elvis sighting

 

Ye Olde Drugstore

Historic Downtown

Swansboro, North Carolina

follow the arrow

 

In case you don't know where the drive-thru window is at the Cowboy Cafe, follow the arrow.

 

Cowboy Cafe

Plains, Texas

6-22-2013

lavender harvest

 

Neal Newsom demonstrates how to tie a lavender bundle.  He furnished the shears, twine and lavender -- and offered lemonade!

 

Rock'n N B&B and Lavender Farm

Plains, Texas

6-22-2013

lavender harvest

 

A nice road trip today to Plains, Texas to cut my own wands of lavender.  Located on the grounds of the Rock'n N Bed & Breakfast, the limited lavender field is in full bloom.  The B&B occupies a 1914 ranch house and Neal Newsom, the owner, says he's booked for next week.  Neal gave up cotton farming to grow grapes.  There is no on-site winery but he provides grapes for 14 others -- except for this year when grapes were wiped out by the early spring freeze.  Want a quiet get-away?  Consider the Rock'n N -- wide open spaces, starry skies and no distractions for romance.

 

Rock'n N Bed & Breakfast (and lavender harvest)

2 miles north of Plains on Texas 214

www.newsomvineyards.com/bb.htm

 

 

 

one stop

 

It's a long stretch along highway 350 between Trinidad and Fort Bend.  At one time, travelers could stop at the Delhi Store to buy a soda and use the facilities-- uh, the outhouse.  Now the place is dilapidated and abandoned; only intrepid photographers make the stop.

 

Delhi, Colorado

5.23.2009

illumination

 

Today I toured the Wiggins complex which offices University Housing and Hospitality Services.  They used black and white photographs by Art Limmer as artwork (http://www.artielimmer.com).  I love Artie's work -- he has captured the spirit of Texas Tech.  I never thought about the Carol of Lights sans color but was taken by the Administration Building in b/w by Artie.  Enough that I hurried home to see what some of my Christmas shots would look like in monochrome. 

Season's Greetings in June!

 

Chemistry Building

Texas Tech

Lubbock, Texas

art

 

If you can't find original art to grace your wall in the multitude of galleries in Santa Fe, then go with the popular Southwest motif of cow skulls.  If you don't find a skull lying around on the ranch, then one may be purchased from a shop surrounding the Plaza.  Georgia O’Keeffe said of the sun-bleached bones and skulls she found in the desert. “To me they are as beautiful as anything I know...they are strangely more living than the animals walking around. The bones seem to cut sharply to the center of something that is keenly alive on the desert even tho’ it is vast and empty and untouchable—and knows no kindness with all its beauty.”

 

Santa Fe, New Mexico

3.9.2012

upward mobility

 

There is upward mobility with a position in the city's Traffic Engineering department.  On any day, you might be dispatched to go up in the cherry-picker to repair a traffic signal.  This guy has traffic stopped while he works on the signal at 19th and Quaker.  The relative size of the traffic signal is deceptive.  Would you believe the the red light is 12 inches in diameter?

As I post this we have strong winds from the east, rain and nickel-size hail on the ground. Did I cause this with my choice of photo today?   Makes one wonder why McCarley's went out of business.

29th Drive and Slide
Lubbock, Texas

vanishing point

 

All over the plains, cotton farmers are plowing under this year's hope for crops.  Ever optimistic, they planted with little submoisture and prayed for rain to break the drought.  When the rain came, it brought with it damaging hail and strong winds.  What tender plants weren't beaten down were washed away.  Any that survived that were wind-driven and sand-blasted.  Too late to replant cotton, farmers are trusting in hay-grazer or milo or  else they're off to Ruidoso for the horse-races.  May be better odds there!

 

Hale County, Texas

affordable

 

There is some ambiguity to this "free house."  Does it mean one can feel free to move into this fixer-upper and live rent-free OR does it mean that one should feel free to haul the house away and relocate on one's own acreage?  By the way, there is a church for sale just down the road.

 

FM 40

Acuff, Texas

In its heyday, Bob's sign was lit by hundreds of light bulbs; today only black sockets and empty holes remain.  Like Bob's sign, "The Strip" is also only a shade of its former self.  The glow of neon from all the signs use to beckon those who imbibed to the stretch of liquor stores outside the city limits to purchase bourbon and beer.  With the passage of liquor sales, there is now a package store on almost every corner of Lubbock and drinkers drive blocks instead of miles to quench their thirst.  What was once the "wet" part of Lubbock has dried up.  Only a few relics, such as Bob's sign beside the Short Road, mark this era of Lubbock's history.

