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

March 31, 2010

dawn in the depot district

The past few days while driving to work, I've had the sunrise in the east and the full moon in the west. I wanted to catch the full moon over the Depot District, Lubbock's entertainment venue; however the full moon (over the Tornado Gallery) isn't any bigger than the street lights!

The Depot District refers to the Fort Worth & Denver train station, built in 1928, which now houses the Buddy Holly Museum. Avenue H was a main Lubbock street in the town's growing years; the street's name was changed to Buddy Holly Avenue in 1996. The Cactus Theater was constructed in 1938 as a motion-picture theater and today features live entertainment. The Tornado Gallery was originally Greer Ironworks, established 1946.

March 30, 2010

outre outhouse
Alderson Mercedes
1702 Texas Avenue

outre - Fr., unconventional; eccentric or bizarre

outhouse - syn. shed, barn, lean-to, outbuilding, privy

March 29, 2010

heifer ranch

arroyo seco ltd

hale center, texas

March 28, 2010

5 'til 5

For generations, motorists on US 87 (now I-27) south of Hale Center were encouraged to watch the letters "CONE" on the grain elevator morph into a stylized clock with the time of 5 minutes until 5 o"clock (or 11:25 depending on your perception). It must be like a Rorschach test because many people never see it. With the elevator in disuse and the paint fading, future generations won't be able to tell the time on the elevator.

The Cone elevator was built probably in the early 1940s. The federal Commodity Credit Corporation was established in 1936 to "stabilize supplies against variation in production due to good and bad weather." What the CCC did was stabilize grain prices and produce a proliferation of grain elevators for storage across the country. Current economics dictate immediate hauling of grain and prohibitive costs for storing.

I did not realize until I googled that, just like football or windmills, there are grain elevator aficionados. There are sites galore on grain storage history and historic elevators including the now-demolished Burrus elevator in Lubbock. I learned that the Cone Elevator on County Road 225 in Hale County is actually in Underwood -- which I had never heard of (there's nothing there now but what might have been a country store). The Cone Elevator was on the BNSF tracks, had a capacity of 1,000,000 bushels and could handle 16 container cars.

My dad recalls at least three car crashes, possibly with fatalities, occurring when the gawkers were hit trying to see the clock. Can you see it?

March 27, 2010

spring medley

March 26, 2010

empty seats on the back dock

March 25, 2010

spider rope

While the concept is similar to the thread bobbins used in your grandmother's Singer sewing machine, these giant "bobbins" contain what electric utility workers call "spider rope." This LP&L lineman is threading spider rope as an initial step in relocating electrical lines along the Marsha Sharp Freeway at Avenue H.

March 24, 2010

spring sky

After a balmy 70+ spring day on Tuesday, Mother Nature turned fickle with blustery 50 degrees. The snow didn't get this far south and the predicted rain didn't fall.

March 23, 2010

only cabin cruiser in captivity

Lubbock, Texas

The newest Lone Star Oyster Bar at 18th and I-27 brought in this derelict boat to add ambiance to the outdoor patio area. If it ever breaks free, it's headed in the right direction.

March 22, 2010

intersection:

Avenue J and 5th Street

pop art and highway patrol

1920s LP&L power plant and 2010 Underwood art center

March 21, 2010

jump for joy

kingdom kids pre-learning center