Fatigue Sets in
Four weeks on the road. Four weeks since I moved out of my apartment in Indiana. Four weeks and I’m feeling fatigued today.
Maybe it was the two nights in a row of 1am check-ins that followed a full 8+ hours of driving. Maybe it was seeing the first full draft of Episode 1 and realizing there’s so many more decisions to be made. I hope to have the final version ready for its debut next week.
More Press, This Time in Missoula
Thanks to Mark Sullivan, one of our 118 producers, for connecting me to his family friend, Megan Mannering. She’s a television reporter for KPAX and filed this news report on my visit to Missoula.
Five press hits in four different towns, so far. This one had candid shots of me walking/running to get equipment and then scout out the riverside location. Sadly, she left out the Boy Scout-esque improvisational stick camera tripod.
Hunkering Down Tonight in Sioux Falls
My original plan was to drive to Omaha and spend the full weekend there. But I just had no mental gas in the tank after today’s interview, so I booked a hotel room in Sioux Falls and will stay here for the night.
I just woke up from a shorter than desired nap. Maybe once I get these thoughts out of my head, I’ll fall back to sleep. Or maybe I’ll just stare out the window and wonder why this is the first state I’ve traveled to where the hotel staff aren’t behind acrylic protective shields nor are they wearing masks.
Don’t even get me started on how the gym and pool are open with no restrictions. WTF?
Objects Larger Than They Appear
I remember moving to the Boston area and having my mind blown that you could drive an hour or two and hit 3-4 different states. That’s because I grew up on the Plains where states are traversed in half and full day increments.
Punch up a map on your phone and look at Montana and both Dakotas. Judging time and distance for traveling across them is on the same confusing plane as walking the Las Vegas strip and saying to yourself “We can walk. That doesn’t look too far.” Even though you know from past experience that it is WAY longer than it looks.
Back into the Prairie Midwest
Traveling to the eastern sides of the Dakotas, you run into the Midwest culture again. Everyone here is North Dakota Nice or South Dakota Nice. But I am shocked to find how politicized the COVID-19 precautions are here in these two states.
This pandemic has exposed the pandemic we’ve been in when it comes to the hyper polarization of seemingly everything. Those themes were reinforced when I spoke back-to-back with two makers/creators in Bismarck, Ashton Hauff and Shelly Sayler. I can’t wait to share them with you.
I enjoyed my two interviews yesterday in Bismarck, ND and my drive along the Missouri River through a portion of the Standing Rock Reservation. My third interview is in limbo because of a family emergency and I hope it comes together, since Jen Martell is of the Standing Rock nation and has a firsthand view into the impact COVID-19 is having on the elders of her community.
Okay, that’s enough jabbering. Time for more sleep and rest. These final edits will go quicker with a clearer, non-caffeine addled brain.
How are your energy levels? Are you rested or fatigued?
