An Old Machine Shop

I learned, while I was on the site taking pics, that the owner of this abandoned machine shop died recently. He has a son, but what his son plans to do with it is not known. While I was in the area I nosed into some interesting alleys and looked at other structures nearby. My wife and I visited this place several times. She was fascinated by the feral cats who live there. Somebody feeds them and provides fresh water. And I just like to photograph places like this. A couple of times we brought the cats big sacks of food and refilled their water dishes. My wife loved animals and I do too.

Everything here is old, and interesting.

There's an old guy in an old Ford PU who parks out here and drinks beer. We ran into him one time and I talked to him. I should have asked him whether he might have worked out here once, maybe in the machine shop, years ago. I think he found himself a good place to "meditate". God bless him.

 Places like this, memories are a ghostly presence, almost palpable, but since they're not my memories, I can only imagine.

I got the camera lens through a crack in the door. Lots of neat stuff in here! Would I ever like to pick through it all!

It's awesome!

This really is a great place to sit all alone in an old Ford pickup and get sloshed...

This place might have been active years before I-27 came through. I-27 took out a lot of interesting places, like Hub Homes. My wife remembered Hub Homes.

 Windows and doors are among my favorite things to photograph.

Whatever this machine is, it is rusted solid now. No more rattle and hum. No more severed fingers and crushed hands. Just kidding.

I will probably be back. I might feed the cats again, someday. I will never drink beer out here because that spot is taken. And, besides, I don't have an old Ford pickup...

It just does not get much better than this.

Revisiting THE BLACK TOWER!

Here it is, and it is only a "compress" after all. It just looks sinister.

 Lots of ribbon wire.

We are looking right into the facility.

 Telephoto used here...

More views.

That's it for the BLACK TOWER site. Now we transition to a street that runs behind "Mrs. Baird's" bakery. Interesting area, I think. Not far from McKenzie Park. Right across the street.
Smells like freshly baked bread. Nice.

 The bakery has been here for many years!

 Not everything you see back here has a connection to the bakery.

 Dumped mattresses are all over town. This site is no exception.

 It's a kind of industrial zone. There are several small businesses back here.

You find the usual junk.

 You find funky vents.

 You find more piles of junk.

 There's a fifties Oldsmobile hidden back here. It needs some TLC.

 You find enigmatic objects.

Keep out. How do you become authorized personnel? 

 Mysterious ribbon-like stuff... it's woven into the fence!

 Lots of undeveloped land.

 A few ruins.

 Part of an old tourist court that nobody seems to remember.

Now it attracts a lot of graffiti. There was a nightclub/bar/restaurant associated with this place. Also a swimming pool on a bluff overlooking the park. And yet, nobody remembers it.

There's all kinds of stuff hidden back here.

I visited my wife's grave. I do that from time to time, in an effort to come to terms with my new reality. Not easy. Never easy.

 She is not in this precise area.

 An abandoned house near the cemetery entrance...

 It is not the best area.

Right across from the derelict house there's a funky little church.

 Leaving the cemetery, I'm about to turn South onto MLK.

 I got onto East 38th, or close to it-- another light industrial zone.

Warehouses are common in this area.

I leave you with a shot of Lubbock infrastructure.