Pictures from Eagle Ford



Front: Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church

My short time in the Eagle Ford shale area included a couple of hours on my way out of town for photographs.  At left, Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church stands atop a low hill overlooking Carrizo Springs, Texas.  It is a beautiful church.  It has served the faithful since 1952.


It is a cool looking church.

Side:  Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church





The building is wrapped in a very attractive layer of native limestone.  Regrettably, your Ace photographer lost some of the detail to the bright sun and absence of my trusty polarizing filter.  Drat.  Sooner of later, I must return and correct my error.

Inside:  Stained glass adds to church's beauty

Inside, large stained glass windows paint a rainbow of restful colors.  It is nigh impossible not to feel peace creeping up on you in here.

Sanctuary: Artwork is added to Sanctuary

In the Sanctuary, an artisan paints elaborate details on the overhead arch.  I hope he doesn't screw up, right in front of the "Big Boss" and all.

The church is sharing in the local renaissance as maintenance and improvements proceed apace.

View from church parking lot.  Mighty flat out there, eh?

From the church parking lot, a visitor can overlook the entire town of Carrizo Springs.  Those with magnifying ability might be able to pick up the McDonald's or Sonic signs just above the trees on the right. That's pretty much the center of town.

PS:  Try clicking on the photo to enlarge it.  Click the <- arrow to go back to the normal view.

Modest Home in Carrizo Springs

A modest home.  There are dozens, if not hundreds of these here. God only knows what they might rent or sell for.  Big oil is desperate for land and shelter here.  The family living here may be able to sell out and move to Orange County, CA!

Carrizo Springs Lawn Sculpture

I am sure this truck has some life left in it.  The owner may be so busy, he no longer has time to worry with it.  His Cadillac Escalade will have to do for now.


C'mon now.  I bet you have unfinished projects at your place, too.  Perhaps not 3 generations old, but unfinished, nonetheless.



One of the more imposing homes in town.  Note palm tree in the
front lawn. Palms are quite common here. Go figure.



The large tree in the front lawn of this larger home suggests the prevailing winds are from the south.
The place appears very comfortable, but it is hard to see because - you guessed it - more sun.

Drilling rig in action.
Looks to be 200 to 300 feet tall.

I saw only two of the hundreds of rigs in this area.  The place is soooo big, they are scattered far and wide.

I thought if anyone out there had never actually seen one, this might further their education or broaden their experience.  You know who you are.

Derelict Welding Shop

On my flight home, I saw hundreds of relics of days gone by.  This little shack once provided a needed service years ago.  Now?  Time and everything else passes it by, except me.









Another derelict business

I bet this building was a grocery and maybe a dry goods store in its day.  Those days might have included any number of incarnations.  Now, it is retired by the side of the road, sort of like me.

Maybe something will happen and the place, if not the building will be revived. Mebbe.

30.1 Miles Per Gallon!  Woo Hoo!!

If you look closely, you will see an orange number indicating my mpg.  As a major cheapskate, I am ecstatic to get my almost 4000 lb. car to squeeze so much from a gallon of $3.89 gasoline.

Frankly, I believe the car simply wanted to get back to the barn and out of this heat.  I used to have a horse who was the same way. 

Click on the photo to view larger version. Click BACK ARROW to return to normal view.

The Eagle Ford Play

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Except for a near continuous stream of hot, dry weather and funerals, life has been intensely laid-back in my neighborhood.  Clearly, this is an intolerable situation.  It seems all the action, economic and otherwise, has fled elsewhere.  After a few weeks of peace and quiet, I resolved to find something to see and do.

Thanks to the internet and a network of friends and relatives, I discovered where everything worth doing or seeing went.  It went south.  Far, far south.  In fact, there is a large scale economic and socio-cultural boom unfolding even as I type.  Geographically, they call it the Eagle Ford Shale Play.

This oil and natural gas bonanza covers more than a dozen counties in Texas along a line from Laredo on the Mexican border to Brazos County east of Austin, Texas.  It is another monster discovery in a string of such discoveries in the last decade.

It was lucky for me that my youngest brother, a construction mogul in his own right, had the ambition to open an office in the heart of this phenomenon.  It was only natural I would wrangle an invitation from him to visit his area.  He was a good sport about it, too.

“Can you c’mon down tomorrow?”  He said.

“I am already packed.”

The next morning, I headed south for a reunion with my brother and a guided tour of the economy of south Texas as it appears today.  I punched his address into my trip computer before I pulled out of the driveway.  I knew I had my work cut out for me when the computed mileage came back on the doorstep of 400 miles.  If I hurried, and I did, I could get there in time to miss lunch.

I shall not boor my long-suffering readers with details of my ride down Interstate 35, AKA “The NAFTA” Highway", AKA “The Highway from the bowels of Hell.”  Let us just say I was fortunate and the heavy traffic had little trouble keeping up with me.  My directions said, “… go fifty miles past San Antonio and turn right.  Then stop just before you hit Mexico.  Call me when you get there.”

The trip lasted only five high-speed hours and I arrived just after lunch.  My brother met me at a restaurant and paid for a down-home chicken-fried steak lunch for me.  It is definitely off my diet.  But what choice did I have?  I did not want to hurt his feelings.  Besides, I have a genetic weakness for CFS lunches.  [urp]

Kid brother Paul. He looks that way because the
top of his head is on fire in the sun.

So, brothers reunited in an adventure, set out to see as much of the vast undertaking as possible.  This, on a day when the temperature passed 110 and the sights stood 50 miles apart.

 

The local highways and by-ways were loaded with all kinds of heavy equipment. Various companies (you know many of their names) compete over yards to park and service million dollar machines used to turn 12000-foot holes in the ground into producing wells.  Ranchers who cannot feed one cow on 50 acres of dessert are selling water to the service companies to make ends meet.

Courtyard of Ancient Hotel being refurbished to meet demand

The labor force is ballooning from around the country.  My brother estimates about 50,000 workers have arrived in the last eight months.  More are arriving daily.  Housing and feeding the workers is a big problem – and a big opportunity. 

Funny, in the worst economy of our generation, a desert is blooming across an enormous swath of south Texas.  In a place where it never rains, people are beginning to smile again.  I am proud to say my brother is a part of it.  Go get’em, Paul!

View of courtyard from balconey - Desolation Road, beyond

I will include a few [more] good pictures in the next installment.

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