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.

The Norway Duncans

Former Roscoe citizen Joe Duncan, who is now living in Norway, recently celebrated the wedding of his daughter, Heidi. As for the reason the couple is standing on the table, there is a tradition that when the assembled guests at the wedding party tap their glasses with their forks or knives and stomp their feet, the parents of both the bride and groom must stand and kiss. When the guests demand it, the bride and groom must do the same.

Joe actually sent me a photo of the couple dancing in the church in which they were wed, a grand structure built in the 12th century, but when I went to look at the photo on Joe's facebook page, I saw this one and just had to share it with all of you. It looks like it was a fairytale wedding.

Speaking of face-dilly, Hobbs Holler is now on there, so come join as a friend. Lordy, I hope I don't have to add a myspace and twitter, too, or I'll have to quit my job just to keep up with it all! Hey, that sounds like a lot of fun.

I saw in Reader's Digest that comedian Jim Gaffigan is on twitter. He is hilarious and clean, as is Jeanne Robertson, who you might be familiar with as the woman who sent her husband to the store to buy ingredients for 7-Up cake. Videos of both can be found on YouTube.

For about a week the county was talking about the murder of Jimmy Mauldin by Greg Redden. That incident happened in Roby mid-August. This week, the concern is for safety in Rotan. People in Rotan want a constable of some sort, the city doesn't have money for it, citizens feel like their tax dollars warrant for the sheriff's dept. to take care of it, and it seems the sheriff's hands are tied because of the commissioners court. That's just my take on it all, after reading a few weeks worth of meeting minutes and letters that ran in the newspaper.

Although temperatures are still hot, we know fall is in and summer will soon be fading. We (Mr. Husband) killed a 10-button rattlesnake in the yard last week, the Fisher County Fair & Rodeo and Hogfest Bike Rally is behind us, and many hometown homecomings will be celebrated in the next few weeks. Sweetwater & Roscoe homecomings will be Sept. 11, Roby Sept. 26, and Rotan Oct. 16. The West Texas Fair & Rodeo in Abilene will also be the weekend of Sept. 11.

Yays: My house at Hobbs, my husband and kids.
Nays: Can't think of any this morning, maybe just wasps, but they have a place in the world, too.

Hope you all have a good week, we've got chances of rain for several days to come. Thanks for stopping in!

Irene Etheredge funeral set for Friday

Irene Etheredge died this morning at the Fisher County Hospital. Visitation will be Thursday night 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. at Weathersbee-Ray Funeral Home. The funeral will be Friday, 10 a.m at the First United Methodist Church in Rotan. Mrs. Etheredge was well-known as a teacher at the Hobbs School for many years.

Mayor of Camp Springs dies at age 71

Neighbor Glen Ray Williamson died yesterday at his home. Visitation is tonight 6-7:30 p.m. at Weathersbee-Ray Funeral home in Rotan. The funeral will be tomorrow at Cross Roads Baptist Church at 11:30 a.m. Please keep the family and friends in your thoughts.

Kind thoughts for our friends

Jerry Etheredge just came by and told me that Irene (Brown) Etheredge is not doing well. She's in the Fisher County Hospital in Rotan and recently had hip surgery.

Glen Williamson up towards Camp Springs way has also been quite ill. He is at home with his wife, Madeline, and daughter, Becky.

Please keep these people and their families in mind as you go through your day and give a kind word if you should have a chance to see them.

Woo-oodmen, come out to pla-ay

I went to see the damage at the Dowell Cemetery done by the groundskeeper, as was written to the Rotan Newspaper in a letter to the editor, but I got it in my head it was Sardis Cemetery, for some reason, so I went there.

There was no damage, since I was at the wrong cemetery, but I did find a Woodmen of the World Memorial marking the grave of H.W. Germany. I have been looking for one for a while, since reading on the Handbook of Texas website that at one time there was a Woodmen of the World Lodge at Hobbs.

