Red Umbrella Project #5:  Love

out of groceries

 

Just like this weathered sign on the closed store, the farming community of Wilson has seen better times.

 

Wilson, Texas

FM 400 and 211

6.10.2017

 

 

A while back when I was  on FM 40, there was this "free" house.  I guess there were no takers because the message has changed.

 

Some research lead me to Reclaim the Plains and upcoming art show at the Tornado Gallery featuring only materials from this 1942 Lubbock County home.

 

FM 40

Lubbock County, Texas

 



city power & light

 

Today the community of Crosbyton, population less than 2,000, is surrounded by wind turbines and the municipal power company is out of business.  Nice jaunt today for "Junk in the Truck."

 

Crosbyton, Texas

x marks the spot

 

A handy way to remember where you parked your pickup is to put it under the red X.  This building, currently serving as a garage, probably had a multitude of lives from gas station to cafe to whatever Red-X is.  A google search only raised questions because the place probably didn't sell smoke shop vapors nor testosterone steroids!

 

Floydada, Texas

2.19.2017

stop sign

 

Wish I would have had time to stop in this pizza place for a Schlitz!  Looked like fun.

 

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

1.31.2017

 

 

Ever wonder where John Deeres go in the off season?  Must be like a spa for tractors!  The sign on the lot across the street says "Finished."

 

Hurst Farm Supply

Abernathy, Texas

2.11.2017

jam session

 

When the bowling alley was built in Abernathy in the late '50s or so, it was THE place to go.  Everybody had a bowling ball and was a member of the men's, women's, church or youth leagues (me included).  The building languished but today it houses the Texas War Veterans Thrift Store, operated by a couple of Viet Nam vets. What used to be the lanes is filled with "thrift" merchandise, but the area where the pin setting was is different.  It serves as a "club" of sorts with a bar, tables and chairs and a small stage with sound equipment, the piano and guitars.

 



 

Texas War Veterans Thrift Store

Abernathy, Texas

 



some days are just like that!

 

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

1.31.2017

a to z

 

Although azaleas don't grow in our part of Texas, it's still a popular street name, especially in country cemeteries.  You'll find Azalea next to Edelweiss.

 

Idalou Cemetery

Idalou, Texas

hoss

 

Have you missed this landmark in O'Donnell?  They tore down the gin with the welcome sign.  Now motorists passing through this small town don't realize it was the home town of Dan Blocker, better known as Hoss.  You have to go downtown to Heritage Park to see his statue or visit the Dan Blocker Museum--whenever it's open.  I found this photo while going through old files.

 

O'Donnell, Texas

9.10.2006

don't follow the arrow

 

Prior to the 1960s one had to know a bootlegger to buy beer in Lubbock County.  Then a few precincts went "wet" -- notably "the Strip"-- but package stores sprang up along other roads.  I don't know what the Imperial Package store was named originally but it's location wasn't ideal -- especially when Lubbock voted to sell liquor everywhere in 2009.  One could readily pick up a six pack at Walmart or CVS without driving all the way out East 19th Street until it became County Road 6700.  The sign remains but there's nothing imperial about the empty, weedy building.

 

6002 E, CR 6700

Lubbock County, Texas

six feet under

 

An interesting morning spent at Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta's oldest burial ground with fine examples of Victorian funerary art.  It's the final resting place of both Confederate and Union soldiers, Georgia governors and mayors, novelist Margaret Mitchell and golfer Bobby Jones.  Conveniently  the "six feet under" restaurant serving cold beer is just across Memorial Drive.

 

Oakland Cemetery

Atlanta, Georgia

multi-purpose body shop

 

It was probably my affinity for weird signs that got an image accepted into the upcoming "When Language Meets Art" exhibit at the Underwood.  Like my take on this "body" sign:  welding? tattoos? flats fixed?  boob or lube job?

 

Sideways

2102 Clovis Highway

Lubbock, Texas

haunted hotel

 

For only $224 a night, you can be scared to death to sleep in case you meet some of the  ghosts who inhibit the Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter.  Established in 1886 and added to several times, the hotel is still operated by the fifth generation descendents of a Sicilian shoe cobbler.

 

Hotel Monteleone

French Quarter

New Orleans, Louisiana

10.13.2016

rooms to let

 

According to the sign, we could have stayed on Historic 25th Street rather than at the Hilton on 23rd.  However, this iconic sign was recently restored to the area.  It originally was designed in 1944 and originally graced the Star Noodle Parlour for 60 years.  In 1869, The Golden Spike brought together the first transcontinental railroad, roughly fifty miles to the northwest of Union Station, and created a boom town in Ogden.  25th Street was a bawdy area of brothels and bars.  The dragon sign is important because it symbolizes the Japanese-Americans who owned 40 businesses along 25th Street in the early decades of the 20th century.  Today the dragon is just a neat sign on a busy street with a gathering of all types.

 

Historic 25th Street

Ogden, Utah



historic 25th street

 

As you know, when in a new town I like to visit historic places.

 

Historic 25th Street

Ogden, Utah

goathead road

 

Do you know what a goathead is?

 

Randall County, Texas

9.5.2016

for those scary nights

pocket-size.....wallet available

architectural style?

 



In its day this storefront on the west side of the square was cool with the blue tile and rounded windows. Don't know it was '50s modern or some other architectural style. Today it is just sad -- another small town business closed. 

 

Gattis Drug

Tahoka, Texas

8.27.2016