Bela Abzug March 1975, Backbone State Park Summer 1975, Vendsyssel fair July 1973, Grandparents Weston farm Spring 1975 – another hodgepodge contact sheet

Bela Abzug was the first celebrity I met at Cornell College my freshman year.  She was there as the keynote speaker for the establishment of the Women’s Studies Department, or something like that.  These photos demonstrate that the congressman could work a crowd. 

I have a good story about a story about Bela Abzug, but it will have to wait until the appropriate photo pops up.  Allan Ruter has a good story about picking up Congressman Abzug in Ames to drive her to Cornell, but you’ll have to ask him to tell it.

The photos of the man playing with the dog are either at Backbone State Park near Strawberry Point or at Wild Cat Den State Park near Muscatine.  I believe that it was at Backbone.  I remember that day well as a picture perfect summer outing with Janet, my then fiancé.  We drove up from Oelwein where her parents lived and her father pastored a Methodist church.  We drove by the World’s Largest Strawberry in Strawberry Point.  (I’d love to start a roadside attraction advertising the world’s even larger strawberry, oyster, frying pan, ear of corn, whatever any other locality has been touting – and begin the competition.)

What I most remember about that lyric afternoon in the sun was walking along the Maquoketa River bank with Janet until we were far away from anyone.  I then persuaded her to join me in taking off our clothes and laying in the sun on the bank next to the small river.  It was her first time naked outside and, after the initial fear, she greatly enjoyed it.  Sun, breeze, a cool stream to wade and cool down in.  I was very much in love, and from what I could tell, so was she.  Of course I have no photographs of that event and I wouldn’t share them if I did, but these photos of the happiness between man and dog remind me of my happiness relaxing in the sun almost 50 years ago.

I have some trouble dating some of the images I’ve scanned.  The photos of my grandparents’ farm I date around the first year of my relationship with Janet because of the coat she’s wearing.  I don’t know whether it was my increasing influence on her or her parents’ waning influence but one can date a photo of her based on how good her clothing looks on her.  She began our relationship with rather plain dowdy clothing – like this coat.  She ended wearing fashionable clothing that emphasized her beauty.  The other big change over the years of our relationship was the length of her hair.  I talked her into growing it out long.  In fact she told me that if I wanted it long, I’d need to share in the work of its upkeep by brushing it out.  I did.  As soon as she dumped me in 1980, she cut her hair short again.

She was a very attractive woman and really did not like the attention she got from most men in public.  Really did not like it.  The long thick flaxen hair really drew attention.  I wonder if she still has the problem of unwanted male attention or whether she’s grown out of it in the past 50 years.

The Vendsyssel Denmark fair was very much like an Iowa county fair.  Vendsyssel was a rural province.  The farmers were much like Iowa farmers.  The cows were much like Iowa cows.  The Danish kids loved climbing on the display tractors as much as Iowa kids. 

There are more photographs of this fair, Congressman Abzug’s visit, and many many more photographs of Janet elsewhere.  This contact sheet was putting together loose ends from elsewhere.

The photographs referred to in this essay can be found in the Photos by Number set, in gallery 00033.