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Main Street

Bryan, Texas

oxymoron

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms.  Even if the streets on the Texas A&M campus are named after Texas governors, it's startling to see "Lubbock."  You won't find an A&M street on the Texas Tech campus!



Lubbock Street
Texas A&M University

College Station, Texas

senior formal

This time of year Facebook is filled with photos of friends and formals as high schools hold their proms.  At New Deal, there was no dancing so we celebrated spring with the Junior-Senior Banquet.  My friend Phyllis and I are the high of fashion with floorlength white satin, long gloves and corsages from our dads.

New Deal High School Junior-Senior Prom
May 1965





flower bed or truck bed?

 Arbor Day was started by a pioneer journalist in Nebraska, J. Sterling Morton, who was able to sway that state’s legislature to proclaim Arbor Day as a legal holiday in April 1872.  Texas Tech Arbor Day is a tradition began in 1937 when President Knapp dedicated the day. On the first Arbor Day, hosted by the Saddle Tramps, students and faculty planted 20,000 trees.  The annual event provides an opportunity for Tech students, faculty and staff to join together to beautify the Texas Tech campus by planting flowers and new trees. This year's emphasis is "sustainability"--dedicated to educating  faculty, staff and students to reduce, reuse and recycle now and well into the future.  Tech Grounds Maintenance has said that it saves them roughly around 3,500 man-hours when the student organizations plant the thousands of flowers in campus beds.

shirley poppy and bee

Lubbock Memorial Arboretum

4111 University

Lubbock, Texas

stylin'

Tucked in among the hundreds of art galleries on Canyon Road is the occasional boutique.

Canyon Road

Santa Fe, New Mexico

3.10.2012

bicycle basket

Das Blume Haus

7212 18th Street

Lubbock, Texas

4.22.2012



picnic pavilion

Long abandoned, the playground and picnic area are absent the laughter of children, the aroma of sizzling hot dogs and the easy conversation of off-duty military personnel.

Former Reese Air Force Base
Lubbock, Texas

no diving

Reese Airbase has been closed since 1997 and the infrastructure is rapidly falling into decline.  In its operational life more than 25,000 pilots trained here. The pool, long dry, is a concrete hole.  I believe this was the "enlisted" pool (as opposed to the "officers" pool).  A faded sign posting "pool rules" stands nearby.  A few of the more interesting rules:

*No smoking on the pool apron or in the pool.

*No running, scuffling, wrestling or rough play.

*Swimmers using suntan lotion will shower prior to using the pool.

*Children who are not toilet trained may not enter the pool.

*No one with obvious evidence of a cold or other communicable disease or with with open sores or lesions (includes fungal skin diseases) may enter the pool.



pool rules

Reese Technology Center

Lubbock, Texas

keeping the skies safe

Soaring among the butterflies, lizards, and other brightly colored kites at the annual Fly & Fling was Spiderman -- keeping the skies safe.

McAllister Park
Lubbock, Texas

larkspur

The purple-hued larkspur is one of my favorite spring flowers. Larkspur trivia you may not know: Larkspur has medicinal use in small amounts for insect bites, parasitic infestation, dropsy, and asthma. It is associated with Saint Odile, the patron saint of eye and ear diseases. Larkspur was used during the Civil War to kill lice in the hair. It is believed that drinking the seed could help the sting from a scorpion and is said to keep away scorpions and venomous snakes as well as ghosts. The juice of the flowers, mixed with alum, gives a blue ink. In Transylvania, because of the blue color, it is used on the stables to ward away witches. The larkspur is the July birth flower. The flower has a meaning of lightness and levity. Thus ends today's lesson.

My Backyard
Lubbock, Texas

discus thrower

On the way to work each day I go by the practice throwing field for Texas Tech track and field. Today I stopped and asked to photograph. I learned I'm no action sports photographer, but like the discus thrower, practice will improve my technique. The iconic sport of discus throw has been around since the ancient Greeks. The athlete holds a discus in the fingertips, spins one and one-half times before releasing the discus -- hoping for a record-breaking distance of over 74 meters. Chalk is allowed on the discus and hands to reduce moisture and improve grip.

prince albert

Do you remember those prank calls "Do you have Prince Albert in the can?" --
"Better let him out."
That ranked right up there with "Is your refrigerator running?"

National Cowboy Symposium
Trail Wagon and Camp Competition
Lubbock, Texas
9.9.2011

the good book

Lubbock Cowboy Symposium

Trail Wagon and Camp Competition
9.9.2011

hole in the clouds

Like the receding pool of water that always eluded Tantalus, rain clouds tantalize West Texas. We counted 15 drops this evening.

william

daisies don't tell

self-explanatory

The Pearl Brewery bottled the last Pabst about 10 years ago. Today the industrial-styled venue hosts shops, cafes, farmer's market and meeting places. One can hardly see the iconic landmark Pearl tower from the interstate because of the apartment buildings springing up around it.

