The changing West!
While driving through West Texas last week between Lubbock and Abilene, it was obvious that the skyline is rapidly changing because of the increased use of wind turbines. In an article on the nationals news recently, it was reported that Texas has more operating wind turbines that any State in the Union; some 25K+ as compared to California’s 12K+ of operating wind turbines. What you do not see in this photo is the increased amount of large power lines strung across the country side and the billboards advertising for wind power related jobs in the region. Renewable energy is the current buzzword because it generates a lot of money for the landowner, supposedly cheaper energy, lots of jobs in the rural West and obviously, tax incentives for the turbine owners. Some of the little towns we went through were in tough shape economically and even with the increase in oil drilling activity so I will assume that these new jobs were more than welcome. I could still see the farms and ranches, along with the cattle and horses but now they sit among the wind turbines.
When I was a young man I had a very exciting job on then, one of the most technologically advanced deterents of the Cold War. On the eve of Memorial Day I am reflecting what I learned all those years ago plying the Pacific one the nuclear submarine USS Gurnard SSN662 and what I found was loyalty, team work, brotherhood and the satisfaction of a job well done and of time well served. I grew up a family and community where military service was expected and all of the men in my family had served in one war or another. My father told me stories of his service in the Army Air Corp in the South Pacific in 1945 and about my great-grandfather Peter B. Gipson who rode for the Union Calvary in the Civil War, of my great uncle Clyde Gipson who died in the Battle of the Argonne Forrest two days before the Armistace and is buried in same battlefield in France, of my mother’s brother George Friesen who was the US Army during the invasion of Okinowa and uncle Albert Pfitzner, who too old to enlist, ferried bombers between the US and Europe during WWII and finally, my late father-in-law Chuck Tolbert, who was in the 2nd Marine Division and fought in those horrific battles on Guadalcanal and Saipan. Now, to carry on the family tradition, my granddaughter Julia, is now serving in the US Navy. While most of us will be sitting around a pool or tending to the BBQ, please take time to remember those for who this day is dedicated.
On a recent trip to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico I found a Mexico that I knew 40 years ago. What we found was a city full of life and something interesting around every corner from parades, jazz groups playing on the corner or a mariachi band serenading a soon-to -be bride and her girlfriends. People always ask if we felt safe there and I can honestly say that every evening, after dinner, we would walk back 15 to 30 minutes to the house we rented (well, one night we did take a cab because we had already walked several miles that day) with no feeling of concern or foreboding. Many a time we would approach complete strangers on the street and ask for directions and if their English was not very good, they did the best they could to direct us. The only sirens I heard were from the ambulance on the way to a hospital near where we stayed. In fact, other than traffic enforcement officers, the only armed police we saw were assisting with traffic at a holiday parade we watched one day. More on this trip in posts to come but I did want to publish this photo I took one day while walking down the street. We saw few beggars in San Miguel (actually ran into more when we were in Italy last year) and in fact, were told that the authorities were trying to discourage this practice, but we did come across a few, mostly older women or women with young children. This scene was typical in that most people tried to ignore the person asking for the holdout or simply cross the street!
I have probably stepped on this manhole cover a dozen times but never paid much attention until today. In downtown Glen Rose, a friend of mine pointed out the inscription about “Do Not Molest”!! Hmmm! I wonder what the intention was when someone decided to mark this over with the warning? The burning question here is how do you molest a 50 pound still manhole cover?
While visiting our friends Gabriella and Luis’ house, I got a good look at the outdoor fireplace. The guy who built this house in the 20’s was in charge of road construction in the Glen Rose, Somerville County, Texas area. Looking at all of the petrified wood, fossils and quartz in the face of this fireplace, I would assume that he had an easy time finding this material as the road building was taking place. Look to the lower left of the antlers and you will see a rather big fossil of a Nautilus. then look at how big some of the petrified wood pieces are! Just to the right of the Nautilus is a large piece of quartz crystal. I see this material on a lot of the houses built int his area which makes this area a fossil hunter’s dream.
In rural Johnson County, Texas near Alvarado there is an old cemetery that I drive by occasionally but have never stopped there. My son alerted me that there was some nice foliage there so early this morning, he and I went by to take some pictures. In the middle of the old headstones were a couple of lovely trees that were blooming and a nice contrast to the large oaks which are just now budding out. I used the term old, this cemetery was founded in 1852! Just think of that – only 7 years after Texas Statehood and 14 years after the Battle of the Alamo. This area was the frontier at that time and only a year before, the Caddo Indians had staged an uprising which forced most of the homesteaders in the area to flee. Of course there was always the notorious Comanche Indians who raided from Central Texas to Mexico, over to New Mexico and into Oklahoma. They were always a potential threat in the area until the Second Battle of Adobe Walls in 1874 when the US Calvary got them moving back the reservation at Fort Sill, OK. I really dislike history in school but these days, find it much more interesting. SG
Scott Gipson 