Blog Archives

leg show

There are several things here – a Folger’s can with a plant, a concrete porch, a washtub tipped up with water and something in it. And my mom, crouched there on the grass, doing…something.

My dad wrote “leg show” on the back of the photo, so while that’s amusing, it isn’t at all explanatory…

unknown location and date
scanned from vintage print

a very pale ada ruth

There was a point in his life that my dad did quite a bit of photography. He was a civil engineer so very few of his images were anything other than just-the-facts sort of photos.
But this one. This one makes me laugh because I imagine that he set this shot up to see what it was like to be “artistic.” That’s my mom, being (possibly) blinded by that refrigerator-based beacon (I don’t think late 1940s refrigerators came with that level of light inside so it feels like there was some level of planning and implementation to this.) There’s no negatives, no other similar photos that I can find. So this was the best one of the bunch? Or the only one?
No one knows and it doesn’t even matter.
unknown location and date
scanned from vintage print

horse/tail

Y’all! Y’ALL!!

Can you believe that just before a blond-tailed horse came into the auction ring, a woman with very long, very straight blonde hair sat down right in front of me?

Oh, those photography gods were having a good time!

Levelland, Texas
photographed 11.23.2024

bidders at the horse sale

Have you been trying to imagine what my most unusual hobby is? Did you think that it might be attending horse sales?

I know: it surprises me as well. This is the third one I’ve been to and I enjoy them a lot. Not only is there the opportunity to photograph people, but it’s a whole cultural experience. I don’t know one thing about what’s going on, the lingo is incomprehensible, the prices (sometimes) seem outrageous, and so on.

One of the best parts of going is listening to auctioneers’ patter. Here’s some things I heard at this sale:

  • This booger is straight in the mouth and square on all four corners.
  • He don’t flop his tail.
  • He’s got tons of hoof and bone.
  • He’s never bred a mare: he’s in riding condition.
  • If you took him home and cut him, his butt would get bigger in a week and a half.

To be clear, these things were said in relation to horses. I don’t know if that makes it better or not, but I felt like I ought to clarify.

Levelland, Texas
photographed 11.23.2024

cotton lint

There’s an excellent BBQ place in Slaton; it’s called Pitforks and Smokerings. You need to go, but get there early because they sell out pretty fast.

It’s housed in an old gas station and there’s an outdoor dining area, marked by black net, where the fuel pumps used to be. This is a shot of the netting that slows down the wind*, provides a bit of shade, and snags up cotton lint from the gin across the road.

Slaton, Texas
photographed 11.22.2024

*I almost said “breaks the wind” but realized that wasn’t AT ALL what I was trying to say.