Week One - The Emporia Gazette

First, sorry about the lack of posts these last couple of weeks. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Since my last post I've started a new full-time job (The Emporia Gazette in Emporia, Kansas), moved to a new state, completed the first week of said job, and met more people than I can remember.

The lack of posts, though, is due to the lack of reliable internet. I'm living in a temporary housing situation, while I search for more permanent living arrangements, and the internet is incredibly slow at best. There would definitely be no chance of uploading a photo, not a chance.

I'm currently at a coffee shop enjoying an iced coffee while I craft this post.

Everyone I've met in Kansas thus far has been incredibly nice. One thing that I'm going to have to get used to, though, is the heat. It's quite a bit hotter here than it was in good 'ole northern Minnesota (hence the iced coffee).

Since I have completed my first week at the Gazette this post is mostly filled with photos from that experience. There are a couple of photos from an early morning trip out to the Flint Hills, but other than that they are all from assignments at the Gazette.

Enough talk though, enjoy some photos, and thanks for looking.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | From left, Boy Scouts Christian Smith, Lance Moore and Grant Swanson, all with troop No. 158, prepare to march with the American Flag Thursday, June 20, 2013, prior to the Emporia Municipal Band concert outside the Bowyer Community Building.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Four-year-old Charlie Brimer, of Emporia, makes a cast Tuesday, June 18, 2013, while fishing at Peter Pan Park in Emporia. "It's all he thinks of," said Barbara Brimer, the boy's aunt. The Brimer's had been fishing at Peter Pan Park for about 30 minutes Barbara said, and Charlie had caught one fish.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Ann Brimer, of Emporia, fixes the bobber of her grandson, Charlie Brimer's bobber while fishing Tuesday, June 18, 2013, at Peter Pan Park in Emporia.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Deb Haag stocks clothes Tuesday, June 18, 2013, during her shift at the Emporia Walmart. Haag has been an employee at Walmart for 30 years.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Drake Genoble, 4, of Emporia, looks through the fence at the animals Tuesday, June 18, 2013, at the David Traylor Zoo of Emporia.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | The dreaded "Person on the Street" assignment. This photo was a part of my first experience with that type of assignment. It actually went alright, it took a little longer than I expected, but it was alright non-the-less. Normally a photo like this wouldn't make my blog, but this particular case is different, at least to me. I felt a connection to this photo that I didn't feel with the others. The older boys facial expression. To me, it was the most connected portrait I made during that assignment. I think the boy, Amir, opened up to me and my camera, and showed me his true self through his laid-back, honest, smile. And that is why I'm drawn to it. The question for the assignment was, "What are you doing this summer?" and 10-year-old Amir answered, "Being outside and doing a lot of fun stuff."

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Phillip Cooper, water plant manager, uses a computer to reverse the filtering cycle in order to clean the filters Thursday, June 20, 2013, at the Emporia Water Treatment Plant. During drought conditions when the Neosho River isn't flowing the plant draws water from the Council Grove Reservoir, and last year the reservoir dropped to 40 percent below capacity, which translates to about 6 and a half feet, Cooper said.

©Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Children line up before the children's march during the Emporia Municipal Band concert Thursday, June 13, 2013, at Fremont Park in Emporia.

©Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | National Teachers Hall of Fame inductee Martha McLeod, far left, and her husband Scott McLeod, both of Rockport, Texas, dance during the chicken dance Thursday, June 13, 2013, at Fremont Park in Emporia.

©Joe Ahlquist | Sunrise on the edge of the Flint Hills.

©Joe Ahlquist | Cattle on a hillside in the Flint Hills.

©Joe Ahlquist | A jack rabbit jumps while running away.