Texas Pride

On Highway 82, east of Crosbyton, Texas, stands this barn that displays it's Texas Pride. It is nice to see everything greening up again.

The Canyon - A Haiku

Looking over the canyon

After a summers warm rain

Gazing in wonder

Washout

Where the recent rains have washed down the canyons, there have been left some reminders of how the force of nature leaves it's mark on the land.

The Dugout

This is a replica of the Askins - Shaw dugout that was originally built around 1878. The Askins Family were one of the first settlers to Dickens County. The dugout was a popular and common sense approach to home building for the early settlers. There was not a lot of timber so by building a dug out it certainly saved on building wooden walls. John Askins traveled all the way to Colorado City, TX in order to buy the tin for the construction of it's roof. That is over 90 miles by mule.

When my family moved into this part of the world in the late 1800's, they built a dug out that must have been very similar to this one. Nothing is left of the original dugout but a slight depression in the ground. Most of the building material was used on other projects after the family built their non-dugout home. Waste not want not, that was the maxim for these early settlers.

The Snake Pit

Here is Jones Stadium. I took the picture from the old press box in order to give a good look at the stands. It is unusual as the stands are only on one side of the field, so the visitors sit right alongside the hometown fans. It is built into the side of a hill and is much like a smaller version of the Sun Bowl in El Paso. The stadium earned it's name from two different sources according to who you get your information from. One source will say that it is due to the snakes living in the hill and another source will say that it comes from the style of play from the home team. Either way it was a great place to play when I was in high school and now that I am an adult, it is a great place to watch a game under the Friday Night Lights.

One thing that you might have noticed is the fact that the middle of the field is the 40 yard line. A few years ago, due to the declining population, the school went to a six man football schedule. If you have never caught a six man game, I would recommend it. It is a fast paced game with a lot of scoring most of the time. Although I still long for the day when my old alma mater played regular 11 man football. But any football is better than none.

Old Fence Row

Just an old fence row that time has forgot. Blow sand has built up around it. Weeds and grass burs have grown upon the blow sand. Once again nature attempts to reclaim it's own.

Elusive

This is sort of like a 'Where's Waldo' pic. Can you see the turkeys? You will most likely have to click the pic to enlarge it, in order to find them. I took this shot right before dark as the turkeys were moving to their roost.

The dumbest wildlife question that I ever was asked happened when I was 16. As I was out and about on the ranch, where I grew up, an out-of-state hunter stopped and asked me how far a turkey ran when you shot it, as he chased one for half a mile after hitting it. I told him that if you shot right, about two steps.

I don't think he ever asked me another question.

Off To The Races

This turtle scooting through the rain reminds me of my childhood. I can faintly remember when I was five years old, my father and a couple of his cousins took me to the turtle races. First we went out and caught a turtle and proceeded to the turtle race.

The turtle race started as turtles were placed under a washtub in the middle of a large circle. When all the turtles were placed the washtub was raised and the race was on. In the first heat, the first turtle to cross the finish line was deemed the winner. In the second heat, which took much longer, the last turtle to cross the circle was deemed the winner. My turtle won both heats. I must have been a natural turtle racer.

One reason that my memory is so foggy is due to the fact that my father thought it would be funny to set me up as a bartender dispensing beer from the keg for the beer drinkers. Being young and curious, I partook of the keg as readily as filling up cups when no one was looking. When I was finally caught, I was pretty looped. Dad tells the story of how he drove me around for hours trying (unsuccessfully), to sober me up before having to take me home and face the wrath of my mother.

The Hayne's School

Before Integration, black children were bussed from up to forty miles away to be taught at The Hayne's School. It is in the Freeman Addition of my town. The Freeman addition was once a large community. Now only three or four families live there as the town has become integrated. The dilapidated cinder block building is a reminder of how 'separate but equal' was really only separate.

The bottom picture of the playground with the abandoned merry go round seems haunted to me. I can almost hear ghostly laughter in the background.