Looking east southeast from the side of I-40
Approx. one half-mile away.
Showing posts with label Groom Cross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Groom Cross. Show all posts
August 2, 2007
July 31, 2007
July 30, 2007
July 29, 2007
July 25, 2007
July 22, 2007
Straight Up
Groom Cross
Sat. July 21
Never had taken a shot from this perspective and really wanted to lie on my back and take one, but...there were SO many people around and I was gathering a few curious views as I did my usual crawling around the statues, getting up close and personal.
I snapped this single shot with the "generic setting", not even taking time to frame it properly as you can see how I cut off a foot of the upper right cross arm of the structure.
July 21, 2007
My Sister's Feet
Not these; these are the feet of a statue at the Groom Cross, those of a kneeling woman in front of Jesus carrying the cross.
I was marvelling at the detail of some of the statues when I was over there this evening. There were as many people there as I'd ever seen (travelling down I-40 on a Sat. afternoon, I should've known) and the shots I wanted to get weren't available to me because of all the folks in the background, so I was giving a bit more scrutiny to some things I had paid little attention to in the past visits over there.
See the wrinkles in the pads of the sole of her foot? I've taken thousands of photos of all of the bronze's faces and love the detail on them, but never noticed this before tonight.
The patina, the green color, is a natural oxidation of the metal, but I really don't like it. Sometimes I want to volunteer to take a toothbrush and metal polish and get it out of the cracks and crevices. (I have taken my trusty bandanna and bottle of water and cleaned the bird poop off of some of the life-sized figures when no one else was out there)
After downloading the photos I took and viewing them, I started remembering my big sister's feet, all during the summers of her teen years. (I haven't paid any attention to my sis's feet in years) Until govt. regulations prohibited it, my dad always oiled the dirt roads to his wells and tank batteries and to our house; the road surface shed water very well. He also would "drag" the roads with a home-built metal skid made of large pipe/casing cut in half, inverted and welded together; on top that he'd add or take off as needed weights made of scrap metal. It kept the roads smooth.
Growing up in the country back then was, for a teenager, pretty darn boring. We lived far enough out in the country where we could barely get the translator signal from the nearest town and were on the very edge of the Amarillo TV station's broadcast area. The best Top 40 radio station was in Oklahoma City and the signal wouldn't come in at strength until after 9:00 p.m.
Since there wasn't a lot else to do other than the usual chores and homework, we ate a lot and read a lot. To this day, my sisters and I are all a bit overweight still, but we could all probably each make a showin' on Jeopardy.
I can remember the evenings when my sister, her head full of the things that most 16 yr. old girl's heads are, would want to get away from our small, cramped and crowded house and be to herself. She would set off down the oily road, barefooted, and walk to the mailbox and back, a distance of a couple miles and small change.
I didn't have to do the laundry, but I laugh thinking about how it might have been a problem. I'm sure Sisterbelle would wash her feet before going to bed, but I also know from much personal experience how oil gets into your pores and sometimes takes a few days and a few scrubbin's to get it all out. I'm smiling as I type this, thinking of the bottom of my sister's feet being darker than that statue's feet pictured above, like a Blackfoot Injun's or her own travellin' tootsies minstrel toe-show.
She probably had some green on her feet, too... from pickin' dandelions with her toes.
She could also reach under the table and pinch her little brother with 'em.
I was marvelling at the detail of some of the statues when I was over there this evening. There were as many people there as I'd ever seen (travelling down I-40 on a Sat. afternoon, I should've known) and the shots I wanted to get weren't available to me because of all the folks in the background, so I was giving a bit more scrutiny to some things I had paid little attention to in the past visits over there.
See the wrinkles in the pads of the sole of her foot? I've taken thousands of photos of all of the bronze's faces and love the detail on them, but never noticed this before tonight.
