August 8

A fence railing - McKinney Cemetery

Blanco County, Texas

August 7

The side entrance of the Parish Hall, Manheim, Texas

August 6

Inside the Book People parking garage.

Austin, Texas

August 5

Now, I don't know who Sheriff Jack Carter is, but I can't say that I disagree with what he says....

random parking lot
Austin, Texas

August 4

A cute little stress-ball critter guarding my notebook for the Institute for Transportation Coordination.

(We also had pipe cleaners to play with. Yippee!)

Austin, Texas

August 3

In Austin for training all week - and all I had a chance to photograph was this round thing in the hotel lobby...

Austin, Texas

August 2

Back in the olden days (1978) I took a job as a drafter (called "draftsman" back then) with a small architectural firm in Albuquerque. The boss was a man, the other drafter was a man. Our secretary was called The Gal. I sat at a drafting table, drafting.

And, nearly every time someone walked in while The Gal was away from her desk, they would assume that I was the secretary.

Also, back in the olden days, I was a calligrapher. So, I made this sign for my desk.

Of course, it didn't make any difference to those people who thought I was clerical help (as compared with drafting help). But it made me feel better.

Lubbock, Texas

August 1

This is a detail of a statue on the Texas Tech University campus; it's called Read Reader, and is made from books that have been cast in bronze.

The sculptor: Terry Allen

And, so this concludes Terry Allen week* here on the blog!

Lubbock, Texas

*See July 28 entry

July 31

I guess if you like your fences taut and tidy, this one is sort of a disappointment.

But it does its job: none of the plowed ground on the south side of it has breached this sturdy perimeter into our mesquite-and-snake field.

Yellowhouse Canyon, Texas

July 30

Look! Ancient Etruscan pottery - and right in my own backyard (literally).

Oh, wait - that's not right. It's just that strawberry pot, that hasn't seen strawberries in ages, melting into the dirt.

Lubbock, Texas

July 29

Me, age 7: glasses (white, pearly, cat-eye), braids (white-blonde, long because I'd never had a haircut), bangs (well, they'd been cut, unevenly, too short, and goofy because of a cowlick right in front), freckles (which don't grow together into a tan, no matter how much you want them to), and a summer outfit my mom made.

The outfit would have been red seersucker. There would have been a sleeveless top that buttoned up the back. With red buttons (my mom loved that kind of detail). The bottom of the top would have had red rick-rack trim. The shorts, which probably came nearly to my (scabby) knees, had an elastic waist, and were also trimmed at the hem with rick-rack.

This red and white awning reminded me of seersucker and rick-rack.

And, "rick-rack" is a LOT of fun to type. Give it a try: you'll see what I mean.

Lubbock, Texas

July 28

The original location of the famous Stubb's Bar-B-Q, on East Broadway. Stubb was famous for his food, and for his support of struggling local musicians, many of whom went on to big careers.

Wikipeida:
In 1968, he opened his first restaurant, “Stubb's Bar-B-Q” on East Broadway in Lubbock, Texas. In the 70’s and early 80’s, the Sunday Night Jams held in his small restaurant hosted such musicians as Jessie "Guitar" Taylor, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Ely, Terry Allen, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Muddy Waters, Tom T. Hall, B. B. King and George Thorogood.

East Broadway
Lubbock, Texas

(Statue by Terry Allen)

July 27

This is another building that I glance at every time I go by. I was initially attracted by the red door, but that's mostly faded away now. (The red paint, I mean.) My current favorite thing about it is the way you can see the smudge on the door's kickplate. It's been pushed open by thousands of shoes. Or (this is the way it is in my mind) steel-toed boots.

random roadside building
Lubbock, Texas

July 26

I was busy today. I made pickled jalapenos, tomato marmalade, ketchup, zucchini bread, and this jalapeno jelly - all the produce was in my share this week from the CSA at the South Plains Food Bank.

Lubbock, Texas

July 25

I saw this stone-faced gentlemen, with cobwebs drifting from his nose, on the back fence at a house that was on the Master Gardeners' tour today.

