Chester Dam

On the Henry's Fork of the Snake River near Chester, Idaho is a large diversion dam that allows water to pass into a couple of canals for irrigation. It's one of my favorite places in the upper valley. I took Mike there last night. He made a couple of photographs with the big camera and I took a few color and digital pictures. Here they are.


Mike Photographin Chester Dam with a 12x20" Camera, Chester, ID 2006




Chester Dam, Chester, ID 2006

Memorial Day

On Memorial Day we went with my parents to the Annis Cemetery, where my grandparents on my father's side are buried, to place flowers at their grave. The kids had fun running around. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was a kid running around this cemetery on memorial day. I'm getting old.


Ethan, Carson, Jacob, and Kevin at my Grandparent's Grave, Memorial Day, 2006

Family Fun

My parents came up this weekend to visit and to help prepare, tape, mud, and paint a wall in our basement. We managed to have a little fun along with the work. I'll post pictures of the basement when we finish.


Baseball in the backyard with Kevin, Grandpa, and Kevin's cousin Carson.


Ethan playing baseball and looking pretty "Napoleon Dynamite" in his boots


Grandma, Susan, and Jacob


Grandpa and Ethan at the grill



Corn and sweet potatoes on the grill

Campus Construction

They are doing a lot of construction on campus these days. They are currently remodeling several buildings, putting new turf on the atheletic field, and expanding a building. It will be nice when construction and growth slows on campus. In the meantime I'm enjoying this sight that's between my office and the photography lab.



Snow Building Construction, 2006

Spring Runoff

Many of the rivers and creeks are running at or near flood stage right now. It's nice to see after so many dry springs. Mike and I went out and made some photographs of this nice group of trees in a field flooded by the Henry's Fork of the Snake River this evening before and after sunset.


Flooded Field, Before Sunset, Fremont County, ID 2006


Flooded Field, After Sunset, Fremont County, ID 2006

Squirrel Creek Railroad Bridge

This afternoon I took a drive to and around Squirrel, one of my favorite places in the upper valley. I thought I knew the area pretty well, but I found a really neat spot on Squirrel Creek. There is a decomissioned railroad line that runs through the area. I drove down it and ended up at an old bridge that crossed the creek. It's a beautiful little underdiscovered area that I hope stays that way. If it's like most places around here though, it will soon be trashed, fenced off, or otherwise "discovered" shortly.




Railroad Bridge over Squirrel Creek, near Squirrel, ID 2006

June Bugs

Our mailbox is under our porch light. June bugs congregate near the light and fall into the mailbox and can't crawl out. There are 11 bugs in there now, I wonder how many we'll get by the end of summer.


Eleven June Bugs in our Mailbox, 2006

Root Beer

I've always liked this sign in Ashton that several of my students have photographed. Jon had to go up there for some reason and I tagged along.


Frostop Diner, Ashton, ID 2006

Summer Fun

Kevin and Ethan had a pretty good time today in our hot summer weather, it seemed to go from highs in the 50s to highs in the 80s overnight. Anyway, here they are after running through the sprinkler.

Roadside Asparagus

I think I missed the peak of picking roadside asparagus by ten days or so. I managed to find a couple pounds of decent asparagus along the ditch banks in Menan today though (man, I'm turning into my parents). It's going to be pretty tasty.



Roadside Asparagus, 2006

Mud Lake Fire

Mike Slade, a good friend of mine who is teaching a photography class for us this summer, and I took a drive to Atomic City, up to Howe, and through Mud Lake back to Rexburg. It was fun to spend a good bit of time with Mike and show him a little bit of the state.

Mike has borrowed a big (12x20") camera from his graduate professor. So, he was anxious to get out and photograph with it. On our way to Mud Lake, where we thought we might make a few photographs, we saw a big plume of smoke. It looked pretty intriguing, so we drove in that direction. We discovered a bunch of burning straw bales and stayed past sunset photographing them. Mike even managed to shoot 4 sheets of 12x20 film. It was a great evening.


Mike Photographing with the 12x20, near Mud Lake, ID



Fire, near Mud Lake, ID 2006

Lightning

Last night we had a barbeque at our house. Tracie, her friend Katie, Jon, Kristi, and Susan and the boys attended. We had good food (veggies, brats, steaks, and pineapple) and then played a bit of lightning, cut-throat, or whatever you call the game with two basketballs where the player who makes a shot if you miss gets you out. It was a lot of fun, summer has officially begun.


