40mph constant wind with areas of blowing dirt.

THAT was the weather forecast for today... oh, and gusts of up to 50 mph, but I must say the 40 mph constant is pretty brutal in itself, AND if "areas" means the entire city of Lubbock and surrounding communities, then they hit that one right on the nose. The sky has been brown since 9am this morning! Oh, West Texas, why? What is the reason for the wind (and blowing dirt), and where the hell does it come from? 

In mid March, back before the wind started to blow, my eldest cousin and I went out on a photo journey searching for the ghost town of Estacado, Texas. In 1886 Estacado was the county seat of Crosby County (which neighbors Lubbock Co.) and the town flourished, by 1890 the population was reported at 200! In 1891 Estacado lost the title of county seat and after the grasshopper invasion and drought in 1892 it all but finished the dwindling community off... damn those grasshoppers. Read more about the town HERE.

I will also take a moment to tell you about my cousin, Cobey. Cobey is 4 years older than me and when I was growing up I thought he was the coolest! He introduced me to scary movies, Stephen King's Cat's Eye and Mervyn LeRoy's adaptation of William March's novel The Bad Seed... and on top of that he had a dark room in his bathroom! My love of photography stems directly from him, thanks Cobey. Oh and btw... He is also a graphic designer ( I am a copier ).

These are a couple of my images from our explorations. See the whole gallery HEREThe above house we found in Crosby Co. As the wind would blow the old house seamed to inhale and exhale... the white door on the left would open and shut as if to let you know it was still breathing. 

ps. Just a little hint on my big announcement: In August the bobos, K and I will be moving over 1,600 miles from our little home in Lubbock.