Butterfly Kids

Melissa Tharp takes care of her sons Marcos, 9, and Carlos, 10, who both suffer from a form of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic disorder in which the microscopic collagen fibers holding together layers of skin together don't work properly. For the boys, who will eventually die from the condition, the slightest touch or movement causes open sores and blisters. Children with their condition are often referred to as butterfly kids because their skin is as fragile as a butterfly's wing. I had the pleasure of visiting the family's home in Hutchinson earlier this month and the story was just published over the weekend, hence the delay. Read the story here.

Thanks for looking,
Pat

Kansas City Getaway

On a personal note, I met my girlfriend Emalie in Kansas City, our halfway point between St. Louis and Hutchinson, for a relaxing Sunday/Monday. Although it's not pictured we did have some delicious bbq as well. Back to work tomorrow...

Cheers,
Pat

Greensburg

The gutted basement of a house remains exposed as the city of Greensburg rebuilds around it.

Workers continue construction on the new city hall.

A solar panel outside a new residence.

A decaying basketball hoop still stands on a vacant property.

Sam Lofgren with Hardinger Construction works on Gary Goodman's antique shop on Main St.

Greensburg High School head football coach Clint Young throws passes to his players during a drill at football practice in Greensburg on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 22. In the background are some of the temporary trailers being used to conduct classes until the new high school is completed.


I had the chance to visit Greensburg, Kansas last week to do an update on the rebuilding process there. The town was virtually wiped off of the map by a tornado in May of 2007, but instead of abandoning the town, residents have been rebuilding ever since. All kinds of new building projects are going up around town, most of which include sustainable, energy efficient features. It was a really interesting experience to walk around this place and see brand new construction on one side of the street and then abandoned remains on the other side. Again, I wish I could have had more time, but hopefully I'll get to come back at some point before the end of the year.

Bardo the Clown

Here are a few images of J.B. Holdren, better known as Bardo the Clown, in his store and workshop on Sunday, Sept. 19 at the Kansas State Fair. In addition to doing his own carvings, Bardo paints all the signs, backdrops, and props for the fair every year. He lives year-round in a trailer on the fairgrounds and has been a part of the Kansas State Fair for 65 consecutive years. Although he sometimes claims to be as old as 118, he keeps his actual age a closely guarded secret.

I wish I would have had more time to spend with him at the fair, but due to a pretty tight schedule, I only fit in basically one morning. It was a lot of fun hanging out with him during the time I had though.

-Pat

The low sun behind me

Driving back to Hutchinson from western Kansas last night.

MacBook Pro

Last Monday my 5-year-old 12-inch Apple Powerbook G4 finally died- about a month before I'd spilled water on it. I immediately turned it off and then let it dry out for a week after encasing it in rice to absorb any excess moisture. When I turned it on again the screen was dead but when I hooked it up to another monitor, I found that the computer worked. So I'd been using my laptop basically as a desktop until last Monday when, after restarting during a software update, everything went blank.

Yadda, yadda, yadda... I got my new 13-inch MacBook Pro this Monday. I was able to pretty much seamlessly transfer everything from my old computer to my new one via Firewire cable. Apparently my old hard drive was not dead and all my programs, music, browser bookmarks, photos and documents were transferred over- even my desktop background- when my new computer booted up after set-up. I don't mean for this post to be an Apple ad, but I was thoroughly impressed by how easily everything transferred over. It was brilliant. Anyway, hopefully in the next few days I'll get caught up on posting images from the last few days of the Kansas State Fair and a few other things I've been up to since being sent temporarily into the dark ages.

Cheers,
Pat

Friday State Fair

Kaden Littrell, 13, is silhouetted while leading his horse T.J. Miss Royal Lady through one of the rear doors to the Expo Arena before the 4H Horse Show at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, Kan. on Friday morning, Sept. 18.

Tired

A runner from Buhler High School rests with his head against a wall after running a cross country race at Prairie Hills Middle School outside Hutchinson on Thursday afternoon, Sept. 17.

A little break from the fair yesterday.

Wednesday State Fair

After being off for two days, I was back at the fair today. Good times as always.

Thanks for looking,
Pat

Sunday State Fair

Top two are my favorite outtakes from the day, bottom photo is yet another relaxin' with livestock photo. I really like to cruise through the livestock barns at least once every day to make a photo. It's nice to find these quiet moments in the midst of all the hubbub.

Also see my sports shooter page for a series on the Kansas Arm Wrestling Championships, which took place today at the fair.

Thanks for looking,
Pat

Saturday State Fair Outtakes

These are my favorite outtakes from today at the Kansas State Fair.

Pre-Fair Acrobatics

Hopefully the first of many Kansas State Fair posts. The fair officially begins tomorrow.


A worker swings into a new position while working on setting up North American Midway Entertainment's Ferris wheel on the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson on Thursday afternoon, September 10.

A Hutchinson Cabbie

On Thursday night I spent a couple hours with Taxi driver Jeffrey Berry, of Roadrunner Taxis, which is one of only 2 cab companies in town listed in the Yellow Pages. It was a pretty slow night and we didn't pick up any fares, but I got some shots of him cruising around and waiting outside bars. It was a good time and especially fun to play with only the artificial light available from the street and the car.

A Leap of Faith

Robert Pennington calls to his dog, Sweet Pea, from inside his tent behind a vacant property on E Ave. D in Hutchinson on Wednesday afternoon, August 26. Pennington moved to Hutchinson from Ellinwood in search of a job and decided to camp, with permission of the property owner, in order to save money.

Robert Pennington collects a load of laundry from the dryer at the home of his friend Albert Wise, at 524 E Ave. D, across the street from his camp site on Wednesday afternoon, August 26. Since moving to Hutchinson, Pennington has received help from both friends and strangers. “It restores my faith in humanity,” said Pennington.

Robert Pennington.

Robert Pennington locks clothes in a locker at the YMCA in Hutchinson on Wednesday afternoon, August 26. After buying a single day pass earlier in the month, Pennington was given a free week's membership.

Robert Pennington eats dinner at his campsite on Wednesday night, August 26.

Sweet Pea walks around Pennington's campsite.

Lightning flashes in the distance as Robert Pennington spreads a bed sheet over a pair of couch cushions in his tent behind a vacant property on E Ave. D in Hutchinson on Wednesday night, August 26. "This ain't so bad," said Pennington.

Robert Pennington sits in his tent before bed on Wednesday night, August 26.

Robert Pennington sits in a folding chair in his tent behind a vacant property on E Ave. D in Hutchinson on Wednesday night, August 26. “I felt like I took a big leap of faith when I come up here,” said Pennington. “I really couldn’t afford to rent a place and really I hadn’t looked too much I didn’t have a job yet. People look at me like I’m nuts but- it’s not a bad tent.”

Robert Pennington tosses a baseball in the air while moving some of his belongings into the cab of his new company truck outside the home of his friend Albert Wise on E. Ave. D on Saturday afternoon, August 29. "Always have to have a baseball with you, 'cause you just never know," said Pennington with a laugh.

Robert Pennington hugs Winnowna Lanam of Hutchinson, who stopped by while he moved into his new company truck on Saturday afternoon, August 29. "I’m smitten," said Pennington. "There’s just something about her." The two met at the Christian Soup Ministry, a soup kitchen on Third and Maple in Hutchinson.


These are some of the photos from a story I finally completed about Robert Pennington, a new Hutchinson resident who was living in a tent to save money while looking for a job. I wrote the story to go with the photos and made an audio slideshow for the web. It ran as center package on Sunday- I'll post a pdf of the page(s) as soon as I get one. As always, any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for looking,
Pat