Monthly Archives: February 2017

Corkscrew and a bird

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Usually, cotton gins aren’t right there in the middle of town. But this one is. Who knows why.

But anyway, the auger makes an interesting, undulating corkscrew-shadow on the corrugated metal walls, while one bird looks on. (Trust me on this: there were a lot more birds. It was somewhere approaching horror-movie levels of birds. Good thing for me they are camera shy.)

Levelland, Texas
photographed 3.14.2012

Doing their job, whatever it is

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First of all, this was taken on Main Street. MAIN STREET. Downtown. You know, like the heart of the city. It was taken on a Sunday afternoon, but still – it doesn’t look particularly vibrant or anything, does it?

Next, if you don’t mind, spend just a little bit of time looking at the way the afternoon sun reflected off one building and put those bright leopardy spots on the other one. That’s pretty cool.

But now: those two traffic cones, blocking off two not-in-high-demand parking spaces. Kudos to them for sticking with their job. No matter how silly it seems. Way to go, cones!

Lubbock, Texas
photographed 2.5.2017

The prevailing themes

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In a certain part of town, most of the buildings have to do with agri-industrial uses. And while they are not lovely in a traditional sense, they do catch the light in a certain way late in the afternoon.

At least I think so.

Lubbock, Texas
photographed 2.5.2017

All but one

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This place. I have a strange fascination with it.

It used to be a fancy downtown hotel called (I think) the In Town Inn. It’s been mostly vacant since I can remember, but there are a few hints of its former grandeur. Ha! Ha! Of course there’s no such thing. It’s just another empty building. Its most recent reincarnation was a residential treatment center for people with substance abuse issues; that didn’t last, but the name it went by – the Jim Kimmel Center* – is still there.

But look at that wall of rooms. And lamps. Except for that one, lampless room.

Anyway, I really REALLY want to get in there and take a few (thousand) pictures. But I want to do it without breaking in or anything. I’m sort of legal, when it comes right down to it.

Lubbock, Texas
photographed 2.5.2017

* I know, right?

Gilberto, el niño

020917

If you go to El Paso, be sure to plan an hour (if it’s a really hot summer day) or longer (if the weather’s tolerable) to visit the Concordia Cemetery.

If you’re not going to El Paso, but would like to time-travel back to a 1990s website, you can visit the cemetery’s website.*

Of course, you could always choose to do both.

Concordia Cemetery
El Paso, Texas
photographed 5.2.2010

*This is fun, too.