April 30, 2010

1502 avenue h

At the formal opening May 31, 1930, the B. E. Needles Tire & Service Station was touted as the finest and largest on the South Plains. Built at an expense of $50,000 (according to Needles), the building was exemplary of the commercial architecture of the time. Unfortunately, time and lack of funds beat out the Lubbock Heritage Society and historical preservation.

(Comments courtesy Sally Abbe, Lubbock County Historical Committee; City of Lubbock Planning Department "A Guide to Lubbock's Architectural Heritage")

April 29, 2010

ruby t's party bus

Might this be the very same bus in which 26 "minor" Texas Tech students were arrested for drinking in 2005 and provoked a change in the city ordinance about buses transporting groups from bar to bar (or football games) with beverages in hand?

(see another Lubbock party bus on blog January 19 and January 29)

April 28, 2010

lobby

drury inn

austin, texas

April 27, 2010

jambalaya, crawfish pie and fillet gumbo

gonna have big fun at Pappdeaux

Austin, Texas

(with apologies to Hank Williams)

April 26, 2010

gypsy

the neighborhood goat
pine hills subdivision

April 25, 2010

iris

• the state flower of Tennessee
• Greek word for colorful rainbow
• fleur-de-lis - stylized iris adopted by Louis the 7th
• "Irises" - painted by Van Gogh during last year of life in 1890 while in asylum at St. Paul-de-Mausole

April 24, 2010

6666 barn

This red barn was a landmark of the 6666 Ranch in Guthrie, Texas. Built in 1908, the barn was donated to the RHC in 1981. Today, in conjunction with the 40th Annual Ranch Day, Red Steagall offered cowboy poetry in the barn.

April 23, 2010

the duke

Cities like Chicago, Scottsdale, Seattle host great public art - often requiring 1% of construction costs to be devoted to public art. Lubbock has John Wayne (Broadway and Avenue E)

April 22, 2010

got sake?

On my trip home from work, I followed the bus for the band Rio Grand, playing tonight at the Blue Light. Their web page states "our live show is like kicking you in the teeth and you're gonna like how it tastes." While Rio Grand is probably not a rowdy C&W band like when Willie played behind chicken wire, I would expect their audience to prefer Coors Light over Ty Ku sake. Ty Ku is advertised as a premium Junmai Gingo, handcrafted in the Japanese manner with pure water. Ty Ku and Coors Light share "pure water" -- just not Rocky Mountain-brewed!

April 21, 2010

first pink of spring

Gerbera daisies are at the top of my list of favorites. My gerberas weathered the winter's severe cold and snow. The first curly leaves unfurled and then tight button buds appeared at ground level. As the stalk grows, the daisy opens.

While photographing this daisy with macro lens, I did not notice the insect until uploading on the computer. Can you identify the yellow, almost translucent, squash-looking bug on the tip of the fine-haired sepal (green part) at about one o'clock?

April 20, 2010

clematis

One of the daily delights of spring is seeing what is blooming in the garden. Today the clematis has its first full open flower. Last year the vines had 17 flowers at one time. Wonder if it will exceed its own record this year?

April 19, 2010

bearded iris

April 18, 2010

too wet to plant

Cotton farmers like the 4+ inches of rain that fell this week but are anxious to get in the fields.

Many have a desire to plant "April" cotton but my dad thinks May 10 is a good target date. My nephew, who has inherited the engineering knack from his granddad, is building this 16-row cotton planter from "parts." When finished, the 16 seed boxes will be replenished via an air hydraulic system. The tool bar folds in thirds for a 12' transport width. Watch out for these machines on rural roadways. John Deere advertises a 2009 16-row 1770 NT model for $140,000. Farming has come a long way from a mule with a two-furrow plow.

April 17, 2010

santa fe depot in snyder, texas

Just as the Santa Fe Depot in Snyder, Texas is falling into disrepair, its history is fading into obscurity. Little is written about the station other than it was built in 1911 and modeled after the station is Post, Texas -- a one-story building of terra cotta tiles at College and 9th. It seems a shame that historical old buildings are disappearing. I understand that repair, cost and upkeep are financial issues but we are losing landmarks. I've become a proponent of architectural conservationism.

April 16, 2010

field of bluebonnets

Today's rainclouds broke just enough this afternoon to provide a dramatic patch of blue sky over this field of bluebonnets in Taylor County (FM 600).

April 15, 2010

municipal art

Abilene, Texas

This art installation is on Cedar Street off North First, next to the Grace Museum in Abilene, Texas. The soccer mom van is purely coincidental.

April 14, 2010

chimneys at fort phantom

All that's left at Fort Phantom Hill, one of a series of army posts built in 1851, are stone chimneys. The ruins are about 11 miles north of Abilene. Where five companies of infantry and a Overland mail stop on Butterfield Trail once filled the landscape, now only wild flowers and breezes keep the chimneys company.

