Blog Archives

we run a twisted line

I was taking the (very) long way from Oklahoma City to Lubbock, which is how I found myself in Scotland.

To clarify: my route wasn’t THAT long. I wasn’t in the country of Scotland, but in the Texas town of the same name.

Anyway, of course I saw the local cemetery. And this poor little marker, split in two with just the rebar in the concrete holding the two cross-chunks together.

St. Boniface Catholic Church
Scotland, Texas
photographed 8.6.2022

mayhem

One thing I know is to cut a wide berth around a guy wearing a shirt that says “mayhem” on it. Another thing I know is that the shirt and his aggressively gold watch needed to be photographed. And the last thing I know (in this context, I mean) is that it was a good thing I was shooting with a zoom lens.

Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 7.31.2022

tatters

At some point, that billboard presented crucial information to travelers. That point, however, was not the day I was there…

San Jon, New Mexico
photographed 7.30.2022

when we thought the rain would stop

What we thought would be an enjoyable evening watching the Amarillo Sod Poodles* playing baseball didn’t really pan out all that well. There was a one-hour rain delay before the game even started and then, in a show of unfounded optimism, the crew pulled away the tarp and the game started. By the third inning we were as drenched as we wanted to be and left; the rain never let up and the game was called in the sixth inning.

But it was good while it lasted.

Hodgetown Stadium
Amarillo, Texas
photographed 7.29.2022

*Yes. That is the actual name. It’s a slang term for prairie dogs.

…and the walls came down, 3

I spent the hour I had to fill up walking around the collapsed church wall, taking photos and getting a little bit teary thinking of how one of the things I’d come to count on seeing in Santa Rosa was just…gone.

I presume that the thunderstorm’s winds the afternoon before had pushed those walls down, so that meant they were only standing for an hour or so after I saw them leaning away from the rest of the building.

The thing is that people drove by while I was there and no one stopped or slowed down or even (as far as I could tell) glanced over to see what had happened. It hurt my feelings, which is sort of ridiculous and also made perfect sense.

Now I am worried that by the time I get back over there, the other three walls will be down, too.

Saint Rose of Lima Cemetery
Santa Rosa, New Mexico
photographed 7.31.2022