can be found on the Fisher County website.
If you want information, you must seek it.
This is a list of the places I look for it.
Fisher/Nolan Co Clerk search - official records for Fisher and Nolan Counties - Guest>Continue>County
Fisher County - county website - commissioners court agendas, burn ban, posted notices
Fisher CAD - appraisal district- when searching, run last name, first name together: JonesFred; interactive map is under Services tab; meeting agendas are under Resources tab>Records/Data/Reports>scroll down
Nolan CAD - appraisal district
RRC Online Research Queries - Texas Railroad Commission: Drilling Permits
The Portal to Texas History - newspaper archives and a whole lot more; there are no Fisher County newspapers included, but old Sweetwater papers have a lot of Fisher County articles in them.
TT Newspapers - Texas Tech has some Rotan newspapers in their digital collection. I've had trouble getting that site to come up lately.*
Texas File - Land Records and County Records - this has the same information as the Fisher County site above and posted a month late, but there is a helpful variation in the search parameters. Many counties are listed, so it's an all-in-one place for research.
I take subscriptions for the Double Mountain Chronicle, the Sweetwater Reporter and the The Snyder News.
I run searches for "rotan" and "sweetwater" on facebook. Results are spotty, but I come across some interesting people/pages to follow and articles pertaining to the areas.
Meetings for the cities of Roby and Rotan are on the second Thursday of each month, and the commissioners meetings are on the second Monday of the month. Mark the calendar.
Commissioners agendas are on the Fisher County website. City agendas can be requested at city offices.
For more sites to search, use the website view (at the bottom of the mobile app page) for Hobbs Holler and look at the list on the right.
*There is an announcement that the Texas Tech newspaper archive went down for maintenance July 10
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| - City council agendas - |
Items on the Rotan City Council agenda include approving rate changes, adopting RV park guidelines, opening water tower bids, holding a hearing on substandard properties, and appointing a city marshal.
Roby City Council will consider minutes from the last meeting.
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| - Grasshoppers - |
The topmost thing I don't miss about summer is BUGS. I'm afraid that when I'm walking through the yard, pulling grasshoppers out of my hair, that one is going to jump up and scratch my eye.
Then, of course, there are mosquitoes, chiggers, ants, moths, etc.
Every morning, before I make coffee, I take a little flashlight and shine it into the water reservoir to make sure a flying ant or tiny beetle hasn't gotten trapped inside. That was a disgusting lesson learned.
I guess I spoke too soon about the burn ban. I'm glad to be wrong.
The local NOAA* weather radio station is back on air as of yesterday. It's been off since right after the big June 8 Rotan storm. I read somewhere they were upgrading equipment.
I'm not sure if KTXS is fully back on air since the station was torn up during that same storm. I kept checking in for a while, but nothing was coming up. I like to tune in when the weather gets bad and see what Mark Rowlett has to say.
* National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The official Texas A & M burn ban list shows Fisher County among the counties that are on it. The Fisher County site banner shows it is off. It's just a matter of time before they are in agreement.
We've been having the crazy, whistlin' winds of summer for three straight days, with huge gusts that seem to lift unplowed fields straight up into the air in a whirling dance.
Frightening storms, plagues of grasshoppers, crazy ass winds: check, check, check. Next up: stultifyingly hot days mixed with the deafening buzz of locusts that will lull us into the summer doldrums.
After Fourth of July, it's a long shot to September. Oh, well. Let's do it again.