A Hole in the Prairie

I had a rather uneventful weekend, so I decided to take a random adventure yesterday and visit a place I haven't laid eyes on since living out here. The interesting thing about the Llano Estacado is that it is home to one of the flattest counties in the United States, yet just 6 miles outside of Lubbock, the earth opens up and there's a big hole with water and subdivisions in it. Strange, huh?


Buffalo Springs Lake sits just a few miles southeast of the Lubbock "metro area" as the TV weatherman calls it. Some of you may have also heard me talk about Ransom Canyon which is just north of BSL. Both are canyons carved into the prairie that are home to several large scale lake homes (and some not-so large scale lake homes). The main difference between the two is that you can take boats to Buffalo Springs and you have to pay $5 to get it the gate. There was a really nice girl working there yesterday who told me I didn't have to pay when I said I would have to write a check (I never carry cash).

I went to church yesterday, went home, read some of North and South and then decided to go for a little hike in Lubbock's little not-so-Lubbock attraction. It's really odd, because one minute you're driving along on a flat terrain, you make a turn, and suddenly it's like your hundreds of miles away from Lubbock.


They were also having the Buffalo Springs Lake Half Ironman Triathlon yesterday - a 70.3 mile race of unimaginable human endurance. While the race had started at 6:30 a.m., people were still racing when I began my hike at 3:30 in the afternoon. I saw the finish line timer and it said 8 hours or something insane like that. I wanted to post some pictures from last year, but I wasn't allowed to save any of the images. I think they want you to buy them or something crazy like that. It's a shame, because I found a picture of a guy in the race who clicked his heels when he saw he was getting his picture taken.


So anyway, I went on about a 2-hour hike around the rim of the canyon. I was hoping to see something neat, but all I really saw were beaten down cactus, rocks and some white trash people out on the lake who were blasting tunes like "Killing Me Softly" by the Fugees, or "Nemphomaniac" by Jason Boland. Classy, huh?

So, unfortunately, I don't really have any cool looking pictures to post. It was a relatively uneventful hike, at which I was waiting for a rattlesnake to jump out at me at any point. Thankfully, I did not have such an encounter. If I had, I would've likely killed myself running away from it by falling off the edge of the canyon. The funny thing about that is if I had fallen off the edge of the canyon, it would've been into someone's back yard.

God's Paintbrush

The sky has always fascinated me. The constant changing of its dynamic, color and intensity can captivate my attention for hours. I like to think of it as God's paint brush. Each twilight he creates a different picture that is as unique as a fingerprint.


The setting sun can create colors that could only be created by God himself. The mixture of clouds, the deep blue sky on the eastern horizon, and the golden light cast by the sun can combine for an amazing sight.



Sometimes I get frustrated with having to try and avoid power lines out here when I shoot the horizon. But, oftentimes I have to remember they are just as much part of the frame as the sky itself. Power lines are about the only extensions up from the ground that are out here. Trees are slightly less common.




Since it's hard to see all around my Tahoe from my mirrors, I like to have the additional little mirror. Sometimes, the best views are through that little tiny mirror, because it's almost like having a "fish eye" lense on a camera - only a lot cheaper.

A League of their Own

I get loads of cheesy emails every day (mostly from the people in the picture above) about the importance of having good friends. The emails are usually accompanied by stupid little bears or something that illustrate warm, fuzzy friendship feelings. I think there should be an email with the pictures I'm posting to illustrate the hysterical laughter, nonsense and uniqueness of friendships.

This group of women define the word "unique" - just one glance at the picture above, and it's obvious they haven't truly grown up yet. Sure, they have jobs, work at banks, have had children (ummm...not all of them), make house payments - all duties of grown ups. But, this group of ladies can cut loose with each other, dress up in ridiculous secondhand garments from the 80s and early 90s, and drink homemade margaritas once a week.

