On the Road

We will soon be on the road to Savannah, maybe even a similar route that Sherman took during the Civil War. Hopefully, there will be no battles; and this trip will proceed without incident. I’m a teacher, after all, not a soldier; and we will be traveling in our bus for the final shoot of the film. The entire crew is moving to Savannah for five days.

We are now waiting in the parking lot for someone who is late. It could have been me as I didn’t want to get up this morning, and I kept setting the snooze button. I was mostly packed except for the laptop and a few clothes. I brought my coffee with me to drink in the car and my yogurt and pear to eat after I got here. I had no traffic and almost no red lights, so I was here in twenty minutes. “Here” is at the parking lot on Mountain Industrial where the stage is. We leave our cars and ride the bus shuttle.

I must say I am glad I wasn’t the one who was late as I really believe in punctuality. Two people kept all of us waiting for 45 minutes. I was 5 minutes late arriving at 10:05 AM so I guess I can’t complain too much. Even with the monsoon rain, I had no delays. If I had had any delays, I too would have just arrived.

One thing I’ve already decided, I’m getting an i-phone and letting my landline go. This would be great if I could immediately go to the internet. The guy in front of me on the bus has and i-phone so he has everything he needs for the trip. I had to pack up this bulky laptop and cords. Of course, I may not have another film out of town for a year so it isn’t like I’m ever very far away from my study.

I’m reminded of Jack Kerouac’s "On the Road". I seriously doubt this is going to be the poetic experience his trip was. We’re going straight to Savannah, then to the hotel which is in the harbor. Hopefully it won’t rain for five days as I brought my bating suit. (That, by the way, was the purchase of the day. I had to have a new suit that at least was sort of flattering and camouflaged my stomach until I can lose back down to 120 pounds. Of course, it’s black, and a Jantzen. What else would I buy? Maybe I can now start swimming with my silver sneaker membership anywhere they have a pool. (That's right, I'm now 66 years old.

I’m afraid the battery power for my laptop may not last much longer, for sure not the entire trip. My earlier plans were to sleep the entire way. The seats are not so amenable to sleeping; besides, I’m cold. I forgot to bring a blanket and a pillow. I do have a whole seat to myself, however. In fact, most of us do. There are probably ten people on the bus. Some of the folks left yesterday in vans, some are driving, and the actors all flew. By the time you go to the airport, get to the gate, load, fly, unload, get your luggage, then drive to the hotel, it probably takes longer to fly than it does to drive. You still have to be at the airport a couple of hours before the flight. Even at the airport, you may have to wait on a plane, especially in the kind of weather we are having today.

Oh no, I can hear just a little bit of someone’s music, just enough to sound like an alarm system or whining dog in the neighborhood. At least, for the moment no one is twittering outloud with a megaphone. I think I will close for now, the beginning of my very own rendition of “on the road.” This one is "Rozanne’s on the road" or "Teacher on the road."