"The Strip"
89th and US 87
Lubbock, Texas

warehouse #3

 

The unnamed warehouse at 10th and Avenue F has something to do with tires, including tractor tires.  Sometimes they paint the rims.  Do tractor tires make crop circles?

 

10th and Avenue F

Lubbock, Texas

salt flat cafe

 

I don't know if the bus still stops in Salt Flat or if the cafe is open (it has a Facebook page), but the place was a welcome stop along the desolate stretch of US 62/180 between Carlsbad Caverns and El Paso.  The town got its name from a series of dry salt lakes.

 

Salt Flat, Texas

10.16.2006

MACH 6

MACH stands for Master Agility Champion title awarded by the American Kennel Club.  Dog agility is a competitive sport that tests a person's skills in training and handling of dogs over a timed obstacle course. Competitors race against the clock as they direct their dogs to jump hurdles, scale ramps, burst through tunnels, traverse a see-saw and weave through a line of poles in an obstacle course .  Saki, a miniature poodle is MACH 6 with a wallful of ribbons.  Look for Saki at the International Cultural Center dog photography exhibit.

doc

 

Don't look for Doc in the upcoming "Putting on the Dog" exhibit at the International Cultural Center -- he didn't make the cut.  I did have other images accepted.  You are invited to the reception sometime in late June.

main street

 

Today's post is a convergence of thoughts.  I've gathered canine images for submission to the annual dog exhibit at the International Cultural Center( this is not one of them).  Then, the June 6 image on "One Day One Image" (http://melindagreenharvey.com/) featured the main street of Sudan.  Hence today's post of a dog on the main drag of Van Horn.  Wonder if Ran Horn, the Van Gogh of Van Horn, is still around?

 

Van Horn, Texas

10.6/2006

A-1 no more

 

Another victim of last week's storm with 80 mph winds was A-1 Clutch on Avenue A (see January 13 post).  From the Avenue A side the building resembles itself; what is unseen is the collapsed rear two-thirds of the structure.  The curved roof trusses lie upon the stored contents and the concrete blocks are scattered.  Red buildings on this stretch are street must be doomed -- first the Sedberry Church at 18th and B was razed; now A-1 Clutch.  Just more vacant lots for prairie dogs to occupy.

A-1 Clutch
Avenue A and 8th
Lubbock, Texas



t.g.i.f

 

For a brief time this afternoon, smiley faces beamed down on Lubbock.  An unidentified skywriter, dispensing smoke that quickly dissipated in the wind, scribed smiles -- at least 5 that I observed -- with this last one being his/her best.  The last glint of the plane appears at the end of the grin -- which was probably mirrored on the pilot's face.

 



USAF L-4

 



D-Day activities at the Silent Wings Museum included exhibits and rides. For a fee, one could fly in a vintage C-47 or B-25.  On display was a Piper Cub Grasshopper hat was used as an observation plane during WWII.  The L-4 was the Air Force version of the Piper Cub in which many a pilot learned to fly.  We asked Pop if he wanted a ride; he replied that he'd logged his share of hours -- free and courtesy of the US Marine Corps!

 

Silent Wings Museum

Lubbock, Texas

farming

 

What looks like a vintage photograph was actually taken only a few years ago in Amish country.  If the drought doesn't break, there may not be any farming practices.

 

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

3.5.2011

backyard guest

 

I'm not sure if this is last year's visitor Leroy or his cousin Leonard.

 

My backyard

Lubbock, Texas

 

through the green door

 

Gardeners Outlet

1805 N Frankford Avenue

Lubbock, Texas

horse on a roof

 

What would you expect to be the subject matter of the decorative painting on a feed mill that supplies meal for farm animals -- an elephant?  The horse appears in better shape than the roof.  Economy Mills was featured here on May 26.

 

Economy Mills

211 15th Street

Lubbock, Texas

memorial day

 

Scout troops placed flags today honoring the grave sites of the over 2,000 U. S. veterans buried at the City of Lubbock Cemetery after ceremonies dedicating the historical marker commemorating the three Congressional Medal of Honor recipients interred here.

