beat the darkness into light

'cuz you'll never feel so high

in and around the old vernonia mill. this place is crying for summer day trips.

a hundred unions in the snow

katie says her feet didn't get wet in the snow. i don't believe her.

everyday there's a way to do it just right

polaroid portraits shot in vernonia, while snow was still stuck to the ground.

what compels me to go

when we got to vernonia, we went looking for an old mill. we found it, sitting beside a lake, filled with graffiti and snow. it had no roof. i'll post more soon.

three years ago

i had to head out to vernonia today to cover the groundbreaking of a new school there. actually, i volunteered to make the one-hour trip there. i'd been to vernonia once before in 2008 to cover the one year anniversary of a flood that just really wrecked the small town. i was curious to see what it looked like these days. plus, for whatever reason, i find vernonia pretty charming. here's what i wrote. and here are some photos i took while i was out there today. (they don't really do this town justice.)


since the flood, many homes have been raised up off the ground, like this one.


others have been completely destroyed. their lots put up for sale.


the land where the new school will be located.


one of vernonia's churches.