DOBIE CONTRIBUTIONS: Brandy Reynolds J. FRANK DOBIE HOUSE I had never seen the house until now, only pictures of it. I walked in and expected to see more representation of Dobie but the house has now been taken over by the writerís association. What was left of Dobie however was interesting. I found the boots, ranch stove, and jacket to be the most interesting. I have always liked old paraphernalia because I think it is neat to compare them to modern things. Up in the library was a Christmas card Dobieís family made out of wood that was really neat. It seemed more personalized than the generic cards we send. Dobieís library was also interesting. There is a picture of him in it and his shelves are just jammed packed. It gives you a real sense of how much literature played a part in his life. It shows a sense of knowledge that many do not acquire. Another intriguing part of the house was ìThe Death Alcove.î It was kind of eerie to be standing in the place where he died. The pictures of him in the alcove reminded me of a shrine or memorial for him. I also wondered if the alcove was where he felt the most at peace. It seems that way and it was probably the most fitting place to die. When I die I want to die just as he did: sleeping in my most peaceful and comfortable place. As I left the little alcove, I went downstairs and took another look at the old memorabilia and this time it reminded me of my grandfather. He has several things left like that that my dad now has after his death. I love looking at them and imagining what it was like to have lived back then. I always have a hard time doing that though. Overall the house left me with a new, although small, insight to life the life and times of J. Frank Dobie. THE MUSTANGS When I first looked at the sculpture of the mustangs I admired the actual work. I always find sculptures amazing because it seems so hard to be able to capture an image and sculpt it. By reading the inscription I remembered that it said the mustangs were just as important to helping win the war. I thought this was interesting because I had never heard anyone give recognition to the animals. It is always some man that is the hero and you do not hear much about the animals. Another thing that struck me about the sculpture was the image of them running wild and free. I am so used to seeing them tamed that it was a different image for me. So by looking at this sculpture, I got two totally new images of the mustangs. One image being that of a hero and the other image of complete beauty and freedom. THE FREEDOM MARE ìThe true conceiver must be a true lover of freedom, a person who yearns to extend freedom to all lifeî (305). As I looked at the sculpture of the freedom mare, this quote came to mind because Dobie strongly believed that the wild, free mustang was the most beautiful. I too would have to agree. I have rarely seen a mustang running wild and free but the times I have, I found the sight amazing. And it was only in a documentary that I saw this, so to see it live must be extraordinary. I have seen many tamed and these tamed mustangs seem to have lost a lot of their beauty and flare. I think it is a shame sometimes that man must strip this freedom from them for our personal pleasure. ìWhere he stood trembling with fear before his captor...bruised...cut... and starved, he had lost what made him so beautiful and freeî (305). THE LONGHORN I stood by the longhorn and was instantly reminded of Bevo. I have always, since I can remember, associated longhorns with The University of Texas and Bevo, so I found it fitting for this sculpture to be on the UT campus. But, since I had just read Dobieís ìThe Longhornsî I was also reminded of the great history that longhorns have left in Texas. ìThe Texas longhorn made more history than any other breed of cattle the civilized world has knownî (281). Up until reading this, I had no idea the impact that longhorns had in history. I am even more proud of our mascot now knowing the impact it has had. I think it represents the university well and hopefully is symbolic of the kind of students attending UT. Hopefully we also can make an impact and keep the loyalty, as the longhorns do, for our ìhome.î THE FAMILY We finally made it to our final sculpture and it is my favorite one. The first thing I enjoyed was the simple art work. The detail of ìthe familyî was amazing and the sculptor depicted the scene very well. I thought it represented the bond that can be formed between the rancher and the animals as well as a bond being formed by the new generation, the little girl. The scene reminded me of Sancho coming up to the main house for love and tamales. While a lot of times I think animals should be wild, I also think that bonds can be formed and an appreciation for the animals can develop. Animals, when treated properly, also enjoy and appreciate their owners. Animals can bring so much to our lives and I definitely think it is important for everyone to experience a bond like that of this rancherís family, and to pass it on to younger generations.