This group of women from Prairie Grove, Ark., calls themselves the BGs - which has been shortened from Bachelor Girls. The group formed originally when a few women at the bank decided to start gathering to view the first season of The Bachelor reality show several years ago.

Over the years, the TV show of choice varied, but one thing remained - the group's desire to gather weekly, vent about the trials of daily life, laugh a lot, eat, and discuss topics that most would refrain from discussing. Nothing is off limits. And I mean nothing. The personalities of each member of the BGs brings something different to the group. If you can't handle being the butt of a joke, then I don't recommend hanging around them, yet it is all done in sincere love.

The group has traveled together. They've attended weddings together. Funerals, Sonic, random scenes of fires, they've picked up plastic pink flamingos from the side of the highway...the list goes on. From what began as a gathering to watch which hopeful girl some eligible bachelor will choose on national television has evolved into a friendship many will experience life without ever knowing.

If anyone can imagine the energy and utter joy that was behind the event of "Easter Tea", then they would have somewhat of an insight into what it's like to actually hang around this group of women.

Here you see the hostesses anxiously awaiting the arrival of their first guests. All are dressed in lovely Easter attire that was purchased from Life Ministries. I really think the best thing for me to do would be to just let you let look at these pictures and make your own conclusions. If you aren't laughing by the end, then you obviously just don't get it.













Since this event, I have had numerous requests to be invited to the next Easter Tea. I believe the theme will evolve from year to year. I've heard there may be a vintage "wind suite" party on the horizon.

Heel Clicking Across America

About a year ago, I started this silly little idea of "heel clicking across America." As an alternative to taking stupid, normal touristy pictures at our nation's landmarks, I decided to do something unique. So, the obvious answer was to try to jump up as high as I could in front of a famous landmark and click my heels. My first documented heel click wasn't really in front of a famous landmark. Rather, it was at "Hogg Fest" in Rotan, Texas - an outdoor music gathering on a landing strip out in the middle of a field.


Unfortunately, I don't have the second documented photo of me heel clicking. My mom has that one. It was during the family photos taken at Thanksgiving last year. In February of this year, I made a little trip to our nation's capitol to visit my best buddy, Kim. Of course, D.C. was the perfect location for heel clicking. It was like a heel clicking paradise.


While I somewhat was viewed as a threat to national security while heel clicking in front of the capitol, it was a must on my journey to Washington.


Perhaps my most unique heel clicking experience was in Nashville, Tenn. I went there for Commodity Classic, which was a lot of fun. I spent the days in the gynormous Opryland Hotel that is basically a city in itself. I spent my nights on Music Row, enjoying the sounds (and tastes) that every struggling country music star gets to experience. Heel clicking in front of the Ryman Auditorium (home of the original Grand Ol' Opry) was cool, but I had a sneaky suspicion that old Hank was watching from within the old famous country music iconic building.

I also heel clicked in front of this random building mural while sight seeing one day with the girls from Texas Wheat. After several tries, Rachel snapped a really good one here.


I also heel clicked in front of the new home of the Grand Ol' Opry, but it wasn't near as cool, so I'm not showing it to you. Get over it.

My next stop is the beautiful wine country of...West Texas? Yes, we have wineries out here. Pretty neat, huh? The dry, arid conditions are actually quite conducive to growing certain varieties of grapes. Our wine club, called "Wine Not?" took a tasting tour one day.

The above click was outside of Caprock Winery, which was closed that day. I think there was a wedding or something silly like that going on, so I heel clicked and we took our tasting buds elsewhere.

We then went to Pheasant Ridge Winery where I locked my keys in my car. After a brief panic, I realized my dad had left a hide-a-key under the Tahoe. It took me a while to find it, but I was so excited when I did I leaped for joy.

Now, you haven't heel clicked until you've heel clicked with the Easter Bunny. Notice my Easter Tea attire - that's a whole other blog post.


