Monthly Archives: July 2013
Two chairs
It’s this sort of scene that makes an after-work drive to Snyder completely worth it: seeing two chairs, lined up exactly with the lines on the wall directly under a sign with the word “precision” on it.
It very nearly took my breath away. Although that could have been from the heat – it was approximately one thousand degrees* outside that day. But, no, I really think it was the chairs’ placement that made me breathless. I am weird that way.**
Snyder, Texas
photographed 7.10.2013
* Or: 105 degrees.
** I am also weird in some other ways. Which you probably at least suspected.
First Friday Art Trail
Sometimes you have to just suck it up and ASK.
The First Friday Art Trail here in Lubbock is sort of a big deal. And I’d been wanting to have some of my work shown on a First Friday.
So I overcame the tiny bit of shyness that I’ve not yet conquered and asked Larry Simmons, the proprietor of the Tornado Gallery, if I could have a spot at a First Friday. He said yes, and so I am very happy to announce that on August 2, I will be on the Trail.
Stop by, if you’re in town.
(And my deepest appreciation to Larry Simmons for giving me a spot. Not only is he a great guy, but he is my exact birthday twin; every year on our birthdays we agree that we just keep getting better and better.
The photo above is a detail of the windows on the north side of the gallery space.)
Plywood, weeds, and peeling paint
Here’s another shot of the endangered train depot in Snyder.
Had this been an old book, rather than an old building, that peeled part would be called foxing*. I don’t know what it’s properly called on a building.
Snyder, Texas
photographed 7.10.2013
*A condition issue affecting old books, prints and ephemera consisting of brown spotting caused by exposure to excessive humidity, extreme temperatures and/or the aging of inks originally used in processing
The depot was boarded up, and the train didn’t stop
A couple of years ago, Preservation Texas named this train depot as one of the 100 most endangered buildings in the state. There was a flurry of interest which appears to have died down.
As I took this photo, the north-bound train hurried past.
Snyder, Texas
photographed 7.29.2013
Gas pumps in storage
Just because we could: that’s why my friend Jo and I left Lubbock after work the other day and drove the 90 miles or so down to Snyder, Texas. It stays light so late in the summer that we had plenty of time to get down there to take a few* pictures before it got dark.
You know my rule about looking around back, right? After I took a few (dozen) shots of an old gas station, we went around back and saw where the gas pumps were stored.
But before that happened, a man pulled his pickup into the parking lot, parked in the shade of the building next door, and had the following conversation with me:
Man: You takin’ pictures?
Me: Yes, sir, I am.
Man (with narrowed eyes and suspicious voice): Why?
Me: I like this building!
Man (with same eyes-and-voice): Why?
Me: I can’t explain it, really. I just like old buildings.
Man (with resignation in his voice): Oh. I was hopin’ you was a real estate appraiser. I’m tryin’ to sell this place.
I didn’t make his day, but his building made mine.
Snyder, Texas
photographed 7.10.2013
* Few = 93
One Day | One Image 