DAY 05
TO CINCINNATI
I chose not to take the highway, as I exit Detroit. This is good. While playing around with the GPS, I discover the “take side roads” option. But the scenery is far from being a bucolic countryside. I go from one desolate and distressing city to another, mainly populated by disadvantaged black communities.
Along the way, I stop in a small village for a coffee and a cigarette. There is a western decor inside around a bison theme. A giant stuffed head that “looks real” is mounted onto the wall. Near the exit, I notice a kind of big box made to serve as a place where “used flags” can be dropped off. There is a sign that specifies that they will be later incinerated with dignity. A lady addresses me with empathy when she sees me smoking outside, “We don’t have any rights left to do anything!“… I am not too sure why her comments comes across a little right wing to me.
Quick stop at McDonalds. I witness the recruitment of a young man returning from the army… “Yes, Mam”. They take him and send him to be trained. An older lady carefully cleans the tables.
I decide to pick up a hitchhiker. He smells a little funny. Must be in his late fifties, he’s a bit rough looking. He just buried his mother in Detroit and is on his way back to Tennessee. He’s painter and does not talk much. Thanks to him, I will meet and film a lady who knew Elvis and eats insipid things alone in her kitchen because of the medical procedure she just had done.