Starting a search for the "American Spirit"

In the middle of my third month of living in Williamstown, Mass., I've officially begun a longterm photography project based here in the Berkshires. I'm calling it "Rediscovering the American Spirit," in a nod to painter Norman Rockwell, who lived and worked in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and in reference to "The American Spirit" motto scrawled across the bottom of the Massachusetts license plate. 

After reporting on presidential politics for a year and a half and hearing a lot about what people don't like about their country, their political opponents, their government, I started looking for a way to find what people do like about the United States, what they want to preserve, what they want to see in themselves and each other. Basically I wanted to ask the question, "But okay, what holds us all together?"

Rockwell articulated his post-WWII vision of America in his "Four Freedoms." I'm hoping to articulate, through documenting various aspects of Berkshire County in Massachusetts (the "Premier Cultural Resort of America" that is also familiar with opioid addiction, an aging population and poverty), the "American Spirit" that we all can recognize post-2016 election. 

It seemed fitting to book-end my project with Independence Day celebrations. So I started on July 4, 2017. Here are just a few photos, some from the Pittsfield Parade, one from the swimming hole at Bellevue Cemetery in Adams, and one from the Williamstown fireworks show. I'll be posting as regularly as I can as I continue the project. 

7/29/17 UPDATE: After another edit-through, I've added a couple of photos to this post. It feels as though I'm finding my own style all over again through the project - so want to include a wider scope to choose from at the end.