Monthly Archives: November 2024

bidders at the horse sale

Have you been trying to imagine what my most unusual hobby is? Did you think that it might be attending horse sales?

I know: it surprises me as well. This is the third one I’ve been to and I enjoy them a lot. Not only is there the opportunity to photograph people, but it’s a whole cultural experience. I don’t know one thing about what’s going on, the lingo is incomprehensible, the prices (sometimes) seem outrageous, and so on.

One of the best parts of going is listening to auctioneers’ patter. Here’s some things I heard at this sale:

  • This booger is straight in the mouth and square on all four corners.
  • He don’t flop his tail.
  • He’s got tons of hoof and bone.
  • He’s never bred a mare: he’s in riding condition.
  • If you took him home and cut him, his butt would get bigger in a week and a half.

To be clear, these things were said in relation to horses. I don’t know if that makes it better or not, but I felt like I ought to clarify.

Levelland, Texas
photographed 11.23.2024

cotton lint

There’s an excellent BBQ place in Slaton; it’s called Pitforks and Smokerings. You need to go, but get there early because they sell out pretty fast.

It’s housed in an old gas station and there’s an outdoor dining area, marked by black net, where the fuel pumps used to be. This is a shot of the netting that slows down the wind*, provides a bit of shade, and snags up cotton lint from the gin across the road.

Slaton, Texas
photographed 11.22.2024

*I almost said “breaks the wind” but realized that wasn’t AT ALL what I was trying to say.

fell

On one hand, this is an absolute mess of a photo. But on the other hand, it’s my favorite of ones I made over at a park the other afternoon. (It’s a genre I’m calling UICM, or Unintentional Camera Movement. I didn’t invent it but am nonetheless an avid practitioner of it. Apparently)

Jan Jennings Park
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 11.21.2024

last whisper

Yes, I’m fine.

I bring it up because this is the fourth day in a row that I have posted a color photograph, which is probably a record for me.

Jan Jennings Park
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 11.21.2024

lake, after rain

It’s not New England level of fall color*, but we do the best we can, even if we have to rely on an assist from the red car and yellow van in the background.

Jan Jennings Park
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 11.21.2024

*Disclosure: I’ve never been to New England in the fall and am basing this statement on seeing approximately 400 zillion photos full of trees and leaves and hills and barns and color and whatnot.