street art

 

Clematis Street in historic West Palm Beach is filled with trendy shops, restaurants and street art.  The group Street Art Revolution installed this mural, immortalizing five departed music greats - Prince, David Bowie, Kurt Cobain, Bob Marley and MCA of the Beastie Boys.  (I just happened to catch the maintenance man). There will be an unveiling with free beer on December 10.  Too bad my time in WPB was limited; there was a lot I didn't get to see, including Sandie, a lighted 35-foot Christmas tree made of sand.

 

West Palm Beach, Florida

 

raisins

 

The Texas High Plains is home to over 3000 acres of wine grapes and over 50 vineyards in commercial production and produces more than 80% of the state’s wine grapes every year. Although this was supposedly a good year for grapes, there can be crop failure.  I don't know why these grapes weren't harvested.  A wine tasting tour to the new wine shop Triology in Levelland is in order.

 

Lubbock County, Texas

work gloves

 

Hightower Chuck Wagon

Lubbock, Texas

7.22.2016

thankful for family and for blessings

 

Lubbock County, Texas

11.24.2016

contortionist

 

Atlanta Zoo

10.25.2016

great white hunter

 

Amber from Atlanta

10.25.2016

thirsty?

 

Thirsty? If you visit the water fountains on the second floor of newly-renovated Maddox Engineering Research Center (the old Mass Comm building) at Texas Tech, look up -- that's my photograph! Local artists were asked to provide art and I was honored that five of my photographs were chosen (purchased actually!)

Maddox Engineering Research Center
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas

love birds

 

Wildlife photography isn't so hard -- especially if one is in the Parakeet House at the Atlanta Zoo!

 

Atlanta, Georgia

10.25.2016

out in the rain

 

"Out in the Rain" is a fountain sculpture in the Oakland Cemetery of Atlanta. It is a replica of a sculpture by Galloway & Graff of Philadelphia, done around 1876, which may have been a copy of a sculpture exhibited in the Italian section of the United States International Exhibition of 1876. The Atlanta cast was made for $96.80 and was commissioned from the J. L. Mott Iron Works in 1913.

 

Oakland Cemetery

Atlanta, Georgia

10.25.2016


looking glass falls

 

Looking Glass Falls is said to be the most photographed waterfall in North Carolina so naturally I had to take a picture.  On a good day I would have hiked to the bottom for more creative angles; however, with my temporary disability (whatever was Montezuma doing in the Smoky Mountains!), I had to be satisfied with this shot from the parking lot.

 

Looking Glass Falls

Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina

10.27.2016

rockin' view

 

Pisgah Inn

Blue Ridge Parkway

Canton, North Carolina

happy halloween

blue ridge parkway

 

We won't attempt all 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We're at the south end and only made a few miles of the gorgeous fall foliage.  On tomorrow to Sliding Rock and Looking Glass Falls.

 

Waynesville, North Carolina

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

san francisco coffee

 

A walk around the Virginia Highland neighborhood in Atlanta before bedtime.  Faked you out -- I'm not in San Francisco!

 



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

moon rise over eagle mountain lake

 

If the image looks blurry, drink a couple glasses of wine!  Handheld at 9:20 p.m.

 

Eagle Mountain Lake

Azle, Texas

"Big ball's in cow town"  Oops, wrong song, wrong town, wrong apostrophe placement.  These big balls are in front of The Ballpark in Arlington, home of the Texas Rangers.  These 3 foot baseballs take the place of security bullards.  We are working this week just a few blocks from The Ballpark and the Cowboys Stadium.  Good thing there were no games or traffic would have been horrific.

Arlington, 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

crosses of st. joseph's

 

That lone aged and blackened cross standing amongst the white ones is a sign of hope for some of us.

 

St. Joseph's Cemetery

Thibodaux, Louisiana

10.12.2016

 



on break

 

French Quarter

New Orleans, Louisiana

shadow crosses

 

The cemetery of St. Joseph's was established on the site of the original church about 1817.  Sometimes we're fortunate to have an hour after class before sunset to explore.  I especially like the Louisiana cemeteries, all whitewash and marble gleaming in the sun.

 

St. Joseph's Cemetery

Thibodaux, Louisiana

textile

 

They don't build them like this any more.  Texas Technological College was established in 1923 and in the Fall of 1925 all 313 of the School of Engineering students attended classes in the Textile Engineering Building. According to the master plan, the Textile Building at the north end of the Engineering Key was a counterpart to the Administration Building to the south.  The intricate portal is reminiscent of Southwest missions and is in keeping with the campus Spanish  Renaissance style. In the niches traditionally reserved for saints are stylized cotton bales -- the patron saint of the South Plains.

 

Textile Engineering (today known as Mechanical Engineering)

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, Texas

canyon road waterfall

 

My first trip to Utah was on business and there was only limited time to explore. I managed just a few miles before sunset on the Ogden River Scenic Byway toward the ski resorts in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest.  The winding road had a pull-off by this waterfall.  Just enough great scenery to make me want to go back!

 

Ogden, Utah

10.6.2016



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

urban renewal

 

Downtown Levelland is showing signs of revitalization.  This building is west of the court house square -- as seen from the alley!

 

Photo Walk 2016

Levelland, Texas

10.1.2016

 



workbench

 

The workbench appears to have almost a full set of metric wrenches; however it is not a matching set.  There are wrenches by Kobalt, Craftsman, Fuller, S*K and Channellock!

 

New Deal, Texas

9.30.2016

alley art

 

Someone used an alley wall as a blank canvas for his political view.  I would suggest art lessons.

