end of the dairy farm

this is a story i definitely want to come back to. got to spend a few hours on a farm for a story on the decline of small dairy businesses. luke, 23, is taking over his dad's dairy farm in hopes of building it back to it's former level of profit. he's an interesting character and i think his voice can tell an important story.

i spent a few hours with luke for a story we were running the following weekend. his farm is a goof hour and a half from columbia, so isn't easy to drop in on. i finagled another trip out there the same afternoon the mega-ice-storm hit. still didn't get anything i really like, but here it is nonetheless. i hope i can get some time this spring to shoot more and get a good interview.



























there's lots of verbs on a working farm. it's easy to layer the verbs and anticipate the verbs and keep getting better and better illustrations of the verbs, but in the end they are just verbs. the mood and the emotion will tell a better story than verbs ever could. i hope i can find more of those the next time i visit the farm.

bofday

the missing posts of yester-month...

i spent my birthday outside of comfort, texas on the ranch with my dad and lucy. the three day trip was extended to five so i could shoot the Big XII game in san antonio the following saturday (thanks boss!).

i'd been missing my folks and the hillcountry. it was rejuvenating to reconnect with both.

my dad took me on a motorcycle adventure out to enchanted rock. i still think of all the ways i could die riding on the back of that thing, but the views and smells are stunning.



the hike up the rock was shorter than i ever remember. as a kid it seemed like hours before reaching the top. it's the first place i ever heard the word "false summit", and the first place my body recognized what that meant.



as a teen i'd go camping with friends at the base and spend the day wandering around the granite uplift, in and out of the cave, scaring tour groups of school kids with voices from the shadows.



we'd bring our penniless teen version of a high class picnic to the summit. peaches, salami, crackers, a 2-gallon jug of 7-UP or the occasional bottle of cheap wine. we'd divvy out the goods and watch the sky or the sunset. we brought a kite once that lasted a whole 5 minutes before being whipped off by a gust of wind. most of the time we would explore the tiny tide pools of rainwater looking for signs of life. and all the time talking, joking, telling stories.

the hike was quick this time. 20 minutes on adult legs. i sat at the top and had a long talk with my dad looking up into the blue winter sky.

i miss the big group outings to e-rock. i get nostalgic for the time when so many friends lived so close and we had endless hours to explore. the rock is always the same but the experience will be different every time.

and my dad will always be a dork, but that's why i love him.



winter fields along the river road.



i like to think the farmer used the beer bottle to space the wires, ummm, yeah.



i can't wait to take a nap on this rock some summertime. the stretch of river beneath the cabin has cut a deeper channel since the last time i swam in it, which was more like sitting in it. it might be cannonball depth. sweet.



annual birthday self-portrait. sometimes this feel like a self-indulgent bit of navel gazing, but if i can't do that on my own damn birthday, then when can i? most of the time it takes me an hour to get comfortable being in front of my own camera, to stop trying to project what i'm feeling and just be. it's an annual reminder of what i request of others, often strangers, everyday. but that's the PR reason i do it every year. it's just something i do.

end of a championship

It's been a great year covering MU football (sorry gerry). In my first season at the Tribune, the Tigers went all the way to the Big XII Championship and were ranked #1 for the first time since 1960.

The last two games I covered KSU and OU:

Chase Daniel points to Martin Rucker while celebrating after the tandem hooked up for a 1-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Rucker and Daniel connected for two touchdowns in yesterday's 49-32 win over Kansas State.


Fox Sports Net sideline reporter Jim Knox crowd surfs in the Kansas State student section for the cameras during the fourth quarter.


The last remnants of the Kansas State student section chants "Beat KU!" as the Tigers leave the field after the game.


Freshman receiver Jeremy Maclin takes in the view of the Alamo Dome on November 30th. Maclin had 2,713 all-purpose yards, an NCAA record for freshmen.


Mizzou fans cheer in front of the Alamo for ESPN Game Day cameras.


University of Missouri junior Rob Grotha cheers on the Tigers during the first half Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.


Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel wipes his face during the first half of the Big 12 Championship game. The Tigers and Sooners were tied 14-14 heading into the second half.


MU Quarterback Chase Daniel looks up at the scoreboard in the second half of Saturday's Big 12 Championship game.


Missouri's Jeremy Maclin rushes for 22 yards to the Oklahoma 25 for a 1ST down during the third quarter.


Marching Mizzou looks on as the Tigers fall further behind in the fourth quarter.


Stoic golden girls.


Chase Daniel is sacked during the Tigers last possession of the Big 12 Championship game Saturday.


Game Over.


I won't be covering the Cotton Bowl, so my 2007 Tigers season ends here. I hope 2008 is just as exciting.

"When we give in the world what we want the most, we heal the broken part inside each of us." - Eve Ensler

i've had some lyrics lurking in my brain since last winter. it's one of those songs that i listened to a dozen times before i really heard it, and when i finally heard it, tears poured out. sometimes the simplest observations can provide the most convincing hope that things will all work out.

This is how it works
You're young until you're not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't
You laugh until you cry
You cry until you laugh
And everyone must breathe
Until their dying breath

No, this is how it works
You peer inside yourself
You take the things you like
And try to love the things you took
And then you take that love you made
And stick it into some
Someone else's heart
Pumping someone else's blood
And walking arm in arm
You hope it don't get harmed
But even if it does
You'll just do it all again
  -Regina Spektor, On the Radio