Jon, Katie, Tracie, Kristi, Kevin, and Susan


Lightning, 2006

Animal Still Lifes

When I got home from Louisiana I found a dead and mostly decapitated finch in our front yard. I put it in the garage and got around to photographing it yesterday.


House Finch, 2006

A few months ago Tyler, one of my students, brought me in a few Great Horned Owl Pellets. Pellets are the bones and fur that owls can't digest. Great Horned Owls regurgitate oval gray/brown fur pellets about the size of a golf ball. They were pretty fresh (moist), so they've been drying out in my garage ever since. Yesterday I pulled them apart and managed to find around 15 rodent skeletons. I had to use tweezers to remove as much fur as possible. Susan says she doesn't want them back. Anyway, here are some of the skulls.



Rodent Skulls, 2006

Leftover Louisiana

Here are a few photographs of various travels through the backroads of southwest Louisiana.



Notts Corner Restaurant, Lake Arthur, LA



Lake Arthur Bars, Lake Arthur, LA<

Louisiana - Day 8

Today was my last day photographing in Cameron Parish for this trip. I made a few more photographs at Holly Beach and Cameron. I then spent sunset at Rutheford Beach. I used to think Rutheford Beach was one of the ugliest and littered beaches I had ever seen. However, in comparison to the devastation and wreckage associated with Hurricane Rita, Rutheford seemed fairly pristsine. The light of sunset also tends to make everything a bit lovelier. Anyway, it was a fitting end to a week of photographing.


Broken Palm, Holly Beach, LA 2006


Broken Home Foundation, Holly Beach, LA 2006


Destroyed Building, Cameron, LA 2006


Gulf of Mexico from Rutheford Beach, LA 2006


Sunset at Rutheford Beach, LA 2006

Vegas Magic

Lake Charles, Louisiana (where I'm staying) has a lot of casinos. Some are pretty new and upscale. Some aren't. Here's one of the seedier ones I found on my drive home last night.


Vegas Magic Casino, Lake Charles, LA 2006

Louisiana - Day 7

Today was a productive day. I started out in Peveto Woods in western Cameron Parish looking for birds. The birding was pretty good (14 species of warblers including my first Bay-breasted and Blackburnian Warblers of the trip), but the mosquitoes and deer flies were intolerable. My arms, pants, and shirt were spotted with blood from swatting the engorged critters. I eventually had to break out the deet, it burns my skin, melts plastic, and is generally miserable stuff, but it kept the mosquitoes in check. It doesn’t seem to do anything for the deer flies however. I then hopped the ferry to the east side of the parish and spent quite a bit of time photographing near Oak Grove.

Tomorrow is my last full day of photographing in Cameron. I think I’ll concentrate on photographing the ocean. Wednesday morning I’ll probably take a long drive through marshes, rice fields, and swamps on my way to Baton Rouge where I’ll visit with a few friends and prepare for the trip home.

By the way internet access was down again last night, so I'm posting yesterday's post today.



Live Oak, Oak Grove, LA 2006


Garden Hoses and Christmas Lights, Oak Grove, LA 2006


Old Vaults, Rutheford Cemetery, Rutheford, LA 2006


Car and Building, Oak Grove, LA 2006


South Cameron High School, Cameron Parish, LA 2006


Mary, Creole, LA 2006

Louisiana - Day 6

More of the same:



Overturned Boat, Grand Chenier, LA 2006


Commercial Building, Cameron, LA 2006


Destroyed Vehicle, Holly Beach, LA 2006


Basketball Court, Holly Beach, LA 2006

Louisiana - Days 4 & 5

Today was a day to do a few non-photo things. When I got home last night I heard a loud hissing sound coming from one of the tires. I felt around and found a nail draining the air from the tire. I called the rental company and they sent somebody to put on the spare (I could have done it, but they said I should let somebody else do it). This morning it was raining like crazy, so I took the car in to get the flat fixed, did a little bit of shopping, and did laundry. I didn't even make it to the coast. It was sort of a nice break actually.

