May Congress not forget the heart of Real America

Traveling, interviewing, and photographing these past few days for a client project, I have been reminded, again, how little I know about my world. How others live. What others value. How "home" is a word with manifold meanings.

I value the projects and moments that lift me beyond my immediate and typically small concerns. During the course of a 48-hour period, I met with long-time oil workers, a university president, a civic leader, a man who brings Broadway to his local theaters, the president of a refinery, the leader of a hospital foundation, a young woman planning a wedding. I gained a deep appreciation for people who are doing everything they can to rescue a community, to attend to an environment, to build sacred spaces on a college campus, to bring interest, life, independent films back to Main Street.

Members of Congress have a single day to resolve the crisis our leadership has set before this country.

May they not forget the real Americans they promised, once, to serve.