2010 summer.. Florida to Ohio

2010 July 21st Alexa shared

Premiere of THE OTHER HOUSE in Athens

The movie my sister made two years ago, based on the novel our grandmother wrote70=plus years ago, two years in the editing and not done yet, had its local premiere last weekend. More editing needs to be done but the audience of actors, friends and families enjoyed the romance, set in New Hampshire in the 1880's. My niece Rebecca, though slightly pregnant, took over the lead when the original actress reacted too strongly to allergens in an old house used for filming. Amy offered me the part of Aunt Elizabeth, the rich and crusty relative, and my nephew Willie played my great-grandfather, founder of the Brooklyn Museum. The other day I reread the book in an afternoon, and if I haven't given you a copy, let me know. Amy self-published it. She figured it she did not make the movie, no one would. And it is a beautiful costumed drama featuring lovely countryside and various animals, including Democrat the donkey, a three-legged dog with a walk-on, several cats and a blind horse pulling a carriage. After more editing, Amy will have DVDs pressed and you can see the results yourself. She will probably enter it in various film festivals. See THEOTHERHOUSE.com for photographs.

Last month we attended a premiere she arranged at the town hall in Walpole New Hampshire, where it was set, where our parents and grandparents married in the 250-year-old Unitarian church, which we attended the next day.. We stayed in a beautiful bed and breakfast called Pillar to Post, which is the mansion our great grandfather started but never completed. We had the reception there afterwards and there are a couple of shots of it in the movie. A Mormon family finished the mansion and is now offering it for sale for $795K. 

I have similar ambitions for my late husband Jack's comedy, MICE IN THE THEATRE. I would like to direct the play here and then design a film of it. Next year I can take free film courses at Ohio University and I already know some good actors from the film. Jack wrote a screenplay some years ago. The other night I read a play of his I had never seen, The Deserter. I am sorry I did not have the courage to move us here a year ago when he might've enjoyed this small town adventure with me, despite the stairs. He starred and directed 2 different productions of Mice in the Theatre and a Pennsylvania company produced it too. So I am looking around for New-York-like outdoor settings here in Ohio!

It has been an adventure setting up housekeeping in the little house Amy found us at a sheriff's sale last year. This morning I planted more flowers off the front porch. My nephew set up a clothesline for me. I've already had 2 floods in the basement, the first when my old tree's roots overtook the sewer line, which will have to be replaced, the second when my neighbor's above-ground pool collapsed and flooded my backyard. Luckily last year's tenant or the previous owner left some furniture so I didn't need to find sofas or a bed. Any oversaw a lot of fixing and renovation using her son and son-in-law, more than I can imagine.I have decided to live without a television and so far, no phone. I am reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and trying to get corn (syrup) and industrial meat out of my life. Since my brother-in-law farms and sells at the market, I get lots of leftover squash, kale and chard! I sold my car but packed my scooter; hope eventually to get a fuel-efficient car and do some travelling.

Thank you for your friendship. I wish you the best. Come anytime! 

Alexa

2010 June 24th  Alexa reported

Greetings from Nelsonville Public Library. 

I have no AC, no phone, no Internet, no cable, but a basement full of my stuff slowly percolating up the narrow stairs of my curious old sherriff's sale house..

I finally left Southern Sands Motel Monday morning, after getting a jump from a tenant. My 16-foot-long Budget truck had an annoying habit of rocking back and forth after every pothole on 95, the sign of an uneven load and a terrifying hold onto the wheel experience.. The cats were crying, the cabin was crammed, still I had to leave a fridge full of food and two cabinets full of beloved magazines, the New Yorker and Harper's. 

I just don't have enough years left to read everything!

Desperately fighting drowsiness at 55 mph, I settled on a Super8 mootel coupon in Orangeburg, S.C., home of a college. I snuck my pets in (Indian-run motel) to avoid a $10/pet fee and surfed channels endlessly instead of getting some sleep. 

But I'm an early riser in my old age and hit the road for the worst day since Jack's death: MOUNTAINS! It was all I could do get to 45 mph going up and speeding down with big trucks everywhere was terrifying. Love those tunnels! North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, mountains galore and the $50 fill-ups didn't last long. I paid $90 for insurance and $20 for roadside assistance, but if I hadn't me and my possessions might've littered the highway. It took 2 days to pack the truck, I could just imagine rescuing the debris from a collision. But even nightmares end, and I found my little house before dark and was much surprised it has charm and personality, and the old tenant left his coffee pot, mixer and more.

I called my sister from a neighbor's house and engaged her sons to help unload the truck, which was due 10 am the next day. Amy was disgusted by all my stuff and the narrow steps to the first and second floor did a job on my legs.Both nights I slept on the front porch, the house was just stifling despite a couple of ceiling fans. I must pick up an AC ASAP but Amy and I leave for the premiere of her movie tomorrow THE OTHER HOUSE in Walpole, New Hampshire. I met my great-niece, Blossom, 20 months, and my niece Rebecca (star of the film!) is an excellent mother with another girl due in October.

My last days at the motel were wrenching, with the death of a lovely woman my age awaiting a place at Stewart Marchman for alcohol addiction. Her husband and son were killed by a drunk driver 20-some years ago while she was cleaning the house for the son's first birthday party. She was hospitalized and released several times and several of us took her in but her addiction won the day. I hope to squeeze out a piece for the News Journal on her life and death and the failure of all of us to save her, once I get back..  

I will always be the debt to Alice Jaeger and Ray Hicks for personifying friendship with so much time and sweat packing and loading my nonsense into that truck. It's clear I could never have done it alone. I hope I can pay their goodness forward someday. They are the best!

Best wishes for passage of Amendment 4 in November. From an old lady sitting on her porch watching the occasional car glide by. 

Alexa 

2010 June 8th Alexa reported

The Die is Cast! and more 

I rented a Budget truck for Monday, yard sale Friday and Saturday (last week's rained out plus out of the way, no customers), final visits to those who owe me money (including Jail!) . True friends have come to help me sort and ready. I have a 14-foot truck, selling my car Monday, I fear I won't be able to leave 12 years worth of New Yorkers and Harpers behind, even getting 8 mpg!