State Track & Field at Mount Tahoma High School

Me and my friend Matt when and saw our teammate Will Ferfuson run the 3200 and 1600 at the state track meet this weekend at Mount Tahoma. Man, talk about energy. I can't believe the power and endurance that was represented there. Will did an outstanding job and I'm proud to have been there to see him run. Good job Will!!

Shaker Barn in Albany, New York

On the way to the Albany Airport, I passed a sign to a Shaker Museum directly across the main road of the airport. I arrived early to allow time to turn in my rental car, so I made a diversion to see what it was all about. It looked like the museum was closed. I'm a sucker for old, rusty things, so I got out of my car and took these shots before getting on a plane to sit for the rest of the afternoon.

This is my third visit to New York state. My impression of the state growing up was that of congestion and lots of people. However, there is a lot of open country and lots of barns. I had to control myself from stopping at every barn I passed by. I think I was born 150 years too late.

I did stop at several cemeteries to read the tombstones. Sounds pretty wierd, I know, but I enjoy reading the dates and bits of information about the folks. Plus, since namesakes come from this area, I hold onto the idea of maybe running into one of their resting spots.

Token Pics From Tecate, Mexico

I must say, I do still like my Panasonic Lumix camera. In some ways, I prefer it over my Nikon SLR. It's pretty versatile and takes great shots on the fly.

When I decided to go on this mission trip last week at the last minute, I thought it would be great to take my "big" camera. However, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into and I just didn't want to hassle the risk and all of the airborn dirt. So I abandoned the idea and decided to take the "little" camera. I was glad I did.

These shots are just random shots that I took during the down time in Tecate, Mexico. The horse was at a neighboring build where we stopped to assist. They ended up not needing any assistance, so I got acquainted with the horse next door.

Tecate, Mexico

This past Monday I returned from a spontaneous mission trip to Mexico with over 50 men from my church. The mission wasn't spontaneous, but my part was.

I had known about this trip for some time and had actually helped with the marketing of it. However, a couple months ago I had resigned to the fact that it wasn't a good fit for me to go. I felt I needed to hang around and earn some cash. As is turned out last week I got a call from my friend Gregg telling me that a few men had to back out and that there was a spot for me to go. I just needed to decide that day.

Well, if you know me at all, I can be pretty indecisive. I like to have my time to think things through and form "my" idea of how the trip should evolve. I'm proud to say that I decided pretty promptly to follow the nudge to go and allow God to work out the details.

Man, what a blessing it was to go and not be in control. I was totally in the hands of God the entire 5 days I was gone and was able to contribute to build one of 5 homes that were built by our church. My particular team build a home for a single mom, Noemi Castilo Sevilla, and her daughter Laura. They live in a community called Colonia Hindu in Tecate.










It has been a year since Noemi separated from her husband because he did not want to be responsible. It is very difficult for her to provide for her daughter as a working single mother. Prior they lived in two rooms with a bad roof and floor and walls of plywood.

The highlight of the trip was seeing Noemi shed infectious tears of happiness when we handed her the keys to her new home.

Lake Champlain, New York

I recently had the opportunity to visit upstate New York to shoot a wedding. I stayed in a small town called Pottersville in Adirondak Park and enjoyed it immensely. The region was saturated with recent rains swelling the area rivers and lakes. I had a free day to take a drive and traveled as far north as I could go without a passport. Unfortunately I had left it at home, not thinking I'd end up so close to Montreal.






I had a great time traveling around Lake Champlain, on both the New York and Vermont sides. I was in awe of how much the swollen contryside had encroached upon the residents. Entire houses and properties, regardless of wealth status, were affected. I was also surprised at how rural the state is. This border area reminded me of the Mt. Vernon area in Washington State.