 

Photowalk 2016

Levelland, Texas

10.1.2016

 

 

 



vacant lot vintage

 

This morning I joined over 20,000 photographers (well, really just 18 in Levelland) on the Worldwide Photo Walk.  I don't know what kind of car this is but I want one (restored, of course)!  I probably spent more time in the alleys than around the court house square seeking photo ops.

 

Levelland, Texas

driver's seat

 

Farming is hard and not everybody can afford shiny new equipment.  This 1963 V-8 Chevrolet is  used for harvest and had a bed full of corn.  Fortunately the farmer is able to improvise and drive the truck.  BTW, the truck is about a couple of decades older than the farmer!

 





 

Fortenberry Farms

New Deal, Texas

chuckwagon still-life

 

Cowboy Symposium

Lubbock, Texas

9.9.2011

crosses

 

The telephone poles along FM 193 mimic the shape of the crosses in the Cone Cemetery.  Established in 1897, the cemetery is a few miles down the road from the village of Cone -- population maybe 50.  Cone is about 7 miles from Farmer, Texas -- childhood home of Ima Mae Smith, former First Lady of Texas.

 

Cone Cemetery

Crosby County, Texas

9.21.2013



car crazy cutie

 

Girls love their wheels - especially two-year old Ava.  The jeep was her favorite at the fair.  (Remember the Beach Boys?

"A power shift in second and a-ridin' the clutch
My car crazy cutie, man, she's just too much
I take her to the drags, man, and everyone flips
For her big blue eyes and her candy apple lips

Run a-run a doo run run"

 

South Plains Fair

Lubbock, Texas

 



laundry lady?

 

Sometimes you just can't figure out what you're seeing on the street corner.  Has this lady been to the laundry to do her washing?  And is that a turban on her head or more pillowcases?  Seems to be too monochromatic to be a street person.  Right here on University Avenue across from Texas A&M!

 



tanker fire

 

I spent a few days at Disaster City the Training Center at Texas A&M.  Fortunately my time was in an air-conditioned classroom.  Pity the poor firefighters practicing putting out tanker fires -- wearing about 70 pounds of bunker gear in 90 degree weather with high humidity!  Disaster City students range from volunteer firefighters to oil company professionals.  This week included adjunct instructors for the Medical Countermeasures planning and response course (including me!)

 

Texas A&M

College Station, Texas

 

There was a bustle of people in downtown Bryan tonight -- perhaps because Kinky Frideman was on- stage around the corner.  The Queen Theater was lit in her glory - highlight by the street lamps on Main Street.  It was quite a different building when I was last at TX A&M in 2011.

.



The Queen Theatre's  neon lights, sign, marquee and 200 pound crown have been restored to their full glory. It was first lit up in 1939. The Queen Theatre underwent a $160,000 renovation to the exterior, got a new roof, and asbestos abatement on the inside. It is now an event venue.

Queen Theater
Bryan, Texas

 



guns and babies

 

You have to wonder about the planning (or lack thereof) that positioned the military portion of the cemetery adjacent to Babyland. 

 

Masonic Cemetery

Trinidad, Colorado

8.20.2016



oyster mushrooms

 

In spite of their sea-life appearance, these are edible gourmet mushrooms.  In addition to his brick-and-mortar business, this entrepreneur also has Mushrooms Fresh-Organics.  I was tempted at this morning Downtown Farmers Market, but passed.  After researching some recipes, I'll buy some next time.

 

Downtown Farmers Market

Lubbock, Texas

he wuz a good ole dog

 

May Family Cemetery

Tahoka Lake Pasture

Tahoka, Texas

out to pasture

 

Tahoka Lake Pasture

Lynn County, Texas

8.27.2016

old abe

 

"Old Abe" served as the emblem for Case Tractors for over 100 years.  It was retired in 1969 (so just how old is this tractor sitting abandoned in a pasture?).  Named after Abraham Lincoln, Old Abe, the eagle, was the mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War. After the war, Wisconsin classified Old Abe as a “War Relic” and created an “Eagle Department” in the Capitol building, which included a two-room “apartment,” a custom bathtub for the eagle, and a caretaker.

 

Lynn County, Texas

8.27.2016

swisher county barn

 

FM 2301

Swisher County, Texas

9.5.2016

goathead road

 

Do you know what a goathead is?

 

Randall County, Texas

9.5.2016

boxcar art

 

Business in Wayside has gone, well—by the wayside.  Sometimes called a ghost town, Wayside has a closed school, community church, cemetery and a defunct elevator.  The community, on Ranch Road 285 south of Palo Duro Canyon, was founded as a rural school district in 1893.   Mrs. Hervey J. Bradford named the place Wayside, for its location on the "way-side" of the canyon, when she opened a post office in September 1897.  It’s not a place you generally pass through going somewhere else.

 

Wayside, Texas

9.5.2016

roadrunner

 

Usually with roadrunners all you get is a cloud of dust as they run.  Today a pair literally posed for me at Palo Duro Canyon.  Excellent opportunity to see the crest (cousin to a cuckoo), orange eye markings on the female, and a blue tail feather.

 

Palo Duro Canyon, Texas

for those scary nights

pocket-size.....wallet available

kit carson ate here

 

About 1850 Kit Carson moved from Taos to Rayado to help his friend Lucien Maxwell protect settlers from Indians.  Today Kit's residence is a "recreated historic site" outfitted like it would have been during the time period. (PS - the dining room was the next room to where the chickens were setting!)

Kit Carson Museum
Rayado, New Mexico
8.19. 2016