the End

All stories come to an end & I think another part of my "Last Farmers" essay has reached that point.  This summer I photographed Daryl Cutter as he sold off his dairy herd and moved closer to retirement.  Today I visited Earl Dawson one last time.  His farm remains pretty much the same - hay in the barn, sheep in the pasture, but the tractors are quiet now.  His widow Janet told me how much he had enjoyed the Cincinnati Magazine story and all the attention he received because of it. The family even used my photos at his funeral service.  "That one of Earl in the straw hat," Janet said, "everyone loved that photo.  That was Earl." And that, is more than enough.

what's left

Sixty years on - empty store fronts, quiet streets and proclamations of a better time.  In the winter of 1953-54 the town of Milan was taken on quite a ride when their high school basketball team won the Indiana State Championship.  The story is told that on the day after the victory 40,000 people descended on the town of 1,100 - lining the state road for more than 13 miles.  What a sight that must have been.

power & light

on the way home

Rainbow over Hanover College & sunset across the road...

concours

An update for my friend Dyan.  We really are working...

backlight

Back lit & front filled - all from the same source.

the mudders

Mud Stash Fall 2013, Perfect North Slopes.  Maggie & the boys from BARC (Blue Ash Recreation Center) doing their thing.