“american upbeat” HEROS

It is difficult for me to recall how it was, that I would spend so much time in this building. I had made all the photographs I cared to make out on the lake, a relationship that began at about nine years, and had continued through decades. Catching frogs, turtles, and snakes. Climbing trees, swimming, and spending winters on skates. It became to me, a place I thought I’d never escape. You see I claimed this as my photographic back yard, a familiar spot for me hone my craft. What had me feeling trapped had nothing to do with this place and its beauty, but of the sadness, having shared this piece of my soul with Mary Jane. I had been back only a few days from my exhibit in Moscow. I was feeling kinda good about myself, a sometime dangerous way for me to be feeling. Going into town for a little drinking at a familiar spot, sitting at the bar, I hear someone saying something about desert. Thinking this has nothing to do with me, I just keep right on with my drinking. I feel a little tap on my shoulder, so I turn and I’m asked if I would like some desert. This WAS about me, and although I was there for beer, I just couldn’t deny such a beautiful woman. I think she really could of cared less about bringing me what she offered, I was being picked up, and what a wild ride it was. Not that I have any regrets, but within a year, this would rain chaos into my life. The next night we went out for some food, “then you know”. She was very up front with me, telling me she was in some trouble, serious trouble. In about two weeks she was to go in front of a Judge to be sentenced. Five years, $250,000 in fines, is what was expected. Before me was a broken little girl. I couldn’t help but to hold and love her. I really wanted to rescue her, to be her hero. Head first I got busy, enlisting people I knew that worked within the system, who all wrote letters to the Judge. The outcome was one year work release ,and a $5,000 fine. She continued working at the same place, and I became a fixture. Every day between the hours of lunch and dinner, we spent together. In the evening she’d go home to prison. Now what began to happen as her year was winding down, the people who hung her out, began to drift back into her life. I never believed this had been her plan, she was sincere, but as her time in prison came to an end, our time also ended. To go back to the lake was difficult. Throughout that year I had made hundreds of negatives, bringing her prints for the walls of her cell. This had become our place, much the same as two people in love, key to a song. For me to go back to that place caused great conflict within me. I would continue to make photographs there but I hated being there. All that was left for me was my photography, and I struggled to keep hold. Coming back one day, as I walked in, I came across a NO TRESSPASSING sign. I had been set free! The task for me now was to claim a new backyard,a place for me to do my work. It is no wonder, I’m a little fuzzy as to how I got there, never the less, thankfully, I did get there. Working within a new jungle gave me new life! Working with my 4 by 5 is not very covert. This was a very busy place, the Peoples House, dedicated by Teddy Roosevelt, it is said to be the most beautiful Capitol in all the USA. It was hard not to be noticed, people always curious of my old wooden camera. Friendships soon developed. Anthony Johnson, an intern, working in the Speakers Office, had asked if he might see some of my prints. Gladly I honored his request. The late Mathew Ryan, Speaker of the House, was able to view some of this work, and as a result, offered me an opportunity to make photographs for the new House of Representative Capitol brochure. From this project, many more were to follow. I became a part of this family, and certainly treasure all of my time in Harrisburg. I was invited to many functions at the capitol, christmas parties, summer Barbecues, and such. With my hair in a pony tail, it always added color to these Republican events. One evening at a get together hosted by Senator Robbins, sipping scotch, sitting at a conference room table with people from the Attorney Generals Office, I was surprised to see Governor Ridge enter the room. It was pretty casual, the Governor sat down, and joined us for awhile. I was talking with one of the attorneys about a mutual friend, a yoga instructor from Manayunk. We hear a little commotion going on in the hallway, then the door opens. I guess the Governor had slipped away from his State Police Security Detail. He really seemed to have enjoyed getting away. In the spring of that year an evening was planned honoring Congressional Medal of Honor recipients. Throughout the week, care givers had been protesting, voicing their concerns over a Bill being worked on by the House. A deal had been struck with the care givers that they would not dishonor these heros by disrupting the affair. They were given wide latitude in their protest throughout the week. Words can not describe what it is, to be in the presence of these Great Men. It was if these men were of another world. Every living member of this group of heros had attended, and it was truly an amazing event. Good food, good wine, in the company of great men, our country’s heros. The Governors Wife began to speak, then from across Commonwealth Avenue, the location of our Pennsylvania War Memorial, wheelchairs rolled, in an attempt to crash the event. There was no tolerance for this. The Capitol Police met them in the street, and started overturning wheelchairs. Upon seeing this, and knowing how well covered the event was by the press, I remember thinking of how ugly the newspapers would be in the morning. To my surprise,there was not one word or picture of this in the papers. I believe the consensus was on an evening honoring our Heros of War, these protesters had not honored their commitment, and demonstrated great disrespect