Blog Archives
alma r.
When I find places like this – abandoned farmhouses – I don’t know anything about who lived there or why they left, of course. That leaves me to create a narrative, which is usually more or less the same: farming/ranching got too unaffordable and the family had to leave.
This farmhouse had at least two resident owls. And a brand-new KitchenAid dishwasher, still in the original box, and a stack of printed book-covers like I remember from school but that I don’t think anyone uses any more. And I wonder if Alma R signed the wall the day she left, or if that was a later addition by some visiting vandals.
Cochran County, Texas
photographed 5.31.2026
the capture
Yes, indeed I did back up on that one-lane dirt road for about a quarter of a mile because I didn’t think this was something that needed to be left un-photographed. (A more observant photographer probably would have managed to stop the moment it came into view. But I needed some time to decide if it was worth the effort to back up.)
I mean, it’s sort of a cliche to photograph a tumbleweed caught up in a barbed wire fence, but I guess it’s a cliche for a reason.
near Inez, New Mexico
photographed 5.31.2026
gro-gas
Several years ago my friend Ron showed his credentials as a location scout by telling me about a tiny town called Bledsoe, which has a lovely, abandoned school. I’ve photographed the school several times but this was the first time I’d ever stopped to get photos at the Gro-Gas, which currently offers neither of those things.
Bledsoe, Texas
photographed 5.31.2026
high plains gold
My traveling companion – who’s Not From Here – suggested a u-turn to get this photo. I did not argue since he was right.
Because I *am* From Here, there’s a good possibility that I wouldn’t have really noticed the photographic possibilities the way he did. Which just goes to show…something? That I am largely unobservant? Or that new eyes see new things? Probably the first of those two things, if I am being honest.
Floyd County, Texas
photographed 5.30.2026
admirals + tacos
It was a weird travel day. Our direct flight to Lubbock got rerouted just before we landed – there was a huge storm that got to Lubbock just ahead of us. We flew to the next closest storm-free town and sat on the plane for a couple of hours. During that time, the flight attendants did five (5!!!) separate head counts; I am not sure how the number could have possible changed from the number that was on the flight to begin with, but I guess you have to look useful or something. The first two times, the flight attendant was using some kind of electronic device to verify passengers; the last two times she was using an air-sick bag to record her counts. (Also, a little kid near me told me the bag was to breathe into in case you got scared.)
In the meantime, my husband was at the airport waiting for me. And it turns out not only was my seat mate’s husband also at the airport, but he was hanging out with MY husband.
Anyway, by the time I eventually got home, everything I saw was blurry like this photo.
Sky Harbor International Airport
Phoenix, Arizona
photographed 6.6.2026
