Blog Archives
planning ahead can be helpful
I’ve seen a lot of things in cemeteries, but this was the first “reserved” sign I’ve ever noticed.
I found a book called Spanish Surnames, Older Baptismal First Names and the Origins of the Spanish Language at a tiny grocery store in New Mexico earlier this month. I bought it because it seemed like the right thing to do (it’s less a book, honestly, than it is some photocopied pages stapled together) and because it seemed like the sort of thing that might come in handy. And that’s why I can tell you that the name “Rael” previously appeared “as the name of a soldier, Real de Aguilar from Lorca, Murica, Spain, at paso del norte in the lower Rio Grande in 1689.” My new book further notes that as a surname, “Rael” is of Jewish-Greek origin.
And that concludes today’s lesson. Please carry on.
Truchas, New Mexico
photographed 9.3.2024
four eyes
I’m not saying that on a four-day visit to Tesuque I ate at the Tesuque Village Market four times. But even though I am not saying it, that is precisely what I did.
Tesuque Village Market
Tesuque, New Mexico
photographed 8.31.2024
signs of a previous life
It’s been a long slide down from the time when someone used this clothesline to now, when spray-painted signs on what’s left of the stucco warn of danger and advise photographers to keep out.
El Pueblo, New Mexico
photographed 8.31.24
empty pews
As it turns out, I have spent a lot of time this summer on the road, wandering around and taking photos.
This is not a complaint, because wandering around and taking photos is just about the most enjoyable thing I can imagine doing. And I know I am fortunate that it works out for me.
We found an interesting back road the other day that turned out to be an excellent option: I found this place.
Ima, New Mexico
photographed 8.30.24
all attempts at reconciliation failed
To be clear: these flowers were fresh and fragrant when I received them. Ten days later, though, they were neither of those things.
You know my mind rarely follows a straight line, so maybe you’ll see that this made sense to me: I thought it would be entertaining to turn the “dew on flowers” trope around and make dewy drops all over dead flowers. I know: it sounds dumb now that I see it written down. And maybe I ought to have written it down BEFORE I took a pile of photos.
I don’t know how much trope-turning I did, but I did find out that wet, dead roses are really stinky.
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 8.18.2024
One Day | One Image 