A Good Day for My Soul
Dixie, Louisiana- Hello again to those of you who still actually read my blog. In case you were worried I recovered fully from my Mexican visa fiasco without a problem and made my way back to Shreveport, Louisiana. I hired on to a small horror film called Pulse: AI as a production office assistant and have since been promoted to Production Secretary. Yesterday, the crew was filming on location in a pecan grove on the Red River north of town and citing a lack of Location Department help I got recruited to assist the Locations manager Karen. (I later learned its because they found out I was from Texas and "had experience with cows.")
So yesterday I found myself on the banks of the Red River setting up the location and making sure everything was ready to go for the day long shoot. We were filming in a large pecan grove with massive trees that were 50-60 years old. Old barns and structures dotted the grove as well as about 30 cows and one very social horse. My job, among other things, was to help corral the animals and keep them in or out of the shot as needed. Although the work day was long, much of it was moments when there really was nothing to do as we waited for setups and other things.
The morning had been beautiful and althought I was busy I took a few moments to look around. Most of the people were from Los Angeles and their reaction to the utterly rural environment was beyond entertaining. Watching them tip toe around cow patties and swat at bugs made me proud that my roots and my home are and always will be rural. They looked ridiculous and I was, for a moment, overwhelmed with greatfulness that my parents didnt raise me in Los Angeles or any other awful concrete mess.
The most humorous statement of the day came from one very gay Set Production Assistant from Los Angeles named Dave who in befuddlement asked me "Do the cows always eat right off the ground?"
And he was serious.
Really the best part of the whole day was the pecan grove. I remember back in the Bee House Valley how I spent hours and hours walking through pecan groves and shade. There is, without a doubt, a certain pulse to the land, and it breathes, and being amongst it as we were, our pulses slowly became the same. The afternoon wind was calm and soothing and white clouds drifted lazily across the landscape. I spent the whole day without a phone ringing or flourescent lights, and suddenly, very suddenly, I longed for that place again, where I could walk not to reach a destination, but to walk with no destination which is truly the best way to walk. Where the compulsory action is to think, to be pensive, and let your thoughts flow softly and to sit in the shade and philosophie.
When the day had ended and the movie crew had gone, I drove down a back road and stopped to see the stars. There was times as a boy when I would stare at the stars in honest wonderment and I found myself doing that again last night. I took off my shoes and stood in the grass on the side of the road. And, again I realized that in all the miles I have traveled maybe really they all just lead home. That's really the only place I ever wanted to be.
So again I find myself back in the Production Office. I slept good though last night, you know the good sleep. The kind that only comes after you spent the day doing something good for your soul.
That's the story of my life...
The day passed and
So yesterday I found myself on the banks of the Red River setting up the location and making sure everything was ready to go for the day long shoot. We were filming in a large pecan grove with massive trees that were 50-60 years old. Old barns and structures dotted the grove as well as about 30 cows and one very social horse. My job, among other things, was to help corral the animals and keep them in or out of the shot as needed. Although the work day was long, much of it was moments when there really was nothing to do as we waited for setups and other things.
The morning had been beautiful and althought I was busy I took a few moments to look around. Most of the people were from Los Angeles and their reaction to the utterly rural environment was beyond entertaining. Watching them tip toe around cow patties and swat at bugs made me proud that my roots and my home are and always will be rural. They looked ridiculous and I was, for a moment, overwhelmed with greatfulness that my parents didnt raise me in Los Angeles or any other awful concrete mess.
The most humorous statement of the day came from one very gay Set Production Assistant from Los Angeles named Dave who in befuddlement asked me "Do the cows always eat right off the ground?"
And he was serious.
Really the best part of the whole day was the pecan grove. I remember back in the Bee House Valley how I spent hours and hours walking through pecan groves and shade. There is, without a doubt, a certain pulse to the land, and it breathes, and being amongst it as we were, our pulses slowly became the same. The afternoon wind was calm and soothing and white clouds drifted lazily across the landscape. I spent the whole day without a phone ringing or flourescent lights, and suddenly, very suddenly, I longed for that place again, where I could walk not to reach a destination, but to walk with no destination which is truly the best way to walk. Where the compulsory action is to think, to be pensive, and let your thoughts flow softly and to sit in the shade and philosophie.
When the day had ended and the movie crew had gone, I drove down a back road and stopped to see the stars. There was times as a boy when I would stare at the stars in honest wonderment and I found myself doing that again last night. I took off my shoes and stood in the grass on the side of the road. And, again I realized that in all the miles I have traveled maybe really they all just lead home. That's really the only place I ever wanted to be.
So again I find myself back in the Production Office. I slept good though last night, you know the good sleep. The kind that only comes after you spent the day doing something good for your soul.
That's the story of my life...
The day passed and
posted by Winston A. Hall at 7:55 AM
2 Comments:
I loved this blog!! It made me homesick. I hope everything is going well for you. How is the book?
what a terrific post!
"do they always eat off the ground?" -- HAHAHAHAHHAA!!!
that's awesome. i'm from rural west texas, too (i think i've told you that), and that would make my heart happy to hear, too. i, like you, am so grateful to my parents for raising me where they did.
we're blessed, m'friend. very blessed.
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