ffwhite | My afternoon at Combat Paper

Along a train track in a wooded hilly region of New Jersey, the Combat Paper veteran's art project meets on Sundays in the New Jersey Print Center. I didn't know what to expect when I went there, but I brought my uniforms, which would eventually be ground into pulp for paper.

The people working there today (David, Walt, Walter, Jan, Sarah, and Eli - I think anyway) were very comfortable, even though it seems none of us share a common military experience, in time, place, branch, or deployment. I also got to trade one of my books for one of the custom combat paper chapbooks.

The project has an overwhelming theme of reconstruction, changing old into new. They are making some headway in other places, as they have an exhibition next Saturday.

All in all, this is the most comfortable experience I've had with a group of strangers on the east coast so far.

- F. F. White