I learned most of what I know about trout fishing on an overnight trip in the Tellico Wildlife Management Area in East Tennessee. My buddy lived nearby and loved to follow the trout streams high up to their source. We caught them by day and cooked and ate them by the evening campfires. As you will see, the following poem both is and isn’t about trout fishing. …
If Kristin Scott Thomas (from “The English Patient”) doesn’t have the most expressive face in the motion picture world, who does? With no words spoken you can follow and feel her thoughts, her pain, her sarcasm, her weariness, everything.
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I found “Ladies in Lavender” a charming and fascinating story. Imagine two older women, sisters, living in a small remote 1930’s Cornish village in a lovely house overlooking the sea. One night comes a violent storm, not all that unusual for such a setting. But next morning the sisters discover a washed up body on their little beach. Next they discover that the young man is still alive. They get help, take him in, and begin to tend to him.
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I was the youngest of three brothers. During World War II, my oldest brother, David Jr., volunteered for the army. He was 17.
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Despite the Pennsylvania trends, Bedford PA is not a left-leaning area. One clue is the big “Jesus Is Lord” sign (with photograph of Jesus) that preaches to the Pennsylvania Turnpike as it angles through town. People support the NRA here, and disapprove the ACLU. Christian values are promoted in the local paper alongside church suppers, county fairs, and yard sales. Compared to where I live and work in the Washington, D.C. area, this is a safe and peaceful place. The crime report tells of of a bicycle stolen from a garage, or a coin box pilfered at the laundromat. …
I remember exactly where we met. I remember the intimate lighting and the view outside of all the expensive yachts. A marina restaurant on Chickamauga Lake in East Tennessee. I kept looking around to see if anyone was there who knew me. Yes, I was concerned that someone might see me doing this. But the more I got to know her, the less I cared about that. There are times in your life when you try something you've held back on in the past, and you cross over and find yourself in a new place. She was that place. …
I met this man who trains dogs to sniff out explosives. He calls them “bomb dogs.” He does this for the police department in Washington, D.C. As we know, a lot of people are interested in planting explosives in Washington, D.C. Sometimes it makes you wonder why we live here. …
Once upon a time there was a fishing village that surrounded a beautiful harbor beside the sea. The people of the village worked hard to make their living. Everyone was expected to help with the fishing, from the youngest to the oldest. …
I knew a man in Tennessee whose real name was John Smith. I point out that this was his real name because otherwise you would think I was disguising it. John lived in Tellico Plains and he’d been taught to trout fish by a forest ranger who was the best in the region. John became an expert himself and one day I went fishing with him because we were friends. I was no expert when it came to trout fishing. …
Animal behavior is always fascinating to me. I filmed this in Bedford County, PA beside the Juniata River. It truly did appear that the geese were embarrassed by the mallard fight and wanted to make them stop. The mallard fight went on and on and was vicious, not sporting. Of course, geese are known to fight as well, but on this occasion they tried to be the peacemakers. …