Oatmeal, Texas

We emerged from Big Bend Country and West Texas to land on a little ranch in the town of Oatmeal. The 2020 Census put the population of Oatmeal at 20. The town is unincorporated, technically a part of Betram in Burnet Country in the Texas Hill Country outside of Austin.

The town’s claim to fame appears to be the the Oatmeal Festival held each year over Labor Day weekend. There are town offices, a town windmill, at least one cemetery, a water tower painted to look like a can of oatmeal.

At one time, there was a Black section of town, but there’s no trace of it now. Recently, a police officer discovered an overgrown cemetery on the side of a road that was the town’s Black cemetery, but we couldn’t find clear direction to it. There was talk of preservation efforts and, perhaps, the town wants to keep away vandals and souvenir hunters until they can do something.

Terlingua beyond the ghost town

I had stopped in Terlingua back in March 2023 on my way to Big Bend Ranch State Park. The town sits between the state park and the national park and is an ideal spot to get your vehicle and yourself fueled up. I did the quick detour and followed the signs to the ghost town, a collection of dwellings that are little more than a few walls and a cemetery, but still told a story of what used to be there.

This time around, it was an emergency stop. We had vastly miscalculated how far our rental SUV could carry us on a tank of gas, then found that the only gas station in the national park at Panther Junction, wasn’t open as late as advertised. We did some quick checking on a map and found the only gas station within range – maybe – was in Terlingua.

We arrived well past dark and too late to get food and ended up staying the night in a motel. The next morning was a brilliantly clear day with deep blue skies. Out the door of our room was a view of a Ocatillo in full leaf and bloom set against Study Butte.

One of the joys of being on the road is getting breakfast at the local diner. Terlingua’s Chili Pepper Cafe didn’t disappoint – tamale, tortillas and beans with your eggs.

Santa Elena Canyon, three views

We arrived at Santa Elena Canyon late in the day and the parking lot was nearly full, but beginning to empty. We met several group heading out as we walked toward the river. By the time we were at the mouth of the canyon, it felt like we had the place nearly to ourselves.

The favored light – the one you see in the posters and postcards – hits the canyons in the morning. We were there late in the afternoon, which meant that the sun was beyond the canyon. The way was also overcast, but that worked in my favor by eliminating the harshness of backlighting.

Looking towards the canyon, especially from a distance, I kept wondering over the power of the mostly placid river to cut such a deep cut into the Sierra Ponce cliffs.

This final shot is a reverse shot, looking north out of the mouth of the canyon toward the U.S. side of the Rio Grande. The light was starting to fade by this time, especially in the shadow within the canyon.

Alvino House, Castolon, Big Bend

This is by the ranger station in the Castolon Historic District inside Big Bend National Park.

From the National Park Service website:

The Alvino House is the oldest intact adobe structure in Big Bend National Park. The building represents the everyday life of the many families who lived and farmed along the Rio Grande. This building was constructed around 1901 by Cipriano Hernandez, one of the Hispanic settlers who farmed near Castolon.

National Park Service

What makes the photo for me is that off in the distance, you can see the Sierra Ponce Mountains stretching across the horizon like a fortress wall with a notch that marks the location of the famed Santa Elena Canyon.

We didn’t go down to the Alvino House. It was already late afternoon and was trying to get to Santa Elena with enough time to hike through the canyon before the sun went down.

Shot on Cinestill BWXX, one of my favorite film stocks, Leica MP-4 and Summicron 35, perhaps not the ideal focal length for this shot but it was the only lens I took with me other than the one on the Voigtlander Perkeo II.

Between morning and night

A woman walks along the surf line on the beach on the edge between morning and night at Harvey Cedars on LBI.

The sun rises over the ocean to the east, while Long Beach Island still lingers in the last of the predawn shadows.

Vermont activism

There’s no shortage of activism on display in Vermont, especially during the political season.

Marchers protest the arrest of immigrant rights activist Miguel Alcudia in downtown Burlington on Oct. 1, 2016.

A Black Lives Matter yard sign adorns a house in South Burlington, VT.

Reflection on early spring

The Barge Canal in Burlington on a bright spring day. Only a few weeks earlier, people were skating on the canal.

One of my favorite places to photograph. It’s part of an industrial wasteland between Lake Champlain and the arts-and-start-up corridor on Pine Street.  a bike path runs along the railroad tracks carried over the water by the bridge that I think used to raise up to let the barges pass. It’s a Superfund site.

Wide shot of a narrow space

Wide Shot of a Narrow Space

This was shot with a Voigtlander 15mm lens, with a very wide perspective that I’m still getting used to. I like the lines in this shot.

Pond skating on the Barge Canal

Pond skating

People taking to a bit of clear ice is a sure sign that winter has settled in. This little cut off of Lake Champlain goes by the charming name of the Barge Canal, actually a Superfund clean-up site. No harm done as long as no one stirs up the muck on the bottom.

Favorite images: 2014

My favorite images posted on this blog shot in 2014.

Train approaching Flynn Avenue crossing in winter mist

Peeking over the fence, Barge Canal

Lake Champlain near Blodgett Beach in late December

Church Street Marketplace top block in the rain

Bouquet in light

Freight cars rest on the tracks between the Burlington bike path and the old General Dynamics plant

Grafitti inside the abandoned rail building along the Burlington bike path.

Footprints on the fishing pier