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By dusk’s pastel light
You know how sometimes the best part of the sunset isn’t on the western sky? This view, looking southeast, shows an abandoned drive-in – and an interesting fence – lit in the glow of the pink light from a waning day.
Slaton, Texas
photographed 1.23.2016
What happened on Friday
First of all, my good photography pals Brett Erickson, Liz McCue, and George Nobechi Bumstead all showed up in Lubbock. That alone would have made for an excellent weekend. But there’s more.
All of us had images in the High and Dry show at the International Cultural Center at Texas Tech, so it was fun to form our own little art mob to go to the opening reception.
And, then, much to my very great surprise, I found out that the juror, Miguel Gandert, had awarded third place to my image, Sad Trailer.
It was a very, very good day.
Valentine, Texas
photographed 7.11.2015
Waste
I’ve made photos at this place before, a couple of years ago. Not much had changed on this stop; the place is still slowly falling down and I still found it charming.
But I take that back. Actually a couple of things had changed. The dog that barked all the time I was there on the first stop wasn’t around. And, my granddaughter Hannah, who’s 8, was working as my assistant, helping me spot things to shoot. She’s announced plans to take her photography “to the next level” and while I am not sure I know what that means, exactly, I am pretty proud of her. Another photographer in the family! Anyway, we checked out the pink toilet, which you can see here. It was pretty disgusting, but Hannah showed a pragmatic side when she said, “Well, if you have to go, I guess it’s not that bad.”
Seymour, Texas
photographed 11.29.2015
My friend who knows me well
I’m close to starting my 8th year of daily blogging; one of the things that I never anticipated when I started was the possibility of making friends along the way. But it happened, which just proves (once again) that I don’t know everything.*
One of my best blogging friends is Ehpem, and I’ve been lucky enough to make a couple of trips up his way. On my most recent trip, he took me to this place, because he knew I’d love to see some nice abandoned buildings.
Jordan River, BC
photographed 4.22.2015
*That reminds me when my son was about 6, and went to school with a girl named Kim Thompson. From what I could gather, Kim’s family had fairly rigid rules about what girls and boys were “supposed” to do, and Nathan quoted those rules often. He’d say, “Kim Thompson says boys don’t wear pink.” or “Kim Thompson says boys aren’t supposed to learn how to cook.” One night, in exasperation, I said, “Kim Thompson doesn’t know everything.” The next day, I got this report from Nathan: Kim Thompson says she does too know everything.
Of course, that doesn’t have anything to do with, well, anything. But it still makes me laugh.
Creepy Monkey
The things that people leave behind when they abandon a house always interest me. Broken furniture, dead television sets, piles of mail and bill and magazines, curtains are all pretty common.
Monkeys, though, are a bit more unusual.
And I feel like this creepy monkey is probably friends with this even creepier doll (which was in an abandoned building in a different part of the state).
Valentine, Texas
photographed 7.11.2015
One Day | One Image 