 

City of Lubbock Cemetery

Lubbock, Texas

established 1925

 

At the corner of deadend Avenue B and deadend 15th Street (so stated on the streets signs!) is Economy Mills.  While the streets may dead-end, the mill is located on the railroad tracks and around the corner from the infamous former Lubbock hogpens.  A decade or so, the facility decided to spruce up with decorative painting to enhance its status along the interstate.  Unfortunately, a fire broke out a year or so later and no further renovations were undertaken.

 

Economy Mills

211 15th Street

Lubbock, Texas

don't take my picture

 

 

Legacy Play Village

Lubbock, Texas

 

the perfectionist shop

 

Tucked in the corner between the old Highway 87 underpass and the Marsha Sharp overpass, in the vicinity of the original Hi-De-Ho, is The Perfectionist Shop.  I don't know what they do but I'm sure I am in need of their services.

 

The Perfectionist Shop

417 Texas Avenue

Lubbock, Texas

 



wind power

 

Although a slow shutter speed blurred this windmill's blades, today's wind speeds of 40 mph really spun the windmill.  Alas, wind and dust but no rain -- again.

eat your greens

class of 2013

 

Congratulations to Taylor -- Texas Tech University Class of 2013 with degree in Chemical Engineering (summa cum laude) and a job!

 

Chemistry Building

Texas Tech

Lubbock, Texas

headless horseman

 

Remember the Southwest Conference Circle on the Texas Tech campus?  It was built in 1958 when Tech became a member of the SWC.  Using funds raised by the Saddle Tramps and other student organizations, the mascots of the SWC colleges were represented on concrete and terrazzo slabs in a circle.  The SWC Circle was the site of pep rallies and bonfires until the SWC was disbanded.  Its former location will now be the future home of the Petroleum Engineering Research Building.  TTU announced plans to "try" to preserve the circle and the removed slabs are piled on the construction site.  It appears the other SWC mascots like the Razorback and Aggie are intact slabs.  The misfortunate Red Raider and his steed, however, are missing their heads--although the smaller pieces with the heads are there.  It must be the price of progress.

amaryllis

 

My amaryllis are absolutely amazing this year.

this way

 

Since Lubbock voted "wet" the proliferation of package stores is amazing.  It seems that every neighborhood convenience store sells beer and wine.  Don't bother driving by the KwikSTOP at night to see its neon-lit sign because it isn't--and there aren't any specials listed on the sign board. Rather the KwikSTOP relies on the floodlight to illuminate its sign and the primary colors to attract passers-by.

 

KwikSTOP

Chicago and Marsha Sharp

Lubbock, Texas

Combest, Resthaven, Sanders, Agape, Lakeridge -- the metal signs are color-coded, neatly aligned and waiting.  The grave markers are stored in the maintenance barn of the City of Lubbock cemetery to be used to designate gravesites for the local funeral homes.  Before the entourage from the church, before the granite tombstones are placed -- more utilitarian signs mark final resting places.  Sometimes my travels take me to unusual places.

City of Lubbock Cemetery
Lubbock, Texas

live to ride

 

Accoutrement:  an identifying and often superficial characteristic or device —usually used in plural 

blue against blue

 

This stage of the new building construction is eye-catching with its color -- whatever that building material is under the brick.  My friend MGH is partial to rectangles and the windows here provide plenty.  If you look closely, you may also see the rectangles where the erroneous windows are no longer.

 

Future home of Burkhalt Center for Autism Education

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, Texas

the dam lighthouse

 

Playing with infrared effect. . . I like the graphic design of the lighthouse.

 

Lake Buchanan Dam

11.22.2011

 

The red DQ sign may be called the Texas stop sign but in earlier times the travelers' choices of eating establishments were more varied.  Small towns had local cafes with names like the Rock Inn and the Green Frog.  Motorists broke up the trip to Dallas along Route 114 by planning their lunch stops.  Each cafe seemed to have a specialty like chicken fried steak or home-made pies.  But people got in a hurry, highways got faster - or even by-passed usual stops like the rock gas station in Guthrie -- and cafes closed.  Faded signs remind of times past in places like Dickens, Jean, or Megargel.

Texas State Highway 114
9.19.2013

bar stools, beer signs and deer heads

 

Where the hell is Freiheit?  It was originally a small community school and country store on FM 1101 now being encroached by New Braunfels.  The country store was established in 1889 and is now a popular beer joint with karaoke, live music and great hamburgers.

 

Freiheit, Texas

5.6.2013

5.

www.freiheitcountrystore.net

fried cheese anyone?

