Hart Notes

Readers, it has been months since I’ve written a column. I am not sure why, except it’s work and I am tired. I am a bit overwhelmed with all of my projects. I am still trying to move everything from my “other” house to my parents’ house, which I inherited. Those of you who have lived very long know how much we humans can accumulate. So, I am dealing with my accumulations and those of my mother.

And, I am involved with my three chickens. I enjoy these two hens and rooster, but take their care too seriously. I am always checking on them. I have even named them: Clara, my first hen; Cornelia and Clarence. Clara is in a broody stage, and I am trying different things to make sure she stays healthy in her self-exile to the nest. I physically remove her each day, much to her consternation, each day and put her in a wire cage for part of the day. At first, I left her alone, and I think she would have never left the nest. I’ve read that broody hens are often detrimental to themselves because they don’t eat and drink.

One way to stop a broody hen is to leave them in this wire cage for several days. I tried this at first, leaving her three days, and felt so bad for her, that I let her “out of jail.” I still put her in the wire cage, but leave it in the chicken run instead of the dark coop. When it’s time for the chicks to go to bed, I open the door to their coop, and Clara promptly goes to the nest instead of to the perch. She is very persistent. This has cut down on her egg-laying, as well as Cornelia’s.

Chickens are somewhat like humans in that they fuss with each other and cause their “bosses” a lot of frustration.

A few weeks ago, I drove to Grapevine to stay with Rachel. We went to the graduation of my grandson, Cade Wall, from Krum High School. The graduation was held at a large church building in Denton so as to accommodate the seniors and their families. My sister, Sharon Shofner, her husband Billy and daughter Courtney, all of Lamesa, also attended.

As I have aged, I make myself familiar with restrooms on my travels. I drive to Grapevine on TX114. I usually make a pit stop in Ralls, and then next at Benjamin. However, this last time, I decided that I needed another stop in Guthrie. There used to be a cafe and filling station there, but it no longer is in business. There is a loop around Guthrie, home of the 6666 ranch, and you can just miss the small town entirely. However, I decided to drive into town, and used the facilities at the King County Courthouse. I asked a couple of ladies who work there about any kind of convenience store in their town. They pointed in the direction of the 6666 Supply House. I’ve seen this rock building many times, and thought it was just for 6666 employees. I was wrong. The old building houses a small grocery store, complete with some western clothing and gift items. And, there is a bathroom. There are some self-serve gas pumps, and a few benches on the front porch.

The store actually is for the public, but doesn’t keep convenience store hours. It does close during the noon hour. I didn’t stop on my way to the Metroplex, but did make a point to have a look on my trip home. The bathroom is not in the building itself, but is entered from the outside, as many old style service stations restrooms were. It is handicapped accessible, and it’s obvious it was added later. I suspect there were outhouses for the building when it was first constructed. I purchased a book on the 6666 by Wyman Meinzer (state photographer for Texas) and Henry Chappell. It is a coffee table book, and very interesting. I often stop in Benjamin, where Meinzer lives, and look at his newest books (and old ones) that are for sale at his wife’s boutique, Santa Fe on the Brazos. If you’e in Benjamin, stop at the Ranchland convenience store, which is always busy. They have the best BBQ beef wraps—delicious. I believe they are cooked nearby. One time when I stopped there, I saw an older man walking to the store with a covered pan that smelled delicious.

Back to the 6666 Supply House. There is a photograph on the wall of Samuel “Burk” Burnett, founder of the famed ranch. The woman running the store called him Mr. Burn-ett. I would say Bur-nett. I guess I’ve been saying it wrong all these years.

There is a website for the Supply House, built in 1900. Here’s an interesting story from that website: “Although not often, the Supply House was a target for robbers. Many items were stolen, including once when several $35 Stetson hats were taken. These hats were the best that money could buy in those days. Sheriff Arthur Payne of neighboring Cottle County knew of the robbery. So when he arrested a man wearing a new Stetson with 6666 in the sweatband, the man was brought to trial for the burglary and sentenced to ten years in the Texas State Penitentiary.”

I haven’t written anything about politics in a long time. I am still involved with what’s going on in the world, and it’s often depressing. I hope to attend a meeting or two in Lubbock of the Democratic women before the year ends. I thought by this time, I’d have made a meeting, yet, alas, I haven’t. Don and I, as is the case for many old people, have been to doctors way more than we want. I would like to learn more about registering people to vote, so that I can perhaps convince some folks in Hart of the importance of voting. Thomas Jefferson had many great quotes, including this one: “We in America do not have Government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.”

The chaos in Iraq is very disturbing. Former Vice-president Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz have penned an editorial in the Wall Street Journal. Cheney blames the mess in Iraq on President Obama. Puhleez. This is not only ludicrous, but malicious. Cheney told the late Tim Russert on Meet the Press before American invaded Iraq that he believed the Iraqis would greet Americans as liberators. Think so, Dick?

Cheney and his cohorts, President George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld, and the Neocons, convinced too many in Congress to vote to invade the country and topple Saddam Hussein. (At least President Bush has the good sense to not offer advice to President Obama.)

Charles Blow, New York Times columnist, writes about Cheney’s criticism of President Obama. He mentions something Cheney said in 1994, which was very prescient. I guess he forgot what he said. Here it is: “Once you got to Iraq and took it over, and took down Saddam Hussein’s government, then what are you going to put in its place? That’s a very volatile part of the world, and if you take down the central government of Iraq you can easily end up seeing pieces of Iraq fly off. Part of it the Syrians would like to have to the west. Part of eastern Iraq, the Iranians would like to claim, fought over for eight years. In the north you’ve got the Kurds, and if the Kurds spin loose and join with the Kurds in Turkey, then you threaten the territorial integrity of Turkey. It’s a quagmire.”