Blog Archives
The dregs of dreams, 1
The road from Alpine to Terlingua goes through mountains, past a border patrol checkpoint, and across a wide plain. And then, just as the mountains of Big Bend National Park loom off to the left, there are a few scattered and abandoned buildings: evaporated dreams.
But the dregs of these dreams are stunningly beautiful.
along Highway 118
Brewster County, Texas
photographed 1.20.2013
This door? I wanted to take it home.
I love this door. I really do. I like the curled-up ends of the decorative metal rods on the bottom half of the screen door. And the way the Xs where the rods cross are a slightly different color. And the way the diamond-shaped grid at the top contrasts with the square grid at the bottom. And the pieced-together look of the weathered wood frame. And the dark hinges.
This is the third shot of an unintentional chain of photographs. There’s yesterday’s storm picture. And, this picture has the same storm overhead, and this door on the left. I’d claim I did all of this on purpose, but I suspect you wouldn’t believe me.
Also, if you drive by my house and the front door looks vaguely familiar, it’ll be just a coincidence.
Valentine, Texas
photographed 8.16.2013
The Crazy Water Hotel
The ballroom at the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells is well past its prime.
But in its prime, the Baker Hotel was grand, and folks came from far and wide to “take the waters” the town was famous for. Now, I think Mineral Wells is largely famous for having once been famous.
The great songwriter Tom Russell has a song about the place, and the ghosts that haunt it. Reading the lyrics doesn’t convey Tom’s talent, and there’s no video of it that I could locate. So instead – and pardon this abrupt digression, but he got in my head and wouldn’t leave until I agreed to post a link – here’s Tom Russell and Andrew Hardin with The Ballad of Edward Abbey. (Here’s his website.)
Mineral Wells, Texas
photographed 8.15.2010
Not an optical illusion
The stairs really did make a sharp turn on the landing – this isn’t some sort of double exposure or Photoshop trickery. (Because I’m not proficient enough for either of those things.)
But aside from the M. C. Escher feel of the stairs, there are some interesting light and reflective effects. And this sat patiently in the archives for 1,940 days until I finally noticed that it had blog potential. I wonder what took me so long?
Lakewood, Colorado
photographed 6.22.2008
That one Saturday morning
Nazareth, Texas, is about 90 miles from Lubbock. There are a couple of ways to get there, but one of them involves driving on the interstate, so I almost never choose that route. Instead I go through Shallowater and Littlefield and Spade and Olton and Hart, traveling mostly on a narrow farm road. It’s a nice drive, and I especially like it on winter mornings when the low sunlight catches the spiky stalks left behind in the fields after the harvest.
This one Saturday, I was heading to Nazareth and keeping my eye on the interesting clouds. I could tell that I was going to pass under them at some point along the way, and so it was with a bit of luck that I was in Hart when I caught up with the clouds: it made for a more interesting photograph to have buildings in the shot.
Nazareth. Why Nazareth? Good things happen in Nazareth. You should go, if you get a chance.
Hart, Texas
photographed 11.19.2011
One Day | One Image 