Dispatches From Kansas

Winter Solstice Project: Day 10

2009-11-10T18:36:00.004-06:00

And a few more from Emporia and surroundings...

2009-11-09T17:48:00.004-06:00

the nurseryroom of potato chips and smiley facesmold has texture and colorgatewaydunlap elevator

Winter Solstice Project: Day 9

2009-11-09T17:46:00.002-06:00

the end of town starts herecolor, linn community nursing home

Winter Solstice Project: Day eight

2009-11-08T21:12:00.004-06:00

blowin' in the windskater philosophy inside kenyon hall, emporiapiggy bank, dunlaporiginal skater equipment, not to be confused with skaters in emporiathe color of rust, near dunlapsilent keys, bushongmore skates, bushonghensel

Winter Solstice Project: Day seven

2009-11-07T17:22:00.003-06:00

keep outasshole's garagedecay study #43 frankfort, kscalled higher

Winter Solstice Project: Day six

2009-11-06T16:10:00.006-06:00

kansas saguarodrink coca-cola, wymore, neb.last chance, wymore, neb.feed the squirls, outside blue springsshadow, tile, depot–marysville, kswash updoes h.f. mean high frequency?won't fitthis is kansas too

Winter Solstice Project: Day five

2009-11-05T18:47:00.002-06:00

Best of Show -- Marshall County Beauty -- awarded to piano photo

2009-11-05T05:19:00.000-06:00

Keeping the square

2009-11-05T04:36:00.001-06:00

I have not kept the square, but that to come shall be done by the rule. – William Shakespeare Rules, as we know, are meant to be broken. Take, for instance, the ridiculous notion that nouns cannot be used as verbs. For e. e. cummings, every noun was fair game, and who’s to argue with e. e. cummings? And yet, one of my editors recently balked at my inclusion of the word “newspapering,” to

Winter Solstice Project: Day 4

2009-11-04T16:52:00.004-06:00

Winter Solstice Project: Day three

2009-11-03T17:45:00.002-06:00

Stretch my legs Rust Cairn Last of the chiles Work from home

Winter Solstice Project: Day two

2009-11-02T21:50:00.008-06:00

Morning commute Died in France

Winter Solstice Project: Day one

2009-11-01T11:09:00.002-06:00

Winter solstice project: Prelude

2009-10-31T13:30:00.002-05:00

Just the way things are

2009-10-29T07:18:00.002-05:00

I’m in a house, working on a burglar alarm. Or a fire alarm, I can’t remember which. The house I will never forget. Not so much the house—a house is a house is a house, no matter how simple or lavish, four walls, a floor and a ceiling, bathrooms, bedrooms, basements and hallways. Sure, some are nicer than others—I’ve seen some doozies, the kind where you lower your voice and tiptoe because you

Checkered white on autumn mums

2009-10-22T08:30:00.000-05:00

My first attempt at sports photography...

2009-10-22T07:12:00.001-05:00

Little steps

2009-10-22T06:54:00.000-05:00

Everyone should have a cornfield to disappear into. Or a thicket. I imagine a deserted beach would be equally therapeutic with breakers rolling in from thousands of miles of sea surge, upwelling, undertow, equatorial light and calving glaciers, with imagination to fill in the blanks of a barren littoral scrape of sand. A mountain summit with endless vistas of serrated snowy peaks is too raw, too

Brantford, Kansas

2009-10-15T06:43:00.001-05:00

It's always the same

2009-10-15T06:38:00.001-05:00

During the night temperatures plummeted and a rising wind moaned through the trees. This wind was different than last week’s balmy current delivering wave after wave of swallows and swifts, pelicans, gulls, vultures and the lesser orders of dragonflies and monarchs, all hitching a free ride for points south. This wind had teeth, and it wasn’t afraid of using them. Except for the faint glow of the

Frost-nipped corn

2009-10-10T15:08:00.000-05:00

2009-10-08T12:39:00.000-05:00

The absolute best part

2009-10-08T12:37:00.001-05:00

The lady at the custom frame shop placed a beige matboard sample against a photograph and carefully lined it up with the border of the image. The photograph was a stylized manipulation of an abandoned service station in Mountainair, New Mexico, a dark, brooding haunt with low scudding clouds and a sky the color of a purple bruise. A large crack spiderwebbed the facade from the crown to the front

Corn

2009-10-06T14:58:00.000-05:00

An unnatural forest

2009-10-01T08:10:00.002-05:00

Every journey begins with a single step, to paraphrase Lao-Tzu. This would be no different—could be no different—one foot setting force into motion, the bonds of inertia sundered, a path undertaken, a threshold crossed. One step and I was engulfed in green. Two steps, three, I felt myself being hemmed in, the tall stalks parting before me only to close ranks behind. I felt a little like Frodo