There was a pretty violent thunder storm last night that knocked out internet access. So, I'm posting some of yesterday's images on today's post. Yesterday I concentrated my efforts photographing some of the chenier wood lots on the coast. The damage isn't as obvious, but it's still apparent. Here's what I found.


Martin Beach Woods, Martin Beach, LA 2006


Peveto Woods #1, Little Florida Beach, LA 2006


Peveto Woods #2, Little Florida Beach, LA 2006


Blown Over Oak, Smith's Ridge, LA 2006

I also photographed a couple of large boats washed ashore by the storm.


Captain Mickey, Cameron Parish, LA 2006


Caminada Bay & Captain Mickey, Cameron Parish, LA 2006

Louisiana - Day 3

I'm sort of out of things to say. Here are some photographs from today.


Destroyed Home, Cameron, LA 2006


Store Interior, Cameron, LA 2006


Bent and Dead Oak, Constance Beach, LA 2006


Slab and Posts from Destroyed Home, Constance Beach, LA 2006


Salt Water Damaged Marsh, Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, LA 2006

Louisiana - Day 2

Today I decided to look at the east side of Cameron Parish, particularly the town of Cameron (the biggest town in the parish). I stopped into the sheriff's office to let them know who I was and what I'd be doing for the next few days. The dispatcher was very nice and supportive. She said any publicity would be great. According to her and others I've spoken with, Katrina and New Orleans have been getting all of the press and Rita and Cameron have been largely ignored. I suppose it's understandable considering the large size of New Orleans and the small size of Cameron, but these people have suffered enormous loss. Anyway, things were a mess in Cameron. Some structures were standing, especially structures associated with the oil and gas industry, but nearly all of the schools, businesses, churches, government buildings, and homes were damaged beyong repair. The Cameron Motel, a large motel where I've stayed in the past was destroyed, while I couldn't even find or recognize the location of the Gulf Motel (my usual place to stay in Cameron). It was an invigorating, frustrating, depressing, and rewarding day. Here are some photographs.


Cameron School, Cameron, LA 2006


Cameron School Gymnasium, Cameron, LA 2006


CamMart (where I used to buy hot links, boudin, and tasso), Cameron, LA 2006


Old Caskets (I guess that's the word I'm looking for), Rutheford, LA 2006


Knights of Columbus Hall, Cameron, LA 2006

After looking at so much devastation it was nice to take a walk on the beach during a beautiful sunset.


Holly Beach at Sunset, Holly Beach, LA 2006

Greetings From Louisiana - Day 1

Last spring I went to Louisiana to photograph the cheniers of Cameron Parish. In September Hrrican Rita destroyed, or severely damaged most of Cameron Parish. I was anxious to get back and document the impact. The school was nice enough to help defray the costs and Susan was kind enough to stay home with the children. So, I've been in Louisiana since May 1st. I got to Cameron on May 2nd. The first couple of days really wore me out. I'm not used to the heat, humidity, and photographing from sun up to sun down. By the time I got home I dind't have the energy to post to the blog. I'll try to do better. Every couple of days I'll try to post updates. I'll be in Cameron through May 9th.

After sleeping at a dive in Lafayette, I stopped in the Jennings Wal-Mart for a few supplies (cooler, groceries, bug spray, and ice) and drove down to the coast. The impact of Rita was evident 30 miles from shore. Homes, churches, and businesses were damaged and destroyed. A sign welcoming visitors to the Creole Nature Trail was thrashed.


Creole Nature Trail Welcome Sign, Hackberry, LA 2006

Along the way landmarks such as the Sabine NWR visitors center, various boat ramps, and camps were destroyed. The biggest shock however, was the resort town of Holly Beach. Holly Beach is a community of vacation homes and permanent residents. There are about 300 homes in the town. Not one of them was standing. It was unbelievable. Amazingly though, a few residents were already rebuilding.



Holly Beach, LA 2006

I spent the rests of the afternoon driving on the west side of the parish looking at wildlife, observing the impact of the hurricane, and enjoying the beach.


Damaged Home, Constance Beach, LA 2006


Destroyed Trailer, Johnson's Bayou, LA 2006


Big Thing on Beach, Holly Beach, LA 2006


One of Hundreds of Jelly Fish on Beach, Cameron Parish, LA 2006


Cement Slab and Palms, Holly Beach, LA 2006