Blog Archives

one way or another

To be honest, these are two different businesses. But they are on the same block in downtown Paducah and it amused me to make them into a diptych – especially diptych that completely evaded answering the open-or-closed question.

Paducah, Texas
photographed 4.25.2026

the smell of a quilt in the sun

I think a lot about the way old, soft, thin quilts smell when they are on a grassy lawn in the sun. The fragrance-memory is powerful.

And that’s why I was happy to discover this old family photo the other day. I’m the kid on the left* and while I don’t have a recollection of this exact moment, the photo evokes the essence of sun-warmed cotton fabric.

My mom was 31 when this photo was made, but she looks heartbreakingly young. And those glasses? I’d wear them right this minute.

vintage family photo, dated 1959
Lubbock, Texas

*I think that, as a three year old, I had a remarkably strong side-eye game.

tell your mom the movie’s out at 9:30

I loved it that a small town still had a movie theater.

But mostly I loved the sign in the window announcing what time the movie lets out. Don’t even THINK about telling your mom the movie will be done at 10:00 so you’ve got an extra half hour to kill before she comes to pick you up. Nope. The movie proprietor is on to your bullshit and ISN’T HAVING IT any more.

Mason, Texas
photographed 4.12.2026

bad-ending vacations

I found these old travel trailers moored behind an abandoned motel. All I could think about was vacations that had a bad ending…

Mason, Texas
photographed 4.12.2026

the significance of the bell

I am not going to tell you why the now-closed Fort Mason Inn has an old-fashioned bell on their sign. But only because I don’t know…

Mason, Texas
photographed 4.12.2026