Impermanence

Wood Spirits

2012-02-02T22:01:00.003-05:00

A barrel of methanol was deposited by Tropical Storm Irene downriver of the Quechee Gorge.

Goreyesque

2012-02-02T21:54:00.002-05:00

I just discovered that Edward Gorey's home, Elephant House, is a museum. The discovery gave me the inspiration to look for the Gorey out there. I hope I can find more.

Winter Challenge

2012-02-02T21:47:00.003-05:00

In the winter the road behind my house is more suited for sledding than travel, but it remains a challenge for the intrepid to see how late in the season a car, truck or other vehicle can be driven up it without sliding back down or ending up in a ditch.

The last person to try made a gallant attempt, passing the hairpin curve, but sliding back at the last second.

My good neighbor Amos brought the come-along.

Hairy Eyeball

2012-02-02T21:43:00.004-05:00

The village cats were at that old power struggle again.

Wasteland?

2011-12-07T17:19:00.003-05:00

"What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow out of this stony rubbish?"

Our roads, parking lots, bridges, building foundations and airport runways came out of this land.

When there's no more rock and sand to scrape out of the ground, what then?

Still not a wasteland. You get 150,000 square feet of sweet, low cost retail space under one roof, offices, manufacturers, plus more roads and parking lots.

They're not paving paradise, they're just paving the land that's already been wasted.

Castoffs

2011-12-01T17:43:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple that missed the page:
One from the Hartford High graduation...

And another from Bethel, Vt. as firefighters and EMTs made their way through yards and trails to access areas cut off by flooding.

Day's Work

2011-11-29T09:48:00.001-05:00

White River Junction, Vt.

Grace the Ace

2011-11-28T15:56:00.002-05:00

Senior Portrait.

On Celebration

2011-11-18T21:36:00.002-05:00

A toast. Montpelier, Vt.

Noise maker. Rhode Island.

"It's All Over"

2011-11-15T10:55:00.006-05:00

Wrapped in a blanket, Christine Rogers walks up and down the road in front of a burned up camper in her yard trying to keep cell reception while contacting family about the fire last Saturday.

Earlier in the evening Rogers's husband Stanley Rogers Jr. came home drunk and lit the house and the camper on fire before fleeing into the woods. Christine said he is a kind, loving man except when he is drunk. Christine said he has been verbally abusive and a few times physically abusive toward her. A state police officer on the scene said he knew the family from responding to the home during family fights.

While firefighters put out the flames in both structures local police, sheriffs and state police searched the woods and found Stanley Rogers Jr. about two miles south of the home in a cabin.

"You can't make yourself stop loving someone ... but I can't put my kids through that again," reflected Christine. "Something like this had to happen for me to realize that it's all over."

Peter Paul

2011-11-15T10:52:00.002-05:00

Peter Paul. Randolph Center, Vt.

60 Years of Military Funerals

2011-11-08T14:04:00.002-05:00

Larry Zullo is one of five brothers from Claremont that served in World War II. He was on the honor guard that buried marines and sailors at sea on the USS Hancock in the Pacific and after completing his service he joined the American Legion and has continued to perform the service for veterans for the last 60 years.

No License

2011-11-08T14:02:00.004-05:00

A low rider Ford Ranchero is not very practical, but looks good when your only ride is a ten speed.

Soccer in the Snow

2011-11-08T13:48:00.003-05:00

Bishop Brady at Hanover.

"Everybody Needs a Miracle"

2011-10-26T18:20:00.003-04:00

Elizabeth O'Brien of Lebanon prays at the foot of the statue of St. Anthony, patron saint of miracles and lost articles outside St. Anthony's Church in White River Junction.

Action

2011-10-24T17:41:00.001-04:00

A near miss during the Hanover vs. Lebanon game last Friday.

The Yahoo

2011-10-24T17:35:00.002-04:00

Austin and Chance ride in the back of a pickup truck down a trail called The Yahoo from the mountainside pasture at Becket Farms in East Haverhill, NH. The two are students at East Valley Academy for boys who have not succeeded in traditional schools due to a number of factors. They alternate between academics and working on the farm with a small herd of Miniature Hereford cows.

