mary doesn't work here anymore

 

When the Plainsman Motor Hotel opened in 1951, it boasted many amenities for the traveler -- including a barber shop in the basement. After foreclosure in 1965, the building housed a series of retirement living facilities -- evidently with the same tonsorial services for seniors.  The building is undergoing renovation for apartments but I doubt that a beauty shop is in the plans.

 

The Que

21st and Avenue Q

Lubbock, Texas

this doggy went to market

 

Toronto, Ontario

5.13.2016

 making it big in Nashville

 

The Statler Brothers in "How to Be a Country Star" advise getting a gimmick.  This guitar player's gimmick appears to be the Boston Terrier.  I don't know if the musician will make it as a country star but he's getting the dog sympathizers.  Unfortunately the image didn't make it into the "Putting on the Dog" exhibit.

 

Nashville, Tennessee

6.5.2015

 

no fresh water

 

Leaving Texas headed west on US 62, the monotony of the scenery might cause you to zone out-- until you come to Arkansas Junction.  Then you're thinking "did I take a wrong turn" on the way to Carlsbad, New Mexico?  My traveling companion Sally and I spent some of the 70 miles between Hobbs and Carlsbad looking for the Halfway Bar but never found it (typical in our quest for "old" landmarks). Supposedly Arkansas Junction, at US 62 and NM 203, was established in the late 1940s as workers traveled from Lovington to build the natural gas processing plants.  Once upon a time, there was a café, now gone the way of the Halfway Bar.  Just the Arkansas Junction sign remains on the road between Texas and New Mexico.

 

US 62-180, New Mexico

6.8.2016

salt flat café

 

The Salt Flat Cafe didn't look any different from when I was through Salt Flat on my last trip to El Paso 10 years ago.  And it probably hasn't changed much, except for the satellite dish, since opening in the 1930s.  Ninety miles east of El Paso, the Salt Flat Café and the Hammack Motel provided respite for travelers.  It was closed the day we were there (I later learned from its Facebook page that the closure was due to owner Shirley Richardson's broken knee).  For more information, watch the  Texas Country Reporter segment.

 

Salt Flat, Texas

6.8.2016

neighborhood watch

 

I don't have a dog but, because of the "Putting on the Dog" photo exhibit, I am always watching for dogs.  I found these guys and they were watching me!  (Thank goodness for long lens!) This is the seventh annual photo show and I have  been fortunate to have entries accepted for all seven shows.

 

Lubbock, Texas

3.23.2016

free lunch

 

The feral cats in Lubbock have friends.  One had just dropped off Friskies and water for the cats living at the old power plant.  Located at 5th and Avenue J, the electric plant was the first in Lubbock and dates back to 1917.  Its occupants are now cats and pigeons.



happy

 

Poor Happy.  Happy, a shelter dog of rat terrier/Chihuahua mix, is the shop mascot for Juxtaposh.  She was one of my entries in the 7th annual "Putting on the Dog" exhibit at the International Cultural Center.  Unfortunately, Happy wasn't selected for the show.  Come to the reception on Friday, July 8 to see which two of my submissions were selected.

 

Juxtaposh

1702 Buddy Holly

Lubbock, Texas

it's 5:00 somewhere

 

102 degrees today.  Makes me long for sea breezes and ocean waves.

 

St. Simon Island Georgia

4.24.2016

our lady of the flour tortilla

former patron saint of the

Texas Tech Red Raiders

 

A fun, but short-lived tradition at Texas Tech football games was the tossing of flour tortillas.  Now banned, a flour tortilla on the field could be a 15-yard penalty for the Raiders.

 

Canutilla, Texas

6.10.2016

our lady of the window

 

Las Cruces, New Mexico

6.11.2016

mary, mother of jesus

 

Established as a presidio chapel by the Spanish in 1789 and named after  St. Elzear of Sabran, the patron saint of soldiers, the San Elizario Chapel has endured.  Rebuilt in 1877 after the Rio Grande flooded an changed course, San Elizario is now on the north bank of the river in Texas. Still an active parish, visitors to the historic site must heed the praying parishioners.

 

Presidio Chapel of San Elizario

San Elizario, Texas

6.10.2016

The bronco looks more like a tired, old nag and rightfully so after 66 years.  All that remains Bronco Drive-In's marquee is the horse's head.  Built in 1950, the drive-in attracted El Pasoans to its single-screen and 600 car capacity.  After closing in 1975, the drive-in, except for the marquee signage, was razed and the property became home to a dance hall and finally a swap meet.

Bronco Swap Meet
Alameda Street
El Paso, Texas
6.10.2016

supplication

 

 

Today we followed the Mission Trail from San Elizario to Socorro to Yselta.  Then we followed the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (The Royal Road to the Interior) into New Mexico and ended up at the Basilica de San Albino in Mesilla.  Our prayer of supplication was for relief from the 100 degree weather!

 

Basilica de San Albino

Mesilla, New Mexico

canutilla truck

 

Canutilla is a small community on the east bank of the Rio Grande, north of El Paso.  This truck, with four flat tires is somewhat representative of the neighborhood.  It's parked across the street from the Bailey Cemetery, a plot from the 1880s with over 1,500 gravesites.  Unfortunately, the afternoon shower kept me from exploring the cemetery.  And that brief rain?  It cooled the 100 degree day down to 96.

 

Canutilla, Texas

el capitan

 

The 5 and 1/2 hour commute to work today was over the Guadalupe Pass.  The Guadalupe Mountains National Park is in West Texas and contains Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at 8,749 feet in elevation. El Capitan, the eighth highest peak in Texas is the southern terminus of the Guadalupe escarpment that forms the mountains. 

 

Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

to park or not to park?

that is the question:

 whether tis nobler to suffer the fines of outrageous misfortune,

and to bear those ills rather than to park where we know not of?

 

From atop the red double-decker sight-seeing bus, I didn't have to worry about parking.

Toronto, Ontario

5.13.2016 



hitching post

 

On a recent trip home from Dallas, I detoured in Benjamin to drive by Wyman Meinzer's place.  For years, Wyman, also known as the State Photographer of Texas, lived in the original 1887 jail.  He later built a house and the jail became part of his compound.  As expected, Wyman's outdoor décor reflects his Western heritage and the landscape he calls the "Big Empty."

 

Benjamin, Texas

5.7.2016

the water hose

 

The girl has a fancy swimming pool with slide and palm tree and still prefers the garden hose!

how deep?

 

This detail is a planting gauge on an antique seed planter -- hand-pushed!  But it could also be a rain gauge for the deluges we've had this week!

 

Bayer Museum of Agriculture

Lubbock, Texas

loose moose

 

The Loose Moose Bar was touted as the place to go in Toronto. That proved true on a Sunday afternoon when the Toronto Raptors where playing Miami Heat in the semi-finals -- the place was packed.  It was apparent that I was several decades too old for the crowd so I went next door to Canyon Creek where the ambiance was more subdued and the decibel levels lower.

 

Loose Moose

Toronto, Ontario

5.14.2016

where the girls are

 

No matter where I go, I seem to find funky bars to photograph - not necessarily to partake. There are  a dozen or so featured on the blog.  Here in historic downtown Brunswick is The Historic Red Carpet Gentlemen's Club- where the girls are!  The place has been in business for 50 years and the exterior shows it.  However, the pictures on the home page The Red Carpet Lounge are quite a contrast (click warning:  it is adult entertainment!)  That small window air conditioner is probably insufficient to cool the place down.

The Historic Red Carpet Lounge
Brunswick, Georgia
4-23-16