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

My first afternoon in Jackson, Wyoming we walked around downtown and I shot the sign at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. I hoped to get back at night to photograph the neon sign which happened a few nights later.

 

Our second goal was to go in, sit at the bar on the saddle bar stools and enjoy a beverage.  This part of the plan was doomed.  First, they wanted a cover charge at the door for the band (and you know I'm cheap) and secondly there were no vacant saddles.  So we took a quick gander and left.  But I have a neon memory.

 

Million Dollar Cowboy Bar

Jackson, Wyoming

9.15.2015

Chuck wagons usually carry grub.  This one at the National Cowboy Symposium had a box of explosives and a jug of hooch.  Love the hat.

National Cowboy Symposium
Lubbock, Texas
9.11.2015

 

through the aspens

 

Fall was a wonderful season in which to visit Grand Teton National Park.  The aspens were golden, the sky blue -- a perfect day.

 

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

 



how great thou art

 

The Chapel of the Transfiguration has no need for a stained glass window.  The window behind the altar frames God's creation.

 

Chapel of the Transfiguration

Moose, Junction, Wyoming

9.14.2015



chapel of the transfiguration

Framed by the Grand Tetons, the Chapel of the Transfiguration is a functioning Episcopal church with seasonal services.  The tiny chapel was built in 1925 on land donated by Maud Noble and was constructed so that the early settlers would not have to make the long buckboard ride into Jackson for Sunday services.

Grand Teton National Park
Moose Junction, Wyoming
9.14.2015

 

 

 

After class today I had a brief hour to explore the historic downtown district of Joplin.  I ventured upon the George A. Spiva Center for the Arts . Around since 1947 it is currently housed in the  historic Cosgrove Building.  The turn of the century (20th) building features bold graphics.  I especially like the bicycle rack on the sidewalk juxtapositioned by the building.

 

George A. Spiva Center for the Arts

3rd and Wall Street

Joplin, Missouri



roll presses

 

Although idle, the presses at the Joplin Globe newspaper were impressive.  The line of six presses was visible through the large street-level windows across from the Red Onion where we had dinner. The first issue of The Globe was published on August 9, 1896. In 1933 The Joplin Globe had a country-wide scoop, obtaining the camera left behind by Bonnie and Clyde after a deadly confrontation with local police, developing and publishing the rolls of film in it, including the now-legendary photos of Bonnie holding Clyde at mock gunpoint and of Bonnie with her foot on a fender, pistol in her hand, and cigar in her mouth

 The Globe
117 E. Fourth St
Joplin, Missouri



you are here

 

Back to the world of work -- in Joplin, Missouri!  The Mother Road goes through Joplin and is immortalized with a park beside the Pearl Brothers Hardware Store.  The park includes half of a red Corvette and a stylized record of "Get Your Kicks."  I think my daddy had that 1948 Buick.

Route 66 Mural Park
Joplin, Missouri

aspens

 

After several gloomy days, our last day in Wyoming was magnificent .  Gray skies gave way to brilliant blue with white clouds -- the better to showcase the glowing aspens.

 

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

9.18.2015

midway geyser basin

 

On a bright, frosty morning the colors of the pools in the Midway Geyser Basin were obscured by steam from the hot springs.  However the red tones of the bacteria mats were vivid and the blue sky shimmered on the reflections.

 

Midway Geyser Basin

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

9.18.2015

 



Yellowstone elk

 

All visitors to Yellowstone are on the lookout for wildlife sightings.  We saw bear, elk, pronghorn and bison but unfortunately no moose.  This guy watched us as the tourists photographed. 

 

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

9.15.2015

snow on the mountains

 

After three days in Yellowstone (no wifi!) seeing the sights and experiencing rain, snow and hail, we returned to Jackson on a glorious day with new snow on the Grand Tetons.

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming



sunrise at oxbow

A great first day photographing in Wyoming!  Getting up at 5:00 a.m. was worth it. 

Oxbow Bend
Grand Teton National Park
Wyoming

welcome to Jackson

 

There was just enough time before the tour orientation for a quick walk around the square.  I want to go back to the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar to see if the sign is lit up at night.

 

Jackson, Wyoming

skyscrapers

 

This time of year the Lubbock skyline is dotted with chuck wagons and tepees.

