There I stood, bathed in the amber glow of the Wisconsin State capitol dome. I stared from the balcony down into the universe of lights that decorated every dark emerald branch of the state tree. I felt dizzy. I can’t look over an edge too long. I backed away from the marble rail and stared up into the circular, hand painted heavens. Right there I had an epiphany.

I knew at that very moment, “I can change the course of everything”. Everything in my life anyway. “Everything before this moment must pass.” I thought. I looked down and noticed how the toes of my dress shoes matched the curve of the marble floor. “The future is in my very next step.” I was careful not to move my feet. “What”, I thought “…would my next step be?” The false candlelight twinkled it’s encouragement. I stood musing. Visions of far off places faded in and out of my mind, white sand beaches, palms and fern. Blue shoes and white shirt frolicked through my imagination like a mad fashion designer’s puppet show. I thought of love and romance. Considered lust. Only momentarily of course. I slipped into bright sunlight. I floated on a shoreline engulfed in colorful birds, screeching monkeys and manatees. Then I envisioned clouds and moss filled cobblestone. I saw a cold lake open into a raging sea. I saw myself sitting in a cold rain sipping hot tea as I watched water roll down a strangers reddening face. . . I could sense intrigue and affection. . . moments passed. .

Somewhere in the back of my mind I realized I felt a bit peckish. “hmmm,” I thought to myself, “How long have I been standing here?”. I pulled myself back to the moment. I looked past my camera that was sitting at the top of my Italian tripod like a Christmas tree star. I looked down. I set the aperture back. I took the shot. I looked again over my camera into glass and needle kaleidoscope tree. “Well? What is your next step derrick?” I asked myself. “Well”, I thought. “First I need to get something to eat. And a drink would be nice. . .. Of course it’s getting a bit late. I do have a busy day tomorrow. . . . “

I packed up my gear and was soon walking through a chilly mist down the massive marble steps of the capitol as a spot light cut through the haze and tickled the grey belly of the sky. Suddenly it was London. December 29th, 1940. I was walking down the steps of St. Paul’s. I paused to look back at the dome as it rose above the dragon breath smoke that filled the streets. A distant siren was quickly buried under the drone of bees rising from the south west. I hurried down to my jeep. On the radio the BBC was playing part of president Roosevelt’s earlier address from the white house, ” If Great Britain goes down, the Axis powers will control the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia, and the high seas—and they will be in a position to bring enormous military and naval resources against this hemisphere. It is no exaggeration to say that all of us, in all the Americas, would be living at the point of a gun. . .” The reflection of a spot light flashed across my rear view mirror. . .

I looked up from the steering wheel and started the engine. Peter Gabriel came to life singing the “Berry Williams Show” That seemed about right to me. I sat for a moment and wondered about my little epiphany. “Something must change” I thought. I was still feeling a bit hungry. . . yet the future is out there. It’s close. I could wait to eat. . . I flipped on my blinker and merged behind a metro bus. I turned right toward the lake. A light turned green and I spun right and accelerated. My red tail lights shrank into the distance until they blended into the city lights. I disappeared.