Blog Archives
let there be light (fixtures)
It was a cold day. And it was raining. And it was also (bonus!) windy.
So naturally, we took a drive to Sundown, Texas, to find possible photographs. That part of the trip was a letdown because there wasn’t much there…although I was fond of these gigantic light fixtures, hovering with no real purpose above what was left of a fueling plaza.
Today it is supposed to be 108° here, which makes three days ago seem like a dream.
Sundown, Texas
photographed 6.14.2026
tank and ladder
I always think I ought to stop and photograph one of these tanks but I never do. Honestly, I think I want to photograph them out of a decades-long habit of thinking they are Very Important Subjects, which may or may not be true.
So, finally, I did stop and get a photo of one. But now I wonder why I didn’t even bother to get closer, or to look at that ladder, or look around the other side.
But it’s a start. Or an end. I haven’t decided yet.
Hockley County, Texas
photographed 6.14.2026
fresh water (in the rain)
If you want to get really worried about the future of water in places that are above the Ogalalla Aquifer, you could read Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains, by Lucas Bessire.
Or you could look at the shifts in annual rainfall and think about how long it takes to recharge our aquifer. And think about how farmers are already moving away from growing certain high-water-consuming crops. (Who REALLY needs corn, anyway?)
Or you could think about how rural counties are falling all over themselves to get data centers to come here. And then think about how the data centers claim their eventual water usage will be “about the same as two houses.”
And maybe, sometime in the future you can think fondly about the days where there WAS fresh water out.
Hockley County, Texas
photographed 6.14.2026
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
One Day | One Image 