My recent Jersey Shore vacation left me with some time to slow down and catch a breather, which is always a good thing.
After the mandatory beach and pool stops, the daily BBQ, and general slowing down of my life, I found time to read some books and enjoy some television time with a focus on Apple TV and Amazon.
In our line of work (and likely most lines of work these days), vacation time doesn’t mean parking the phone and laptop and disconnecting for the week. To the contrary, any professional or politician worth his/her salt recognizes that taking a vacation is making sure that the work is still getting done and nothing alarming is happening at home base. While there is relaxation and family time, it also means compressing the “work time” in the early morning and late at night so you can catch some of the overdue family time, long walks, pickle ball and body surfing activity.
One night during this last vacation, I found a documentary on Amazon, American Highway, which was produced by a 32-year-old, Brian Mulvey, who after a painful breakup with his girlfriend, wanted to change the scenery in his life. Brian convinced his high school acquaintance, Seth Tucker, to take a leave from his life for 40 days and create this documentary.
The project, as envisioned by Brian, was to travel across America and speak to fellow citizens about their life and about the society that they live in. I thought that this experiment had real potential and had shades of Charles Kuralt and Jack Kerouac with some exploratory elements of Americo Vespucci. What could we find on this journey?
In 2021, these two novices, Brian and Seth, set out on their mission and traveled in two vehicles and planned to visit the Southwest and Western portions of the USA. They mapped out 10,000 miles and had a fixed budget. The states to be visited included: Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, and California.
Before I delve into the actual film, I need to caveat that the film quality, editing, and sound are amateurish and need some polish. But maybe that is what makes this documentary real and beautiful.
Twelve minutes into this film you begin to see a glimpse of the real America, the America that we should all be proud of and the America that our ancestors set out for from other lands to make – a world that is much different than the world they left. I suggest that too often these days, we see America through the lenses of cable TV and social media; an America that appears so divided and so angry. This documentary shows a caring, loving nurturing America, where individuals treat each other with respect, love, compassion and without the acrimony, bickering, and pettiness that we see all too much in the media.
Make no mistake, this documentary shows an America with real problems, but it shows that most Americans have a heart and a soul that is so special.
The real storytelling begins in Mayfield, Kentucky, which had just been hit with a devastating set of tornadoes. This middle America small town was the epicenter of the vicious storm, and sadly, this town lost 42 residents. It was during the lengthy cleanup that Brian interviewed some of the survivors and some of the good-hearted souls who made their way to Mayfield to lend a helping hand. Among the decimated homes and destroyed lives, it was up-lifting and indeed, heart-warming, to see fellow Americans stop their lives and come to Mayfield to provide comfort and resources to a fellow human being in need.
Speaking of good souls, in Mayfield, we are introduced to a couple from Georgia, a husband and wife in their 70s, who traveled in their camper to help the cause. I don’t know if there are any angels walking about in this world of ours, but if there are, they take the shape of Roberta and Hank Carmickle. Hank said that during moments of crisis it is when people should be pulling together, and when they heard about the devastation in Mayfield, they couldn’t stop their urge to get in the vehicle and make this trip to this distressed township. It is worth noting that both Roberta and Hank are cancer survivors, yet they spent 70 days and $12,000 of their savings providing water and handmade tacos to the needy residents.
Roberta and Hank said that you get back in life what you give 1000-fold. Roberta added that every day that she is alive, she is going to do something meaningful. She added that this life of ours is about hope and being there for those in need.
Editor’s note: when this tornado storm became national news and not for profits were soliciting donations, O’Toole Scrivo gladly donated to the cause. When that donation was made, we certainly didn’t fully understand the impact to the people of Mayfield, but this documentary left the clear impression just how badly they needed donated supplies and dollars. We move along.
This documentary next took us to a rural parish in Louisiana and we met Renee, who by all accounts is an outdoorsman and nature lover. Renee, in his Louisianian way, discussed that he was enriched daily by just talking to others. He said that it is a gift to be able to be with others. He went on to add that “we are blessed to just talk to others, and we are just people, and we can learn and benefit by just listening to others.”
