sixty nine years in the grave

Isabelita was fifty when she died; her tiny three-crossed marker lives on surrounded by tall grasses, mountains, and New Mexico’s skies.

unnamed cemetery
near Mora, New Mexico
photographed 11.9.2025

peace (and hiking boots)

I was unprepared to take a soak in the hot springs (due in part to my lack of taking the time to research what sorts of things were available to do in the area), but I wandered down the path to the first set of springs. And that’s where I spotted this message carved into the concrete. It gave me a good feeling about the place.

Montezuma, New Mexico
photographed 11.10.2025

style

If you are the kind of person who appreciates a lot of choices when it comes to barber shops, you’d probably like it here in Las Vegas, where it seemed like there was place on every block.

As a bonus today, I present Some History Stuff: the poster on the right side of the image is a 19 year old Cassius Clay (later of course, Mohammed Ali), photographed in 1961 by Flip Schulke. The photo was made in one of the few desegregated pools in the United States, at a hotel in an historically black neighborhood in downtown Miami.

Las Vegas, New Mexico
photographed 11.8.2025

a bitter campaign

First of all: take a minute to read this poster I saw the other day. I’ll wait.

That’s quite a bit of drama, on the political as well as the family sides of things. Also: Ms. Quiles came in third in a three-candidate race, getting 2.4% of the vote.

Las Vegas, New Mexico
photographed 11.8.2025

church, unused

My traveling partner and I had a discussion about the appropriateness of opening a closed (but not locked) gate to gain access to this abandoned church and similarly disregarded graveyard.

Argument One: It’s a gate. It’s shut. With a chain hooked on it keeping it shut. We should stay out.

Argument Two: The gate also has a sign that says “Please close gate” which implies that someone has granted us permission to, you know, open it.

Anyway, here’s an old church.

near Sapello, New Mexico
photographed 11.9.2025