Welcome to Washington!

Sorry for the absence again. I had to get my final project done for my web portfolio class. It's not quite done yet actually, but I hope to be bringing it online soon and letting you know the web address. Also I've been away on Galiano Island again for a few days.

I thought it was time for some comic relief again. I've been working sporadically over the past couple of years on a project which might become a book someday: a series of photographs showcasing the incredibly threatening highway signs that assault visitors to Washington State upon crossing the border from Canada, along with some that you only see when you venture further into the state. I think Washington is one of the nicest states in the US on the whole, but if you read the road signs, you'd get the idea that the government wants people to be scared that the police are out to get them, hiding behind every bush. Washington also seems to be obsessed with telling people what the fines are going to be, and with getting motorists to tattle on each other. Here are a few of the friendly gems (there are more; this is just a sampling; I don't want to scare you off from visiting Washington):



Don't worry, Washington State driving is really not all that hazardous, nor do you get tickets any more often than in other states. The threatening signs are just an attempt to compete with the scariness of the "other Washington" I think. Also, Washington apples really are edible -- honest. They are one of the state's greatest exports. I guess it's only the homegrown ones that have apple maggots. Yuck!