What? I was supposed to be looking at PLANTS?

Lubbock, Texas

July 24

I was riding the bus today - Route 12, in case you to take the same trip - and saw this mural. No time, of course, to photograph it from the bus, so we drove all the way across town this evening to take its picture.

It is rather fabulous.

Erskine Avenue
Lubbock, Texas

(PS - My friend Brian tells me that "Haya Busa" is a 200 mph Suzuki.)

July 23

Maybe it's just me, but this place strikes me as more creepy than fun. That dark tunnel of an entrance, for one thing. And those claws of dead branches, looking like fingers trying to pluck the "L" from the sign. Oh, and the clown...

Anyway, I was glad to leave.

Lubbock, Texas

July 22

After months that were so hot and dry that the blue seemed baked from the sky, this was an interesting change: cloudy, with rain almost all day long.

Lubbock, Texas

July 21

I don't quite get the concept of a skylight over an open-air walkway - but that's what this is.

Lubbock, Texas

July 20

Seventeen spray nozzles - sounds like a good idea on a hot day like today.

Lubbock, Texas

July 19

Years ago - fewer than 15, but surely more than 10 - I saw a vignette: from the Interstate, I saw a man and a woman walking through the headstones displayed at the monument company. At the precise instant that I happened to look toward them, the man reached out and took the woman's hand. As they continued to walk slowly along the displayed markers, I drove on and they were lost to me.

But that fraction of a second has stayed with me, and I do not pass that place without thinking of the poignant gesture.

This is that building, abandoned now, except for vague dents in the ground from the weight of the markers and tall sliding doors on the end, big enough for a forklift and a headstone.

Lubbock, Texas

Lubbock, Texas

July 18

The power lines, marching away from the power plant on the horizon, line up with the tidy rows of cotton - that's what caught my eye today. Even though I'd driven past this spot countless times, I never noticed it until this afternoon.

FM 1585
Lubbock, Texas

July 17

The final votes are not yet official, but this appears to be the frontrunner in the Most Striped Building Contest, Downtown Division

Lubbock, Texas

July 16

The courtyard at the Buddy Holly Center.

Lubbock, Texas

July 15

What a completely ridiculous lake. It's a rectangle, for one thing. And it has three goofy fountains, for another.

Lubbock, Texas

July 14

Seriously, why are these things called chillers? I stood in front of them for 20 minutes and never got any cooler....

Lubbock, Texas

July 13

Plan view of most of my collection of Russel Wright dinnerware, in a groovy chartreuse.

Here's what www.modfather.com had to say about Mr. Wright:

It's all true: Russel Wright beat Martha Stewart to the punch by 50 years. The first designer to successfully market his wares using his own name as a well-defined brand, Wright rode the crest of the Modernist wave for over 20 years. And he did it all -- furniture, accessories, dishes, glassware, table linens, art pottery, and much, much more. There were many famous and fabulous industrial designers working successfully in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, but nobody brought modern sensibilities to the masses to the extent Wright did. His permeation of the American consciousness at such an early time is truly extraordinary.

Lubbock, Texas

July 12

This little car repair place is at the corner of 8th Street and Texas Avenue, in downtown Lubbock. And it looks like it's been there forever.

The building is concrete block that's been painted white. The garage doors and all the trim is a splotchy, faded orange.

Lubbock, Texas

July 11

The rain, what rain we had, didn't come at the right time or in the right amount. As a result, the dryland farmer south of us has a huge field of plowed dirt instead of cotton.

(Just a few feet from where I stood to take this picture: a rattlesnake.)

on the rim of Yellowhouse Canyon
Lubbock, Texas

July 10

My grape crop for the year. If things go as usual, the birds will eat the grapes. (At least I think they eat them - I never heard of birds making grape jelly. Or wine.)

Lubbock, Texas

July 9

Yes, that would be 101.3 degrees IN THE SHADE.

My front porch
Lubbock, Texas

July 8

At the sign graveyard.

