Nate Howard Artist: We Are Still Here

Nate Howard Artist: We Are Still Here: Train, Mower County, 2012 We Are Still Here

Steel Drum

I'm a steel drum in frozen wasteland.
The shell, rusted, snow drifted over
as my blanket.
The sacred white sheet wraps me up,
prepares me for the sleep.
This steel drum is empty.
The air inside is still and bites the bare hand
that reaches for the illusion of the heart,
pumping at the pace of tired lungs.
Sleep and feel the dreams.
Where there is no more pain.

Nate Howard Photography

See the album from the Mayowood Stone Barn at Nate Howard Photography

Nate Howard Photography: Rochester, MN Wedding

Nate Howard Photography: Rochester, MN Wedding

Doing the Dishes

I'll write what I know as an artist with adhd and ocd and depression and anxiety doing the dishes.
my reward is a cigarette.
seems I just want to get them done as soon as possible.
so i can have a smoke and drink coffee.
to save soap i squirt soap into a bowl and add water.
this also helps when wetting the scrubber, having the bowl to quickly dab the brush.
my coffee sits in the microwave after reheating.
i used over cleaner on the surface of the oven and it removed some paint.
how we use this strong of a chemical in our ovens where we cook food is a mystery.
i wash the bowl first, they seem to take up most of the room in my sink.
then the cups.
then the plates.
i constantly worry about the temperature of the water and the pressure.
to hot and I'm wasting heat, or just adding to my utilities bill.
which I need to pay in the next week if I want power.
But I don't think they can cut me off in the winter. there is some law about that.
And the trash is piling up outside my window. I need to make a run to the dump.
I'm so tired of recycling, the constant struggle of, can they recycle this?
i don't want to see a single bubble on the dishes. they must be completely clean.
and when is this ash going to fall off my smoke.
no worries, today I will vacuum the floor.
it's rare I put away the clean dishes. they mostly sit on the drying rack and I just take from the drying rack when I need a new dish.
forks are a bitch. you really need to use the scrubber with the plastic brush to get in between the prongs yet i prefer the sponge for all other dishes.
sometimes i wear sneakers to make my feet more comfortable while doing dishes.
I say doing the dishes, not cleaning the dishes.
everybody has to do their dishes.
i put out a towel for the extra dishes that don't fit on the drying rack.
and I clean the counters really well when i am done.
and clean the coffee maker which overflowed like diarrhea this morning.
forgetting to put the pot in the maker does this.
i thought Folgers coffee slogan of "the best part of waking up, is Folgers in your cup" was just a catchy advertising slogan but they are right.
they should cross market with cigarettes.
value added, a pack of smokes in each container of coffee.
like early tobacco placing tobacco in each pack of baseball cards.
next is to do the laundry.
not clean the laundry but to do.
everybody has to do the laundry.
and then pick-up.
everybody has to pick-up too.
especially when you have kids.
so much to do.
today is different because i am trying to not try.
just to be.
regardless of time, or bills to pay.
or no money to pay the bills.
i'll just be today.

Mother Jones: Why They Voted, Photography by Nate Howard

Mother Jones:


On Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock sharp, more than 120,000 Iowa Republicans took their seats at caucus sites across the state to cast the first meaningful votes of the 2012 presidential race. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney edged former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum by a mere eight votes—the closest caucus in the state's history, and one whose result was decided at the last minute, by voters persuading other voters, through on-stage endorsement speeches and friendly conversations. It was hardly a perfect snapshot of the state's electorate—the inflexible caucus schedule meant voters had to choose between casting their votes and attending their son's wrestling meet, or showing up on time for the night shift. But it didn't stop more than 300 voters from showing up at an evangelical church in the Des Moines suburb of Johnston, polling site for Polk County's 481st precinct. Five of them explain why they voted.

Iowa Caucus, Rick Santorum

Iowa Caucus by Nate Howard

Republican presidential hopeful and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum addresses a crowd at the Stoney Creek Inn on Jan. 3, 2012 in Johnston, Iowa and the Duggar family was there. What a strange event.

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• Santorum Enjoys Big Night At Iowa Caucus (cbspittsburgh.wordpress.com)
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• Who Really Decides an #Election? (via @MotherJones) #Politics (politicore.wordpress.com)