When I am wandering around in my archive, looking for something to post, I generally ignore anything with sun flares. Other photographers do cool things with them, but I almost never get anything that looks like the flares are there for a reason (other than, you know, pointing the camera at the sun.)

This shot, of an old roadside store, caught my attention. And I don’t even know why.

I am still not too much a fan of the flares, but I make up for it by how much I like the dappled light on the floor.

And, to head off on a completely random tangent, this tiny town in the Texas Panhandle has a very interesting history.  During World War II, there was a prisoner of war camp, housing Italian prisoners, in a nearby town; seven of these prisoners painted decorative designs on the interior of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Umbarger.  Here’s a story about it on National Public Radio. The church has recently had the paintings restored, and if you make arrangements in advance, some of the members of the church can meet you there and show you around.

Not the sort of thing you hear about every day…

Umbarger, Texas
photographed 1.21.2012