Long Ride Home

2011-10-24T10:54:00.005-04:00

Shawn Farnsworth was a young legend within a close knit community of motorcyclists involved with the sport of hill climbing. He died on October 10 of injuries sustained in an accident at a national hill climb competition in Ohio.

Three days later Farnsworth's brother Michael organized a ride to go retrieve his body when it arrived at the Manchester airport and bring him home. The ride drew over 100 people whose lives were personally touched by Shawn in cars, trucks and at least 85 bikes.

Sadly, I failed to capture the scale of the community response as two columns of motorcycles of all makes and styles escorted the hearse up the darkened highway that night. I was privileged to spend the day with Shawn's family, witness their grief and hear their stories.

I have said this before, but when people share these moments with us I feel an increased an overwhelming sense of responsibility. It's not so much that I want them to like the pictures, but I want to do the story justice.

The Road to Worlds

2011-10-12T19:37:00.002-04:00

This summer I took off my photographer hat and put on my bagpiper hat to go play with the Catamount Pipe Band in the World Piping Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.

So, here I present to you a grand family style captive audience slide show of what happens when a photographer goes out into the world with an instrument in his hands instead of a camera. The camera, of course, ends up on his shoulder.

To add to the "off duty" ambiance, I made awful scans, left most of the dust intact, and did my best not to edit tightly.

Please dim your lights and enjoy.

-jmp

p.s. We did quite well with a second place in competition at the Bridge of Allan games and tenth in grad 4A at the worlds. Check out our performance in the qualifying round at worlds.

Debates Past

2011-10-12T18:12:00.001-04:00

In honor of last night's Republican primary debate in Hanover (or "Dartmouth, New Hampshire" according to NPR) I dug back to 2007 for some photos from the Democratic primary debate. I couldn't be there last night so I offer these images.

Right Place Right Time

2011-10-06T18:07:00.000-04:00

I was sitting in a parking space just off the road in Hartford yesterday and had just hung up the phone when I noticed the road filling with muddy water. It was oozing toward me like chocolate sauce or horror movie blood from a manhole and making long short fountains from all the cracks in the asphalt and the space where the curb meets the road.

I had a front row seat to a water main break. What a thrill.

Autumn Arrives: Sure As It Were Part 2

2011-10-05T11:04:00.003-04:00

Carl Adams turned 94 in August. He told me in July that every fall he plants 200 bulbs on his property in Lebanon, and by chance last week I drove by and he was out planting. He got 30 of the spring flowers in the ground before taking a break on the porch as his wife Pat cut up apples to freeze for winter pies.

The Brothers Sharff

2011-10-05T10:49:00.005-04:00

Aaron Sharff, 27, of Brattleboro, Vt. left, and his brother Billy Sharff, 23, of Cornish, NH, right, begin shooting a film they co-wrote and will co-direct this October.

The film, called Shakespeare's Daughter, about an aging poet, will be shot partly on location at Robert Frost's home in Franconia, NH.

The Sharff brothers discuss casting and costuming in Cornish in September.

Waiting in the Wings

2011-07-22T20:22:00.003-04:00

Former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer stepped onto the stage of the Republican Presidential Primary Thursday in Hanover, NH.

Glowing Fuel

2011-07-22T20:20:00.000-04:00

Lebanon, NH

Blood Drive

2011-07-22T20:16:00.001-04:00

The nation wide blood supply is at a 12 year low.
Norwich, VT

Amorphophallus Titanum

2011-07-22T20:01:00.003-04:00

Rhiannon Greywolf gets a close look at an Amorphophallus titanum blooming for the first time in the plant's eight years in the Murdough Greenhouse at Dartmouth College Tuesday, July 5, 2011. The plant, native to Sumatra, produces a strong odor of rotting flesh to draw carrion flies for pollination.

