Cherry pickers, Washington state
I took this photo in 1999 of cherry pickers who were living in the woods near Wenatchee.

Given that the fate of migrant children from Central America arriving at the United States’ southern border is now an international news story, I decided to dig up and publish some of my picture series taken in 1999, on cherry pickers and migrant workers in Washington state. The agricultural industry in Washington is staffed almost entirely by foreign-born labor to pick, harvest, and sort the many crops from cherries to apples to hops that make your local beer tasty. Some are workers who travel seasonally. Some are brought here under temporary permits, the H-2A visas. Make no mistake, the state’s economy would grind to a halt without these workers, and their work contributes to the wealth of this huge economic sector, which at last count in 2012 generated nearly $10 billion in the state.

When I took this photo, there was a housing crisis, and workers were camping on public lands, and efforts were launched to find affordable housing. These problems remain. Meanwhile, the debate over immigration and the fate of millions of undocumented workers continues. Here in Washington state, some of the workers will be authorized (they are being brought in from Jamaica, even). Others will be here without authorization. And nearly all of us who eat fruits and vegetables will be continue buying the low-cost produce picked by people why do hard work many U.S. citizens do not wish to do.

For more portrait photographs, please visit my portrait gallery on my web site. (Click on the photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

That which we call a Seattle rose
Taken in July 2014.
Taken in July 2014.
Taken in July 2014.
Taken in July 2014.

 

July means all of the roses are in full bloom at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo Rose Garden. This is a beautiful place, in the highly organized, English garden sort of way, with a diverse palate of roses arranged in the tidiest of beds. Lots of weddings are held here, which likely surprises no one. I came here right after an evening rain. I found the ambiance just right for appreciating these thorny plants that star-crossed lovers and clever florists deem to be essential elements in the critical matters of the heart. (Click on each photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

 

The not-so Evergreen State east of the Cascades
Central Washington is wide open and vastly different than the moist, wet western half of the state.

Washington’s nickname is the Evergreen State. Well, that is for everyone who lives in the Cascades or west of them. For those in the rain shadow to the east, the climate is distinctly dry, parched, and a genuine desert ecosystem in areas. Massive irrigation, thanks to the dams built during and after the Depression era, turned a lot of the Columbia River Basin into productive agricultural areas, which grow everything from cherries to wine grapes to apples. I love the terrain. Right now, a lot of the dry hills north of where this photo was taken, near Vantage, are either on fire or at risk of fire, with the greatest fires the state has seen. This photo and others of the state’s many faces can be found on my Washington state photo gallery. (Click on the photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

Harper’s Weekly’s take on how nationalities resolve disputes

Harper’s Weekly was one of the most influential publications in the United States from the Civil War through the early 1900s, influencing elections and tackling the stories of the nation with drawings that were both witty and at times over the top. This most definitely was the Internet, Twitter, and social media of its day.

This drawing is one such cartoon of thousands. This piece is racist, undoubtedly, given the examples. But then again, the United States comes out looking vicious and, well, remarkably consistent with the long view of history in mind. You can judge yourself.

A friend of mine who collected antiques had purchased and framed this, and I photographed it, mainly because of how the artist captured the way Americans, English, and French resolve their differences. Do take a look the amazingly rich archive of this publication to see how many of the toughest issues of the time were addressed, including slavery, the conquest of the West, and immigration. For example, here’s a drawing of the famous anti-Chinese riots in my home city, Seattle.

Click on the image to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.

The Ballard Locks, meeting place of tourists and salmon
A father and son watch migrating sockeye in the viewing area where salmon can swim up fish ladders on their way to breeding grounds upstream. (Taken in July 2014.)
It warms my heart to see people watching the glory of nature and not connected to machines and not caught in distractions that take away from the wonder of the present moment. (Taken in July 2014).
Tourists listen to an interpreter at the Ballard Locks, July 2014.

The Ballard Locks, run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is one of the most popular spots for visitors and locals alike. July is a particularly great time to visit, to see migrating sockeye, and even an occasional king, swim up the fish ladders, en route to their breeding grounds upstream from Lake Washington. Even if you live here, this is a great place to visit, often. No visitor I have hosted has walked away disappointed. For the record, the official name of this site, built originally for regional flood control, is the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

 

Counting flowers at the stall, that don’t bother me at all …

 

Why do I think of the Statler Brothers’ classic, Counting Flowers on the Wall. I took this picture in July 2012.

