construction

The new dormitory at Texas Tech has gone up surprisingly fast. Yesterday this facade was just metal studs; today it is almost covered. The south facade already has brick. I don't think this building will be as sturdy as Drane Hall. Built under the Public Works Administration Act to open fall 1941, Drane was first known as "Girls Dormitory #2." Yours truly resided on the third floor of Drane.

chrysanthemums

The mums in my front yard have endured heat, drought, wind and blowing sand but I doubt that the blooms will survive the predicted 20 degrees, winds, freezing rain and chance of snow.

longjohns

You might get out your winter underwear - a change in the weather is predicted.

From the archives:
Ranching Heritage Center
Lubbock, Texas
09.28.2011

after the harvest

From the archives:

El Rancho de las Golondrinas
Santa Fe, New Mexico

10.29.2010

brown saturday after black friday

We left New Braunfels this morning in a driving rain storm. The last 100 miles to Lubbock was blowing sand -- visibility about one telephone pole.

US 87
Dawson County, Texas

guadalupe river

Gruene, Texas

happy turkey day

From the archives:
V8 Ranch
Lubbock County, Texas
11.08.2011

oatmeal, texas

Oatmeal, on Road 243 out of Burnet, is one of the oldest settlements in the county -- current population 20 -- but this morning it was only the bird and me. I don't think the residents of the Oatmeal Cemetery count for population. But the numbers increase Labor Day Weekend for the Oatmeal Festival, which started in the 1970s as a spoof on chili cook offs.

the dam lighthouse

Buchanan Lake, Texas

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

rest in peace

Tow Cemetery,
Tow, Texas

rural skyscraper

Sunday afternoon

Hart, Texas

classical revival in lubbock

Today I met up with 15 or so photographers from Lubbock at the court house gazebo to participate in the Worldwide BetterPhoto Meetup Day. Shooters from around the world gather ed in their hometowns to take pictures.

www.meetup.com/BetterPhoto

1931 Federal Building
800 Broadway
Lubbock, Texas

moe, curly and larry

I spent a delightful afternoon photographing on a friend's ranch in the Yellowhouse Canyon. However, I found the audience a little disconcerting.

Yellowhouse Canyon
Lubbock County, Texas

alley allusions

I hate to admit my "out of touchness" but I had to google to learn about this graffiti in the Depot Alley. For the rest of you uninformed, the "Summer of George" is a Seinfeld episode about spending time leisurely after losing a job. The other quote is Billy Pilgrim's epitaph from Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse Five. If you already knew this, don't rub it in. If you don't know Seinfeld and Vonnegut, you're worse off than I am!

Depot Alley
1700 Block between Texas and Buddy Holly Avenues
Lubbock, Texas

still life

My friend Margaret took me out for dinner to begin the birthday festivities.

La Diosa Cellars
901 17th Street
Lubbock, Texas

retail tableau

Bike Shop
66th and Slide
Lubbock, Texas

boucherie et bottes

From the archives:
In 1871, this shop on the cobble-stoned street of Metz, France was a butcher shop. Today it sells western wear. Still in the cattle business -- of sorts!

Metz, France
08.25.2011

wide open

From the archives:
Brooks' Barn in Lubbock County
11.07.11

(Since my friend MGH is off writing the great American novel, I thought I'd take up the slack by posting a sky/structure photo.)

welcome

Ginger's Sunlit Bench
Artist Studio Tour

semper fi

Veterans Days 2011
In honor of my father
World War II
U. S. Marine Corps
3rd Division, VRM 252
Navigator in Curtiss Commando C-46
Pacific Theater

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

fallen leaf
(unidentified genus and species)

free advertising

From the family album:

Sandy and Janice seem more interested in the daisies than posing for a photograph. Their mothers, Willie Jean and Lucille, were long-time friends. The family business, Tarver Electric, was established in Lubbock in 1947 and is still operating.

drilling rig

Rehabilitating irrigation wells is a routine task to ensure water for next year's crops.
Lubbock County, Texas
11.7.11

sky and grass

"To imagine nothingness, yes—but so much of it?
And so—physical?
Earth, horizon, sky, unredeemed by detail…"

William Wenthe, Professor of English, Texas Tech University

“W. H. Auden, Leaving Lubbock, Texas, Writes a Sonnet”
from Not Till We Are Lost: Poems, 2004

rio chama

From the archives:
Rio Chama in Georgia O'Keeffe Country
Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
10.28.10

november sandstorms are not nice

november is the archer

Some November birthdays are Sagittariuses with the Archer as the ninth Zodiac symbol. The Archer is also the ornate hood ornament, or mascot, of the vintage Pierce Arrow. I was fortunate today to visit a collection of classic cars, including this 1929 Pierce Arrow. Many luxury cars of the era featured a delicate, artistic sculpture as the radiator cap. The Pierce Arrow Archer first appeared in 1928 and the story goes that an apprentice in the design department stripped to the waist and posed for for the ornament. By the 1930s radiator caps were under the hood but the mascots still identified luxury automobiles.

november is a crisp fall day at the park

Patterson Park
Wolfforth, Texas

november is pheasant season

Although pheasant hunting doesn't open in Hale County until December 3, the advance scouting reports indicate a sparse season. Just remember the successes of past shoots.

november is for turkeys