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

reflections of fall

 

Tonight we bid adieu to October -- and maybe grand fall days like this one in Wyoming.  Tomorrow brings November, the coming of winter weather and the end of daylight savings time.

 

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

9.18.2015

namaste

 

My friend and yoga instructor calls herself "an old hippie." She's led a varied life from leading yoga practices from the 60s, studying with the shamans and raising wolves.  We should all be so agile in our seventh decade.

king of the road

 

This bison literally stopped traffic in Yellowstone by standing in the road and calmly observing the tourists.  Fortunately he was on my side of the bus!

 

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

9.15.2015

alley cat

 

Get off the main streets and wander down some alleys.  Sometimes you find the most interesting sights.

 

Punkin Days

Floydada, Texas

10.10.2015

a plethora of pumpkins

vintage autumn

 

Spotted outside the DownTown Vintage shop at 1110 Main.

Lubbock, Texas

homestead

 

Yesterday was great - photographically speaking. I received notifications that my images had been accepted in TWO juried exhibits--the 15th Annual High & Dry Exhibit at Texas Tech and White on White at the LHUCA (Underwood Center). Now if one of my images currently hanging at the Garden & Arts for the City Employees National Arts Program receives an award, that would be a trifecta for October!  This image of the Buffalo Ranch in Lamar Valley was not selected by the juror.

Lamar Valley, Wyoming
9.15.2015



freaky tiki

 

I've not been to this relatively new place but it might be a possibility for a Halloween outing with live music and $2.00 Drunk Monkeys.

 

The Freaky Tiki

2512 Texas Avenue

Lubbock, Texas

the butcher

 

One of my favorite characters is Louisiana was the butcher atop Cannata's Market.  These family-owned supermarkets have served south Louisiana since 1939 when Vince Cannata married Fannie Canale and they started a fruit stand in the French Quarter.  I think the butcher, although lesser known, is a stronger advertising presence than Colonel Sanders.

 

Cannata's Market

Morgan City, Louisiana

10.14.2015 

24/7

 

This Waffle House was next door to my hotel in Morgan City, Louisiana.  I envisioned a night shot with the patrons inside but without cars.  During my waking hours, there was always a car in the lot.  The first Waffle House restaurant opened its doors in an Atlanta suburb in 1955 and has grown to more than 1,500 restaurants.  How come Amarillo has four and Lubbock has none?

 

 

 

Waffle House

Morgan City, Louisiana

10.14.2015



Mormon row

 

Although this may look like the little house on the prairie, it is actually one of the homesteads on Mormon Row, a historic settlement near the Grand Teton National Park.  It is touted as " a popular destination for photographers with the spectacular Teton Range rising in the background.  We were denied the sight of snow-covered mountains -- just the heavy clouds with rain drops falling on our heads.  (shot with my phone from the shelter of the bus)

Mormon Row
Moose, Wyoming
9.15.2015

small town parade

 

What other kind of float would you expect the 4-H Club to have besides a John Deere tractor with a bale of hale pulling a trailer?  Shallowater's Harvest Festival featured a parade, barbecue, street carnival and harvest princess contest.  After the police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, vintage cars and assorted vehicles with all the candy throwing, the horse posse was last.  Wonder why?

 

Shallowater, Texas

food truck fest

 

Lubbock's former train station welcomed vehicles of a different type this evening.  Crickets Avenue between the depot and the Buddy Holly Plaza was site of the first annual Food Truck Fest.  After lengthy discussion, City Council approved the roving eateries and tonight 13 of them lined the street.  Toward the end of the evening, one couldn't see the trucks for the customers.  The street was shoulder-to-shoulder with lines for brisket, tacos, hot dogs and snowcones. People then took their meals to the Plaza and enjoyed the music of the Kinky Wizards.  A good time was had by all.

 

Buddy Holly Plaza

Crickets Avenue

Lubbock, Texas

the red light house

 

The Red Light House, also known as the Southwest Reef Lighthouse on the Atchafalaya River across from Morgan City, was built in 1856 and its service was discontinued in 1917.  It sat in rust until 1987 when the town of Berwick moved it 25 miles and located in a park.  I always look for lighthouses but didn't expect to find one in Louisiana. (And I got to drive across the Long-Allen Bridge of 1933, once the major crossing along the Old Spanish Trail).