Pearl Brewery
San Antonio, Texas
4.4.2012

sunset ripples

Higginbotham Park
Lubbock, Texas

red geraniums

Today I visited the nursery seeking red geraniums. At $8.99 for an 8-inch pot, they must have a million dollars of inventory. Tomorrow I'll go to Ace Hardware where the geraniums were 3 for $9.99!

strawberries and chocolate

Joseph Draps selected the name Godiva for his chocolate company. His inspiration came from the Saxon legend of Lady Godiva who rode unclothed through the streets of Coventry to entreat her husband, Leofric the Dane, to lower taxes. Little did Draps realize that over time his chocolate would become as legendary as the lady herself. One of the first Godiva shops still stands in the beautiful, historic Grand Place in Brussels.

Brussels, Belgium
8.24.2011

obligatory iris

Photo blogs require the obligatory spring iris photo. Here's mine.

Dutch Iris Blue Magic
Texas Texas University Gardens & Greenhouse Complex
Lubbock, Texas

easter sunday 1951

Leaving for church in my Easter frock - which just happens to match the 1951 maroon Buick.

(This Kodacolor print appears nearly monochromatic due to severe dye fading and has an overall yellow cast due to excessive coupler staining. These problems come together to produce a look that is characteristic of Kodacolor prints from 1942 thru 1954. Kodacolor was the world’s first color negative film sold by Eastman Kodak between 1942 and 1963. Kodak claimed “With this revolutionary new film, anyone - in good sunlight – can take beautiful color snapshots with an ordinary roll-film camera. The cost of the film included “full-color snapshots prints on paper” and the back of every print was stamped ‘Kodacolor Print.’)

eisenkreuzen

Since 1887 Erasmus Meyer has rested in peace in the St. Louis Catholic Cemetery. This cemetery has served the Parish of St. Louis Catholic Church since the founding of Castroville in 1844.

The tradition of wrought-iron-cross cemetery art goes back to the 1600’s in Austria and Bavaria. Blacksmiths in Tyrol and upper Austria made the first handcrafted iron cemetery crosses. This art form seems to have become pervasive among European peoples, but only some of them transferred it to the North American Plains. The cross represented the sacred; the iron represented strength--attributes of the pioneers they honored.

St. Louis Catholic Cemetery
Castroville, Texas
4.6.2012

http://www.spiritdesignsonline.com/history_germanrussian.php

castroville poppies

Poppies are to Castroville as bluebonnets are to the hill country. This unique town started as a colony by settlers from the Alsace region of France. Henri Castro was a Frenchman from a prominent Jewish family of Portuguese ancestry. Through his efforts more than 1,200 immigrants inhabited Castroville starting in 1844. They brought their language, customs and architecture with them.

Castroville, Texas

st therese

St. Therese is sometimes known as the patron saint of photography. However, it was her sister Céline who was interested in photography, and when Céline entered the Carmelites with her sisters, she was given permission to bring her equipment and use it in the convent. A wonderful out-of-print book with all the photographs of this saint is called The Photo Album of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

The National Shrine of the Little Flower boasts of being the first National Shrine dedicated to St. Therese. Architecturally, it is one of the grandest buildings in San Antonio.

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower
San Antonio, Texas

www.carmelitefrairsocd.com

jesse james

Jesse James gets his tail braided (no ribbons) while waiting on customers for carriage rides around the Alamo.

Alamo Plaza
San Antonio, Texas

chow down

The Little Red Barn has its menu written on the wall. Started in 1963, it boasts of being one the largest steakhouses with seating for 800. If you're interested in a waitress job, you'll have to wear a fringed vest and skirt along with a white cowboy hat.

Little Red Barn
San Antonio, Texas

busboys

If you dine al fresco at the Casa Rio on the Riverwalk, when you are finished be prepared to stand up quickly and walk away. Otherwise the pigeons will descend upon your table to begin clearing it off.

Casa Rio on the Riverwalk
San Antonio, Texas

easter 1954

Having new clothes for Easter has deep roots in European customs. Special times called for special forms of dress and the shopping malls this weekend proved it. Stylish young girls in 1954 wore full-skirted floral dresses over stiff petticoats. Accessories included a flower bandeau, white gloves, and lace-trimmed anklets to go with the black patent maryjanes. Pop wore his Stetson and suit. The lovely background is the new concrete block fence at the house at New Deal.