6:18 a.m.

I woke up to my phone ringing. I thought it was my alarm and I didn't answer. When I looked at the screen I saw the missed call from Ralph (editor). Not good. At 6:18 it could only be spot news. I called back and got the report of the accident. "People still inside and climbing out of a car on M-20." "Alright, I'll check it out..." Often it's a wild goose chase. But you never know.

I drove by the scene it didn't look like much, so I didn't plan on stopping. On my second pass I saw a car on its side so I found a parking spot a few hundred yards up on a side road and carefully walked along the shoulder to the scene.  There was no ambulance and police officers were pretty relaxed. A good sign. I took this shot and was getting ready to leave when the officer in the photo told me there was headed to a fatal car/pedestrian accident across town. "Here we go again..."

I headed there, shot it quick, and headed back to the office to layout the page on deadline.

11.11.11.