Blog Archives

your sweet and shiny eyes

Our “hometown bar” during our time in Alpine… This scene reminds me of the song “Your Sweet and Shiny Eyes” – and I don’t even care if it’s Bonnie Raitt or Jackson Browne or Gretchen Peters and Tom Russell singing it. (Although I prefer the Gretchen/Tom version if I’m being honest).

In my sweet dreams we are
In a bar and it’s my birthday
Drinking salty margaritas with Fernando

 

Alcove Social
Alpine, Texas
photographed 2.21.2025

virgil, reading by a tree

This kid was amazing – he was garbed up in his cowboy gear and seemed to feel really at home talking to all the cowboys at the chuckwagon breakfast. He liked to pose for photos, a thing we noticed and that was independently confirmed by his mom.

And when he’d had enough of all of that, he sat under a tree and read his book (a graphic novel about dragons).

Alpine, Texas
photographed 2.22.2025

a degree of concentration

Every time I go to Alpine I make a stop at the Big Bend Saddlery. I like looking at the stuff, most of which I can’t identify, but that I nevertheless like to see. I’d guess I generally stay about a half an hour.

This time, with my friends in tow, we made a stop…and stayed two hours. The staff were friendly and accommodating about letting us go back into the workroom, where we visited with saddle-makers and leather-toolers and tried to juggle staying out of their way as they worked while still getting photos.

We didn’t just take photos, though: we all left with purchases, too. And those leather gloves I got sure are warm…

Alpine, Texas
photographed 2.20.2025

song circle

My friends and I have a tradition (because we’ve done it twice, so it’s a legit tradition) where we take ourselves and our cameras on road trips to see what we can find. For the most part, we travel without an agenda but with strong curiosities.

In February we headed out to Far West Texas for a few days. One day we ended up in Terlingua Ghost Town, where to our very great delight there was a song circle set up in a parking lot. The musicians agreed to our request to photograph them, so you can guess what we did.

(To be fair, they probably thought we were asking to take a handful of photos, not about a million. But still.)

Terlingua Ghost Town, Texas
photographed 2.19.2025

cowboy/coffee

This is Sam; you may recognize him from a few days ago. We liked Sam – he had a rugged authentic look and had plenty of stories to share with anyone willing to listen.
And his hat also had a rugged authentic look and plenty of stories, although it was shy about sharing them.
Lone Star Cowboy Poetry Gathering
Alpine, Texas
photographed 2.22.2025