Monthly Archives: May 2025
home, reduced
This old farmhouse had been reduced. Not in the real estate way of a price reduction for a quick sale, but more in the “push all a’ that house up in a pile and Herschel or one a’ them’s gonna come by an’ burn it. Once that dad-blame wind stops.”
Posey, Texas
photographed 5.11.2025
matched set
This man and his car matched.
His car is a Studebaker Lark; the very first car I can remember is a Studebaker Lark station wagon. It was the exact color between brown and pink, which is a most unfortunate color anyway, but is particularly bad on a car. For a long time after my dad replaced that car we would still see it around town, often parked behind a big house that was close to where my piano teacher lived.
And that’s the thing about having lived in Lubbock for 85% of my life: every single memory opens up a path to other memories so now instead of thinking about that car we had, I am going to spend some time remembering how much I hated taking piano lessons and how spectacularly bad I was. Here’s a piece from an essay I wrote about taking piano:
Most of my friends took lessons from piano teachers who were part of something called The Guild, which had competitions on Saturdays throughout the year. Miss Ruth wasn’t part of this, so we didn’t have the chance to compete to win ivory-colored busts of Beethoven or Mozart. Even though I wasn’t good and would have hated the pressure of performing and competing, I still felt like we got cheated by having to take lessons without the possible reward of plastic statuary.
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 5.3.2025
headlight
Seriously, why did I wait until May 3, 2025, to photograph an auto show? It’s got the things I like: reflections, shapes, people who like to talk about their hobbies, car owners who are so happy for you to stop and take pictures of their vehicles.
(I spoke with one gentleman who said, “I bet that you won’t believe I drove that car here from El Paso!” That car he referenced was a 1955 Chevy and a previous Best In Show Low Rider winner. And El Paso? It’s 345 miles away, if you take the short route. From Lubbock, he was driving the car to a big low rider show in Albuquerque*, so now I see that not only have I missed out on car shows, but on LOW RIDER shows, too.)
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 5.3.2025
*327 miles
families
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 5.3.2025
hands off
Hands off a lot of things, in addition to what she mentions on her sign.
Remember the other day when I wrote about the guy in a truck who dusted us with lots of black exhaust as he drove by? This woman gave notes on his performance – she said, “Oh, aren’t you tough?”
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 5.3.2025
One Day | One Image 