Mysterious Wanderings of Marz

Walt Grayson “Look Around Mississippi” May 18, 2012

Thursday, May 17th, I was woken up by a familiar and much-welcomed voice – Carole was back! As usual, she was wearing one of her fabulous hats.

Carole has a gift for finding and talking to interesting people. She met Sandra, who is biking down Natchez Trace. Sandra started in Tennessee so she’s almost finished. Sometimes she camps, and sometimes stays in motels – the night before she camped at Jeff Busby campground, the same one I was in a few days earlier.

It was not much longer before Walt and his lovely wife Jo arrived.

Walt and Jo Grayson

Walt brought his own video camera and tripod – he usually films his own show.

We did the interview with me sitting in my tent and Walt asking questions from behind the camera. I was nervous being in front of the camera so I didn’t phrase things quite as eloquently as I would have liked. Usually, I’m the one BEHIND the camera and not in the picture! It’s one of the things I like about being a photographer.  :-)

View from inside the tent

We had lunch at the Council House Cafe. Halfway through lunch, a busload of people showed up! A number of them recognized Walt from his show and commented how much they enjoyed it.

Then I packed up my tent and we took video of me walking with all my mountains of gear. When we finally had enough shots – some close shots, a few long shots where I was far away, close up of my boots, motion shots, me walking towards the camera and away from the camera on Natchez Trace - Walt and Jo drove me to the next town, Kosciusko, and we stopped at the Natchez Trace Information Center. Walt was giving a graduation speech in the evening so he and Jo left for their next adventure, and I read through some Mississippi brochures from the Information Center. It was a fun experience and I’m so glad I had the chance to meet Walt and Jo. The segment will only be a couple of minutes (thank goodness!) and should air on Tuesday the 22nd during the 6PM news hour on WLBT Chanel 3 in Mississippi. It will also be on WLBT’s website, so I’ll post a link when it’s available. (Gulp!)