Blog Archives
Crazy Chester followed me
Yes, this is a time when a song came to my mind as I made the photo. And the song was, of course, The Weight (specifically The Band’s version, not the Aretha Franklin version.) And my dad’s name was Chester; he was a little bit crazy…
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 11.16.2019
Wild River
The local amusement park is closed for the season, so I stopped by to see what sorts of things I could spot by looking over the fence. Well, not so much “looking over” the fence “as spotting a place where the fence was crushed down a little bit and then standing on a nearby concrete wheel stop and holding my camera above the fence and shooting blind.” Practically the same thing, though.
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 11.16.2019
Scott v. the Saint
The street that leads to the City of Lubbock cemetery passes by Scott’s Temple; behind Scott, the St. John Baptist Church looms large. It’s like some kind of theological showdown is about to happen.
I am somewhat relieved to report that, on the same street, the house where the World’s Most Ferocious Dog used to fling itself against the chain link fence every time a car passed by is now vacant. I can only assume that the dog is somehow responsible. That dog scared the bejesus out of me and I was inside my car. But anyway, I wonder what unsuspecting people in funeral processions felt about that awful omen as they turned into the cemetery to lay their loved one to rest…
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 11.16.2019
Room 7
Across the High Plains you can see the remains of buildings that were once used to house migrant farmworkers who moved through the area as they followed the crops. Most of the places are in really bad shape – some have already fallen over, in fact.
This place was, by typical standards, actually pretty nice. It had a roof, even. We chatted up the folks nearby (they were building a fence); they said there was a plan in place to redo this building, letting it once again be housing.
Acuff, Texas
photographed 10.12.2019
Years of Dreaming
“Years of dreaming…will be climaxed Friday night with the staging of the first event in the city’s new, luxurious auditorium.”
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
March 25, 1956
“People of Lubbock voted by a narrow margin to ultimately have the Lubbock Municipal Auditorium and Coliseum demolished.”
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
May 6, 2018
And, like that, on a 526-vote margin, we voted to destroy two of our most recognizable buildings – buildings that held our collective memories of basketball games, rodeos, symphonies, circuses, monster truck pulls, pancake breakfasts, concerts, graduations, and so many other events, all of which helped define our community. And ourselves.
Not one thing in any of these photos exists any more. What will happen to our memories, now that these buildings are gone? Will they get stronger? Become larger than life? Become so faint we almost doubt the circus or the symphony ever even happened?
Where did our years of dreaming go?
Arcade – photographed June 12, 2018
Let’s do this – photographed June 12, 2018
First Aid Room – photographed June 12, 2018
Entry – photographed June 12, 2018
Arcade – photographed June 21, 2018
Concrete Windows – photographed June 21, 2018
Out of Order – photographed July 11, 2018
Additional Storage – photographed July 17, 2018
Rainy Day Doors – photographed August 18, 2018
Grid with lights and curtains – photographed September 10, 2018
Mirror, mirror – photographed September 10, 2018
House lights had dimmed – photographed September 10, 2018
Racks, room 201 – photographed September 13, 2018
Cleanliness – photographed September 13, 2018
At the lowest point – photographed September 17, 2018
Pipe Shadow – photographed September 18, 2018
Crow’s Nest View – photographed September 18, 2018
Stairs – photographed September 18, 2018
Stage – photographed September 24, 2018
Two kinds of sinks – photographed September 25, 2018
Chair and music stand – photographed September 26, 2018
Velvet, worn away – photographed September 26, 2018
Above it all – photographed September 26, 2018
Front of House – photographed November 11, 2018
Never to be repeated – photographed December 8, 2018
After the last rodeo – photographed April 7, 2019
You can see it all from here – photographed April 7, 2019
Marked for death – photographed April 27, 2019
Matched my mood – photographed May 3, 2019
Dome Down – photographed May 26, 2019
