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Marriage Sucks

Deep Creek...


Often times when I'm shooting my goal is to tell a story from a distance. To be seen and unseen. My mission is to be the invisible six foot five inch man.  It saddens me to say that I can't hide, and I never get to shoot from a distance! So, I've come to the realization that some photo-journalist are designed to be in the thick of it all.  


This next blog entry that I'm about to share with you isn't exactly for sensitive people.  It's about a weekend that I'll never forget.  It was filled with moments that left me saying, "what in the world did I just shoot"?  Was that real? Did he just say what I think he said?  Are these old people that have been married for 50 years serious?  It was a weekend of photographing married folks.  Yes, I said, "married folks".  


After reviewing hundreds of photos I came up with a sound title for this entry.  Marriage Sucks... A unique title huh?  


I've been promising my wife a weekend get away for a while.  So we finally carved out some time and she drags me out into the hills of Maryland.  If you've been married for any length of time like we have you know that there's a catch to every trip.  It was Christian "married" couples trip.  When she told me all I could picture was the film, Why Did I Get Married.  Can you say nervous?  Yea, the trip started out bad.  We received a phone call a few days before the trip and a couple wanted to ride with us there...  I had reservations because every time we hang out with this particular couple all we do is laugh and have a great time. Who wants to start a weekend get away having fun?  


Fast forward to our arrival and it's snowing like crazy.  I'm driving down the side of this mountain saying to myself, "God if I die at least I won't be alone".  Later that evening we unpack and by that point my nerves had regrouped and everybody was flowing.  Soon after everyone crashes.  Around 2:30 am I hear, "Hey J, I need you to go with me to pick up one of the couples, they ran off the road".  It was my good friend Don Juan.  He only woke me up because my car was blocking his in the driveway...  I wanted to kill myself... It was cold and late.  


Fast forward an hour later and we find the couple in the middle of a blizzard.  As I'm sure you've gathered by this point God and I had a nice size chest bumped because I was happy to still be alive.  During that 2 hour stretch my wife was back in our cabin sleeping peacefully.  Marriage sucks, because she and Don's wife trusted God to cover us in a snow storm.  So much so that they didn't any sleep, lol. 


Marriage sucks... We spent the next morning paired up with Tim and Ebony making a killer breakfast!  Who wants to work with two other great cooks? I'm just saying it's much better than working with somebody that can't cook.  Later we went snow tubing!  For the record the other Ebony cheats and Phil lost every race on the slopes! The next day our battery goes dead with 19 other couples around to help us.  Who needs great couples around when your care dies?  Walking in 12 degree weather would have been better right?  We sewed into each others lives like crazy! Marriage really sucks because one of the perks is just meeting great people...  I hate it so bad that I'm ready to pay my deposit for next year's trip!  Marriage Sucks when you do it right!  Josh even helped me when I feel down the steps, lol.  His face was priceless!   


To my brother from another mother, the die hard Giant's fan, Marriage Sucks...  Thanks for the invite! 50 years plus!   

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