Archive for the ‘Conversations’ Category

Posted on June 22, 2010 - by Hubba

Timmons’ Branding 2010

Sometime last week, after having been relieved of campaigning responsibilities, it was suggested to me that I arrange, schedule and execute the John Timmons branding.

After a little thought, I decided to go ahead and do just that, but with quite a little trepidation.  I only own one pair (that’d be a cow and calf, if you didn’t know) in the herd, and I felt wrong being trusted with a whole branding, having come from a family who didn’t trust me with a garden hoe.

But having made the decision, I threw myself at it.  I decided to shoot more for a party than a branding, so I invited plenty of people.  Then my future father-in-law (again, on his own place, claiming to be my subordinate) invited some more.  Lots of people to help is a wonderful thing, but the task of feeding them falls to to the people in the house.  And so my anxiety increased a little.

After careful consultation with the calendar and the principal player’s schedules, I selected June, 20th, at noon (more…)

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Posted on June 18, 2010 - by Hubba

I Guess You Ain’t My Constitchency

So a while back (early March, to be exact) I was at lunch at Frank Timmons’ place when a local politician showed up to get signatures on his petition to get on the ballot.  And I got an awful, terrible idea.

I guess I should back up a little.  The “Upland Trask” residence, as I used to call it, was and is a hotbed of politically interested people, railing against government corruption, greed, graft, and once during late ‘99, the end of the world.  I always postured myself as the levelheaded one, getting labeled a “compromiser” (I think after being called that, I had the right to challenge the accuser to a duel) on occasion.  While I was politically interested, and usually agreed with the rest of them on principle, I found it difficult to enjoy my coffee of a country mornin’ surrounded by red-faced people wildly gesticulating and having coronaries over some far-off foreign policy decision.  My position was, in short “if it’s not hiding under your chair, can we not worry about it today?”

I guess familiarity really does breed contempt.  Upon moving away from the people whose passions I had scorned, I began reading books.  And I am slowly becoming a political activist.  I don’t believe I’ll ever achieve the level of professional indignation that some of my relatives have, but I have certainly become alarmed with the state of things that I am willing to do my part to effect a change. (more…)

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Posted on February 26, 2010 - by Hubba

A Beautiful Day, Funeral Notwithstanding

Today I went to the funeral of Jane Scofield, who spent the better part of her life, timewise, as a Meade County special education teacher.  In that capacity, she had a large influence on my life as one of my speech therapists.  I had no idea until today that the small smiling woman who drove a dirty hatchback (I forget what kind it was) joined the Marine Corps, served in Punjab India in the Peace Corps after that, obtained an associates degree in animal husbandry, her teaching certificate, and a masters degree in teaching.  The woman set out to experience all of the world that she could while changing it at the same time, and boy howdy, did she ever.

The funeral was well attended, but not terribly sad.  I think this was partly to do with the absence of the departed, but more (and this is not particularly respectful of the dead) because it was a nice day today.  And to a people who have been hunkered down at home with sub zero temperatures, starving cows and at times, no water, it was just enjoyable to go to town in a light jacket.  It was kind of muddy, there were puddles in places, and spring seemed to promise that it would be hear soon, it just had some things to take care of first.  The people at the funeral reception huddled in groups with coffee and sandwiches, offering good natured complaints about recent circumstances that should have caused major depression, and in general seemed to enjoy each others company and the sunshine.

I don’t think Jane Scofield minded at all.  In fact I bet she enjoyed it.

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Posted on February 19, 2010 - by Hubba

Oh Fishsticks!

Wednesday began the season of Lent, as has been noted before, when among other things Catholics are to abstain from all meat except fish on Fridays.  Back in the old days, Catholics were supposed to abstain from meat 52 Fridays a year, but somewhere in there, the rules were relaxed a little.

Which brings a Catholic to the question of what to eat on Fridays during Lent.  I don’t find abstaining from meat one day a week all that bothersome, and there are lots of tasty ways to prepare fish.  There are those people who abhor fish, and for them the whole no-meat-on-Friday probably does seem like an unbearable cross (see what I did there?) but I am not one of those people, provided there are no onions in my fish.  An onion really really onions up a fish it seems like. (more…)

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Posted on February 14, 2010 - by Hubba

With Love to My Darlin’

Bonnie Jean has been bugging me about sharing my reflections on her and relationships here on Hubba’s House.  And somehow she thought Valentine’s Day would be the perfect opportunity to do so.

Volumes have been written about women and relationships, the main point being that men don’t understand women, and further women don’t understand women either.  I am afraid I am not going to add anything meaningful to the discussion.

So with much trepidation, here we go.

The Rules for Men in Relationships- (more…)

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