Category Archives: architecture
Gateway of the moon
On a day that almost felt like fall, an obliging cloud approached the cross atop Nuestra Señora de Refugio church.
Now a virtual ghost town, the village of Puerto de Luna was once a thriving community. In fact, according to New Mexico’s Best Ghost Towns: A Practical Guide, in the 1890s, Puerto de Luna was the only town in the southeast quadrant of the state with a population greater than 500 people. But the railroad went through Santa Rosa, ten miles away, and later so did Route 66. Progress was not a friend to this place.
According to the same book, there’s some disagreement over the meaning of the town’s name. One faction believes it was named for the Luna family, and translates into English as Luna’s Gap. The other faction believes it translates into Gateway of the Moon, after a gap in the nearby mountains through which the moon sometimes rises. You know which translation I prefer.
Puerto de Luna, New Mexico
photographed 9.21.2013
Rose of Lima
This is part of what’s left of the old church at the St. Rose of Lima cemetery; a marker just inside the fence says the cemetery was established in the early 1800s, and was “replaced to its current location” in 1907. I don’t know how long the church has been without a roof. Or a floor. Or windows. But it’s still standing, maybe out of habit as much as anything else.
This is another example of the way a building can eventually devolve into just its textures – and this one’s got plenty of textures, with the weather-rough wood, the initialed plaster, the stones.
And it even has a flower, tucked into a break in the plaster underneath the window.
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 9.21.2013
Duplex
Meanwhile, back in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, this place slowly falls apart.
It’s got a lot of company: there are many buildings in town that have seen better days. But you know me: I love places like this. I like the way they fall apart, the way someone tries – without success – to stop the decay, the way even the patched parts start to fall apart, too. I love the textures of the different building materials. And the way the weeds grow up, seeming to guard whatever’s still inside.
And, I love the mystery of the two front doors.
(My weekend was a WordPress weekend. I met up with blogger Donna Catterick in Santa Rosa and we spent Saturday and part of Sunday taking pictures. And, also had a couple of great phone conversations with Ehpem and Brett Erickson. What a weird thing, blogging!)
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 9.21.2013
Sometimes I go to the city
I can understand why anyone who stops by here on a regular basis might think the largest town I’ve ever been to is Muleshoe, Texas (population 5,217), but I have actually gone to some larger towns. Like Brownfield – population 9,675. Or Levelland – population 13,517. Or Sweetwater – population 10,447.
And this one time? I went to Dallas.
downtown Dallas
photographed 3.19.2011
Full disclosure #1: If you think I chose the town examples because their names are funny and/or descriptive, you are correct.
Full disclosure #2: I’ve actually been to Dallas more than just the one time.
The Presley place, 2
This is the Presley place. Maybe you remember it from before?
I work in a town that’s about 35 miles away from where I live. There are two ways to go – the state highway, or a farm road. Until the speed limit on the state highway was raised to 75 mph, I always took the farm road. (I like to drive fast. But I don’t like to get tickets. So, for now, the state highway is a lot more appealing.) When I first started this commute, four years ago, there was an intersection that had an abandoned house on one corner and a lived-in house on the other corner. That first winter, when it was still dark on my drive, I could see the glow from a TV in the windows of the house that still had residents. The house wasn’t kept up very well – there was a sofa in the yard for months, and various broken down cars were parked around. One day, a saw a home health worker walking up to the house.
I watched both places closely, noting signs of decline.
But even with all that, I never saw this coming: one day, the trees had been pushed over. By the next afternoon, there wasn’t anything but a pile of rubble to indicate any had ever lived there. And then: the other house was torn down, too. At that place, the building parts were pushed into the basement and set on fire. I could smell the smoke for several days.
But back to the Presley place. It’s not in any immediate danger of falling down, or being pushed over. As far as I know.
It’s long-term outlook, though, is grim. But at least it’s not alone: it can watch the house across the way meet the same fate.
Northwest Lubbock County, Texas
photographed 4.26.2013
One Day | One Image 