Essays from Texas is Moving to Word Press

I am moving Essays from Texas to a new blog host.

Please update the address to Essays from Texas to http://essaysfromtexas.wordpress.com .

Many thanks.

LWK

Scenes from the airport

While you usually don't want to see storm clouds closing in on the runway just before you're supposed to take off, this particular storm provided a spectacular view at the Preston Smith International Airport in Lubbock last week.

I've said many times that the sunsets in West Texas make all the windy/blowing dust/nasty days that often occur in the spring seem worthwhile.

California and back

While in Anaheim, California last week, I enjoyed the lovely West Coast weather...

but only while I was walking between hotels and the convention center.

Snow-capped mountains in the distance and palm trees were taunting me the whole time as I went from meeting to reception to dinner to meeting.

The red carpet of Oscar night was just 20 miles from where I was staying. Disneyland was just behind my hotel.

On Friday night, I watched a spectacular fireworks show at Disneyland from my hotel room.

I did enjoy a brief lunch out in the California sun at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

But then it was back to meetings.

The southwest deserts provided beautiful views from the plane ride home.

A quick circle out over the Pacific Coast, and we were soon over baron sand and mountains.

I connected in Las Vegas, which definitely helped the travel time home go by much quicker.

The Las Vegas Strip (circled above) is right next to the airport, but I only saw it from the plane's window and from the window at the airport terminal.

I did, however, win $21.75 on a slot machine from a $1 bill. Not a bad return.

I'm always amused at the arial view of the Grand Canyon on the fligh from Vegas to Lubbock. It was somewhat of a cloudy day, but I still got to see most of it in its majesty.

Texas Independence Day

Today is an important day in the history of the Lone Star State - Texas Independence Day.

Rather than rambling about my own thoughts about the day, I'm going to refer you to a great blog by someone who has had a big influence on my photographic eye and is a Texan in the truest sense. The blog is written by Wyman Meinzer, who is the official photographer for the state of Texas. Yes, Texas has its own photographer. In his latest entry, Wyman discusses a historical look back on the Llano Estacado, which reminds you of how unforgiving and wild the area once was.

Never have I met anyone who has such a passion for the heritage and idealism of what Texas represents. His blog speaks for itself - The Blog of Texas State Photographer Wyman Meinzer . 

While in graduate school at Texas Tech, I took the 4300 photography class Wyman refers to in his latest blog entry, and I haven't looked through a camera's viewfinder the same way since. The man has published book after book, each illustrating a look at Texas that no other has been able to capture. He is a true Texan and a legend in his own time. Read his blog, buy his books. 

For another perspective on Texas Independence Day, take a look at the Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner's blog. Commissioner Todd Staples briefly discusses the adventurous story of how Texas gained its independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836.

I'm not a native Texan, but I think Texas represents a little independence in all of us.

Headed to the OC

My travels are taking me to Anaheim, California this week for Commodity Classic. (You may recall previous postings from Classics in Nashville in '08 and Grapevine in '09. Oh, wait...I wasn't keeping a blog when it was in Nashville. Nevermind.)

Currently, I'm stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico and enduring a four hour layover. My flight will leave here, make a brief stop in Phoenix, then finally arrive at the Orange County airport near Anaheim at 5pm PST (7pm CST). There doesn't seem to be a quick way to get to "the OC" from Lubbock via Southwest, but my loyalty to the fun-loving airlines and my disdain for American Airlines keeps me on the big blue and orange jet. Plus, even at this rate I'm still more likely to get there before any of the delay-prone airlines could.

I sincerely wish I could better visually document the people I see in airports. Every airport has its own culture. New Mexico, of course, definitely has its own culture - lots of poorly shaped felt hats, fleece jackets with giant wolf graphics on the back, and lots of chilli pepper knick knacks.

The flight from Lubbock to Albuquerque is pretty short. It's just enough time to enter another timezone and for the landscape to turn into a more desert/mountain range look.

The term "enscarpment" came to mind several times as I peered out the window on the short flight over from the LBK. Flat desert or agricultural land turns into cliffs and canyons with the rise in elevation.

Then, before you know it, you start seeing the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Sandia Peak (a ski resort) is near the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area. "Sandia" means "watermelon", according to my husband the human atlas.

So, for another few hours, I will observe the people of New Mexico as I journery to the most populous state in the country.