June 26th - 09:19

Title: June 26th - 09:19 Medium: Super-8 film Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Resolution: 2880 x 2160 File Type: H.264 Codec / MP4. Comments: It was our last day in Colorado before we started back on to the 50 state road trip. We spent the week making art. Learning about psychedelic research and clinical healing processes for the future. Laying around in nature enjoying the fresh summer breeze. Connecting with a dear friend and his family. Becoming a part of his family. Chris invited us over to his Mother’s house in the morning. She surprised us with a classic American breakfast. Eggs and toast with some avocado. There was bacon , greens, and beans too! As we were sitting at the table. With Chris, his son, his wife who was now pregnant with their next son, his brother, his mother, and his step-father, along with Ethan and myself. It was a round table of love. In this moment I began to remember how beautiful family is. Sharing a meal brings us all together. I grew up in the kitchen and can relate to this moment so much. Every Monday my father would be home from his long days into night of working all week at the restaurant, Mama’s. Monday was THE day we would spend it as a family. My mother, my sister, my father, and me together once a week. I listened and never spoke. I didn’t have much to say growing up; I simply listened and observed being the youngest at the table. In an Italian household the kitchen is where the family happens and the love and joy is shared. You can taste the energy in the room and in the food. It was an art form of its own. Food is a fabric of family. Of our livelihood. So being with Chris’s family brought me back to a wholesome time in my life. When everything in life was simple and naive… Mid meal I grabbed the camera and asked if I may gift them a Polaroid as a family heirloom, for their graciousness of having us over. For becoming a part of their family through friendship and art! I sat at the table as if I were still eating and recorded the family one at a time as they ate and looked up at me. I only had 10 seconds, and it was perfectly timed to see all their smiling faces around the table. We wrapped up our breakfast and Chris’s mom gave us some treats for the road. We gave the family a big hug and departed on a long and winding journey across our home country. We drove the slowest route imaginable. Off of the highways. Through every little town and national forest that we flowed through. To see the real America in all the of its greatness.