Been gone more days this year than I've been home

Went to a senior center picnic last weekend out in Packwood. This is one of 10 images for the center piece for the September Senior Dynamics tab. I don't know why Jessi covers events that are so far past once the tab is published. No one in the office really had an explanation for me.

The Fairharts are a family out in Morton that were visiting family in Lebanon when the bombing started. They were not even 2 miles from where the first attacks were. They took photos from the 4th floor of the apartment building where they were staying with family. Their story was incredible. I can't believe the U.S. Embassy and how difficult it was for people to get out of there. You would think that there are plans for things like this... the big: "So what would we do in the event that we would have to move thousands of people out of a country?" It was so aggravating listening to them talk about their trip home. In the end, Boeing saved the day. This is a photo of the mother looking at photos they took of the first explosions.

This is a shot from an organization that provides care for adults. Six people live in a home together and receive care from nurses and such. We did a story on the new house opening up across the steet. Walter happened to be sitting on a bench outside of the new house, so I was able to photograph him as well. He was hysterical. He was telling me all about how he wants to marry one of the nurses. It was so sweet.

I really love shooting Nikon sometimes. Did I say that out loud? Ooooops. Anyways, this is a shot from the state Junior Legion game down in Longview. Our boys lost. Kevin (one of our sports writers) says that I bring our teams bad luck. Which I think is totally true. Every time I go to one of the Chehalis or Centralia games, they lose.

This kid was a passenger in an accident a few years ago that killed 5 people. More recently, he was the driver in an accident that killed 2 people. He will be facing two charges of vehicular homicide if the judge rules that he is competent enough for trial. He is an immigrant from Guatemala who does not speak any English. A local hospital has deemed him severely depressed, and because of the communication barrier, they are unable to treat him. He looked awful in court. He looked so sad.


A photo from the pet show the other day. It was only a matter of time before I would shoot a pet show. Isn't that some sort of tradition that the interns need to go through?

This girl painted her poor cat! He looked pretty snazzy though. Aslon was dressed up for the "most colorful" category. He even had two different colored eyes. Of course this all won him and his owner first place.

Hung out at the Skookumchuck River for most of the morning. I didn't expect to end up there, nor did I wear shorts today. My jeans were soaked when I left. It was fun playing in the water. When I got back to the office everyone was telling me I was going to get the "swimmers itch" after being in that water. I swore my legs started to get itchy. It was all in my head.


I really liked how the reflection from the water was hitting her face.


Spent the day on the Cowlitz River a few days ago. Richard DeBolt is hysterical. And the guy does not act like any other Republican that I've ever met. And I've met a LOT since I've been in Lewis County. And this guy sounds so much like Adam Sandler it's scary. Anyways, this is an out-take from my assignment that day. A group of half a dozen boats went out on the river to get a better look at the damage the river has done to private property. Flooding, errosion, and pourous banks have changed a few land owner's lots in a pretty drastic way. Unfortunately, fish and game won't let the land owners reinforce the banks. It seems like there must be a solution for this.


Another out-take from the day on the river.. although, this is a shot from the picnic afterwards. Free hot dogs! It was a whirlwind of politicians. One after the other they ignored the issue at hand and used the mic as a megaphone for their current campaigns.