Canning

Production is exhausting. Even if you're just sitting all day watching a screen. By the time you end you just kind of want to pass out. Maybe it's b/c you're always waiting for something terrible to happen. In our case that's something as minor as a neighbor's dog beginning to bark or a teenager blasting their music from 2 houses down. Any of that can ruin an outdoor shoot.

So today was day two of three. Tomorrow we will film canning of whole fruits and tomatoes.(<---Although I know technically tomato..blah blah blah.) The first day took longer than we expected to set up. It's amazing what a headache grapes can be when trying to mount cameras to a wooden gazebo. Also apparently anything in Portland East is automatically in a jet path, which you all know how Z likes jets. 

But besides my obvious need to complain, it's been really good. H is a natural on camera and really gets it most of the time. She understands what we need from her for technical reasons and she obviously knows her stuff. She does a little over explaining, which I did when I filmed tiny tutorials for YouTube. It's easy to have happen. But she's pretty fantastic. Off camera too. And we're learning a ton. I always assumed making jams was really hard. It's not. Labor intensive yes a bit. And of course it'd take some trial and error of course, but there is something really logical about it. How exciting!

Also the woman we are filming is truly fascinating. The story of H's life is one of reinvention. Here she is at 55 at the top of what is probably her 5th or 6th reinvention. Wife. Mother. Artist. Revolution leader. Coffee shop owner. College drop out. Hitchhiker. She finds herself in the middle of life simply by living it. She lives. She discovers. Things come to an end and she moves to the next. It's liberation to see that in another human being because if she can do it so can you. And so can I.