As he toured a bayou in the great outdoors, Renee left us with one other pearl—he said, “that the next person you meet can change your life or inspire you.” Wow!
The next stop was in the big State of Texas, where we meet some big personalities. First up was Tray in Austin. Tray was homeless and he showed us, without edits or sugarcoating, how homelessness looks in America. Tray asked that we look at all homeless as fellow humans and he asked that he not be judged. Tray wants help, but not a handout. He wants a job, and he wants to see the people who he loves. Tray said that the daily grind of being homeless is dangerous, but he wasn’t afraid to die. Tray asked us to “open our hearts.”
The trip next took us to other folks in other towns in Texas, we found some happy people at The Harvey House and some more homeless (one individual was an amazingly articulate and spiritual poet) and some folks from law enforcement. One sheriff (and former weatherman) imparted some pretty good advice – he said people love freedom most about America and he mulled over why he switched jobs from a tv weatherman to an officer with a badge. He observed that life is short and when “you hate getting up for your job every day, it is time to move on.” He took his own advice and loves his job.
The trip next traveled to majestic Colorado as we saw Red Rocks and the beautiful canyons. Flatiron was flat out one of prettiest places in America.
We moved quickly through Utah and saw snow covered hills and mountains.
The next memorable character was found in Seattle, Washington. Please meet Alvin who rode a stationary bike to benefit military families. Alvin, in his own unconventional way, offered hope and promise. Alvin had a national network set up to assist military families in need and he rode a stationary bike in an open pedestrian way to raise awareness and money. At the time of filming, Alvin rode 139,322 miles and logged 12,039 hours on the bike. Alvin said that he didn’t talk politics during this volunteer work and his job was simply to uplift others. He was committed to honor the military families and those who served.
While Alvin showed us the magnificence of his giving in Seattle, sadly, we were also shown some of the ugliness in this State – the racial hate, the prominent drug addiction, and other things we don’t like to talk about.
We next saw Arizona in all its stunning colors. Besides the natural beauty of the topography, we came upon a couple that really made me think. Please meet Laurie and Keith as they are traveling in their golden years. The last decade for this couple has been a real challenge after they lost their parents, relatives, and the real heartbreaker, their daughter. The couple spoke wistfully about their daughter who died after years of meth and alcohol abuse. This 39-year-old was cut down decades before her time. Laurie opened up about a recent dream she had about her daughter that was eerily real. Laurie lovingly carried her daughter’s ashes with her on their journey and we witnessed her spreading her remains over a cliff and canyon. Laurie was crying as she poured the ashes into the wind and said, “fly free my girl.” Laurie and Keith left us some sage advice. After looking out for so many relatives and family members, they said it is time to spend time on themselves, to love, to heal, to enjoy whatever remaining time they have on this earth.
I know that this column is getting long, but I need to quickly elaborate on the stops in California. They traveled to Monterey and other coastline locations to see surfers, doctors, and dreamers. This shot explained that this world is full of rich, not so rich, and lots in between. We were given some advice to live your dreams now before time gets away from us. And then this journey came to a quick and abrupt end.
It seems that Brian had planned on taking more time, but the tape ran out and his money as well. The two collaborators pulled over on a random road in California and hugged and said goodbye. While this imperfect documentary was flawed, and we could make a list of cinematic critiques, it was beautiful and eye opening.
Let me close with this. As I stated above, the documentary showed us parts of our America. This might not be the America of our ancestors, but it is our America. We all live in it, define it, help it, and together can make it more beautiful, more splendid, and we do so only by helping one another and stopping the hurt.
We need to celebrate today’s America and move forward on a positive trajectory. We need to open our eyes to everyone and everything and leave well enough alone. We are in this thing called life together and we are charged with leaving this life with a world of good under our belts. We need to take down the walls of hate and indifference and meet perfect strangers with curiosity and compassion.
I hope that you see the documentary and experience something special. Despite the length of this column, I couldn’t cover all the fascinating personalities and all the magical places in this place we call our America.
As Brian summed up at the end of his film, these American highways serve as the arteries that connect us all and maybe we should all act as if we are all connected to one another, because we are.