Blog Archives

ladle + coil

As awful as this fire scene was (was the family at home?) (was anyone hurt?) (what happened to cause the fire?) (how long ago did it happen?), I greatly enjoyed finding that mostly-intact ladle on top of a burned/melted/disfigured stove. It added a bit of mystery on top of all the other questions that came to mind.

near Milnesand, New Mexico
photographed 8.17.2025

brown + purple

I found this beautiful purple glass shard in the rubble of a burned-down house. It felt like I’d found a gemstone.

Also, according to all of the internets, a fire would not have turned the glass purple; apparently only prolonged UV exposure does that. And, so there’s today’s science lesson, which I am sure you were looking forward to.

near Milnesand, New Mexico
photographed 8.17.2025

ira’s

If, after the long drive from Dalhart, Texas, to Nara Visa, New Mexico, you were hoping for a nice spot where you could have a drink and hang out with the locals – and you were even prepared to offer bonus points to a place that had a cool name like “Ira’s” – you are setting yourself up for ongoing thirst.

Ira’s is no more…

Nara Visa, New Mexico
photographed 8.31.2025

at temple + main

I was standing near the corner of Temple Street and Main Street, which is as good a place as any to take a photo of an out-of-business church reflected in an out-of-business business.

Sudan, Texas
photographed 8.31.2025

13?

My internal conversation as I walked to the end of the motel to take this photo:

  1. Look! That one door is white!
  2. And looks older than the blue one.
  3. And the numbers skip one.
  4. Wait. Is this wing of the motel the even numbers?
  5. (Looks across the parking lot to see, spots the numbers 3, 4, and 5. Looks back at these doors.)
  6. Oh…they skipped 13. That’s really a thing, then, I guess
  7. (Spends a longer-than-necessary amount of time wondering if the motel would be described as a 14-room place – because that’s how high the numbers went – or a 13 room place – which was factually correct but also uses “that” number.)

Yes. I am sometime so quick to figure stuff out that I even surprise myself.

Nara Visa, New Mexico
photographed 8.31.2025