Then again...

... I don't really understand why voting in this country is so difficult. Only so much time is allowed? Some people are in danger of losing their jobs if they take the time to vote, especially if election officials have contrived to make the process so slow and so inefficient that it might take hours of standing in line in order to cast that ballot? That's not right. There's no reason for voting in this country to be anything other than quick and easy. The process is slow enough and stupid enough and annoying enough and punitive enough, in some cases, to discourage people. What if you don't have transportation? What if you are too sick to leave your home? There ought to be a way to vote, no matter what your circumstances are, an easy way.

On To The Spur Pics

Yeah, on to the Spur pics and the tiny houses and the ruins, plus a lot of views of the lay of the land on the way to Spur from Lubbock. But first, let me just stick my nose into the Ferguson mess: the city has a population of about 21,000 of which approximately 67% is black. That's a black majority. But they aren't represented in city government and their particular interests seem to be ignored. Does that black majority vote? How many of them have even bothered to register to vote? If you don't organize to protect your interests, if you can't be bothered to vote (and the clear majority of potential black voters in Ferguson would certainly be able to change the picture completely around) how am I supposed to be sympathetic? In general, I despise people who don't exercise the right to vote. If you don't vote you are a lazy dog. Non-voters are trash and they deserve to be oppressed. 

 Heading out of town, passing light commercial areas and numerous wind turbines...

Cotton, Idalou, and more cotton...


 

Spur Coming Up!

We made that little drive to Spur, taking the scenic cutoff to get there. I got pics along the road going and a few in Crosbyton near a Dairy Queen and a lot in Spur. Spur is truly not looking very lively. There are lots of very small houses in Spur and most seem to be in awful states of decay. The city wants to encourage people to remodel these houses but what are you supposed to do for employment? Entertainment? Social life? Health care? And what about the fact that Spur has no tax base to speak of so it can't really afford more wells. Water is getting critical. Maybe you can get a bargain on a tiny house that you might be able to repair without bulldozing it and starting over, but what does this community offer, apart from the deathly silence of a grave? Ralls and Crosbyton don't seem much better. In Crosbyton you can go to church on Sunday and eat in the Diary Queen. In Spur you can look at ruins and eat at the Dixie Dog. There are a few good locally owned restaurants but good luck trying to catch them when they are open. There's Friday night High School Football, I guess, but I think all these teams are six-man. You'd have to develop a taste for that peculiar innovation, probably unique to rural Texas. I took lots of photos and I am getting them ready to publish. By the way, I took photos of several tiny houses, just waiting for renovation! And that's sort of a joke.

Finishing Defer Spur

Abernathy is so close to Lubbock, one could easily live there and commute. I believe that many do that. 

I have come to really like flat land. If you do any stargazing, any astronomy at all, you have unobstructed views of the sky. 

This ends the photo series. A new one will feature Spur and the general area and will be soon, I hope.

Defer Spur

Stuff happened, so we did not make it to Spur. But my wife decided to take her car and check out some things in Abernathy, just north of Lubbock. At one time her family lived in a converted gas station near a Methodist Church, and she wanted to see if the building is still there, and the church, and a school she remembered. Yes, those things are still there, and the trip gave me a chance to be a passenger and just kick back and take pictures on the road. It was a nice drive, and a hint of rain was in the air. Unfortunately, it did not rain much and our deep drought goes on, to a beat of its own. This pic series features Highway 27, not a bit like Highway 61, and sights on the road in Lubbock, between Lubbock and Abernathy, and in Abernathy.

Big skies!

Lubbock is ready to repel those darned, pesky, UN invaders! 
 

My wife has fond memories of this school. It is a good school. More pics tomorrow.