class of 1966

 

Near Bulldog Stadium and Swenson Park, this graffiti caught my eye.  I wondered if the Spur High School Class of 1966 went to Galveston on their senior trip.  Then I noticed the headstones.  A closer look showed the names of those who were in the senior class and had passed away.  In a small town like Spur, the kids had probably been together since the first grade. This memorial wall honors those nine classmates who won't make the 50 year reunion in 2016.

 

Spur, Texas

11.25.2015

reflections of fall

 

As November comes to an end, we've already had a taste of winter with the cold and ice of the last few days.  The trees at Higginbotham Park struggle to show their colors before littering their leaves on the soggy ground.

 

Higginbotham Park

Lubbock, Texas

family photo

 

It was a simple concept -- pose the greats on the trampoline for the Thanksgiving photo.  The term "herding cats" comes to mind.

winter

 

There was no gradual transition between the seasons.  No gentle falling of colored leaves aided by autumn breezes. Thanksgiving Day was the last in a series of great fall days with balmy temperatures in the 70s and blue skies.  Then -- wham-- artic front, freezing temperatures, gale winds and a combination of rain, sleet, and a bit of snow coating fall's colors with ice.

 

My Backyard

Lubbock, Texas

calaboose

 

I was in no danger of being fined because there were no prisoners in the jail.  In fact, the calaboose hadn't been used in years.  Spur preserved its historic jail inside a chain link fence.  A marker indicated the calaboose was built in 1920.

 

Spur, Texas

11.25.2015

souls lost to time

 

Perched on the edge of the Caprock just east of Crosbyton, the Mt. Zion Cemetery is testament to the black population of the community.  The Mt. Zion Church, an African-American church built in 1924, established the cemetery which was in use until the 1970s.   It then lay neglected for many years and history was lost.  A Boy Scout Eagle project repaired the cemetery and "ditching" led to finding graves.  Today those unidentified graves are marked by simple white iron crosses. 

 

Mt. Zion Cemetery

Crosby County, Texas

agricultural architecture

 

I wanted to entitle this "bridges of hale county" after the book Bridges Of Madison County.  I found the pivot very reminiscent of bridge trusses although there are no bridges in Hale County or anywhere within a 100 miles probably.

 

Fortenberry Farm

Hale County, Texas

11.22.2015

sunset over the water tower

 

Last night I could have used a great sunset for my landscapes but, alas, no clouds.  Tonight was a great sunset behind a mundane scene.  This is the New Deal water tower located by the Fortenberry shop.  New Deal was incorporated in 1970 and my dad was the first mayor.  That's when the water system was installed and Pop donated the land for the water tower.

 

Fortenberry Farms

503 Main

New Deal, Texas

moonrise over the grain stubble

 

With clear skies tonight, there wasn't much sunset. The color was in the east with the almost full moon.  The grain field after harvest the stark pivot add structure to the image.

 

Fortenberry Farm

Hale County, Texas

vintage vanity

 

Spotted on the Studio Tour

Lubbock, Texas

11.14.2015

train stop

 

I am ashamed to admit that in all the time I've been BY the Hale County Farm & Ranch Museum, I've never actually visited it until today.  Here is the 1911 restored Santa Fe train depot with the 1907 Pinkerton farm house reflected in the window.  Besides the hundred pieces of rusted farm equipment, where else could one see a button collection spanning over 80 years, the first electric permanent wave machine from a Lockney beauty shop or assorted uniforms from Hale County veterans?

 

Hale County Farm & Ranch Museum

Hale Center, Texas

color coordinated

 

Earlier this month fellow photographer Melinda posted an image where the dumpster matched the sky.  It made me think of dumpsters differently.  Here I found one that matched the building and upheld the fish graphic!

 

Fuzzy's Tacos

2102 Broadway

Lubbock, Texas

 john wayne at the bijou

 

While waiting for their appointments at the Bijou Salon, patrons sit in theater seats and watch old black-and-white movies.  Bijou was a popular name for movie theaters and the Bijou Salon started out in the rear of the old Midway Theater on Broadway.  They kept the name and motif in the move to Buddy Holly Avenue, in the heart of the Depot District. 

