Six generations of the Smith family continue on with their lives at Grandma Georgie's home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia after the death of Debbie Thomas, mother of three, and daughter of Georgie Smith. 'We're each other's strength,' says Smith, holding her great-grandchild DeAndre Collins. Thomas was killed by a migrant drunk driver on Route 13, which has become one of the more dangerous routes in the state of Virginia.

Mourners cannot contain their emotions as they exit New Paul's Temple Holiness Church after the funeral service of 14-year-old Diane L. Holland in Suffolk, Va. “There was no need for this,” said Kevin Chapman, one of Diane’s lifelong father figures. Holland was a bystander in a drive-by shooting in what authorities suspected was a gang-related occurrence.

'It's nice working for yourself, especially with dad,' says Ben Johnson, crabbing with father Robbie, right, early morning on the James River in Virginia. Robbie continues his 30 year career, joined by his son Ben, who started their business, Johnson and Sons Seafood. The two spend more than 60 hours a week, six days a week together, mostly on the boat, going from pot to pot, accompanied by little dialogue and the waves of the river.

'I feel like a teenager again,' says 81-year-old widower Leonard Fredette getting his hair cut and eyebrows trimmed at a barber shop in Portsmouth, Va. by Debbie Lille. Fredette recently contacted his old high school sweetheart, Carolyn Cotter, three months ago, who lives in Alabama, and will be meeting again after not having seen her for over 60 years.

'You're not really talking you're listening,' says Animal Communicator Bill Northern of Warsaw, Va., during a session with Robin Criswell's horse Berry Be Dazzled at the East Coast Equestrian Training Center in Virginia Beach, Va. Northern has been listening to animals mostly to help owners communicate with their pets since 1994.

'I love competing against myself,' says Shannon Hartnett, of Salcedo, CA, while stretching before competing in the Arnold Olympic Weightlifting Championships in Columbus, Ohio. During her first appearance at the event, Hartnett scored a personal best in the snatch and the clean and jerk competitions in her 69 kilo weight class.'

'I love this hat, I've had it for years,' says beautician Mildred Morris of Gloucester, Va. while attending the National Beauty Culturists League trade show at the Renaissance hotel in Portsmouth, Va. Morris perused the many services and products offered during the show.

Michelle Lavoie and Chris Spalding, brother of bass player Pat Spalding, chant 'I don't care,' during Eclectic's song 'Crusin' for a Bruisin'' at the 3rd Annual Battle of the Bands on 17th Street at the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach, Va.

'We can either chop the farms for houses or it can be profitable enough for retirement,' says Stacy Hall, taking a midday break, talking about her and her husband’s farm in Athens County, Ohio. Hall has run a dairy farm with her husband Bill Dix for 13 years and hopes to be able to pass on the farm when she and her husband retire.

Jerry Cline of Albany takes a break from washing down his trailer home in Hockingport, Ohio. Heavy rains in September, an effect of Hurricane Ivan, filled many of this community's trailer homes with mud and water several days before. 'This is a family thing,' says Cline as he spends the day cleaning his summer home of 15 years with his son, Kevin, hoping to rebuild, while waters outside his home rest above three feet.'

Tara Cooper walks with her son Rataurean, 10, after a doctor's appointment in Norfolk, Va. back to South Norfolk on the Elizabeth Berkley Bridge. Due to the unique nature of Hampton Roads being surrounded by many bodies of water, residents use bridges and tunnels in their daily lives to travel between cities. Unlike commuting motorists, Cooper says she walks across this bridge or Campostella bridge 'just about' every day to walk to Norfolk.'

Wild ponies swim every year across the Assateague Channel to Chincoteague Island as part of the Chincoteague Volunteer Firemen's Carnival. July 2005 marked the 80th anniversary year of the Carnival which has focused around this annual activity designed to transport ponies to be auctioned to thin the herd. The money raised during the carnival go toward maintaining the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. The following essay focuses on the main event as well as the activities surrounding it. Sandi Burnsteel, 14, left, and Kaylen Jaworsky, 11, of Virginia Beach, Va., are at the front of the crowd as they sit on an inflatable raft to get a close look at the ponies making their way across the Assateague Channel in Chincoteague, Va., on the morning of July 27. The annual pony swim is part of the Chincoteague Volunteer Firemen's Carnival which is in its 80th year running.

A pony makes its way across the Assateague Channel in Chincoteague, Va. Roughly 200 ponies started swimming at 8:38am, with the swim lasting about seven minutes.

Crowds started to form before 6am due to the event's reliance on an estimated time for the lowest tide as well as standing room availability. An estimated 40,000-50,000 people visit the island for this event.

A pony rolls in the dirt at the carnival grounds after its swim and march in the parade on Chincoteague Island.

The day before the pony swim, at the Chincoteague Island National Wildlife Refuge in Assateague, Margaret Odgers of Phoenixville, Pa., front, watches the ponies while Nikita McCauley, 10, of Venice, Ca. scouts a pony she hopes to purchase and donate to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fireman Company in the upcoming auction.

Bryan Harris of Greensboro, Md. picks up a foal that was born just the evening before the auction after the bid for it closes at $4,400 during the annual auction of ponies the day after the swim. This foal was for a 'buyback' auction, meaning that the pony would be donated back to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. All proceeds from the event go to the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company general fund for maintenance and replacement of equipment and as well as for emergency uses.

Bekka Reffett, 9, is overwhelmed with joy and reaches to hug her mother Jan Reffett, both of Roscoe, Ill. after winning a bid for $1,300 on a pony they will be taking home.

Linda leads the herd of 15 cows with her children in the morning on the Fagan farm. Moving the herd is a family affair in the morning and afternoon for the Fagans."

In the morning the women take on the role of setting the table and preparing food for the family. After breakfast Catie, 12, washes goose eggs while her sister Grace, 8, and mother Linda clean the dishes.

Ann, 16, is the oldest daughter and will often be working by her oldest brother Tom, 22. Tom served as a role model to Ann and taught her much of what she knows today about farming. As the oldest daughter, Ann's brothers tend to treat her like one of the boys and will leave her to do physical labor.

'I had met families that home-schooled and was intrigued by what they were doing,' says Linda. Due to the amount of traveling the children would have to do on a school bus by being in a rural area as well as the amount of chores they need to fulfill on a daily basis, Linda home-schools her children until age 18. Linda helps Grace with her daily school work.

'I’d say she’s doing pretty good,' says Ann, right, about her sister Catie’s first day mowing weeds on the blueberry field. Ann passes on skills and knowledge she has learned from her oldest brother Tom and mother Linda to her younger siblings.'

After morning chores and lunch the youngest children play a game of 'Ring Around the Rosy' on the trampoline while the older children continue to work. The summer months allow the children time to play, work, and study. In the winter months with less work to do on the farm, the studying becomes more of their focus. From left to right, Grace 10, Martha, 8, Titus, 4, and Catie, 12.

'I think it’s very important to have the availability of local food that’s not dependent on mass transportation,' says Linda. Her children will all enter the field of farming or will always have some aspect of it in their lives. At 48, Linda hopes that the values her children maintain will continue on to future generations. Linda is joined by her two youngest children Titus and Grace as she watches her oldest son Tom feed his poultry.

'I enjoy getting up early in the morning,' says Ann who wakes up at 4:30am to milk the cows with her mother Linda. To her own recollection, Ann has been milking since age six or eight and will hopefully own her own dairy farm when she leaves home.