christmas greetings from 401

The Cattle Shipping Complex at the Ranching Heritage Center features Number 401, a steam locomotive originally given to in 1983. Texas Tech University in the 1960s and moved to the NRC from its space near the Coliseum. When former vice president of the Fort Worth and Denver railroad line and Texas Tech Regent Wright Armstrong made an effort to acquire a locomotive for the University, he learned the engines had been sold for scrap in 1955. With none available in Texas, the Burlington Railroad Lines brought Number 4994 out of storage. It was restored and its markings changed to represent the locomotive as one used in West Texas—the Fort Worth and Denver 401, which was built in 1915. The Cattle Shipping Complex, including the Ropes Depot, shipping pens from the King Ranch and Number 401 with its cattle cars and caboose helps tell the story of the railroad’s influence on the cattle industry in Texas.

Ranching Heritage Center
3121 4th Street
Lubbock, Texas

deck the pawn shop with boughs of holly
fa la la la

The sign painter is decorating Swat's Pawn Shop at 2301 19th for the Christmas season. Need gift ideas, a piece of jewelry or a loan? See Scott at Swat's!

santa's snow village

Santa Land
Mackenzie Park
Lubbock, Texas

christmas wonderland

Vintage Township
114th Street
Lubbock, Texas

holiday tradition

From the archives:
Texas Tech Carol of Lights
12.25.2008

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

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

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.

grape-o-lantern

Want to see 2,000 jack-o-lanterns? Drop by the Pumpkin Trail sponsored by City of Lubbock Parks & Recreation this weekend.

Pumpkin Trail - Lubbock Arboretum
4111 University Avenue
Lubbock, Texas

preston f gott skyview observatory

Students in the Texas Tech Department of Physics and Astronomy can observe the stars from the TTU observatory located near Shallowater off FM 1729 in the midst of a pasture. It's not the McDonald in the Davis Mountains but it's the same stars!

uplifting

If this image of the erection of the new Kent Hance Chapel on the Texas Tech campus is reminiscent of the Sept 9 image on MG Harvey's blog, the resemblance is coincidental. This photo reflects the building of a new place of worship whereas Harvey's image is the destruction of a longtime landmark. The revelance of God may be of secondary importance in either image.

shave and a haircut - two bits

From the archives:
Cowboy Symposium Chuckwagons
sLubbock, Texas
09.09.2011

lubbock in the chuckwagon shaving mirror

Cowboy Symposium
Lubbock, Texas

a sculpture with no name

In 2001 the Museum of Texas Tech commissioned noted sculptor Horace Farlowe to create a sculpture for the west entrance of the Helen Devitt Jones Auditorium and Sculpture Court. Made of Texas pink marble, it's described as "architectonic" which I guess means spheres and slabs.

curb appeal

Back Door Diner
1212 Ave K
Lubbock, Texas

summer sky fakes: chicken and rain cloud

The distinctive cast-iron chicken counterweight marks the Hummer vaneless pumping windmill with steel wheel. A direct descendant of the Elgin Wind Power and Pump Company of the early 20th Century, the Hummer was one of the noteworthy vaneless mills used on the plains and prairies.

American Wind Power Center
1701 Canyon Lake Drive
Lubbock, Texas

graham nash

In an intimate setting at the Buddy Holly Center, Graham Nash of the Hollies and Graham, Stills and Nash discussed life, music and photography. It was the opening reception for the exhibit "Taking Aim" which is curated by Nash and composed of iconic images of rock and roll idols. After the gallery talk and book signing, Nash briefly joined the band and entertained the crowd with a medley of tunes.

www.grahamnash.com/news/TakingAim

Buddy Holly Center
19th Street and Crickets Avenue
Lubbock, Texas

the jones

Just 7 more Saturdays until Red Raider football

Jone AT&T Stadium
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas