Day 4 LEAVING TEXAS/NEW ORLEANS
Texas kinda stole my heart up to this point, just a little bit. I spoke with my mother on the phone later in the day and she was concerned. We grabbed some Yerbas at the local Sprouts and hit the road. Since I’ve started to make little short films again, I’ve been thinking a lot about movies, kind of how I used to think about them. I studied film at Temple University and it has always been something that I’ve loved, but I haven’t really made a film in years. Since we were in Texas I started to talk to Josh about Wes Anderson, who is from Texas. He’s a good sport so he listened to me babble for a little bit. I decided to look up the filming locations for Rushmore, and sure enough, en route to New Orleans was the school they used, just a couple miles off the I-10.
The short I shot with Josh the first night in NOLA.
So we got to check out a little bit of Houston, what I didn’t know is that the area we ended up in, where the school (which is actually called St John’s School) borders, is a place called River Oaks, the wealthiest area in Texas, and one of the richest in the nation. Super high class. Here are a pic of each.
After that we left Houston, which is massive, and we were back on the road. Throughout the day I would check Facebook and other social media as that is part of what this project entails, and I realized that it was father’s day, which is always a very rough day for me. My father died about 12 years ago because he, well, he drank himself to death. I remember how he had always encouraged me to live and work at the beach for a summer when I was young, but I never did. Not sure why I always think of that but I feel it is in some way related to my impulse to take this road trip. This day of the trip is dedicated to him.
While on the road I was looking at pictures of young fathers, friends who have settled down and have children and families. I also saw that an ex-girlfriend got married. These events are strange, maybe bordering right on the edge of melancholy. All of these things make me wonder if I’ll ever settle down, because I know, as I get older, the prospect does become more and more attractive. As I glide through time and space in a Honda Civic, dwelling on my personal failings, I notice the word Bayou on a sign, and I know we are here, the south.
The wide open spaces in the south are a very eerie place. When looking out into the distance, into the cypress swamps and the deep green gullies, I get the feeling that these places hold secrets that no one should know. Approaching New Orleans things started to look dirtier, and I like that, urban decay is good for the soul.
The nightlife was in full effect, and it was a Sunday night. The streets felt alive and I became immersed in the culture. After exploring a little we found our Airbnb spot on Frenchman St, which was wonderful, shot a short film, which is further up on the page, and settled in for the night.