 

National Cowboy Symposium

Lubbock, Texas

 

 

9-11 tribute

 

A boy innocently kicks his soccer ball at Miller Park, unaware of the meaning of the flags that surround him.

 

American Tribute

Miller Park

Lubbock, Texas

stucco and shadows

 

B&P Oil Services

1101 Seagraves Road

Brownfield, Texas

9.5.2015

birthday greetings

 

Today would have been Buddy Holly's 79th birthday.  The Buddy Holly Center celebrated with live music (playing Buddy tunes of course).  Bundt cake and root beer was available (and real beer at the cash bar).  Lubbockites came out to wish this native son a happy birthday.

 

Buddy Holly Center

Lubbock, Texas

this way

 

"Follow the Smoke" is a BBQ joint in Brownfield, but don't follow the smoke on a Saturday or Sunday --they're not open.  The sign is neat but it bothers me that the cowboy just has red pegs and no boots.

 

Follow the Smoke

904 Lubbock Street (aka US82)

Brownfield, Texas

9.5.2015

the other needmore

 

In the early 1900s the Needmore in Terry County had a school, a general store and a cotton gin. The school was incorporated with Meadow in the 1940s.  Today the cotton gin is the only business at the intersection of Farm Road 211 and US 385. Unless you're looking for one of the four Needmores in Texas, you might not have a reason to visit.

 

Needmore, Texas

Terry County



sro

 

The Wallace Theater is Muleshoe is literally "standing room only" because behind the façade is a weed-grown vacant lot -- no seats, no screen.  Built about 1949, the Muleshoe movie house was part of the Wallace Blankenship chain of theaters formed about 1920.  Wallace and his wife Rose built theaters across the area in a 150-mile radius.  The Wallace Theater on Muleshoe's Main Street is a remnant of times past.

 



 

Muleshoe, Texas

8.29.2015

supplications for the deceased

 

Religious statuary offers prayers of supplication for the deceased.  Family dynamics in the cemetery interest me.  Here grandmother, father and mother gravesites are marked with elaborate stones, yet what could be the only son's grave bears only a small metal marker.  This cemetery in Muleshoe is also called the "Old Cemetery" not to be confused with the newer memorial park on the other side of the highway.  The land was donated in 1918 for burials of victims of the influenza epidemic.  The cemetery was forsaken until acts of vandalism about 20 years ago renewed the cemetery association and interest in upkeep.  Alas, it was too late for the Rosas markers.

 

Old Cemetery

Muleshoe, Texas

8.29.2015

needs more everything

 



Needmore was so named because townsite promoters “needed more” settlers. After the town's founding in the 1920s, it never grew significantly.  It is located between Baileyboro and Circleback in Bailey County - neither of which flourished either.  Be sure not to confuse this Needmore with the  other three Needmores in Texas.  The nearest is the Needmore in Terry County 55 miles away-- and it needs more everything too!

Needmore, Texas
Bailey County, Texas
State Highway 214 and Farm Road 298
8.29.2015

 church sign 

Circleback, at the junction of Farm roads 298 and 3397, is another candidate for a Texas ghost town.  It was named for a nearby ranch whose brand was a circle on the backs of cattle. From 1918 to the mid-1950s there was a six-grade school and about a dozen houses, a filling station, and a store-post office, which burned in 1954. In 1949 the community had 100 people. By 1980 the population had dwindled to forty-nine, and it is reported that by the mid-1980s only the Baptist minister and his wife and two children remained. The Circleback Baptist Church is still conducting services, although all the other buildings are abandoned.   I was curious to learn more and a google search showed many funerals taking place at the church.  Then I discovered that issues of the "Littlefield News: Lamb County Leader" newspaper were archived online at the Texas Tech Southwest Collection.  I lost part of my afternoon reading news items from times past.  Of interest was this from the August 30, 1923 edition: "A large number of Baileyboro folks attended the all day singing at Circleback Sunday. A sumptious dinner was spread and heartily enjoyed. The Richland, N. Mexico singing class furnished the music Sunday afternoon. Everybody agrees that Richland people know how and what to sing." No matter the size of the villages or the distance in-between, people made their own good times.

Circleback, Texas
Bailey County, Texas
8.29.2015