Sunday, August 31, 2014

A Glimpse Of Ropes

Ropes (Ropesville) has no bank, no supermarket, no place to get groceries of any kind, not very many paved streets, no cemetery (that we could see), no convenience store, no public park, no doctors or clinics that we could find, or a dentist, or a movie theater-- things you take for granted in a city of any size. We couldn't find any provision for trash collection or street repair but surely they must have something along those lines. Ropes is very small and has a few churches and a cotton gin. Couldn't be sure of it but there might be a shade tree mechanic or two. There's a school and a football stadium, of course. We couldn't find a place to buy gas. To find a bank or buy a few groceries or to put gas in your car it's about a twenty mile round trip. You'd better have a car. But some of the tumbledown houses in Ropes don't have vehicles in evidence. Some structures we took to be uninhabited or uninhabitable had window air-conditioners hanging out of holes cut in the wall, and there were plastic toys among the weeds around most of them. No dogs or cats anywhere, and not many people outside, but just about every structure seemed to be in use by someone. Hard to imagine how they survive. We saw one guy in a Mercedes Sedan checking a padlock on a storage building. We saw several big trucks and SUVs. We encountered a lot of flies and a bad stink near what seemed to be a big brick kiln or furnace near the cotton gin. There was a lot of what we interpreted as dire poverty. We found Ropes depressing and disturbing. We would not, ourselves, want to live there under any circumstances whatsoever. But for some it might be paradise...


I'll have to add the pics later because I'm on my wife's computer and her AT&T DSL service is too slow to allow me to upload the pics. I no longer have AT&T for anything-- I've switched my cell service to Consumer Cellular and I'm saving $20 per month. AT&T was once a good company but they aren't anymore. All they want to do is hustle Uverse, and that does not even work as advertised. They treat their employees like dirt. It's time to forget AT&T.

It's Time To Finish Spur

After this it's time to describe the town of Ropes, or Ropesville. People around here use both names interchangeably. But this is the rest of Spur:











Downtown Spur-- what can I say? This place needs a massive infusion of money. More than that, it probably needs a new and deeper set of water wells. Although how long they would last is questionable. 








Someday Lubbock will look like this, when the water runs out. And it WILL run out... every city in this part of Texas is living on borrowed time. 

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Spur Needs Your Help

Spur really does need some kind of assistance. But we've seen towns that are in worse shape. Last Sunday my wife and I looked at a tiny town that made us really depressed. Trying to imagine life in Ropes/Ropesville gives one nightmares. When I am finished with Spur I will talk about Ropesville, or Ropes, and put up the pics I took there.We've never seen anything grimmer than Ropes, or Ropesville. 







Spur is worth saving, in our opinion.









Even will all of its problems, it is possible to imagine living in Spur.









Next time around, I will finish Spur.

Friday, August 29, 2014

More Spur

When you are in Spur, be sure to eat at the Dixie Dog. I didn't photograph the Dixie Dog but it is easy to find. It is an experience in Southern Cuisine you must not miss. 










Swenson Park is another place you must visit when you go to Spur. If you do it around Homecoming, you'll probably find a dance going on. Don't miss the dance.









If you have a yen to live a simple, uncomplicated, quiet life in an out-of-the-way place in a rural setting, why not choose Spur? If you are also very wealthy and you want to bring a community of good folks back from the brink of extinction, spend your money there-- be a benefactor. 









The people of Spur are friendly; not weird, suspicious, inbred, or hostile. They don't behave like aliens or time travelers. They are just decent people. 


Thursday, August 28, 2014

Continuing Spur

Spur is actually one of the nicer small towns in this area. I like it more than Crosbyton, for instance, or Ralls, and I could imagine living in Spur. Spur would suit a retired person who is not very social, who wants a very quiet life "in the country", but not in complete isolation.









If you enjoyed a hobby like rc aircraft I doubt that anyone would bother you. There's a lot of open space for FPV flying or drone flying or quadcopters. If you were a craftsman of some sort, Spur might be a great place to do your work. Artist? Spur might be for you...








But I don't know whether you could get cable or any kind of high-speed internet access. Don't expect to find natural foods unless you grow them yourself. You could probably buy property cheap here and do what you please with it.




Water would be my concern, though. I've heard that Spur is simply running out. Maybe you could afford to have your own well, a very deep one...