№8 Reconfiguring
Making some changes for the new year.
This former smoke shop with a drive-through window along US Highway 98 in Parker, Washington, near Yakima, was reconfigured into a US Post Office. This kind of transformation usually happens in reverse, where a once prestigious government building is turned into a luxury hotel, briefly serving as a marketplace of corruption and ethics abuses only to be foreclosed on a few years later.
Sometimes, facilities make way for something new, like the 14 acres of the former Portland USPS main processing and distribution center, which had sat vacant for 15 years until it was finally demolished in early 2023. Big plans are in the works for this prime real estate area in the heart of Portland’s downtown core. I’m looking forward to watching the plan unfold. Fingers crossed.
Changes and reconfigurations are also afoot here at Photographic Dispatches From the West. I’m still assessing the direction I want to take with this project. The paid subscription model to help with the financial burdens of this undertaking has become less appealing to me. For now, I have decided to pause paid subscription sign-ups while, as Robin Sloan puts it, it’s time for stewing, contemplation, and reflection.
Those of you who have signed up for an annual subscription will still receive a quarterly mailing. Monthly subscribers will no longer be billed. You will be first to know how you can support this endeavor going forward in due time.
To close things out, here are some pictures from the town of Roslyn, Washington, perhaps best known for being the location for the exterior shots for the popular CBS television series Northern Exposure.
As this final newsletter of 2024 comes to a close, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to everyone for reading and supporting this newsletter. It means a lot to me, and I appreciate it.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. See you all next year.
