I pulled the car off to the side of the road, I stepped into the beautiful hay field, I saw holy sparks from the material world. The hay was as tall as I am, I vanished into this mystical green space, it was eerie and silent and beautiful.
I passed this beautiful hay field today, sometimes the most beautiful things lie in plain sight, it is easy enough to not really see them. This one got my attention.
Pompanuck Farm revived its Memorial Day Festival today with music, great food and a small circus. Maria got a henna tattoo (so did I). It was a beautiful afternoon and a beautiful gathering.
Our town Memorial Day Parade is about 30 minutes long, it begins with a salute to the fallen soldiers at the town memorial, and turns a bit more festive with floats, little leaguers, 4-H’ers, rescue squad and fire department vehicles and future farmers. It is touching to see the aging soldiers marching proudly in their uniforms, holding flags.
Americans don’t care to dwell too much on fallen heroes, they are honored, but there is little real focus on the horrors and destruction of war, perhaps that is as it should be, life goes on for people and while I find the parades and marches poignant, I always have this sense that we don’t really know how to talk about war.
It seems that almost all of our politicians favor it, accept war as a valuable tool of power and wealth. Pacifists don’t get very far in our political system. Still, I bow my head to the men and women who gave their lives for our idea of freedom and security. They are worth honoring.
George Forss is one of the world’s most famous and admired urban landscape photographers, he lives in Cambridge, N.Y., and runs the Ginofor Art Gallery, far from the New York City art scene he conquered as a street photographer decades ago. George is much loved and much admired here, he is a precious friend of mine, every Memorial Day, Maria and I come to George’s gallery to watch the parade with him.
I brought my friend Cathy Stewart, a friend and photographer to meet George and he gave us a tour of his darkroom, a cross between a Rube Goldberg creation and Frankenstein’s laboratory. George and I go out into the parade and take our best shot. George is a genius, he trawls e-bay for old and used lenses and builds cameras out of old and spared found or donated parts. I took this photo of this brilliant creative man in his darkroom, I was pleased with it and so was he. George will be at the June and October Open Houses taken portraits of visitors, there is no greater bargain in all of the art world than a George Forss portrait.
