Sports photographer for the weekend

Presidents Day weekend is a big weekend for the Methow Valley. While it's a three-day weekend for us, many Seattle area schools have the whole week off, so hotels and cabins are full, and several fun sports events keep things interesting.

 I ran around the valley photographing the snow sports (not normally my beat) because the sports editor was over in Tacoma covering the state wrestling championships.

I shot folks getting on the bus for the Tour of the Methow:

Loading up the school bus before a day of skiing.

The Tour of the Methow is a Nordic Club event that celebrates some of the best ski trails in the valley. These folks were taking the bus up to Cub Creek to start a minimum 30-kilometer ski. I met some of them on the trail heading for Winthrop later that afternoon - (when the weather had changed from snowy to warm and sunny) - on the tail end of a 60-K leg. They had been moving, with some rest stops, I'm sure, for around six hours by that time.

Just for the record, I am NOT one of those skiers.

Next, I shot photos of the Snowshoe Softball tournament.

Making a dive for third base.

Snowshoe softball is ALL about the running, diving and fielding.

These teams come back for the tournament every year. Most are from the west side of the mountains, so they are delighted to be getting all snowy.

Second base action

Rad first base woman

The third - and final - fun photo assignment was on Sunday morning at the Doggie Dash. You pretty much can't take a bad photo there. Here are some fun ones:

Some of the costume finalists (after the heats were skied, so I'm going backwards here).

Kristen Smith in roller derby garb with Kurt Meachum as referee.

Kelly Schuh, young winner of Best in Show award. She gets to keep the Golden Poodle statue for the year.

Kelly becomes painfully aware of the hazards of having dogs on the sidelines during her heat.

I love that the dogs get into it as much as the people.

Funniest Cat Photo

I'm proud to announce that I'm the winner of the Funniest Cat Photo in the 2012 Dog and Cat Photo Contest at the Winthrop Gallery. Here's the winning image:

Wanted: for rodent rustling

Frank gets credit for the funny caption, which is part of what's funny about the photo.

I think it's a technically good image because the resolution is so high on Vito's face, a fact that has more to do with luck than anything (I think he was about to sniff the lens), but that's photography for you.

The other thing that's funny about the photo is Vito himself, who is a complete goofball, but you'd have to know him. Let's just say he is the Cosmo Kramer of the cat world.

I also entered the photo of Chica below.

Wanted: for butter burglary

It's not as technically good, but a really pretty image. Both prints are 8" by 10" and are visually powerful, I think.

The Dog and Cat Photo Contest is held by the Winthrop Gallery each year to raise money for Okanogan County low-cost spay and neuter clinic (OK SNIP). It is a really good cause and is constantly on the verge of shutting down for lack of funds, so I'm proud to support it.

When Chica and Vito were dumped as kittens and showed up meowing and hungry on our property a few years ago, Dot Schank of OK SNIP helped us trap the kitties and set us up to foster them. Then she transported them to Okanogan to be fixed - at a nominal cost to us. We weren't planning on keeping them, but somehow we never found a home for the furry monsters . . . .

So anyway, Dot has asked if OK SNIP could use these images in its advertising, and I said I'd be honored. These fine kitties are paying their way in life, one way or another.

Victories large and small

I've been speaking out for gay rights and working for marriage equality for "oh these many years," and I want to take this moment to celebrate a big victory and a little one.

The big victory is that Washington's governor, Christine Gregoire, signed legislation on Monday to make marriage in our state "a civil contract between two persons who have each attained the age of eighteen years, and who are otherwise capable." Until it gets held up in the inevitable referendum process, we can all celebrate the fact that any consenting adult can marry the person whom they love.

Just to clarify, I am honestly not that stuck on the idea of marriage. In fact, I would prefer it if the government would get out of the marriage business altogether and strike the 1,110-some rights and responsibilities that are linked to the institution. But THAT would be much more costly and time-consuming and will never happen, so we have to commit ourselves before God and everyone - including the state.

With contributions from my fellow reporters Marcy Stamper and Ann McCreary, I wrote a story about how marriage equality will affect gays and lesbians in the Methow Valley. I am proud of the reporting work on the story; I learned a lot in the process of interviewing people and putting the story together; and I am happy to be able to share it with the world. Please click on Marriage Equality to read the entire piece on the Methow Valley News website.

The little victory is that I was invited to an impromptu celebration of the marriage equality law tonight at Carlos 1800 restaurant in Winthrop. The gay network sent out texts and emails to all the valley queer folk, and when I walked in, they occupied a good portion of the otherwise empty, bar/restaurant. I estimate around 50 to 60 people were there and I was the only straight person! I was welcomed with hugs and smiles and pats on the back and lots of thank yous. I met some new people, learned that one person (who wasn't there) is gay, and had a fun time laughing and talking with a very cool segment of our little community.

Thomas (front left) and Tony (front right) will be unable to live together in the United States until the Defense of Marriage Act is repealed. They are making their way through life, on their own terms, but when will they be able to settle down?

Here are my thoughts on marriage equality from a previous post - almost a year ago - on the same subject.

Walking around scared

            Gay people are walking around scared, and they have been walking around scared their whole lives.

            How do I know? When I asked four gay couples in my community to lend their voices to a story on Washington’s marriage equality bill, SB6239, only one pair agreed to be featured in the story - and those two agreed with fear and trepidation.

            Marge and Pat, John and Carl, Sunny and June, (names changed) each went home to their partner, discussed the interview seriously, and opted out. John and Carl initially agreed - we even had set a day and time to meet - and then they backed out.

            Carl said he had read the comments to a thread on the Methownet.com bulletin board and “got nervous.” He said, “We own a business, and we are not comfortable putting ourselves out there for scrutiny.”

            The bulletin board thread he referred to started as a positive remark - someone posted that they were proud to live in this state. Subsequent comments were mostly supportive until it got to the guy who basically said, “Next they’ll want to marry their dogs.”

            Sunny said, “We've only been met with kindness in this valley, and it would be very sad for us to read any hateful backlash letters pointed at us as a couple and parents in the following week (or even worse, have [our son] read the letters).”

            Pat is in seminary and said it would be “complicated.”

            So, I get it. We all just want to live our lives, not stick our necks out too far - god knows gays and lesbians already stick their necks out just by being themselves - and continue to live in this welcoming community. We don’t want hate directed at us.

            But who is going to tell this story? And how long must people walk around in fear?