Sure As It Were

2011-07-13T11:16:00.004-04:00

"I hate to see this go, but you see it's going to go, sure as it were, back to nature," said Carl Adams as we sat on his porch at Ascutney View Farm looking out at the trees that had grown up to hide the view of Mount Ascutney for which the farm is named.

He told me he'd like to see Tom Brokaw do a book on the decline of the family farm. Adams has read two of Brokaw's books and thinks he's the man for the job. I thought maybe I should attempt it, but the day's heat had me struggling just to keep the conversation going or even lift my camera. So I listened.

Adams grew up on the farm and has lived there his whole 93 years. The farmhouse was built in 1798 adjoining the original homestead. That first house has since been demolished and built over using some of the original timbers to house his daughter's family. His grandchildren are the ninth generation living on the farm that can trace their ancestry to Moses Hebard the original settler of the land.

In the 1960's Adams switched from dairy to raising beef cattle. Now the barns and outbuildings are quieter, housing what he calls a menagerie of animals. Some goats. A colt was born on the farm recently. The first Adams can remember.

In 1957 Lebanon was incorporated as a city. At the time Adams was the assessor of livestock for the 22 farms in town. Through that experience he was recruited to be the city's first tax assessor, a position he held until 1986. In those times he remembers a degree of volunteerism that he doesn't recognize taking place now.

Adams says he plants over 100 bulbs every fall. Maybe I'll go back and photograph him then. It will be a bit cooler and maybe I'll come away with a photo that has some more depth to reflect the life of Mr. Adams.

Watching from the Porch

2011-05-17T10:26:00.001-04:00

Enfield, NH

Last Holy Thursday

2011-04-29T16:45:00.004-04:00

St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Windsor, VT

Hetherington and Hondros Killed

2011-04-21T01:14:00.003-04:00

Diary (2010) from Tim Hetherington on Vimeo.

Photographers Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros were killed today covering the conflict in Libya. It's a sad loss of two insightful storytellers.

Spring Water

2011-04-18T11:14:00.005-04:00

Kayakers from Dartmouth College's Ledyard Canoe Club and around New England gathered for the Wells River Rumble Saturday. The water was running at double the levels recorded during last year's race.

Eagles and Crows

2011-04-18T11:10:00.001-04:00

Watching the crows pester a bald eagle. Norwich, VT

No Bar to Pass

2011-04-18T11:02:00.002-04:00

Mike Cyphers takes a practice vault during a track meet in Lebanon, NH.

The Best Medicine

2011-04-18T10:52:00.002-04:00

It's nice to see some smiles in the health care debate. Earlier in April a community forum was held in South Royalton, Vt. to discuss the state's move toward reform.

When Dick Ellis of Royalton, right, shared the story of his eight months navigating through different doctors, specialists and redundant tests to get new hearing aids it brought laughs from the audience including Michael Levengood of Bridgewater, center.

Now that Ellis has his new hearing aids he feels that his hearing has continued to change and it may be time to start the process again.

Tableau

2011-04-18T10:51:00.003-04:00

Blue Mountain Academy Bel Canto Choir members before the performance.
The Woodlands, Lebanon, NH

From the Archive

2011-04-15T00:46:00.002-04:00

Concord, NH. 2008
Reminds me of the frog.

Blue

2011-04-14T19:32:00.000-04:00

Sharon, VT

Spring

2011-04-04T23:01:00.002-04:00

Bethel, VT

Artificial

2011-04-04T22:43:00.002-04:00

I allowed myself to use lights. I challenged myself to use lights. I got to use lights. I'm not sure how to state it, but I actually lit a portrait last week.
Enfield, NH

Tea

2011-04-04T22:38:00.002-04:00

Preparing for the ceremony.

Waiting for guests.
Annual Japanese Festival. Hanover, NH

Sundown

2011-04-04T22:36:00.001-04:00

Claremont, NH

New England Classical Academy

2011-04-04T22:28:00.002-04:00

Claremont, NH

Yield

2011-04-02T19:30:00.003-04:00

Hanover, NH

I went down into the bowels of the Dartmouth art library yesterday and came across this thought of Hugh Edwards' transcribed into a book by Danny Lyon, "There is no reality but the present instant. And that is something that we cannot realize."

