Levelland, Again

Last Sunday my wife and I made a trip to Levelland. The city has changed since the last time I visited! It has been hit by the Big Oil Boom. You find evidence of the squalor and destruction all over town-- a nice little park has been chopped up into poorly maintained ball fields, trees have been felled, and the overall result is ugly and trashy, with the smell of hydrogen sulfide as a nasty garnish. There are pumpjacks at work downtown and near the park. Hotels and motels have been built. South Plains College has expanded. New construction is in evidence. Not a lot of this prosperity has translated into infrastructure. You still see lots of crumbling buildings, and businesses that have gone under. A Hispanic gentlemen drove up to our car in a big crew cab pickup and asked me why I was taking pictures of his building. His "building" was a ruin but he said he had cars stored in it. I explained my hobby. The presence of my wife probably made me seem less of a threat. Maybe he decided we were harmless nuts. But after that encounter, and the presence of local cops who began to shadow us, we decided to get out of town, being very careful to obey the speed limits. I got lots of pics, though. Some I processed to create a more vivid image, a few I left unmolested, as documentation. After I get them down-sized for posting, they will be appearing here.

Lubbock Drought

We are not being clobbered by that cold blast of late; not penetrating so far south, but the drought goes on. So far in 2014 no rainfall at all, and no prospects. Last year, we were way below the 18" average for this area. Even in a normal year it does not rain much here. The drought extends now through a wide swath of the Texas Panhandle.


My wife read yesterday that the average amount spent on a wedding today runs to about $26,000. Is that stupid or what? What does money have to do with it? What is the point of such ostentation? In what way does flushing money down a toilet ensure the sanctity or longevity of a marriage? Is the spending done to impress friends, family, the general public? It impresses me. It gives me the impression that the people doing it are stupid. And they almost certainly are. Worse luck to them.

Last Of Lubbock 2014 No.2

Downtown, downtown, downtown...

Some of these pics only look their best in their full, native, resolution. But I can't post that here. By the way, there is no abbey downtown. Ha. Ha. Get it? Downtown abbey? 

Lubbock 2014 No.2 Set 8-- Downtown

 There are plans afoot, to revitalize Lubbock's downtown. It'll take a lot of time and money. A lot has already been invested. I'm doubtful. I can't really see it working.  I don't see any segment of the city's population who would have any interest in living there.

My wife and I have thought about it a lot. Neither one of us believes that there is any hope for this area.

Lubbock 2014 No.2 Set 7

This set finishes a certain location, but after this I switch to downtown. Downtown is always interesting.