30th Street, near I-27
Lubbock, Texas

July 7

Another in the series of vacant buildings in downtown. I can't tell what this used to be, and the stickers on the window don't offer any helpful clues: two parking stickers from Lubbock General Hospital, a Knights of Columbus sticker, and a National Rifle Association sticker. It was helpful that they were placed on the outside of the glass, though, so the whitewash on the windows didn't cover them up.

Lubbock, Texas

July 6

If you were wondering where the trash dumpsters are at the Civic Center, I found them on the north side of the building, on the lower parking level.

Lubbock, Texas

July 5

Recipe for a Nap

2 shady trees
1 hammock, strung between the trees
1 book or magazine*
1 summer afternoon
Me

Combine ingredients.

* Choice of reading material is not important, as nap will arrive very, very quickly.

My backyard
Lubbock, Texas

July 4

Tonight's storm building up and heading our way.

FM 303
Hockley County, Texas

July 3

Detail of a water well at the National Ranching Heritage Center.

Lubbock, Texas

July 2

This isn't NEARLY as creepy as it looks. Really.

The Ice House
Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts
Lubbock, Texas

July 1

My friends who love hot weather will appreciate this: the west-facing wall of this brick building soaks up LOTS of heat during the day, and by afternoon it is like standing beside a furnace. It's the kind of heat that seems to sizzle the hairs on your arm.

I like it!

next to a brick building
Downtown Lubbock, Texas

June 30

Another shot of a downtown alley - this one with a special treat: a little strip of grass.

Also: I am now half-way through this project. In case you wondered...

Lubbock, Texas

June 29

I really am a dork: I went to England and was so proud to bring back a British thesaurus (actually, the Chambers Giant Dictionary and Thesaurus.) It keeps company with Roget's.

But how else would I know that Received Pronunciation (abbreviated RP) is the form of British English spoken by educated people in Southern England. Or - and this is slightly more useful - that naff is slang meaning of poor quality or worthless and - here comes the best part! - that naff off means go away, and is considered offensive.

This treasure cost 9 pounds, at a bookstore in Cambridge.

Lubbock, Texas

June 28

I wrote the following on November 21, 1997:
Late in December 1996, I told Carlos that I could hardly wait for the end of the year, as it had been a bad one. I told him. "It started out bad and stayed that way." He told me it seemed bad because that's what I was focusing on. He challenged me to write down something good every day in 1997 to help me focus on the good things instead of the bad.

And here it is, halfway through 2009, and with only a couple of years of gaps, I have faithfully followed his advice. My current journal is a five year version, and I always read the previous entries when I add new ones. For the most part, the things I've written would be things I'd forgotten about otherwise.

I always write the entries with a fountain pen, and always use purple ink. Don't ask me why.

Don't get me wrong: I do still tend to dwell on the negative, but by following Carlos's advice I have a reason, at least one time a day, to think of good things.

Lubbock, Texas

June 27

On my way out to the canyon today, I had to make a stop at the Strip (Come on, alcohol sales in the city!!) to get some Texas-made vodka.

Then I took the back way to the canyon, where I was rewarded with the sight of this excellent sign. It was in front of a run-down trailer park. And, no, that is NOT redundant.

County Road 2500
Lubbock County, Texas

June 26

The skeleton of a new warehouse building under construction.

Lubbock, Texas

June 25

A hole in the wall?

Or a reflection?

Lubbock, Texas

June 24

This checkerboard wall is a good example of what this project has done: I've driven by the place countless times, but until I drove by it while also prowling around for something to photograph today, I'd never really NOTICED it.

Lubbock, Texas

June 23

It's a minor Parking Lot Mystery: someone left a bundle of Sunday papers in the parking lot by my office. I will keep an eye on them to see if they eventually melt into the asphalt.

Lubbock, Texas

June 22

Three caps and a straw cowboy hat on the rack in the garage, waiting to be called into service.

Lubbock, Texas

June 21

This is the ONLY correct way to cook corn on the cob: grilled.

Lubbock, Texas

June 20

Some gears and... well, other parts of a windmill, at the American Windpower Center.

Lubbock, Texas