It brought me back to the name of this blog. That's it then isn't it?

We Love Japan

2011-03-24T21:07:00.001-04:00

Hanover, NH

Spring Today, Maybe Tomorrow

2011-03-23T19:20:00.002-04:00

Lebanon, NH

West Hartford, VT

White River Junction, VT

West Lebanon, NH

West Lebanon, NH

Uke!

2011-03-23T19:17:00.002-04:00

The Upper Valley Ukelele Club in Hanover, NH.

Guess Who

2011-03-23T19:15:00.002-04:00

Mike Mooney, producer and actor in the short film Motel at home in Enfield, NH.

It Happens Every Year

2011-03-23T19:11:00.003-04:00

Town meeting. Town voting. How many times have you seen the kid in the voting booth? How many times were you the kid in the voting booth? Here's one more.

Claremont, NH

Cornish, NH

What Doth Life

2011-03-23T19:06:00.002-04:00

Bassist Brendan Dangelo of Windsor for a story on the local band Giant Travel Avant Garde and their collective What Doth Life that shares a rehearsal space and equipment with several other bands.

O2

2011-02-25T19:49:00.002-05:00

Oxygen Bar, West Lebanon, NH

Union

2011-02-25T19:47:00.001-05:00

Union Station, Washington, D.C.

Blind Leap

2011-02-25T19:45:00.000-05:00

Washington, D.C.

"I'd Like to Say I'm Normal"

2011-02-23T16:04:00.004-05:00

Mandy Dube's mental illness began for her with angry and violent behavior at about age 8 and has continued into adulthood. Since the August 2010 closing of Connecticut Valley House, a group home for people with chronic mental health issues in Claremont where Mandy was living, Dube and her family have struggled to find stability and hope for the future.

Watch her story at Vnews.com

Shovel 'Em

2011-02-09T18:45:00.003-05:00

Seriously. Clean off the roof!

The Little

2011-02-09T18:42:00.001-05:00

Lebanon, NH

Listen

2011-02-09T18:36:00.001-05:00

Randolph, VT

Domesticated

2011-02-09T18:31:00.002-05:00

Boston

2011-02-09T18:26:00.002-05:00

I Like Your Feather

2011-02-09T18:23:00.001-05:00

Fredericksburg, VA

Stay Dry

2010-09-15T18:10:00.001-04:00

Claremont, NH

Last Jam

2010-09-15T17:58:00.003-04:00

The last jam at Freighthouse Woodworks in South Royalton after 12 years running.

First Day, First Grade

2010-09-07T11:35:00.000-04:00

Claremont, NH

Citizenship

2010-09-07T11:30:00.003-04:00

A South African celebrates her new United States citizenship after a ceremony in Montpelier,Vt. I celebrate the styles of Christopher Morris and Martin Parr.

Third Cut

2010-09-07T11:27:00.002-04:00

Randolph Center, Vt.

A Daily Encounter

2010-09-07T11:21:00.001-04:00

Jeff Niehaus passes two deer nearly every day on his walk home from work in Hanover, NH.

July 4

2010-09-07T11:12:00.004-04:00

Stonington, Ct.

It's Hot Out

2010-05-26T09:00:00.003-04:00

When it's hot out, journalists like to do stories about the weather. The same when it's cold. When it's rainy, snowy, stormy. It helps when the particular weather conditions are slightly unseasonable. So, today it was hot and I went in search of ice cream.

Lois, right, and her friend Caitlin, left, were feeding Ruby, Lois's daughter her first ice cream in Lebanon today and it got messy. It reminds me of that feeling I get when I'm eating chicken wings - like they should only be eaten in seclusion or in a dark room because it's such a messy process.

