Northwest Introduction

Over the next month or so I’ll be posting pictures from a trip to the U.S. Northwest (coastal northern Calif, Oregon, and Washington) from August (and some July) of 2016.

My plans for the trip were met – the scenery, historic architecture (focused on New Deal), and evidence on changing economies (from declining fishery and lumber, to tourism) were more than I expected.

There was, however, a consequence that I did not expect – the surprising amount of very public and visible evidence of homelessness, near-homelessness, and untreated drug, mental, and physical health problems in the small towns across the region. Since I typically don’t take pictures of people, there won’t be pictures of those who are no longer part of the main society, but the ‘lost’ folk will be discussed with pictures of nearby areas.

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It won’t all be serious though. As this photo (from Aberdeen, WA) suggests, there were many quite interesting interactions with local folk along the way. Commentary on those interactions will be included.

Note that postings of photos will occur over quite some time – I will be posting the photos and commentary as I process them, which I’m just beginning.