24 hours

things change in a split second

I spent my 24 hours from noon of July 12 to noon of July 13 on the opposite side of Pennsylvania from where everyone else would be looking at 6:15 PM on 7-13-24. I was near Philly. First to document Jaimoe’s 80th birthday party gig with Alan Paul and Friends of the Brothers at the Keswick Theatre. I love these old venues. They feel like “home” to me…my “fishbowl” as I’ve done everything from play drums, run lights and sound, be Tech director to manage and book talent for a venue to operating a video camera there, many times.

Jaimoe is like “Drum Buddha” . People come to experience his soul…his talent and wisdom. I’ve watched him play since I was 19 and be inspired by his talent and his drumming collaboration with Butch Trucks. Along with Bass player Berry Oakley they created what Dead & Company member Oteil Burbridge described to me as the “hardest swinging rock band….ever,” the Allman Bros Band, from Macon GA.

This was a lovely event. Attended by mostly old hippies…the Peace, Love vibe was in the air. The music was exceptional. A good night was had by all. We could feel the spirits of the Fillmore East and the Beacon in NY here at the Keswick. It was a warm, fuzzy night.

The next morning I went to Valley Forge as the sun was rising…before the heat came up…to help get my “mojo” in a good place for the next 30 days of the Joe and Don media show.

65 years ago I posed with a cannon at Antietam. The canons have gotten smaller and I’ve gotten bigger…..there’s a LOT of water over that dam.

Little did I know….that I would not be writing this report with the same joy I had felt yesterday morning while exploring and taking these photos..

I found the place far more inspiring than I thought I would. It’s “just” a campground so I thought…not a battlefield. The world was much different then. The armies went into winter camp because it was impossible to move around and fight a battle in the snow and ice. So the colonial troops lived in little cabins that they built. It was more “civilized.” Still hard, but not as crazy as campaigning would be in the winter.

They were helped and trained by German General Von Steuban who had great spurs and boots if these are accurate.

There is an arch built by the Masons to honor these people who gave so much for us.

and a blue door in a chapel dedicated to our French friend Lafayette who helped us secure our liberty. Maybe this was the spark of the beginning of NATO…only the Britts were the common enemy then.

The morning light in this field on these old guns was magnificent. There was just sun and a breeze and birds chirping. Violence was no where to be found here. War seemed far distant. In a different time and place…Something we don’t do here anymore…shooting your enemy with a rifle from a distance….

I don’t have the same joy typing this report as I did taking the photos. The air has been sucked out of the room….I’ll leave you with this…my shadow as I wandered and explored, trying to understand our lot…our place in the Universe, yesterday morning when things were not quite as disturbed and chaotic……and I do have to reflect that the target of the sniper across the state from me was the person who let political violence “off the chain” by his campaign rhetoric in 2016, 2020 and during J6. You know the old “live by the sword quote”. It appears to have come home to roost for him. Or it’s another orchestrated stunt…by the Master Snake Oil Salesman.

Peace to all…my wife and I are going to our happy place for a few days…and listen to the waves, enjoy the sun…and rest. See you on the other side…we should know more then….be safe my friends.