On the set

  

Sunday I spent a little time on the real life set of a story I'm working on. It was a trip being in Compton on 108th Street, listening to the sounds of life. There was something always going on but it was a beautiful day too. It was crystal clear blue skies until a couple of fires broke out. Life over there keeps the local firemen constantly busy. I counted three times that the fire trucks were called to that street within a thirty minute time frame. Two were for an actual fire and one time was paramedic related. There was a bridge near a train track where I noticed an old pontiac trans am parked at. All of a sudden it caught on fire. The dark smoke filled the air instantly like one of those clouds before a tornado hits. The entire street was dark for a moment. It smelled like burning rubber and before you knew it, the fire trucks came rushing in. People filled the street for as long as the fire was burning. Some looking at the sky and holding their noses while others maintained their fascination with the burning car and the firemen preparing to put out the fire. Once they put it out, everyone returned back inside or behind the gates of their apartment buildings and homes. Further up the street there were a group of latino males yelling at each other and two police officers with their arms folded, standing and watching with amusement. Across the street from where I sat there was a black family, three male and one female in their front yard playing dominoes and listening to Julio G's westside radio show. Young kids would dart out into the street every once in a while just to chase a dog or a ball that got away from them. It was funny to watch this street. There was a certain rhythm to it that stayed the same until the occasional interuption occured like those fires breaking out, the fire trucks speeding by, and an occasional police car zooming by with flashing lights but no siren. The rhythm never stopped when those kids darted in and out of the street but when one lady shouted "Kenny get your ass out of that street!" everyone within earshot of her voice including the domino playing family stopped what they were doing for a few seconds to watch little Kenny walk with his head down as he returned to play behind the gate of his front yard. 108th Street was pretty cool. Absorbing the whole vibe of it in about 45 minutes time was a fun trip. I'll be back to capture more of it, visually and spiritually...