The patina, the green color, is a natural oxidation of the metal, but I really don't like it. Sometimes I want to volunteer to take a toothbrush and metal polish and get it out of the cracks and crevices. (I have taken my trusty bandanna and bottle of water and cleaned the bird poop off of some of the life-sized figures when no one else was out there)
After downloading the photos I took and viewing them, I started remembering my big sister's feet, all during the summers of her teen years. (I haven't paid any attention to my sis's feet in years) Until govt. regulations prohibited it, my dad always oiled the dirt roads to his wells and tank batteries and to our house; the road surface shed water very well. He also would "drag" the roads with a home-built metal skid made of large pipe/casing cut in half, inverted and welded together; on top that he'd add or take off as needed weights made of scrap metal. It kept the roads smooth.
Growing up in the country back then was, for a teenager, pretty darn boring. We lived far enough out in the country where we could barely get the translator signal from the nearest town and were on the very edge of the Amarillo TV station's broadcast area. The best Top 40 radio station was in Oklahoma City and the signal wouldn't come in at strength until after 9:00 p.m.
Since there wasn't a lot else to do other than the usual chores and homework, we ate a lot and read a lot. To this day, my sisters and I are all a bit overweight still, but we could all probably each make a showin' on Jeopardy.
I can remember the evenings when my sister, her head full of the things that most 16 yr. old girl's heads are, would want to get away from our small, cramped and crowded house and be to herself. She would set off down the oily road, barefooted, and walk to the mailbox and back, a distance of a couple miles and small change.
I didn't have to do the laundry, but I laugh thinking about how it might have been a problem. I'm sure Sisterbelle would wash her feet before going to bed, but I also know from much personal experience how oil gets into your pores and sometimes takes a few days and a few scrubbin's to get it all out. I'm smiling as I type this, thinking of the bottom of my sister's feet being darker than that statue's feet pictured above, like a Blackfoot Injun's or her own travellin' tootsies minstrel toe-show.
She probably had some green on her feet, too... from pickin' dandelions with her toes.
She could also reach under the table and pinch her little brother with 'em.
July 10, 2007
Dark Angel - Empty Tomb
The angel inside the empty tomb.
The empty tomb, with the rock rolled away.
I went over to the Cross early one a.m. just after this had been constructed. It was nice and cool inside, but other than the empty ledge where Jesus had lain and the dark angel pictured up above, there's nothing in there...except for that morning, when the ledge was occupied by a sleeping hitchhiker, his head propped up on his backpack. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Jesus.
I spun around like a shot (thinking of the possible headlines: "Man found stabbed to death in religious exhibit") and got out of there as fast as my chubby little legs would carry me.
Then I slammed into the low overhang of the entrance to the tomb.
July 8, 2007
July 7, 2007
July 4, 2007
July 3, 2007
Crosses Against a Stormy Sky
Crosses on the "hill"
Groom Cross
June '07
Late afternoon, looking west into the growing storm
Blue Sky, Green Grass, Fat Cattle
Just across the road from the Groom Cross
Late afternoon, June '07
Facing southwest
Angel Against Blue Sky
Angel atop empty tomb
Groom Cross
Spring '07
Late afternoon facing west northwest
Shroud of Turin
This is the Shroud of Turin exhibit at the Groom Cross. The replica of the shroud is on the wall in the photo above. Before this, I haven't taken photos in there because I'm not convinced of the "real" shroud's authenticity but also due to the fact that's almost the only thing in there.
I did notice an odd reflection when I went in; I was hoping to catch the reflection of the huge cross through the large windows, but instead I got the light coming in through the lovely door into the building.
It's not just the massive cross structure that endears the site to me, nor is it the bronzes that ring the location, some of which stir my emotions as I've never before experienced, but it's the "little things" such as this door that prove to me that this is indeed a labor of love and intended to be the best that the "owners" can make it be.
Cross in Sunshine
Click the photo for a larger view and it will be easier to see just how massive is the Groom Cross. The statues surrounding the cross are life-sized and you can gain a better perspective by comparing the people walking around the base.
Groom Cross
Late afternoon
Facing East northeast
June '07
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