My next travel location for work took me to The Woodlands. That's actually the name of the town...The Woodlands. Sounds more like a resort or a subdivision to me, but that's the name. It's just outside of Houston. We were there for the Texas Grain and Feed Association convention, which was quite wild for a convention. Don't let that word fool you - "convention" is typically associated with nerd gatherings or lame lectures or something. But this was a straight-up crazy party of mostly old guys who run grain elevators. Our hotel was near a nice shopping area and there was a water taxi! Yes! It was neat, so the obvious thing to do was to heel click in front of it.


In April, I spent some time in St. Louis for the NCGA State Staff Meeting. They took us to a Cardinals' game and we got to sit in a fancy box with free giant pretzels. After the game, we went to where all the fans hang out after the game. There was lots of heel clicking there.


My most recent heel clicking took place on the white, sandy beaches of Destin, Florida. While the trip getting there was hellish, the one day I spent in the sun was wonderful...that is until the next day when I realized I basically had third degree burns. Real smart, Linds. Real smart. Another bright spot in this trip was our condo roommate, Carolyn. She's really cool and is likely going to invite me to her lake house, right Carolyn? Remember that conversation? Just checking. I think that would be a good place to heel click.


Stay tuned. My next heel click will likely be a patriotic one.

Blowing Dust

A few nights this week have brought some much needed rain to the South Plains in the form of strong, hail-dropping storms. Last night it all began in Amarillo with a storm that dropped a few funnel clouds and 81 mph winds. This storm eventually moved south and dropped ping pong-sized hail on the east side of Lubbock. Ever since I got this new camera for work, I've been itching to go out and try it out, so what better way that a mini storm chase?

I drove northeast of town so I could get out in the open to get some good wide shots. I hadn't been in my location more than 3 minutes when I could see the dust wall forming ahead of the storm. Within about 30 seconds, I was covered in a thin layer of red dirt.




I never was in position to get any good lightening shots, so I headed back to the house. With $3.89 gas, I didn't really feel the need to continue my "chase".


I will be very glad when these crops finally get mature enough to anchor some of this dirt. It makes my teeth gritty and sticks to my lips when I have on chapstick.

Lunar Loping

Last night I ran my first race in Texas, which is kind of funny because I've traveled at least 400 miles for all the other running races I've been in this year. Texas Tech Recreational Center had its 15th annual Lunar Lope last night on campus. They do the race every year on a full moon (hence the lunar part).


Tuesday night we had softball-sized hail near Muleshoe and slightly smaller hail around Sudan. Lubbock barely dodged the bullet, but they were forecasting more of the same for last night. Fortunately, a few little pop-up storms went south of us, and I was able to lope with lunar light.


I ran this race by myself. I don't have any running buddies out here. Sad, huh? Anyway, I got there, got my free t-shirt (I'm starting to stock up on race shirts) and then waited around for the 10 o'clock hour for the start of the race. They lined us up on the street near the Rec Center and there was a group of 18 and 19-year-old looking guys in front of me with no shirts, little shorts and approximately 3 percent body fat. I figured out quickly that this would probably be the last time I saw them until I crossed the finish line. At that point, they would probably already be cooled off and on their 4th cup of water.


I was right.

As soon as the gun fired, they sprinted off and disappeared into the darkness of the poorly lit campus. Our lunar light was competing with few left over clouds. I hadn't ran religiously like I had been when I was running the relays, so I wasn't expecting a stellar performance out of myself.


My main goal for the night: don't get passed by the two sorority girls and beat the kid running in front of me that was holding a water bottle in a measly 3.1-mile race. I accomplished both goals handedly, so it was a success.

It was a lovely lunar lope, and I plan to lope again in the next full lunar Lubbock moonlight.

New Nerd Toys

Photography has long been an interest and hobby of mine. It is also a part of my job. I recently talked my boss into allowing me to upgrade our photography equipment. Just as anyone who has purchased electronics knows, they get outdated really quick in this age of rapid technological development. The camera that was here when I started the job was a 3 megapixels digital camera. A nice camera, no doubt for it's time (about 5 years ago). However, since I started, I've used my own digital cameras - one a Canon PowerShot point and shoot digital camera (7 megapixels) and a Canon G5 - both of which have served me well. Yet, the gap between good pictures and great pictures can only be bridged with freakin' sweet equipment, such as my new nerd toy - the Canon 40D SLR digital camera.