 

The Red Lighthouse

Berwick, Louisiana



the bridges of morgan city

 

Morgan City, Louisiana in St. Mary's Parish is theoretically located on Tigre Island and bridges across the Berwick  Bay and Atchafalaya River connect it to the mainland.  I haven't yet seen the noted swamp land featured in the 1917 Tarzan movie but we drove through many of the 44,000 acres of sugar cane. 

 

US 90 Bridge

Morgan City, Louisiana 

pit stop

 

If visiting a street fair, where else would you expect the facilities to be?  But why just two at a four-way stop?

 

Punkin Days

Floydada, Texas

10.10.2015

sitting on the court house square

 

Here are some of the citizens I met yesterday in Floydada.  They were sittin' on the square watching all the goings on.

 

Punkin Days

Floydada, Texas

10.10.2015

 



ghost pumpkin

 

A short drive today took me to the Pumpkin Capital of Texas for the 28th annual Punkin Days.  Floyd County grows about fifteen hundred acres of pumpkins, producing about 20,000 to 50,000 pounds per acres in a good year. That's approximately ten to fifteen million pounds of pumpkins-- or about one million pumpkins! There was a fair-like atmosphere around the court house square with food vendors, pie eating contest, car show, cake walks and, of course, cow pattie bingo.

 

Floydada, Texas

breakfast at the ranch house

 

The Ranch House serves a home-style breakfast and for the regular patrons, it's a lot like home.  Everyone is absorbed in the newspaper!

 

Ranch House

Lubbock, Texas

 

 

 

Isolated amid the grandeur that is Yellowstone, the area around Mammoth Hot Springs with dead trees and the spill of travertine offers a bleak landscape.

 

Mammoth Hot Springs

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

9.15.2015

sightseeing

 

 

Even cold, drizzly weather didn't keep the tourists from "oohing" and "aahing" at the steaming thermal features.  Although caustic, the hot steam actually felt good! The Mammoth Hot Spring Terraces were first described by the 1871 Hayden Survey. The Terraces constantly change shape and thermal activity changes the color.  Fresh travertine is bright white and changes to gray as it weathers.

 

Mammoth Hot Springs

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

9.15.2015

the steel house

 

More like a stylized, futuristic spaceship, the Robert Bruno Steel House overlooks the Ransom Canyon lake from atop the ridge. A construction labor of love for over 30 years, the steel house remains unfinished after Bruno's death.  Today was a rare open house, allowing the curious to walk through unfinished rooms on plywood floors, up and down steps to the multiple levels.  More art than architecture, the free form spaces are constructed from steel -- about 110 tons worth.

 

Robert Bruno Steel House

Ransom Canyon, Texas

starvation creek falls

 

Today is definitely a fall day -- but not one of those bright, crisp days.  The dreary, rainy weather reminded me of a few days last fall in Oregon. This creek and the falls were originally named "Starveout Creek" due to an incident in 1884, where two trains were marooned in a blizzard for two weeks near this site. Nobody actually starved, but there certainly weren't any writings about the beauty of the area at the time.

 

Starvation Creek Falls

Hood River County, Oregon

10.13.2015

While this image presents interesting graphics in black and white, I am more interested in the history of this structure.  Recognize it?  It is a strap-iron jail cell, date unknown.  I am researching its origins but know its present location -- rescued from languishing at a landfill.

C47

 

The C47 at the Silent Wings Museum is getting a new coat of Army green paint. The propellers, wrapped in foil, glisten as the “Gooney Bird” is gussied up. The Silent Wings Museum promotes the history of the World War II military glider program and is located at the site of the WWII South Plains Army Airfield which was a glider training base. The C-47 is owned by the Museum of the U.S. Marine Corps and is on a permanent loan to the Silent Wings Museum. The “Gooney Bird” was placed in its present position in in front of the museum in 2006. The Douglas DC-3, designated the "C-47" for U.S. military use, is one of the most successful aircraft designs in aviation history.

 

Silent Wings Museum

6202 North I-27

Lubbock, Texas