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trailer/house
There’s not all that much to see in Orogrande.
But I did see this place, which seems to be aging itself out of existence. The circumstances of small-town New Mexico have already aged it out of usefulness.
Orogrande, New Mexico
photographed 12.14.2025
something on my sensor
I guess I need some technical advice from camera people. From time to time I get stuff like this on my camera; I’m wondering if it’s something on the sensor and if I need to send my camera in for some kind of deep cleaning.
Have any of y’all experienced anything similar?
For background, the first time this happened was in Sicily (in couple of different locations), then in happened in Scotland, again in Sicily, and then this time at White Sands. The first two times I noticed it was when I’d left the table to go to the restroom. This last time I handed my camera to someone so I could tie my shoe. And one more thing – which is probably complete irrelevant – Don Toothaker was in the immediate vicinity every time.
Anyway, I’d appreciate any advice on the situation and/or any jokes or ridiculous comments.
White Sands National Park, New Mexico
photographed 12.12.2025
side entrance (with grill)
Side entrance to the Cotton Club, with a little grill and some other crap providing a Maginot Line of defense between a vacant lot and the door. Also, I happen to have first hand knowledge that the door was locked, because I’m agile enough to get around the strategic defense placement.
Cotton Club
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 1.17.2025
cigarette smoke and beer (+ dust)
The place has been closed since the 1980s, but I swear I could smell cigarette smoke and stale beer when I was there last weekend.
I thought maybe I heard some west Texas musicians, but there’s every possibility that it was just the damn unrelenting wind blowing around my head.
Cotton Club
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 1.17.2025
the ol’ red, white, and blue
An earlier version of this place holds an important spot in music history as well as the history of Lubbock; that’s probably not a thing you could intuit from looking at this photo, though.
The Cotton Club first opened in Lubbock in 1938 as a place for the fancy people to hear orchestras, jazz, and swing bands. The place was air conditioned, which seems pretty ahead of its time. There was a lot of music played in that original Cotton Club, including five appearances in 1955 by Elvis Presley. It’s said that a young Buddy Holly attended one of those shows and was inspired to a career in music. The Cotton Club was the first integrated dance hall in Lubbock and during the 1940s many well known Black musicians performed there.
Eventually, the club relocated. Times changes, music changed, buildings burned down (mysteriously), and more of the usual stuff that happens on a downward trajectory. The building’s still there, in rough neighborhood out on the Slaton Highway, but it’s been closed since 1984.
(Editorial Comment: Lubbock’s pretty proud of its musical history, but not quite proud enough to be able to save some of the actual places where important things happened.)
Cotton Club
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 1.17.2025
One Day | One Image 