Which I guess really has nothing to do with the marker, since the tombstone tree stump was part of the insurance award for anyone who purchased a policy. Still, the stones are rare because the company discontinued the issuance of the tree stump monuments after 1920, due to high cost. There is a tree stump marker in the Hobbs cemetery, but there's no indication that it's a Woodmen memorial. Anyway, I'm glad to have finally seen one.

I saw a great documentary on Ovation TV, Old, Weird America: Harry Smith's Anthology of Folk Music. Mr. Smith was an eccentric fellow, and basically this show is about a record collection he put together in the 1940's. When I first saw the commercial for it, I thought it would include songs such as This Land is Your Land and There's a Hole in the Bucket, but then I heard that eerie mountain music and I knew that this was something different.

To get a taste of what the album (cd) contains, you can go to amazon.com and click on the sampler. I think this is the most important music collection I've ever heard or read about. Oh, and it is equally important to have the program recorded, because it has modern interpretations by David Johansen and such, and you'll just want to skip right past that. The only current artist I enjoyed was Steve Earle, but they didn't even play the whole song he sang. He gave a lot of commentary, though, and I liked that.

I didn't have any luck on the Hobbs Senior Ring front. It must have been some other Panther. It was a ladies ring from 1973, and only guys graduated that year from our school. I appreciate the finder trying to find the owner, though. It still might make a good story for someone else.

By the way, we're looking to add a Guinea pig to the family, and if any of you out there have a lead on where to get one, let me know. I prefer to get one that is already in a home instead of a pet store. Maybe one of you have a colony of Guinea pigs that you'd like to reduce. That is the correct term for a group of GP's, incidentally.

Yays: Drivers License office in Roby; rain

Nays: A wasp in the grass when you're walking barefoot

Who's John Galt?

I can't believe in all my pop-culturey life that I've never been asked this question, nor seen it written as graffiti on a train or a bridge overpass. Those who have read Atlas Shrugged, published by Ayn Rand in 1957, know the phrase well, as it is oft repeated throughout the novel. Either this woman was amazingly insightful, or the more things change, the more they stay the same. It could have been written yesterday. The photo of Rand was gleaned from the answers.com website, where everything and more than you wanted to know about this author is available for viewing.

I was wondering how Patricia Claxton might feel about all my reporting on her condition after the motorcycle wreck, like I was airing her personal life, but then I felt a little better about it when I picked up the Snyder Daily News and saw the headline on top of the fold: Claxtons continue recovery at home; thankful for friends. I don't feel so bad now that the local news has also aired her private life. Apparently it's a trend.

The article announced that Western Texas College, where Trisha works, will be hosting a blood drive next Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and all blood donated will be used for the Claxtons as they continue to recover. This will take place in the Student Center on the Snyder campus.

Speaking of campuses, Heather Ward was named the 2008-2009 Teacher of the Year at Hobbs Alternative School. She's a math teacher, educating grades 9-12. You can read more about Ward in the Sweetwater Reporter.

Chris Kiser, former Fisher County resident, was recently named Assistant Fire Chief in Sweetwater, which can also be read about in the Reporter. Kiser has worked at the SFD for 18 years.

I want to mention that the Frank Cockrell Art Association will be meeting Aug. 10, 6 p.m. at the Williamson-Branson office in Roby. Anyone interested in art and community beautification is invited to attend.

Remember I told you we were erecting the rubber pond? Well, that only lasted one day, enough to get a serious sunburn and remind me why I hadn't put the dang thing up for the last two or three years. It's a lot of work to maintain and the cover I bought for it was too big and no one but me was interested in getting in it, and I couldn't since I was waiting for 40 layers of skin to peel off before I could be a bathing beauty, again (still peeling even as I speak).

So, we (meaning my husband) pumped the water out to barren places in the yard, then I started pulling it over to dump the rest out and to let it dry so it could be stored. The grass underneath had such a foul smell that it took my mind several turns before deciding where it was coming from. First I thought it was the dog, so she got a bath. Then I thought it was the septic tank, but as long as I can still flush the toilet and take a shower, a meteor could land in it and I would completely ignore anything to do with the waste system. That's just too icky for me to deal with.

