Lubbock or Leave It
"Dust bowl, Bible belt
Got more churches than trees..."
~ "Lubbock or Leave It," by the Dixie Chicks
We spent last weekend in Lubbock, celebrating Christmas with my in-laws a little early this year. Nothing against Lubbock in particular, but spending time in other Texas cities really makes me appreciate all that Austin has to offer. Lubbock is very flat and the air is ridiculously dry, so it's frequently very windy and the wind seems to carry a lot of sand with it. The environment feels rather hostile to me...and this coming from somebody who grew up in a city where windchills of -65˚F were not uncommon.
We spent some time one afternoon in the mall trying to knock out some Christmas shopping, and I was amused to see stores called Horseshoes and Hand Grenades; Cutting Edge Gifts (which sells knives - because nothing says "I care" like a gift of a knife); and Corndog Heaven.
Mean climate and sharp gifts aside, we had a nice weekend. Here are a few scenes from our trip:
My mother-in-law makes the best lemon meringue pie in the universe. I mean, JUST LOOK AT THIS PIE.
Hello, pie. I will eat you now.
She also makes giblet gravy that begs to be eaten by the spoonful. I'm pretty sure it involves massive amounts of lard.
Six of us came very close to consuming the entirety of this very large crock of gravy in one sitting.
I convinced my brother-in-law to spend lots of time painting so he wouldn't have as much time for eating gravy and pie. This orchestra painting is the largest piece he's ever done, and I love the way it is turning out. You should buy it. At very least, you should buy some of his other art.
Lubbock produces a lot of cotton. I loved the way this bulb seemed to be merging with the clouds.
There were a ton of Canadian geese here on this visit, on their way to warmer climes.
As enjoyable as our weekend was, when given the choice poised by the Dixie Chicks - to Lubbock or leave it - we chose the latter. And as we were making our approach into Austin, we were treated with an absolutely stunning sunset. What a nice welcome home.
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