Blog Archives
Stop-n-Save
I guess you really could save by stopping here: the place is out of business. And I have to confess that I do not know if there are Food Marts #2 or #3 or etc.
In addition, I do not know what a “phone planet” might be.
Is there no end to my ignorance? I don’t know that, either.
Caldwell, Texas
photographed 2.28.2014
Facing the tracks
Dime Box, Texas, is not the funniest town name in America. Traditionally, that honor belongs to Intercourse, Pennsylvania. I prefer Scratch Ankle, Alabama, Gnowbone, Indiana, or even Humptulips, Washington. Nevertheless, Dime Box, as a name, caught my ear, so that’s where I headed the next morning out of College Station.
– William Least Heat-Moon, Blue Highways
Even though William Least Heat-Moon’s visit to Dime Box was written a while back (Blue Highways was published in 1982), much of his description of the town sounded as though he’d been there earlier the same day as my visit. For example, he describes this scene as “worn brick buildings facing the Southern Pacific tracks.” Maybe that bright aluminum door has been added since his visit, but my guess is that the rest of the block looks much the same as it did the day he drove over to Dime Box from College Station.
Dime Box, Texas
photographed 2.28.2014
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The reasons why:
1. The water damage on the wooden joists
2. The tiny bit of a tree poking up over the roof
3. The rectangles. All those rectangles!
4. The address over the door.
5. The reflections in the window that do not include me.
6. The tenacious weeds growing up in the expansion joints of the concrete.
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 5.4.2013
Underneath the lights
You know how I always like to go around back when I am shooting, just to see what I can find? I also try to remember to look up. Which is how I found this interesting array of lightbulbs hiding (in plain sight!) under the marquee of the Mesa Theatre in Clovis, New Mexico.
I wasn’t able to find anything much out about the Mesa, other than it had a fire in 1948 and was rebuilt. Perhaps my Research Department can take over from here?
Clovis, New Mexico
photographed 5.25.2013
Diagonal
Just across the road from this place, there’s a little building that I am sure used to be a church. There’s not a sign in front, and the maps I’ve found don’t provide any information, but I am just certain that’s what it used to be. Maybe it’s the dimensions of the building – longer than it is wide. Maybe it’s just me, making up some “facts.” But anyway, the front door is locked, with a rusting wheel pushed against it for good measure.
Around to the side, a new-ish metal roof contrasts with the peeling paint of the stucco wall and boarded up windows. And an electrical line, and its shadow, cut through the scene. The side door? It was so secure it didn’t even have a doorknob on the outside!
Maple, Texas
photographed 2.16.2014
One Day | One Image 