The Origin of Hobie

I have been thinking about writing an explanation of my nickname, Hobie (pronounced "hoe-bee"), but I had wanted a visual aid. In the great Move From the Yellow House I had hoped that a long-lost keepsake might appear: The Hobie T-shirt. But alas, it did not. It was taken away as unexpectedly and quietly as it appeared.

Here is the story: One afternoon, many years ago, I took a load of laundry into the laundry room. The laundry room at the Riggs house was, well, its own continent, if you will, separated from the outside world by a mountain range of long-discarded clothing items, a sea of assorted odds and ends, and the Great Rift Valley of Whatever-was-on-the-table-last. Finding myself in this strange and somewhat terrifying environment, I was loathe to make my way back out to fetch something to wear so that I could put my current togs in the laundry as well. Just as I feared that I would have to venture back out, I saw, as if in a pillar of light, a glowing vintage 80s T-shirt in size XXXXXL, the word "HOBIE" emblazoned across the chest. I put it on. It was meant to simply get me back to my room. But then, when I realized how wonderfully comfortable it is to have room for 2 additional people inside your T-shirt, I began wearing "the Hobie" around the house. It irked Katie beyond belief. She HATED the Hobie. No one knows quite where it came from. We are not a surfing family. We are not an 80s T-shirt kind of family. We are, however, the kind of family that would have such a clothing item inexplicably appear in the laundry and not question it. It was a gift from the Gods! It brightened my life for many years. I wore the Hobie, more and more to bother Katie and less and less for comfort. But I wore the Hobie proudly. And the name stuck. I thought I saw the Hobie recently-- I was unable to let my namesake go with the many, many DI trips I have made. But, alas, the time has come for the Hobie to move on. Perhaps it has gone to Hobie Heaven. Perhaps it has appeared in the laundry room of another unexpecting soul. But wherever you have gone, dear Hobie, I will proudly carry your name with me always.

I have searched for a representation of the Hobie in all its glory, but the best I could do was this: Available currently on ebay for $5.99. The REAL Hobie is, however, priceless.