Blog Archives
Right here in Amarillo
Sometimes there’s just nothing for me to add.
This is one of those times.
Amarillo, Texas
photographed 3.20.2010
Items of interest
Meanwhile, a few things at this abandoned gas station caught my attention.
* Those squarish shapes inside the scars of circles on the wall.
* The restrooms are off to the left, somewhere.
* God is love, according to the letters stuck on the plate glass window.
* Don’t those drapes seem a little formal for a gas station?
* That plant? There in the window on the left? It’s growing on the inside of the building, clinging to the drape. Sort of makes me worried about what the inside of the place looks like.
Valentine, Texas
photographed 8.16.2013
Bulls for sale
Another view of the this storm, which also shows up here, now that I think about it.
How about that bright white building against the storm-darkened sky? But maybe you are wondering what “limousin” means. It’s a breed of cattle, originally from France, that are prized for their lean and tender meat, their low birth weight (which translates to ease of calving), and some technical things like average dressing percentage and yield. As always, Wikipedia provides the information.
Maybe you’re thinking that with the weekend nearly here, you might want to take a drive and see if you can spot some limousin cattle – how much fun that would be! – but don’t know what they look like. You are in luck, because right here we’ve got a handy identification guide!
And later, after the drive, maybe you could stop for a burger on the way home. Unless that would make you feel disloyal.
And one more thing: espeula is Spanish for spur.
near Valentine, Texas
photographed 8.16.2013
Auditorium
This was one of the first times I’d been brave enough to walk into an abandoned building to take some pictures. But I am glad I did: this place is boarded up now.
This place has an interesting history that involves millionaires, Postum, and planned communities. Wikipedia has this to say:
The rare motorist that happens to pass through the remote small town of Close City today may be unaware that, at the turn of the century, the town site was chosen as the original location of Post City, a model community and grand social experiment conceived by C. W. Post, an American breakfast cereal and foods manufacturer. In the early 1890s, Post developed a popular caffeine-free coffee substitute called Postum and later made a fortune on breakfast cereals such as Grape Nuts and Post Toasties. As Post’s wealth grew, his interests began to expand into other areas. One project that had always intrigued him was the creation of a planned community of model homes and industry. His success in the prepared foods industry provided the financial resources to make this dream a reality.
The Close City schoolhouse is two stories high; this auditorium is on the second floor. The building was in use from 1919 to 1965, when the school closed and students went to nearby Post, Texas, for school.
Close City School
Garza County, Texas
photographed 5.31.2010
Three views of the same storm
Hockley County, Texas
photographed 7.4.2009, 2:28 p.m.
Ropesville, Texas
photographed 7.4.2009, 2:36 p.m.
Hockley County, Texas
photographed 7.4.2009, 2:54 p.m.
I love thunderstorms, and here’s why.
The land’s so flat you can see them building up out to the west.
The drama in the ever-shifting clouds.
The lightning – the kind that lights up the clouds from within, and the kind that makes those long jagged slashes to the ground.
The way the air smells when the storm’s near.
The sound of thunder.
The damp-earth smell of the first few raindrops.
The urgency of the rain, when it’s falling so hard that it’s noisy.
Oh, and you can take pictures of them.