 

Since 1982, Spanky's has been a favorite hamburger joint.  When Lubbock went wet, it added beer to the menu.  Business is good with its location by Texas Tech and recently the place expanded but kept the menu.  If fried cheese isn't your thing, then there's fried okra, fried zucchini, or fried mushrooms!

 

Spanky's

811 University

Lubbock, Texas

unusual sighting

 

 

Those umbrellas that folks have been carrying in their cars finally got used today.  Rain accompanied the Lubbock County Historic Commission members as they attended the quarterly meeting and then visited the Slaton Museum.  We need more such opportunities!

 

Slaton Museum

Slaton, Texas

tie dye at day care

 

Texas Tech College of Human Sciences operates a Child Development Research Center.  Evidently the activity of the day was tie-dye as evidenced by the row of tiny tee-shirts hung to dry in the play area.

easy sittin'

 



Remember those colorful metal lawn chairs from the old days?  The ones that, if you weren't careful, would scorch the back of your little legs on hot summer days?  Shellback chairs are popular again. If you don't find one in the garage, or a second-hand store, you can purchase a new "retro" chair.

 

The Art Deco inspired stamped steel chairs were purchased by the tens of thousands during the booming years of the Post-War Atomic Era in cool . Ed Warmack’s colorful steel lawn furniture could be found on porches, in backyards, fronts of motels and around pools all across America. In 2001, Torrans Manufacturing Company of Cleveland, Texas began making this traditional lawn furniture to the same specifications used by previous manufacturers.

 

Wimberley, Texas

5.3.2013

 

 



The tin building housing Fischer's Store is located in the agricultural community of Fischer Store -- founded by German emigrants during the 1880s.  Postal service came to Fischer's Store in 1875 and the mail boxes were moved into the Fischer Store when it was built in 1902.  Unfortunately the postal service was moved next door in 1995 to a unremarkable generic US Post Office.  Today Fischer's Store, after being the post office, bank, and saloon, contains a treasure trove of antiques, including the original mail boxes.  It would be great to time your visit to Fischer when the bowling alley with handset nine-pins is open.  Next door is the dance hall, formerly the school. Several scenes from Willie's movie "Honeysuckle Rose" were filmed here.  A nice stop on the Comal County excursion.

 

Fischer Store, Texas

Old Blanco Highway and FM 181

5.4.2013

 

hoity toit...an upper class establishment

 

Bright colors and butterflies seem a strange choice for a beer joint's decor.  I get the pool table, peanuts and juke box, but what's with the Indian in an airplane?  Guess I should have gone at night and asked.

 

Hoity Toit Bar

Torrey and Lakeview

New Braunfels, Texas

zion

 

The Zion Lutheran Church,  originally located in Charlottenburg, Lavaca County, was relocated to the village of vintage buildings at the Texas Agricultural Education and Heritage Center. Circuit-riding pastors served the religious needs of German Lutheran settlers of this area as early as the 1870s. A group of worshipers met to organize a congregation in March 1902 and construction began in 1904. The church became the base for nearby rural churches.

 

Seguin, Texas

the blue hole

 

 A natural swimming pool, the Blue Hole is a unique spot almost hidden in the center of Wimberley, lined by old growth cypress trees.  The clear pool is fed by an artesian spring called Jacob's Well.  With this morning's low in the 40s and the brisk breeze, there were no enthusiasts in the water.

 

The Blue Hole

Wimberley, Texas

www.blueholeregionalpark.com

 

"before the cock crows"

 

Amid blustery winds and gray skies, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of St Martin stands stalwart among the commercial enterprises built around it on the Loop 46.  Like many old churches, St. Martin's steeple has a rooster.  Wonder why?   One story has that in the ninth century A.D., the pope reportedly decreed that every church in Europe should show a cock on its dome or steeple, as a reminder of Jesus' prophecy that the cock would not crow the morning after the Last Supper, until the disciple Peter had denounced Him three times (Luke 22:34). Because of this story, "weather cocks" have topped church steeples for centuries, both in Europe and in America.  The rooster also points to the dawning of a new day, and to the joy of the resurrection.  Whatever reason this church has probably had its rooster since it was built in 1851.

 

Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Martin

New Braunfels, Texas

chihuly revisited

 

Dale Chihuly use Monet's water lilies as inspiration for his glass creations.  The dusky evening and dark pond enhance the beauty.  A worthwhile roadtrip last fall!

 

Dallas Arboretum

9.17.2013