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Another shot at this place (which is also this place), for those of you who are keeping score at home.
The pool’s been vacant so long that there is a nice stand of cattails growing in a marsh at the deep end, which is remarkable since this is in New Mexico – a locale not known for a lot of marshland.
Before the interstate, the main route through town was Route 66, and it was lined with motels and restaurants. Not too many of them are still operational.
One time, a couple of decades back, we failed to have reservations for a hoped-for overnight visit in Santa Fe. We didn’t realize that the Santa Fe Opera was that popular, and that all the rooms would be full. So we headed out, thinking we’d either find a place to stay along the way or drive all night and be home for breakfast.
The first town past Santa Fe is Santa Rosa, where we did find a room in one of the old places along the former Route 66. I think we paid twenty buck for the room, which I am pretty sure was inflated when the desk clerk sensed our desperation (for all our big talk, we really didn’t want to have to drive all night.) The room was tiny, with barely room for a bed. But that wasn’t entirely a bad thing, as the carpet was pretty…questionable…and the bed covered up most of it. We stayed there, successfully, and made it home the next day.
The story would be better, of course, if I could tell you that we stopped for the night in THIS VERY MOTEL. But we strive for accuracy (mostly) here at One Day | One Image, so I can’t claim that. But the place we did stay was right across the road from here.
So, the moral of this story is that you’d probably be better off with a reservation if you want to stay in Santa Fe.
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 9.22.2013
A two bulb fixture
Corrugated metal. Weathered wood. An sun-lit weed. Conduit nestled into the valleys of the metal. A peeling sign. A partially-boarded window.
And presiding over it all – a two bulb fixture. (To be correct, I guess it’s a ZERO bulb fixture, but you know what I mean.)
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 9.21.2013
A general sense
Things I like to find (that I saw here):
1. Broken pavement with weeds growing through the cracks
2. Concrete blocks
3. Diagonal shadows
and
4. A general sense of desolation
(This is the same abandoned motel as this place. In case it seemed familiar.)
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 9.22.2013
Rose of Lima
This is part of what’s left of the old church at the St. Rose of Lima cemetery; a marker just inside the fence says the cemetery was established in the early 1800s, and was “replaced to its current location” in 1907. I don’t know how long the church has been without a roof. Or a floor. Or windows. But it’s still standing, maybe out of habit as much as anything else.
This is another example of the way a building can eventually devolve into just its textures – and this one’s got plenty of textures, with the weather-rough wood, the initialed plaster, the stones.
And it even has a flower, tucked into a break in the plaster underneath the window.
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 9.21.2013
Duplex
Meanwhile, back in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, this place slowly falls apart.
It’s got a lot of company: there are many buildings in town that have seen better days. But you know me: I love places like this. I like the way they fall apart, the way someone tries – without success – to stop the decay, the way even the patched parts start to fall apart, too. I love the textures of the different building materials. And the way the weeds grow up, seeming to guard whatever’s still inside.
And, I love the mystery of the two front doors.
(My weekend was a WordPress weekend. I met up with blogger Donna Catterick in Santa Rosa and we spent Saturday and part of Sunday taking pictures. And, also had a couple of great phone conversations with Ehpem and Brett Erickson. What a weird thing, blogging!)
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 9.21.2013
One Day | One Image 