They were enjoying themselves though, mess and all. Lois didn't skip a beat when Ruby's ice cream fell on the ground. She retrieved the cone scooped up some soft serve from her own cone and gave it back.

Defiance

2010-05-24T23:59:00.002-04:00

Newport, NH

My Backyard

2010-05-24T23:44:00.004-04:00

Still looking back, but a little closer to home in East Bethel, Vt.

Look Away

2010-05-24T23:14:00.010-04:00

I'm always looking back to the archive for images to share.

Scarecrow. Lebanon, NH

Flag Retirement. Canaan, NH

Shrine Bowl Parade. Windsor, VT

Playground. Claremont, NH

Fresh Linen

2010-05-17T22:17:00.002-04:00

Recently I had an assignment to photograph a local, historic inn that has added two new buildings with many new rooms. After taking the official tour, I realized that the only part of the original inn I had really seen was the pub. So I took the opportunity to wander the halls.

*resolute

2010-05-17T22:03:00.004-04:00

1: marked by firm determination : RESOLVED (a resolute character)

2: BOLD, STEADY (a resolute gaze)

Discovery

2010-05-10T15:53:00.004-04:00

I got a great surprise while gathering dead weeds left over from last year along my property line yesterday. Five spears of asparagus completely obscured by the thick mat of growth all around them were pushing through. I also found a clump of rhubarb not far away.

When we moved into our house it was late summer and the weeds were already in control of all the garden territory, so there is a real sense of discovery as the the old perennials are showing up this spring.

Power

2010-05-06T19:34:00.001-04:00

Third grader Brigit Van Gemeren brings the Green Mountain Youth Symphony to a forte after getting a lesson from conductor Bob Blais in conducting dynamics at the Ray School in Hanover, NH. The group of young string and wind instrument players performed a selection from their spring concert at the school.

Relaxation vs. Habit

2010-05-06T19:31:00.002-04:00

"Fishing for me is a relaxing thing," said Kurt Andrews while spending his afternoon at Kennedy Pond in Windsor, Vt. "Smoking, that's just a habit." The town select board is considering a proposal to ban smoking in its public parks and recreation areas.

Opening the Big Box

2010-05-06T19:26:00.002-04:00

Employees learn the ins and outs of appliances before the opening of a new Lowe's store in Claremont, NH.

Out the Windows

2010-05-05T18:53:00.002-04:00

Claremont, NH

Breath Right

2010-04-30T20:48:00.003-04:00

I like to photograph music like some people like to shoot sports, though it's a little more rare. A couple weeks ago I got to see a contrabassoon worth tens of thousands of dollars on an assignment.

A while before that I caught this moment while trombonist John Mosca of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra taught Ariana Haidari, 17, and a group of Lebanon High School students proper breathing technique at a workshop.

The Trees

2010-02-26T19:47:00.003-05:00

Meriden, NH

Quechee, VT

Hanover, NH

It Was Almost Me

2010-02-26T19:42:00.001-05:00

Enfield, NH

Fearless Freddie and Grady

2010-02-26T19:27:00.003-05:00

I had been hearing about Barbara Kohn and her horse Grady and donkey Fearless Freddie for some time when I got lucky enough to see them out by the road in Tunbridge last October. The rumor was that she would read the newspaper aloud to the animals early in the morning in their small corral. The reality as told by Kohn is a bit less whimsical. She says she reads to pass the time while guarding the grain bowl the thirty-year-old registered Arabian against the snacking attempts of Fearless Freddie.

Cats in Black and White

2010-02-26T19:15:00.003-05:00

I don't really consider myself a cat person more than a dog person.

Hartford, Vt.

East Bethel, Vt.

Hand-to-Face

2010-02-24T18:52:00.003-05:00

Going through a folder of images from the last couple years I noticed three of the first four had people touching their faces in different expressions. I browsed the rest of the folder and came up with a little collection of similar hand-to-face moments.

Lunch Bunch

2010-02-10T17:55:00.002-05:00

"...never neglecting a brother when he needs a helping hand."
Claremont, NH

Nobody Around

2010-02-04T22:30:00.003-05:00

But I know you were there.
White River Jct., Vt.