April 13, 2010

perini's ranch steakhouse

buffalo gap, texas

Named one of "America's Great Rural Steakhouses," the Perini Ranch offers a rustic location in scenic Buffalo Gap, a great mesquite-smoked prime rib and an excellent dining experience.

April 12, 2010

pilgrimage

The Garden of Memories Cemetery outside Trent, Texas is not the most picturesque I've visited but my purpose on Sunday was a personal pilgrimage. I knew my grandparents were from the Trent/Merkel area but hadn't really thought about my great-grandparents whom I did not know. My trip to Abilene afforded me the opportunity to look for their graves. I found Ivy and Elijah in the Howell plot. "Mamaw" Ivy Boyd Howell was mother to 8 sons and 4 daughters, including my grandmother Burma Mae. What I didn't expect to find in the plot was the headstone for my great-grandmother - born April 5, 1855 and died March ?, 1915 (some of the carving on the older marble tombstones is illegible). A sad observation about this lady, other than her short life, is her lack of individual identity. She is known only as "Mrs. A. P. Boyd."

April 11, 2010

J A Willis

April 8, 1825

April 17, 1919

There is no Confederate controversy in Merkel, Texas. At Rose Hill Cemetery, Confederate flags adorned grave sites of CSA veterans. The actual war started April 12, 1861 at Fort Sumter, South Carolina and many states observe Confederate History Month in April . The 150th anniversary of the Civil War probably doesn't matter to Mr. Willis.

April 10, 2010

est. 1923

Today the Lubbock County Historical Commission (of which I am a Judge-appointed member) dedicated the Official Texas Historical Commission Historical Marker for The Slaton Bakery.

The Slaton Bakery is one of the oldest in Texas and traces its origins to 1923 when the Blue Ribbon and City Bakeries in Slaton consolidated. The Wilson family has owned the bakery the last 67 years. The bakery introduced the first sliced hamburger buns to Texas and the South Plains. This family-owned bakery was handed down from Barney and Ollie Mae to son Sherrell and today his sons Chad and Bryce continue the operation.

Donuts, vanilla wafers, thumbprint cookies - yum! Decorated wedding cakes followed by 50th anniversary cakes for the same couple. I met a man today at the bakery who drove from O'Donnell for his hand-made flour tortillas.

April 9, 2010

Old Will and Soapsuds

A Texas Tech tradition is wrapping Will Rogers and his horse Soapsuds in red crepe paper before home football games. Yesterday the Saddle Tramps, the all-male, bell-ringing service organization, outfitted ole Will and Soapsuds in red, with two purple streamers, in observance of the "Relay for Life."

The inscription for Will, installed in 1947, tells of "riding into the sunset." However, due west put Soapsuds' posterior pointed down Broadway toward downtown. Legend has it that Will and his horse were positioned headed 23 degrees south to avoid an affront to the city.

April 8, 2010

sign of spring: baby goat

George's pet billy goat Buddy is the proud papa of two sets of twins. The kids are barely a week old and are just beginning to frolic. Myrtle here is still napping until playtime.

April 7, 2010

baby dolls

Old Town Party House occupies a half block on 24th and Avenue J. The cafe is closed but "party facilities" are available for rent. The decor is primarily collectibles or old junk, depending on the point of view. "Baby Dolls" was a strip joint on Avenue Q which closed -- something about a SOB permit (sexually oriented business). Either the owner didn't have one or the city wouldn't issue one. The Baby Dolls sign now stands proudly between the Quality Mechanic Garage and the County Jail, complete with urinal and upper deck.

April 6, 2010

courtyard

First Baptist Church

I've driven innumerable times on Broadway and noticed the brick sign for the First Baptist Church. But until today, when I walked around the church building, I didn't know that my parents' names were engraved on the black granite plaque on the rear of the brick wall. The names of all who attended Reunion Sunday, October 19, 1997 are inscribed for perpetuity.

April 5, 2010

sign from the past

The Lindsey Theater was an elegant movie palace, with balcony, built in 1940 at Main and Avenue J. Saturday date night would find kids from all over the area standing in line for a popular movie. One could tell the various schools because the guys all wore their letter jackets. After the movie, we'd circle the Hi-D-Ho or A&W Rootbeer or the White Pig. You couldn't "circle" the new Char-King but had to park (#4 chili-cheese is what I ordered).

The theater was razed in 1997 and all that remains is this salvaged sign -- now at home in the bay of Tornado Gallery. Maybe I'll learn that story some day.

April 4, 2010

greenhouse #4

South of USDA on FM 1294

April 3, 2010

the 11th commandment

First Baptist Church

Roosevelt, Texas

April 2, 2010

the easter bunny shops here

Aspiring eggtrepreneur in Levelland, Texas

April 1, 2010

Happy Anniversary

April Fools