An old, abandoned gas station in Santa Rosa on what is left of Route 66 in town looks like it could flap those wings and fly away at any moment. There are bigger, newer gas stations nearby with convenience stores. car washes, etc. No way for this little guy to compete with that. That's too bad. It's an excellent candidate for re-purposing, though.

Can ugly be beautiful? Can the worn out, the dilapidated and abandoned be inspirational? Sometimes it can, though mostly it isn't. Most of the time ugly is ugly, dilapidated is just wreckage, and abandoned is just gone and forgotten. This blog's purpose is to take a shot at finding places that still have something to give or say.

Why? I've been quite a few places in this country (still quite a bit to cover). When you travel about, especially if you get off the interstate highway and hit the back-roads, I find that you can't help but see things that make you think about their history. Old houses, barns, orphaned signs, machinery, etc. I can't help but wonder what happened. Who lived here? Why has it fallen into ruin? What was it like before things fell apart?

Why New Mexico? After years of frequent visits, I'm now about to become a resident. I am eager to explore this spectacular state and this blog will give me an outlet to show what I see while I'm out there. New Mexico is rich with abandoned bits of human history and few places can compete with its ability to impart beauty to decay. I look forward to mining this rich treasure.