 

Bijou Salon

1810 Buddy Holly Avenue

Lubbock, Texas

when the frost is on the pumpkin

 

I agree with James Whitcomb Riley about fall being a great season:

 

         But the air’s so appetizin’; and the landscape through the haze

        Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days

        Is a pictur’ that no painter has the colorin’ to mock—

       When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock.

 

But he wasn't in Lubbock with frost, cold fronts, thunderstorms and 30-40 mile per hour winds!



the garden gate

 

One of the bonuses of the Local Color Studio Tour - aside from the great art - is the opportunity to see interesting homes and yards.  One wouldn't think this backyard was in Lubbock!

 

Studio Tour

Lubbock, Texas

11.14.2015

farewell to summer

 

On what might have been the last nice day of fall, the pool chairs line up to bid farewell to summer.

 

Spotted on the Studio Tour

Lubbock, Texas

11.14.2015

studio artist

 

A great day on the 19th Annual Take In the Local Color! Lubbock’s Artist Studio Tour enjoying the work of 48 artists.  The Studio Tour offers the unique opportunity to observe artists in their working environment, many of which are in private homes. Some of the artists worked their fingers to the bone getting ready!

 

Sara Peso White Studio

4411 18th Street

Lubbock, Texas

 

 

The more than 4 million milestone visitors to Yellowstone National Park this past season included me. What an amazing place!  This is West Thumb Geyser Basin, located on Yellowstone Lake, the largest lake over 8,000 feet elevation in North America. Numerous steamy hot springs in varying colors, rimmed with delicate crystals, make the walk other-worldly.

West Thumb Geyser Basin
Yellowstone National Park
9.15.2015

white on white

 

Two of my images from the "Maytag Series" were accepted in the "White on White" juried exhibition opening at the LHUCA December 4.  The show's theme is "monochromatic works, with absence of color, from the many hues and shades of white, and neutrals."  Sounds pretty lofty for photos taken at Bud's Laundromat in Hale Center, Texas!.

Opening receptions: December 4 and January 1, during the First Friday Art Trail 6 – 9 pm 

Exhibition dates: December 4, 2015 – January 23, 2016
Helen DeVitt Jones Studio Gallery 

wreck 'em tech

 

Have you seen the latest addition to the Texas Tech brand?  If you didn't catch this locomotive on the Lubbock and Western rails between Lubbock and Seagraves or Whiteface, you might see it at the Wolfforth depot.  The university-themed engine is owned by Watco Company which took over the West Texas and Lubbock Railway.  Read more of the story here

 

Wolfforth, Texas

11.1.2015



deutsche mark

 

I came across a bag of money today in the back of drawer but it may not be worth a pfennig! This was before the day of euros!  Its value lies in the memories of time spent in Germany. From that first trip to study to the Christmas spent in Munich to the latest visit to Trier, I've enjoyed my time in Deutschland.  In that bag is even an East German mark smuggled out of East Berlin!

ride'em cowboy

 

 

Many firefighters have a "second job."  This cowboy had firefighting as his second job.  Now retired, he runs cattle and rides in parades (and his mother was my third grade teacher).  There was a reason the Shallowater Harvest Festival put the horses and sheriff's posse at the end of the parade.  Wouldn't want to mistake horse patties for peanut patties!

 

Shallowater, Texas

10.17.2015

the olivers don't live here any more

 

Throughout the South Plains, vacant homesteads punctuate the farmland.  One wonders what hopes and dreams lie abandoned beyond the padlocked gate.

 

FM 2130

Hockley County, Texas

11.1.2015

relics of the past

 

Scattered across the South Plains, like remnants of Stonehenge monuments, grain elevators anchor forgotten places.  Many small agricultural towns were linked to larger cities by the railroad.  Silos like these were an important step in the marketing of the grain harvest. Increasingly,  silos and short line railroads bypass diminishing towns and now two-thirds of grain is moved by truck.  Abandoned grain elevators on weedy spurs become monuments to times past.

 

Roundup, Texas

US 84 and FM 2131

11.1.2015

you are here

 

I visited Hawaii today.  It wasn't far -- only about 25 miles from my house.  I saw the sand but never found the ocean!  Wonder why Hockley County named roads in this precinct after States?  Certainly doesn't look like Hawaii or Maine or Georgia!

 

FM 168

Hockley County, Texas