Here is Rootbeer, the newest duck at the Medway Community Farm. A sweet little one who loves his stuffy.

With the duck out of the way, I got an announcement.

An Announcement About Middle Ground

If you’ve been following along over the last few months, you may already know about my road trip into the American middle — a 15-day, ~3,900-mile photographic journey departing this Thursday, June 18th, retracing the routes of photographers Todd Webb and Robert Frank, seventy years after their original journeys.

Here’s what I’ve decided: I won’t be posting the dailypic while I’m on the road.

I know. But hear me out. I’ve posted through vacations, trips, and time zones on multiple continents. It is always a source of stress, and this trip deserves my full attention behind the lens. So I came up with a better plan.

Starting Monday, July 5th, I’ll post two dailypics a day until we’re caught up. Earlier in the day, I’ll share what would have been that day’s road trip post — in order, starting with June 18th. Then, at the regular time, the normal daily pic goes out as usual. Two a day until the trip days are fully caught up.

You want to see Middle Trip photos in real time. I will be sharing content on my film Instagram page @trpshootfilm. Join me there.

Two more days until I go.

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With days left before I hit the road, I took a couple of cameras for a walk for one more dry run. My Hasselblad 500c and Rolleiflex 3.5f made the rounds of Medway. Loaded with Ilford HP5 film, all developed by hand in the studio.

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If he is on a stage, I don’t even need him in the light to know Dan is smiling. Tonight was the Holliston High School Pops concert. So much talent, the kids were incredible, led by Mr. Bilodeau and Mr. Rice. Congratulations to all of them, especially the Srs. It was a great show.

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Sitting the 4Runner waiting, not even sure for what, window down and this huge bug landed in on the mirror. Good camera in the back seat but if I reached for it I was sure it would leave, so I got a crappy phone shot. Put the phone down and then we waited togther.

I had this thought: ‘It must be vain, my mirror is now its vanity.’ It has never occurred to me that a ‘vanity’ must be called that because of ‘vain,’ OR is it the other way around? Either way, I never thought about them being connected. Phone back in hand, I was now down a rabbit hole of word origins. They are connected. “Vanity” is simply the noun form of the adjective “vain”. Both words originate from the Latin root vanus, which means “empty” or “void” from the 14th century. The connection to a mirror comes from the noun vanity, which eventually came to refer to the piece of furniture itself in the 18th century. Did you know the table with the mirror was once called the ‘toilet table’? People really sucked at naming things back then.

Anyway, I put the phone back down, and the bug was gone. I never promised all these posts would be good.

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A vibrant purple Clematis flower, climbing in the yard. I think it looks like an alien.

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