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OK - I have to admit that I was THAT person, that geeky person taking photos out of the windows of the plane as we left Las Vegas.
But you knew I would do that, right? And, anyway, you've always wondered what Hoover Dam looks like from the air.
Back in Lubbock, Texas
Having the (incorrect) idea that perhaps we could get close to the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada, we drove all the way there.
It would have been a completely wasted trip if we hadn't stopped in the desert to take some photos....
Somewhere between Laughlin and Las Vegas, Nevada
Look! it's the A Tribute to Elvis car parked outside the Little White Chapel. The wad of flowers is hot-glued onto the car, as is the length of festive red tulle. It's really quite fancy, if you like that sort of thing.
As you probably are aware, the Little White Chapel is where Joan Collins got married. But I don't know which time.
Las Vegas, Nevada
This sums it up: a pawn shop across from Lady Luck Casino.
Las Vegas, Nevada
I KNOW there are a bunch of dummies out there, but I was still startled to see this display of books for dummies. Quite a range was represented, and this picture shows only half of the ones on the table.
Do people really buy these books??!?
Lubbock, Texas
We moved to this house in the spring of 1985, and started planting trees as soon as we could afford them. (The house wasn't new when we moved in, but the yard was in pretty sad shape.)
The first clump of live oaks in the front yard didn't survive and had to be replaced, and we chose a pair of shademaster locusts on the west side of the driveway. This is the first year that the oaks and locusts have met in the middle of the two-car driveway.
Lubbock, Texas
A pair of buildings facing the main street.
Petersburg, Texas
The rain this afternoon was sort of tropical - it lasted a few minutes, came without the drama of thunder and lightning, fell straight down, and was gone.
I sat on the deck and watched the rain run off the roof, channeled into parallel lines by the ridges of the metal roof.
Lubbock, Texas
Brady, Texas
Un-named motel, with room-side garages
Refrigerator parked in one of the garages
Unpaved parking lot
Clump of live oaks
Three wooden crosses.
That's all I know.
Brady, Texas
Flowers in a yard in Llano.
Llano, Texas
Is it just me? Or, if Andrew Wyeth had lived around here, would this scene have been in one of his paintings?
Wastella, Texas
PS - Yep, that's the actual name of the town:
With the arrival of the Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway in 1908, landowner Will Neeley donated the land for a new town. The rather unusual name was meant to honor Neely's eldest daughter. Wastella did develop as a town - and even had a hotel and a few stores, but being just one train stop from Roscoe stifled real growth. According to the detailed TxDoT Nolan County map, Wastella cannot even claim a cemetery.
from www.texasescapes.com/TexasGhostTowns/Wastella-Texas.htm, which goes on to note that the most recent census numbers, in 1990, put the town's population at 13.
It New Orleans, it would be called a "neutral ground" - the grassy strip between the one-way streets. There's no compact term for it here, so I guess we'd just have to call it the grassy strip between the one-way streets.
At any rate, this metal building has been there as long as I can remember, looking incrementally worse for wear each year. It looks like now the graffiti artists have even given up on it, which would be depressing for a building that was self-aware.
I don't know if this one is, though...
Lubbock, Texas
I have this interesting refrigerator magnet that is also a vase made from an old fence post. I've stuck a few springs of front-yard lavender in it.
Lubbock, Texas
For my faraway friends - and you know who you are - that doubt the existence of something called "frito pie," here's photographic proof.
Fritos, chopped brisket, beans, cheese, barbeque sauce, in case the above-referenced friends want to make some themselves. Although the frito pie purists might disagree, I supposed you could add sour cream, or relish, or jalapenos also.
Lubbock, Texas
This land used to have more than scruffy mesquite trees, as the ghost-ship of an abandonded cotton gin attests.State Highway 17, near Pecos, Texas
The swimming pool at Balmorhea State Park is crystal clear, cold, spring-fed, and feels so good when it's hot outside.
Balmorhea, Texas
The City Prosecutor and the Traffic Engineering departments share a building - the prosecutor got top billing.
Lubbock, Texas
Clouds late in the day, hovering over the southern horizon rarely mean rain for us. But, if we're lucky, when it gets dark we're treated to lightning.
Lubbock, Texas
My friend Martha gave me this excellent paperweight. It's glass, green that goes to purple at the edges. It's heavy, just heavy enough to feel good in my hand. It lives on the left side of my computer, and when I am have trouble getting just the right word or image, I'll cradle it in my hand.
Thanks, Martha!
Lubbock, Texas
(On the back it says "Robert Held Art Glass - Canada")
An interesting, and colorful, row of downtown storefronts.Lubbock, Texas
This is how you can tell if it's a REALLY fancy restaurant: you put the peanut shells into a bucket rather than on the floor.
Lubbock, Texas
Finally.
There are some residential areas downtown - this one is in an alley off Broadway.
Lubbock, Texas
The big liquor election is tomorrow. Maybe... maybe there are enough forward-looking voters that we can soon be treated like adults around here and be able to buy alcohol in town.
Lubbock, Texas
A couple of vintage (to use the currently-popular phrase) ceramic planters that live on top of a white metal cabinet in the bathroom.
Lubbock, Texas
Hannah is so used to having her picture taken (I don't know how that happened!) that she refers to all photographs as "hannahs" - and she really doesn't seem to have the slightest clue that there could possibly be such a thing as a "hannah" without her in it.
Lubbock, Texas
Inspired by a character in the Tom Robbins' novel Skinny Legs and All, I started a collection of random pieces of silverware. This forest of spoons is part of what I have accumulated.
Which character was the inspiration? Spoon, of course.
Read the novel if you want, but get ready for... well, get ready for a Tom Robbins novel. (Publishers Weekly called Skinny Legs and All "a phantasmagorical, politically charged tale." Sadly, they failed to mention my spoon collection in the review.)
Lubbock, Texas
That I took a photo of a restaurant sign around dinnertime today could lead to the conclusion that I (once again) opted out of cooking at home....
Lubbock, Texas
Abandoned and disintegrating farm buildings dot this part of the country. This one had an additional feature: an old storm cellar that was guarded by a green lizard.
Somewhere between Roscoe and Wastella, Texas
The lighting and a guitar at FUEL Coffee Ministries.
Llano, Texas
The "Where the Spirit Left" project loaded in the back of my car, and ready for the drive to Llano, Texas, tomorrow. The show will be at FUEL Coffee Ministries through May 23, so be sure and stop by if you're in Llano...
Lubbock, Texas
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