Watchin' Ledge
For the past 3 1/2 years I have looked at this photo and always had a calm feeling about it. I didn’t really think about the intricacies of it until I looked through my pictures for a picture with a context. To most people, it is a simple image of two guys; the only thing you can really tell about them is that they are watching something because their eyes are looking in the same place. To me, this photo is a reminder of “the good ol’ days”. The subjects are two of my very best friends and they are sitting on a fence up at the camp where I used to spend every summer volunteering. For 10 years of my life I called Lake Geneva Youth Camp my second home. Unfortunately, things have changed and my relationship with the camp ceased on a bad note 3 summers ago, but when I think about the good times I had there, this is an image that pops through my head. Why this picture speaks to my feelings so powerfully is because there are many factors in it that come together to paint my ideal day at camp.
First, let’s look at my buddies. They’re as happy as ever, Joey has a relaxed look on his face and this is one of the happiest and care-free looks Tim has in his arsenal of emotions. Joey’s clothes are typical of his standard attire of some kind of superhero/wrestler tee-shirt with khaki shorts and a hat we got the year before at the Teen Camp week. In fact, I believe I gave that particular one to him because he wore his other one out. On the other hand, Tim’s garb is not typical at all. I have no clue what the plain white tee is all about and the hat came from somebody else who lent it to him. This is telling of how Tim was feeling, occasionally when he is in “hakunamatata” mode he randomly puts something on that nobody expects him to like a new hat or nice shoes. I love the contrast between how their dressed compared to each other and themselves because it is exemplary of their being content.
What they are watching is of huge significance to the context. It is a game called Ledge in which you throw a hand ball at a step and another player is supposed to catch it. There are teams of two and the scoring is roughly based on baseball. It derived from a game called “pinners” that was played in Chicago on street curbs 50 years prior. Many afternoons at camp, ledge games were the social center of the gazebo area. Teams of two would line up along the fence they are sitting on and hang out until their turn. At times I counted 50 people out of a camp of 200 watching games of Ledge. What made Ledge special is that almost anybody could play it and it filled the area with some of the most beautiful sounds possible. There was a distinct, thud-thud when a batter hit the flat side of the wooden steps, or a glorious pop when the ball hit the step’s edge or “ledge” and the ball left the playing field for a home run. Tim and Joey were admiring the game and taking in the amazingly calming feeling that occurred on days when the sun was setting over the ledge court.
Just as they were taking it in, so was I. What really brings home of why this picture is so significant is where it was taken from. The only place I would rather be sitting than on that fence where they’re parked, is on the porch from which the picture was shot. Nowhere in the whole world has ever given me the pleasure I used to experience when sitting on the bench and watching Ledge, and looking at campers run around happy as clams, and hearing doors slam with anticipation of seeing who just walked out, and seeing a good friend walk down the path in my direction. This picture is a glimpse of the visuals I used to have when I sat on that porch. And the truth is that I will probably never be able to experience that again.
You see, I remember taking this picture and knew I had captured something special. I thought, “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now” and I knew they wouldn’t either.
-George the Reflector
The Rowhouse 