Peeping our way toward spring.

#056

It’s an unseasonably warm 61 degrees here this morning and the spring peepers have been serenading us for a few days. There’s a ditch on the right side of our cabin road that fills with water in the spring and fall. I don’t technically know if it’s considered a vernal pool, but it stays long enough for tens of thousands of tadpole eggs to appear each spring.

Here’s a clip of their singing and a closeup of frogspawn:

I look forward to this every year and I’ve come to appreciate it as an indicator that spring is on the way; never mind that we might get more snow Monday. Do you have a favorite seasonal indicator?

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Earlier this month, I started a new job with the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum. I mentioned it briefly in last week’s newsletter, but thought I’d share a little more about my new role their and the work I’ll be focused on for the next couple of years.

In my capacity as Community and Project Coordinator, I’ll be working on the Courage in the Hollers project as the connective tissue between the Museum, communities, partner organizations, local leaders, consultants, and advisory teams.

Here’s more about Courage from the Museum’s website:

Although mountain-side machine-gun bunkers, grave markers, and remnants of company towns remain, the footprints of the Miners’ 50-Mile March that culminated in the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921, its stories, and its contribution to American history are virtually invisible today. Courage in the Hollers memorializes the Battle of Blair Mountain and celebrate the collective efforts of the multiethnic, multiracial working-class army that stood up against oppression, and left an indelible mark on American history.

The Museum and its partners co-created permanent monuments, unveiled in 2022, in the rural landscape where this significant event took place, honoring the contributions unionist miners made to not only West Virginia history but to American history.

Now we are expanding our monument sites, creating the largest labor history driving trail in the United States with the goal of creating a regional narrative for southern West Virginia that will also serve as a driver for economic development in the region.

This is a full-circle moment for me. I’ve been a supporter of the Museum for more than a decade and have collaborated with them on a couple of photographic projects and an exhibit. As a Mingo County native, I couldn’t be more proud to work with the Museum and its incredible staff.

Here’s a great video about the project and its first two monuments in Marmet and Clothier:

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As we’re getting ready to leave winter behind and head into spring, I’m offering the image below of the Beauty Rest Motel in Welch, West Virginia as an open editioned print.

Details:

• 8”x10” image on 8.5”x11” paper

• Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl paper (310gsm)

• Archival pigment inks

• Signed, open edition

• Shipping included (continental US only)

• $80 (usually $100)

If you’re interested in this or any other prints of my work, including different sizes, please send me an email or message me here.

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Thanks again for support my work and this newsletter! Tell a friend or three.

Onward,

- Roger