Lucky for me, I'm the only one here in the office that will use it (or even know how to use it) so I will get to play with it all the time. I also got two lenses, one zoom and one wide angle, that each have image stabilizers on them. Needless to say, I'm rather excited. (Please take this time to roll your eyes and mumble a nerd comment.)



And of course, I had to get the LCD screen protector, a memory card, some cleaning equipment, a lense hood and I'm about to go get a sweet carrying bag to tote around all my (I mean Texas Corn's) new camera.

So, expect lots of new images shot with my (sorry, Texas Corn's) new nerd toy.

Peddle Pusher

As before every race, I like to stock up on carbs the night before the big day. I used a recipe for chicken parmesan we cooked before the Hogeye Marathon Relay to prepare my body's energy supply before the Tour de Muleshoe - my first organized cycling experience. Notice I didn't call it a race. I prepared this lovely meal at my weekend accommodations in Sudan, which is only about 15 minutes from Muleshoe. Thanks Bryan, your kitchen worked wonderfully.


The Tour de Muleshoe is a ride put together each year by the Muleshoe Heritage Center, or something like that. You can either ride 10 miles, 40 miles or a 100K, which is like 60-some odd miles. I opted for the 40-mile ride.


They lined everyone up inside a large building and we took off through the main drag in Muleshoe before heading east on Hwy. 70 toward Earth.



Since I was a little late getting into the take-off building, I was toward the back of the pack going through Muleshoe. My number hadn't been pinned on my back very well, and a nice cycler next to me informed me it was already starting to come off. You have to have your race number in order to take advantage of the rest stops. So, I had to pull over after only going about 500 yards to fix my number. Real slick, huh?



I've finally gotten used to the clip-in shoes. It took a while to adjust to finding the right spot to put my foot to clip into the little pedals. Once I finally adjusted to that, I have found they are quite nice for longer rides. Plus, it makes me look like I really know what I'm doing.


This was the first rest stop on the journey. It was at this point that the 40-mile route headed south toward Sudan. I loaded up on Powerade and rested for about 5 minutes before jumping back on my bike.


Oh, and I also enjoyed half of a Cliff Bar - my favorite energy bar. It kind of looks like a chocolate granola bar, and it actually tastes like a chocolate granola bar. It's loaded with calories (energy), so it's not exactly something you could sit and enjoy four or five of while sitting stationary at the office.


This is the West Texas version of a "hill." I think this was probably the only resemblance of a "climb" on the whole ride. The wind hit as we turned south, but was only about 12 mph at the most - a nice change from the usual 30 mph. The breeze helped out as the temperatures started rising toward the 98 degree mark.

The leg to Sudan was probably the toughest part of the race due to the head wind and the "hills" along the route. But even at that, it would have been worse. The weather was perfect for my first long ride.



Just outside of Sudan, I fell in with some other more experience riders who were also riding Felt bikes. I stayed with them until we got to the last rest stop. One of the guys was an older gentlemen that was the most bow-legged person I'd ever seen. He was really more of the type you'd expect to see on a horse, but this guy was a cycler - and after talking to him, I learned he had been doing it for 24 years. Is that what's going to happen to me if I keep doing this?


Highway 84 between Sudan and Muleshoe has several feedlots and dairies, as well as a few grain elevators. I had a nice tailwind on that leg of the ride and was able to maintain a nice speed of around 19 mph for most of the way back. I really made up some time I'd lost on the trip south that was into the wind.


I finished the 44 total miles in 3 hours and 8 minutes. I did 40 miles in under 2 hours, which was way ahead of my original goal, so I was pleased with the day's work.