No Dogs, Dogs

2010-01-29T17:38:00.003-05:00

Hanover, NH

Hanover, NH

Direction

2010-01-28T19:15:00.003-05:00

White River Junction, Vt.

Where I'd Rather Be

2010-01-12T21:16:00.002-05:00

Hulett's Landing, NY

Winter Arrives

2009-12-09T17:13:00.003-05:00

As announced, winter is here. Thanks to everyone that came to the opening of the show. If you haven't seen it yet, go check it out!

Winter's Coming

2009-12-03T08:08:00.003-05:00

From December 4th to the 29th photographs of winter from my five years at the Valley News will be on display along with the images of photographer Sara Wight at Photostop in White River Junction's Tip Top Building.

Join us at Photostop for the opening of Winter's Depths from 6 - 9p.m. Friday night.

Dewey's Pond 1, Quechee, VT 1/28/08
Sean Pickett, left, and Jeff Thomas, right, ice fish on Dewey's Pond.

Verna, South Royalton, VT 10/26/05
Verna English cleans up downed limbs after an early snow storm.

Father and Son, Hanover, NH 1/1/05
Dwight Judd fishes on the Connecticut River with his son Marine Lance Cpl. Richard Judd on New Year's Day.

Thirsty

2009-11-24T09:25:00.001-05:00

Hide

2009-11-19T21:58:00.002-05:00

West Lebanon, NH

Coda-chrome 1

2009-11-17T16:55:00.002-05:00

Kodachrome, I hardly knew ye.

Back Beyond

2009-11-16T16:59:00.003-05:00

I spent the morning with Ray and Margaret feeding the turkeys and cows at Back Beyond Farm in Tunbridge.

Smelling the hay.

Form

2009-11-15T17:00:00.005-05:00

Claremont, NH

Randolph, VT.

Lebanon, NH

Quechee, VT

Hanover, NH

Veterans Days Yet to Come

2009-11-13T17:30:00.004-05:00

Perry (he wouldn't give me his real name) sits in a White River Junction coffee shop and reads that a friend of his, a British soldier he met and befriended while serving in Iraq, was killed early last week. The soldier was one of the five killed and six wounded by an Afghan police officer they were training. He tore the article out of the New York Times and kept it.

Perry was too nervous to share details that he feared could get him in trouble, but said he was the only one of seven men hit in a mortar attack to survive.

It has become a ritual for Sean Fernandes, top right, to trade hair cuts with his friend and fellow soldier Chris Dunn, bottom right, the night before reporting for National Guard training drills. The pair were close friends in high school and joined the guard together. This night is different as Fernandes' girlfriend Alanna Ojibway and brother Corey Fernandes look on.

Tonight the close friends who joined the guard togetherin high school will report to their unit for a training mission at Fort Polk, La. It is the first stage of a year-long deployment that will take them to Afghanistan to help train the national security forces.

Vermont's Smallest

2009-11-10T09:10:00.003-05:00

By now the Ark of Safety farm in West Newbury should have it's dairy licensed and running. Molly is the sole milk-producing cow at the farm which produces sour cream, cheese and yogurt for sale at farmers markets. She gives an average of nine gallons of milk each day and is meticulously cared for.

The Wyatt family sold the yogurt at the Norwich farmers market until last July when the Vermont Department of Agriculture notified them that they needed to be a licensed dairy to continue selling to the public. The licensing process led them to collaborate with Vermont Technical College students to create micro-dairy equipment that balances their need for economy with meeting the regulations created for much larger milk producing operations.

This Blog is Napping

2009-10-08T15:00:00.004-04:00

Insurance Salesman. On the rails in New York state.

I've Bean Meaning to Show You

2009-07-14T21:27:00.004-04:00

bathroom light, Randolph, Vt.

NH state track

Chris and Eugene

Easter vigil

Chinese food delivery

West Fairlee Center, Vt.