Anyway, I finally ascertained that it was coming from beneath the pool. Mr. Husband had to take care of anything further to do with it, as I was feeling faint and had to go swoon on a chaise with an upraised hand holding a kerchief to my forehead. He sprayed it, mowed it, powdered it and perfumed it, and finally the reek has lessened. We are completely relieved of the need to fill up a big rubber pond with water, ever again.

The class ring mystery is still ongoing. I went to the school to find the name of the student whose initials are imprinted on the inside of the trinket, only to discover that there was no female graduate of that particular year. Whoops, there's another clue, that it is a ladies ring. I plan on calling one of the male graduates parents today to see if they can tell me of a girl who was in that particular class but didn't graduate that year, for some reason. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I always come across something weird that I don't really understand but has local names in it while I'm surfing the "interweb". Here's the one for this week - Supreme Court of Texas, 2006 case, City of Sweetwater v. a big list of folks. I'm sure it's old news (at least three years old), I'm always discovering something after the fact and getting overly excited about events that have already passed.

Yays: McDonald's coffee

Brays: People who won't work for a living

I had more Yays & Brays during the week, but they've faded away this morning. I can't remember anything if I don't write it down. Ya'll enjoy life and keep your eye to the sky. I saw the space shuttle the other night and it gave me chills, a little thrill in the night. You can participate in spotting the shuttle by checking out the schedule on the NASA Spaceflight page. I found it at Big Country homepage.com.

Nexia Holdings to aquire working interest in Fisher County Well

According to the new issue of Oil & Gas Investor, the Salt Lake City holdings company will acquire seven percent working interest in the Royston field lease that includes the Teagarden B well, which produces 105 to 160 barrels per month. Closing on the deal is planned to take place by July 21.

You, too, can live at the center of the Universe

The J. C. Cave place is up for sale, again. The house and 45 acres can be yours for $210,000. Stevenson Real Estate is handling the property.

They say that not even Earth is the center of the Universe, but I say that is a matter of perspective to each person. So, if you would like your life to revolve around a patch of land in western Fisher County, now is your chance.

Siriusly

I know that technically Dog Days are named for the star Sirius, but what comes to mind is a dog panting his tongue off up under the dappled shade of a stringy mesquite. It's been so hot we were inspired to set up the rubber pond and I hope to be floating in it this afternoon, lying on a blow-up raft with my eyes closed, pretending I'm in Padre Island.

I tried to specifically identify the butterfly in today's photo, but the best I can do is to tell you it's some sort of swallowtail. Butterfly lovin' doesn't seem to be a specific science, or one genus or whatever can look fifteen different ways. Anyway, I can definitely say that this is a picture of a butterfly. Or a moth.

Penny called to see how Trisha was faring yesterday. Trisha answered the phone and said "I'm just walking in the door to the house." I don't know how much better the story can get than that. Four weeks and a better ending than anyone could hope for.

Tomorrow I will definitely stop by the school and see who's ring was fished from the Frio. Looking for some very specific clues. Well, initials. I guess it's not that tough of a mystery, if I would just get on the ball.

A digital version of Texas Wildlife magazine is now available on-line. This month you can read about North Region Quail Stewards awards, of which Wild Wings Ranch at Camp Springs was a finalist. There are a lot of other good articles in there, like "Frequently Asked Questions of State Game Wardens". Once the magazine comes up, click on the page you want to see, then buttons will appear to include a plus sign to zoom in. Click on the hand button to drag the page up and down so you can view it all.

It's 7 a.m., the perfect time for lawn-mowing, so I better get on it. Oh, I wanted to do a little complaint segment, something simple so you all don't have to listen to a big rant about my unhappiness. I'll make it simple, just Yay and Bray, the latter being negative, like that obnoxious, long-winded sound the jack-ass makes.

Yay: The libraries in Sweetwater and Snyder; Robert the satellite installation guy for Sierra in Sweetwater; Dollar General in Snyder and Sweetwater.

Bray: USPS Customer Service on-line; DPS driver license office in Snyder; Family Dollar in Snyder and Sweetwater.

Make sure you keep those tea pitchers full! Gonna go through a lot of lemons and ice today.