desert bones
Hey, does anyone feel like a quick trip out to White Sands National Park to look at dead stuff?
I am not actually heading that way myself, but I guess I was just gauging interest. Or something.
Anyway, here’s a photo that I made when I DID go there at the end of last year. And, yes, I was lying flat on my stomach in the sand.
Pushing aside the personal concerns I had about actually being able to get up from that position, I had the idea that the sand felt wet. Not damp, like the packed sand at a beach. But there was a coolness to it that gave me the impression of water lurking somewhere below me. I later learned that the water table at White Sands is only one to three feet below the surface of the sand, which reinforced my initial (weird) thoughts about it.
Also, here’s a Fun Fact: the sand, which is actually tiny eroded particles of gypsum, never gets hot in the sun because gypsum does not absorb heat the way silica or quartz sand does.
White Sands National Park, New Mexico
photographed 12.13.2025
the smell of a quilt in the sun
I think a lot about the way old, soft, thin quilts smell when they are on a grassy lawn in the sun. The fragrance-memory is powerful.
And that’s why I was happy to discover this old family photo the other day. I’m the kid on the left* and while I don’t have a recollection of this exact moment, the photo evokes the essence of sun-warmed cotton fabric.
My mom was 31 when this photo was made, but she looks heartbreakingly young. And those glasses? I’d wear them right this minute.
vintage family photo, dated 1959
Lubbock, Texas
*I think that, as a three year old, I had a remarkably strong side-eye game.
tell your mom the movie’s out at 9:30
I loved it that a small town still had a movie theater.
But mostly I loved the sign in the window announcing what time the movie lets out. Don’t even THINK about telling your mom the movie will be done at 10:00 so you’ve got an extra half hour to kill before she comes to pick you up. Nope. The movie proprietor is on to your bullshit and ISN’T HAVING IT any more.
Mason, Texas
photographed 4.12.2026
bad-ending vacations
I found these old travel trailers moored behind an abandoned motel. All I could think about was vacations that had a bad ending…
Mason, Texas
photographed 4.12.2026
the significance of the bell
I am not going to tell you why the now-closed Fort Mason Inn has an old-fashioned bell on their sign. But only because I don’t know…
Mason, Texas
photographed 4.12.2026
One Day | One Image 