digressions: a blog

Jay is a guy I met first in 2009. I wrote about him last year (read for background information) and how I wished I would have spent more time with him, not just the people he directed me towards. Last summer I did just that. Since I last saw Jay he had a child, who he named Gavin after the power plant:

Jay and Gavin

This time around he had a new cast of characters for my story. Jay is a successful real estate developer, independent contractor, and small business consulter. As part of his real estate venture, he houses coal industry employees who come in from out of state. The fact that coal’s presence in SE Ohio assumes an important role as “job provider,” I’ve always really wanted to photograph one of the multiple employees that the companies bring in from out of state (it’s often cheaper for them to contract labor this way):

I met up with Jay a few times, once at the site of a house he was renovating, that would eventually house more out of state coal workers. I met a local young guy who worked for Jay and other contractors, as he could find the work:

And finally, Jay’s responsible for introducing me to an older couple who has lived in Racine for a long time. They’ve been dubbed “Racine’s Daily Walkers” because of their long daily walks around town: