When most people think of southern Vermont, they think of skiing, overpriced maple syrup and picturesque dairy farms, not men like Carey. I spotted Carey shoveling snow off of his trailer in North Windham, Vermont on Saturday, the 21st. His openness and friendliness was that of someone often overlooked and neglected by passers-by.
Carey hasn't cut his beard since "sometime in '85." I was born in '88.
Growing up, I knew a family (The Vollums) who had a Turbo Grumman Goose. On weekends the Vollums would fly their Goose to a lake house in British Columbia or McCall Idaho. In under two hours they could be worlds away from their house in downtown Portland (Oregon). I will always remember my first ride in an "Airplane-go-water," as I lovingly called them.
Seaplanes are used for exploring the territories and connecting urban and remote worlds and thus are inherently rugged.
A couple times an hour, commercial seaplanes leave from Lake Union in downtown Seattle, shuttling commuters to and from the San Juan Islands and British Columbia. These seaplanes turn a 4 hour commute involving ferries and multiple highways into 45 minute plane ride.
This is what I imagine every seaplane pilot looking like.
Despite improved roads and highways, Seaplanes remain the preferred means of transportation in much of Alaska and British Columbia.
I want to live on a secluded island or lake and commute to work one of these guys.
The location of runways doesn't hold these guys back. Seaplanes can land on roughly 75% of the Earth's surface. Ohh the freedom...
Thanks to Seaplanes in the Great Northwest for some photos.
Here are some more links,
Seaplanes in the Great North West (Blog),
Grumman Goose (Wiki),
Howard Vollum (Wiki),
NW Seaplanes (Scheduled Seaplane flights from Seatle to the San Juan Islands and BC),
DHC-2 Beaver Wiki.
Harry McCotty is the real deal. During the summer, he is a stone foremen. During the winter, he splits wood in his backyard outside of East Dorset Vermont. Regardless of the season, he wears wool.
Although born and raised in southern Vermont, Harry received formal training as a topiarist in London, England in his early twenties.
Harry got this Rose tattoo during a 5 year stint in traveling throughout Europe in his mid 20s.
Harry manning his hydraulic wood splitter.
Over the weekend I got a Canon 430EX II Speedlight Flash to use during both night and daytime photography. Needless to say I am pumped. It giving me a whole new venue to experiment with and I recommend a hot shoe flash to any one interested in photography. I wager that a $300 flash will help your photography more than a $1000 super fast lens.
In addition to using my flash at night, I also use it in the daytime to illuminate faces and details. Here is an example.
Without a Flash.
Canon 430EX II Speedlight Flash (Amazon),
Canon 430EX II Speedlight Flash (Review),
I left my job in New York in the summer of 2011 and moved into a camper. Since then, I have driven 100,000 miles around the west, surfing and camping. During the summer of 2014, I set up a home base in the Columbia River Gorge. These are some of my stories and photos.
