.
Tita's Burger Den sign, Yermo, California: photo by Cragin Spring, 30 December 2011
Could it be me with my white sunglasses I take off
in my car near Yermo? In the desert I learned how to drink
and the drink was taken in small increments
and then larger here in the desert. That’s all I can say
for now. It seems like such a waste. Which it is. A fragile
busy waste. I’m in Yermo and there’s nowhere I can’t see.
I hate what I’m doing here.
Or could it be him with his t-shirt and golfing visor
neutralizing his body. He’s sick of the relationship
and all I can do is listen to the crawl that is steady.
It avoids the corners of his mouth.
Julia Doll closeup at Calvin and Ruby Black's Possum Trot, near Yermo, California: photographer unknown, n.d.; image by Visionary Road Trip, 22 November 2008 (photo courtesy of SPACES, Seymour Rosen Archive)
Yermo Store, Yermo, California: photo by ap0013, 24 April 20012
Yermo Store, Yermo, California: photo by ap0013, 24 April 2012
A view from above at Calvin and Ruby Black's Possum Trot, near Yermo, California. Begun in 1954 by Calvin Black (1903-1972) and Ruby Black (c. 1915-1980), and maintained until 1972, Possum Trot was a makeshift tourist attraction in Calico, a town in the Mojave Desert near Yermo. The site included a rock shop and the Bird Cage Theater, where the Blacks performed using over 80 life-size puppet-dolls they created, each with its own personality and costume. Calvin was an accomplished ventriloquist who sang and provided diverse voices for the puppets. The site included several rustic Ghost Town buildings and sculptural attractions, such as a wind-driven merry-go-round. Possum Trot was eventually abandoned, and the puppet-dolls were acquired by folk art collectors. The installation no longer exists: photographer unknown, n.d.; image by Visionary Road Trip, 22 November 2008 (photo courtesy of SPACES, Seymour Rosen Archive)
Fantasy Doll Show at Calvin and Ruby Black's Possum Trot, near Yermo, California: photographer unknown, n.d.; image by Visionary Road Trip, 22 November 2008 (photo courtesy of SPACES, Seymour Rosen Archive)
The Fantasy Doll Show at Calvin and Ruby Black's Possum Trot, near Yermo, California: photographer unknown, n.d.; image by Visionary Road Trip, 22 November 2008 (photo courtesy of Michelle Vignes, 16 April 2010)
The Stage Stop at Calvin and Ruby Black's Possum Trot, near Yermo, California: photographer unknown, n.d.; image by Visionary Road Trip, 22 November 2008 (photo courtesy of SPACES, Seymour Rosen Archive)
Exterior detail at at Calvin and Ruby Black's Possum Trot, near Yermo, California: photographer unknown, n.d.; image by Visionary Road Trip, 22 November 2008 (photo courtesy of SPACES, Seymour Rosen Archive)
Ruby Black at Calvin and Ruby Black's Possum Trot, near Yermo, California: photographer unknown, n.d.; image by Visionary Road Trip, 22 November 2008 (photo courtesy of SPACES, Seymour Rosen Archive)
Possum Trot, near Yermo, California: photographer unknown, n.d.; image by Visionary Road Trip, 22 November 2008 (photo courtesy of John Turner, 6 April 2010)
Closed coffee shop, Yermo, California: photo by Cragin Spring, 27 March 2012
Lonely sign off Highway 15, Yermo, California: photo by Cragin Spring, 27 March 2012
Calico Ghost Town, three miles north of Yermo, California, a now largely depopulated community whose name was derived from the Spanish word for wilderness. (Calico remained an active silver mining town from the late 1840s until the turn of the 20th century when it was no longer viable to extract silver ore from the local mines): photo by Mark A. Wilson (Department of Geology, The College of Wooster), 9 March 2010
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