November 15

During the opening week of deer season I spent a few hours with Zach and his dad, Rich, out in their deer blind for a story I was working on.  It was a unique experience being that still in the woods.  Listening.  Watching.  Letting your breathing fall into a pattern.  Stillness.  Seconds turning into minutes, minutes turning into hours.  I lost all sense of time, just being there letting my mind drift.  I lost myself in my thoughts.  Something I can easily do away, but being there, watching the shadows lengthen in the forest was good.  Calming.

Mobile Meat Processing

"Classic country tunes float through the crisp November air on opening day from a white trailer parked in the woods at a Sanford home.  Inside, two men work diligently shoulder to shoulder slicing venison.  A cut here.  A cut there.  Cut, slice, cut, slice, cut, slice.  They have the rhythm down.  “The whole secret is to know where your fingers are at,” one of them says about ensuring that they don’t end up sliced themselves.  “Don’t force it.”

The advice comes from Gary Giddings as he cuts up an eight point buck for Rich Hale and his fourteen year old son, Zach, who killed the deer. Giddings, a Midland man, started his business, Mobile Meat Processing, three years ago but he’s been working in the meat industry long before taking his skill to the road.  He’s worked as a butcher since the eighth grade and graduated from the National School of Meat Cutting in Toledo, Ohio in 1982.

Giddings is proud of his door to door service.  “When I leave it’s in their freezer,” he says.  As far as he knows he’s the only mobile processing unit in the state. A few hours later, the meat is packaged and turned over to the Hales and the white trailer rumbles off through the woods. This time of year, they process a lot of deer, but they have upcoming jobs with hogs and goats.

Back at Gary’s home in Midland, he and his business partner, Nick Moeller, clean the knives and spray out the blood from the white interior.  Gary outfitted the trailer himself.  His wife, Debra, found a trailer with a frame and he went to work putting in the insulation and equipment.  After finishing their day jobs, they load up and drive out to wherever meat needs processing."

Hello winter.

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.

Bullock Crek Eq.

This is the final edit from the Bullock Creek equestrian story I did on the team earlier this fall. I followed the team through two competitions held at the Midland County Fairgrounds this year. The team was great to hang with and the access was good. I always looked forward to my time at the fairgrounds, even if it meant a little less sleep bone chilling fall mornings.

Red

From a fruitless feature hunt in New Hampshire one snowy afternoon last January. Can you tell I'm going through the hard drive?

Snow on the mind

I'll miss New Hampshire's sunny winter days, but with a killer snow forecast this year we'll see what Michigan can come up with.


[NH. Jan. 2011.]

Living life

On Sunday I got to see Zach and Sarah, two of my best friends from high school. I stood in their wedding a few years ago, but lost touch with them while I tromped around the states on internships. I also got to see Matt, another buddy from high school. We shot a few clays and then I shot a few photos of Zach as he sighted in his gun for opening day.

I love Michigan.

November Sky

On the desk (round two)

A few more of my A1 layouts from the desk shift. I'm getting to the point where I can bang out a page in a half hour, but I've caught going to my 'safe' layouts when the pressure is on. Like with anything else, a little planning goes a long way.