The bog is a bar and restaurant, but also more than that, it is a place of friendship and connection. Kelly Nolan is at the heart of it, she has lived in our small town her whole life and she is one of those people who makes friends and keeps them.

They often to come eat or drink at the barn and talk to her in the few and rare moments when she is not working. One night when Kelly is off, she came to the Bog with some friends to watch a Zombie show on cable.

Last night, the Bog was uncharacteristically quiet, a snow and sleet Northeaster was creeping in, and Kelly came over to say hello to one of her friends. Kelly’s friends are often at the Bog, they cheer me on when I take her photos and their love for one another is palpable.

They are safe with one another, at ease, it always touches me.

It’s odd, I avoided the blog for years, it had a reputation as a biker bar that was not always friendly to outsiders, but that was completely wrong. I was welcomed there from the first, and Maria and I feel completely at home there. The bog is a place of friendship, and there not many better places to be on a snowy, sleety and dark winter night in upstate New York.

I liked this portrait of friendship. Her friend does not like to be photographed, she was happy to do it for Kelly.