I seemed to see an inordinate number of couples walking away from the uber-trendy Ballard market this past Sunday. In all cases I saw, it was the women, not the guys, carrying away the bouquets. (Guys, this is what you may wish to consider as your surprise gift on a Sunday morning.) The regional flower market, at farmers markets, is quite interesting. In the Puget Sound, where I live, mostly Laotian-American entrepreneurs grow and sell their flowers at these markets around the  Sound. And they are really lovely in the brilliant displays of color and natural design. Thanks, Momma Nature. (Click on the picture to see a larger photo on a separate picture page.)

The Raven and Eagle clans

 

Taken in Sitka, Alaska.
Taken in Sitka, Alaska.

Two traditionally carved canoes on display in Sitka, Alaska, show two major clans of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, the Tlingit and Haida bands. According to the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, tribal members people are born into either the raven or eagle clan line, established matrilineally through their mother’s family. The council’s web site notes that in Tlingit, Yeil is Raven and Ch’aak is Eagle (Wolf is sometimes used interchangeably with Eagle).

If you have ever been to Southeast Alaska, one can see why these two powerful animals are chosen. The raven is the crafty trickster, the one who helped bring man into the world according to legend. The sneaky and beautiful raven makes haunting, complex noises that echo mysteriously in the damp forests of the region and can create a feast with any food that comes its way (my favorite Alaskan animal). Greenlanders on the far side of the Arctic I met also spoke highly of the raven for being a food thief from other predators. The eagle is the great and proud hunter, with the most watchful gaze one can imagine. Seeing it catch a salmon is an unforgettable sight. But they can also be dumpster divers, going after fish scraps from fish processing plants in Alaska, sometimes with sad consequences.

Personally, I think the raven run circles around the eagle, as bird intellects go.

These photos were taken in 1999. Click on each photo to see a larger picture in a separate picture page

An evening with hundreds of onlookers at Seattle’s Kerry Park

On beautiful evenings, one should try to enjoy the moment and hopefully the outdoors, wherever you are. Here is the spot people love in Seattle, at Kerry Park, overlooking Elliott Bay and downtown.

The hills of Kansas

 

I took this shot in May 2013.

I drove through Kansas in 2013 and took some back roads and found lovely scenery. Here are the hills near the Tallgrass National Prairie Reserve in central Kansas. If you are doing a cross-country trip, consider a detour. Then be sure to head back to the interstate and visit the Dwight D. Eisenhower’s museum in his home town of Abilene. (Click on the photograph to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)

The foreign-flagged city on the seas heads to Alaska

 

The Bahamas’-flagged Norwegian Jewel sets sail for the pristine waters of Alaska in July 2014.

Alaska cruise ships operate in U.S. and Canadian waters, yet are exempt from U.S. labor laws and most corporate taxes by virtue of being incorporated and flagged in third countries and because of the Jones Act. This obscure maritime law allows cruise line firms to use foreign-built ships and foreign labor, not U.S. ships and U.S. workers, in U.S. waterways because they make a port of call in another country (Canada). These enormous ships’ crews hail from many countries, like Italy and the United Kingdom, and have lower-paid workers below the deck who come from developing nations such as the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. These employees are not paid equivalent U.S. wages.

However, it is unlikely most of the passengers on these massive ships know who is even running the ship that passes through some of the world’s most beautiful waterways, in British Columba, Washington state, and Alaska. Most of those passengers are having a great time, eating buffets and gambling, shopping, and stopping at small towns like Ketchikan, Skagway, and Sitka. If you want read about how odd these floating feeding frenzies can be, read the late David Foster Wallace’s short story called Shipping Out. Wallace notes, “All of the Megalines offer the same basic product–not a service or a set of services but more like a feeling: a bland relaxation and stimulation, stressless indulgence and frantic tourism, that special mix of servility and condescension that’s market under configurations of the verb ‘to pamper.'”

They also make money for the towns where the dock and the cities that host the ships, like Seattle, so they have many supporters. The corporations that own these ships also fund very sophisticated  business advocacy teams that ensure regulations that control their discharges (see EPA fact sheet) do not impact the profitability of their operations in either Canada or the United States. Fights over their discharges, including waster water and air emissions, have been ongoing for years.

I photographed  the Norwegian Jewel as it was pulling out of the Port of Seattle, en route to Southeast Alaska, on July 12. Run by Norwegian Cruise Lines of Florida, it was built in Germany, is flagged in the Bahamas, and can hold more than 3,500 passengers and crew members. Information on the country of origin of the crew members is not readily accessible. My guess is most of the people on the deck of this ship could care very little about any of the larger regulatory issues discussed in this summary, and they will have a fun trip while being pampered. (Click on the photography to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)