Since I've uploaded hundreds of photos of the Groom Cross to the 'net, from several posts in MSN Groups, to Webshots, to Photobucket and to here, I was wondering if Google had indexed/trawled any of my photos.
A search showed none of mine, but I did run across a website with a photo taken from an airplane flying fairly close overhead. It's an older photograph, and it doesn't show the fountain that's now there or the Last Supper exhibit, but it shows the entire location.
Showing posts sorted by date for query groom cross. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query groom cross. Sort by relevance Show all posts
August 24, 2007
Groom Cross Photo
August 22, 2007
Double My Fame!
Yep, that's right; one of my photos is going to be featured (AGAIN - woohoo!) on the KVII News at Five and is featured on their website home page. (also in the community section archives)
I'm nearly famous, huh?
When you submit a photo, you can also submit a caption and it is read by the news anchor doing the photo of the day commentary. I put this with the pic:
I'm nearly famous, huh?
When you submit a photo, you can also submit a caption and it is read by the news anchor doing the photo of the day commentary. I put this with the pic:
Groom Cross through a thin thicket of thistles thirsting for last Thursday's thunderstorm
If they can read that without stumbling, then they're probably ready for a larger market, maybe even Des Moines.
The way I got it figured, if I can get them to publish 58 more pictures, I'll have my fifteen minutes of fame in fifteen second increments.
If they can read that without stumbling, then they're probably ready for a larger market, maybe even Des Moines.
The way I got it figured, if I can get them to publish 58 more pictures, I'll have my fifteen minutes of fame in fifteen second increments.
August 13, 2007
Montage-a-Google
From the website:
Montage-a-google is a simple web-based app that uses Google's image search to generate a large gridded montage of images based on keywords (search terms) entered by the user. Not only an interesting way of browsing the net, it can also be used to create desktop pictures or even posters.
Nifty website! I've made quite a few of these since discovering this site, but some would not be appropriate to upload to my blog. (or any other blog, for that matter)
Here's one I did from using "Groom Cross" as the search terms:
Montage-a-Google
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.
Groom Cross News
From the Fredricksburg Free-Lance Star
BY DONNIE JOHNSTON
GROOM, Texas--A biker exits Interstate 40 and wheels his Harley-Davidson down the dusty road to what is billed as the largest cross in the Western Hemisphere.
"I never stop for anything but I had to stop for this," says the man, who is on his way to Georgia from Albuquerque, N.M.
He begins to get dizzy as he looks up at the 190-foot structure, which sits on 10 donated acres between I-40 and this little Texas Panhandle cow town of 450.
"This is awesome," the biker continues, shaking his head with amazement.
He calls someone on his cell phone and describes the sight before him.
Several yards away a woman sits and prays, the 19-story-high cross before her and a replica of Calvary at her back.
This place is truly one that evokes a religious experience from almost everyone who visits.
REST OF THE ARTICLE
July 7, 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
Another Angel in the Afternoon
Angel atop empty tomb
Groom Cross
Late afternoon, looking west northwest
June '07
The Face of Jesus
Groom Cross
Last Supper Exhibit
Late afternoon, looking west
As of this date, the Last Supper exhibit is still unfinished and has quite a ways to go. A new statue has been added (and will post photos at some time in the near future) to the two already there, but there are ten more disciples to go.
I was told by one of the gift shop workers, a lovely local lady, that each bronze costs upwards of $30,000 (thirty thousand dollars) Even with my Miami High School edgy-cation, I can figure that it's going to take from between a quarter and half a million dollars to complete this exhibit.
July 2, 2007
Cross at Dusk
Groom Cross
Facing east at sundown
I like this shot because it shows how the cross can change colors, depending upon the cloud cover and angle of the sun as well as the time of day and from what direction the photograph is taken.
I also like it because it seems to be leaning, and I may have leaned to one side because of the optical illusion provided by the two crosses, the one in the foreground being very small compared to the larger one in the background. I'm pretty certain I wasn't drunk.
I will have to come back and edit this post, tell about the lights that illuminate the cross at night. There are only two, but they're powerful suckers.
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