Blog Archives

that day we had winter

I had been wanting to photograph this scene for a few months. Every time I’d go by I’d say, “Next time I need to stop.” and then I never did. Then, on February 3, when there was a just a bit of snow, I did stop. And now that I think about it, this photo reminds me a lot of this one, from last month:

I think it’s that brown band at the horizon? Or maybe the fact that they are both in color? Or that they each have a mailbox? Or that my brain is sort of…different?

Lubbock County, Texas
photographed 2.3.2022
and 1.14.2022

Textures, matching

That’s the Dry Devils River*. And a weathered concrete bridge railing on South Concho Avenue. Over time, the textures of the two things have grown to mirror each other.

Sonora, Texas
photographed 1.27.2022

*Yes. The word “dry” is in the actual name of the river, if that tells you anything about its usual condition.

Diamond View

I had the idea that I needed to go look around my mother’s hometown. So I did.

Some people have the fondest of memories about things they did with their grandparents – storybook things like making cookies or going fishing or re-telling family tales or laughing or having that feeling of being loved no matter what. That is not my experience. I have a single, mostly spotty memory, of my grandmother and I decorating a birthday cake. And not one memory at all of doing anything with my grandfather. (I was a timid child and he scared me – he was gruff and said “goddam” and smoked cigarettes, and I wasn’t used to any of those things.)

So my childhood memories of this town are pretty limited. On this visit, the only way I could find their house was through a set of triangulations that involved a row of elm trees on the edge of a schoolyard and a memory of the path I walked from the house to the trees.

Nothing else seemed even vaguely familiar. But I’m not sure why I expected anything else, given my history with the place.

Sonora, Texas
photographed 1.27.2022

Wall of Many Colors

“What color is your place?”

“Yes.”

(an imaginary conversation)

Camp Wood, Texas
photographed 1.28.2022

Candy Jars

Look! People! Two of them, in one photo!

But more importantly, check out all the delightful candy options.

Junction, Texas
photographed 1.27.2022