A lone chair is all that remains of what used to be a one tent Tandy Hills Campground. Last month Princess Annie of Wink visited the site of the hobo camp, in the Tandy Hills Natural Area, and left a vase with flowers and 4 quarters.All is now gone except for the forelorn chair looking north towards Interstate 30.
I still have not been able to find the infamous Witchey Tree or the Death Van. Maybe it was the ghost of the Witchey Tree Death Van that occupied the Tandy Hills Campground.
Speaking of Wink Texas Royalty, this morning I was startled to learn that the Queen of Wink is now one of
my legion of Twitter Followers. The Queen is very smart. I'm hoping she'll help me figure out Twitter and if it is useful in any meaningful way. This afternoon I am back on the side of thinking Twitter is useful.I have now mastered the art of Re-Tweeting. This morning I Re-Tweeted Oprah. Two years ago if you had told me that on this day I would Re-Tweet Oprah, I don't know what scary thing my imagination might have conjured that to mean.
Today I came upon a dad hiking with his kids. You can't tell it from the picture, but I was quite a distance below them, zooming in close with the camera, as they were going down a rather steep section of trail. I heard the kids asking dad if there were snakes. I could not make out his answer. I hope it was no. Because I have yet to see a snake while hiking the Tandy Hills. Or an armadillo. Or a bobcat. I think maybe the Tandy Hills wildlife may have been greatly reduced in population before it became a natural area.
6 comments:
Seems that the hobo of Tandy Hills has moved on :)
Or got evicted.
Or "fracked" by Chesapeake and the City's G-Force (G=gestapo). BTW, is the term hobo a northwestern thing b/c our family is in agreement that it's not in current use around here by the local, who prefer the more visually accurate "homeless" (man, woman, family, etc.). We know people who refer to themselves as "homeless" after Jery Jones and his buddy Mayor Cluck "clucked us up big time"!!Your friend, BillyHill
Billy Hill---
I dunno. Maybe hobo is a PNW only term. I've no idea how the word hobo came about. I know Skid Row is a Seattle thing, or phrase, that came to mean what it means today, as in, a place where hobos like to hang out. Which is where I am right now, a hobo on Skid Row. Fort Worth style.
That lonely chair is slightly disconcerting. It seems like you could use that picture later in life to make a point about something ... but I don't know what yet.
Twitter is NOT useful. It's pretty much just the status updates portion of Facebook. I can't lie, it bothers me that so many people find it necessary to update the status of their being every hour. I do not have a Twitter as you can tell. I HAD one, and found it to be, for lack of better wordage, lame.
I say "hobo" instead of "homeless" but I'm also from the Midwest originally. I have split my life between Chicago and NE Texas (12-10), and I hear it a lot around here (College Station) and when I lived in Chicago. Is Skid Row really a Seattle thing? I know my family and I say it ...
Thanks for the response, D. and J. (you guys can form a clothing line or some kind of partnership with that cool sounding abbre., I think so anyway). I friend makes a point that the popular pre-teen show on Nicleodeon called iCarly, about internet webshow hosted by kids living in Seattle is the main source for this term, which I recall the History Channel having a segment a while back that explored this dying way of life--people, mostly older men and boys who hop on trains for rides across the country and living off of whatever chores/handouts that hey can get wherever they happen to be stay. The term may have something to do with HOpping and Bumming that had part of that wandering lifestyle. I personally think that once a hobo gets too old, lazy, or drunk/unmotivated to keep moving--he just hangs out near shopping strips and wooded areas and becomes a "bum", bumming for cigarettes, food, alcohol, etc. They're a special group of the homeless who do not want to constraints of renting or even staying in a shelter. I kinda admire some of that free spirit, esp. guys living in the woods--that's how our ancestors lived for milleniums before the creation of houses and apartments, which reminds me of a big old pigeon's nest where each one has a cubicle right nest to others, not that there's anything wrong with that (nod to "Seinfeld" show). Which brings up what I've always wondered: how was Kramer able to afford and keep (vs. George who had to move back w/ his parents) an expensive apt. in NY City and not really keeping a steady job? Kramer's lifestyle and behavior is hobo-like in many ways. So, yes I guess I do think that there are a small number of free spirits who "choose to be homeless"--if the opposite of homelessness means paying a mortgagee or paying for a lease contract (or enduring roommates/parents.)
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