Blog Archives
Past, future
I drove over to Grassland, Texas, the other day. I didn’t actually know there was such a place, or go there on purpose – it’s just that it was on the way to see that swing set I mentioned a few days ago (and which is now only two short days away from its blog debut!). Anyway, there’s not a whole lot in Grassland, Texas. There’s a wind farm nearby, though, which is probably going to make the future there look a lot different from the past.
Grassland, Texas
photographed 7.28.2018
Dryland Boating
Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “The happiest days of a boat owner’s life are the day he buys a boat and the day he sells it.” I guess these poor boat owners just had one happy day, because the boats are abandoned in back of an abandoned
gas station.
And, anyway, these boats are sort of a long way from water.
Wilson, Texas
photographed 7.28.2018
Somewhat less than it was
I’ve been pretty busy at my real job and was starting to get a little twitchy because I hadn’t been out with my camera. Only one thing to do in a situation like that: the work stuff can wait (and indeed. it was still there when I got back on Monday), but that twitchy feeling’s only going to get worse unless I get out and shoot.
I got out my big atlas (The Roads of Texas) and selected a destination, then cross-checked it with a quick Google street-view look, and off I went.
This wasn’t my actual destination*, but it was a nice thing to spot along the way, a clear reminder that Wilson, Texas, used to be able to support a block-long business district.
Wilson, Texas
photographed 7.28.2018
*A swing set at a tiny crossroads town in Crosby County. That’s what I saw on street-view. Stick around – that photo will post in a few more days…
The joke is on The Joker
This seemed to be the only building in Penwell that wasn’t rusted. But that’s mostly (or, completely) because concrete blocks don’t rust.
But in any case, The Joker didn’t make it. It was the theme of the day, in Penwell.
Penwell, Texas
photographed 7.15.2018
Tank army
There’s a particular exit on Interstate 20 a few miles west of Odessa that has always interested me, because from the road (and at highway speeds) it looks like every single thing there is abandoned and/or rusted. I’ve been driving past it for ages, and finally last month managed to remember to pull off the road and have a look around.
My highway-speed impression of the place was not wrong.
So you can just imagine how much I liked it there. (For a short time, until the body language of a shirtless, heavily-tattooed, shaved-headed man* watching me made it seem like it was time to get back on the road. Quickly.)
Penwell, Texas
photographed 7.15.2018
*No judgement with any of those things – just reporting what I saw.
