331. Camden, Ouachita County (AR14)

It is new for me that the first thing that comes to mind when I get to a courthouse is a monument, but in this particular case I’m definitely seeing something I’ve never seen before.

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I have seen monuments (especially Confederate ones) where they clarify how people felt then as opposed to how people feel now. I have never seen a memorial with an errata. So I hail this homage to Saint Snopes, patron saint of fact checkers. For the record, there is no actual patron saint of fact checkers as far as I can tell so I proclaim Saint Snopes to be thusly named. I didn’t think when I sat down to write this that I would be affecting Catholic theology, especially since I’m not Catholic. That, however, is a different issue all together.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a memorial for Confederate women before that I can remember, either. It only just occurred to me that there might be a reason for having one. If, for some reason you don’t feel comfortable putting up one for the Confederacy in general or Confederate soldiers specifically, Confederate women make a much safer choice. If you care about such things, that is.

The cache was a magnetic keybox of a design I had never seen before either, so I managed to hit the trifecta of things never before seen (by me, anyway). They’re obviously mass produced, and yet they’ve never come up for me for some reason. Unfortunately, this one is kind of falling apart. The top was broken and the magnet had come loose. I was able to put it back together temporarily, and it probably needs to be replaced or archived, but a find is a find. I, good sirs or ladies, shall take it. And once I did, I began the long trek home. The road yielded to me as I headed back to Austin. Except the road home did end up passing through a county seat I hadn’t made it to. And there was still daylight… We know who I am! What choice did I have? I made one actual final stop in…