Let's give it up for Slab City's own Tracy T!
Hey. My name's Tracy.
- Tracy! - Yeah!
Jack London is king.
Hey, you gonna stay with us long?
Well, I'm waiting on a check from my last job
to come into Salton City the day after Christmas.
I've got to start thinking about getting ready for Alaska.
When the sun gets a little lower tonight, I'm going to start a calisthenics routine.
After the check comes in, I think I'm gonna try to find
some big old mountains I can climb every day until spring comes.
I've got to see how far the money's gonna go.
I've still got a lot of supplies to pick up before spring.
So, I might get another job or I might be okay.
Hell, we'd give you a little something for the days you spend in the booth here.
I'm not taking any money from you, Rainey.
It's been a real great twist meeting you two.
You two look like you're doing good.
- We are doing good. - Yeah?
We're doing real good.
Speaking of which, don't you think
you ought to introduce yourself to our little Joni Mitchell over there?
I...
- Hi. - Hi.
You selling these books?
I am. We are.
He was.
I like to read.
- Do you? - Yeah.
That's good.
I heard you play your song last night.
- I'm terrible. - You are not terrible. You sing sweet.
Thank you.
I was gonna go take a walk to Salvation Mountain.
- You wanna go? - Okay.
- Hi. - Hi. Alex.
I'd like to show you around up here. I've been here since 1984, more or less.
A lot of tourists come in here
and they look at that car door up there. They really like it.
And I found car doors and put them up there and I bolted it all in.
Where did you get the telephone poles?
A lot of people in the valley just love me a lot.
Everybody now, I think, in the whole world is just loving me.
And I want to have the wisdom to love them back.
And that's about it. So I really get excited.
You really believe in love, then.
Yeah. Totally.
This is a love story that is staggering to everybody in the whole world.
That God really loves us a lot.
Does that answer that?
- Yeah. - Good.
I really love it here. I think the freedom of this place is just so beautiful.
To me, I wouldn't move for $10 million, unless I had to.
So I'm contented here in the desert, and I'm living where I want to live.
And I think good gets better. And I think those great big tanks there
were the sewer plant for the Marine base in World War II.
If you want to, you can try putting your hands in there.
And I'm gonna do the same thing, just for the fun.
You're doing real good.
You can wipe your hands off on my shirt if you want.
This is starting to make me hungry.
I was just a couple of years older than Tracy when I got pregnant.
- Wow. - Yeah.
Yeah, I thought my husband and I were going to just make peace on Earth
and babies and love and stay together forever,
and that didn't quite work out that way.
He left me.
So, I...
Anyway, whatever,
but I ended up raising Reno on my own. That's my boy, his name's Reno.
Then I met Rainey.
That was sweet. It was really good for a while. It's just...
You know, Reno was a teenager already by then,
and he was just on his way to becoming his own man.
And I haven't even heard from him in two years.
I don't even know where he is.
I hope I get to meet him sometime.
Do your folks know where you are?
Hey, guys? Dinner's ready if you guys are hungry.
Yeah, we are. We're hungry.
I'll be all right.
You want to come and eat?
Or we'll sit here. Because I will sit here with you all night.
Let's go. Let's go.
Guys, come on. It's getting cold.
Check this out. Tawdry? Denise, that sounds like your cup of tea.
That poor girl is about ready to vault herself onto a fence post.
And here you are, the monk of Jack fucking LaLanne.
- So Jan talked to you about Reno, huh? - Yeah.
Children can be pretty harsh when it comes to their parents.
You planning on seeing yours?
I've only got one plan, Rainey.
That would be Alaska?
Alaska.
Hello?
- Merry Christmas. - Come in here.
My parents went into town.
No.
Yeah. They went to call my grandma for Christmas.
No, I mean we can't do that.
Why not?
How old are you?
Eighteen.
Seventeen.
What year were you born?
So I'm 16.
You want to do something together?
You can send mail to this address in South Dakota.
I don't know when I'm going to get it, but I'll get it.
You're pretty magic.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
And just remember
if you want something in life, reach out and grab it.
- You take care, kiddo. - You, too.
- New Year's resolution? - We'll work on it.
Just get your pack and get on out of here, okay?
I don't think I could take a hug.
Hey.
Bye!
A year and a half had passed in what Dad called "suspended animation."
The weight of Chris' disappearance had begun to lay down on me full-length.
"I have lived through much,
"and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness.
"A quiet secluded life in the country,
"with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good,
"and who are not accustomed to have it done to them.
"And work which one hopes may be of some use.
"Then rest, nature, books, music,
"love for one's neighbor.
"Such is my idea of happiness.
"And then, on top of all that, you for a mate,
"and children perhaps.
"What more can the heart of a man desire?"
Comes the morning when I can feel
That there's nothing left to be concealed
Moving on a scene surreal
But my heart will never Never be far from here
Sure as I'm breathing Sure as I'm sad
I'll keep this wisdom in my flesh
I leave here believing More than I had
And there's a reason I will
A reason I'll be back
As I walk the hemisphere
I got my wish to up and disappear
I've been wounded I've been healed
Now for landing I've been
Landing I've been cleared
Sure as I'm breathing Sure as I'm sad
I'll keep this wisdom in my flesh
I leave here believing More than I had
This love has got no ceiling
Where's your camp?
Just out past Oh-My-God Hot Springs.
I've lived in and around here for six years now
and I've never heard of any place that goes by that name.
- Show me how to get there. - Yeah.
- Ron Franz. - Alex.
Alex? Where you from, Alex?
- West Virginia. - Okay, Alex from West Virginia.
Well, this is something out here.
Don't you...
Don't you worry about those dope smokers and nudists down below there?
No, they keep to themselves pretty much.
You strike me as a bright young man. Am I wrong about that?
I think I've got my head on my shoulders pretty good.
Well, that's what I mean.
How long you been out here?
- Couple of weeks. - And before that?
A lot of places. Been moving around a lot.
- Well, how old are you? - Twenty-three.
Twenty-three years old!
Son, don't you think you ought to be getting an education?
And a job? And making something of this life?
Look, Mr. Franz,
I think careers are a 20th century invention, and I don't want one.
You don't need to worry about me. I have a college education.
I'm not destitute. I'm living like this by choice.
- In the dirt? - Yeah, in the dirt.
- Where's your family? - Don't have one anymore.
That's a shame.
Hey, Mr. Franz, I want to show you something.
Come on.
It's getting a little steep. A little high for me, kid.
All right,
but even from halfway out, it's quite a sight, isn't it?
From the top, you can see all the way to the Salton Sea, too.
You can see the Salton Sea from up there?
Yes, sir.
My goodness.
- You don't want to go up? - Nope. I don't do these kind of things.
I spent most of my life in the Army.
New Year's Eve, 1957, I was stationed in Okinawa.
My wife and son were here in the States just driving down the road,
and some fella who'd had too much to drink plowed right into them.
Killed them both.
Now you might think the last thing I would do in the world
is go to the whiskey.
But at the time, it felt like the only thing I could do.
And I did it hard!
But pretty soon I realized
I wasn't doing my wife and son any good mourning them with the bottle.
So I pulled myself together and I quit drinking,
cold turkey.
So since all that, this is pretty much me.
Do you ever travel, Mr. Franz?
No, I can't seem to get too far from my leather.
I do a lot of leather engraving. I got a little workshop out in the garage.
Between that and my pension, I do pretty well.
But every time I think I might take a trip somewhere,
I get too far behind on orders and such to consider it.
When we finish eating, I'd love to see your workshop.
- Would you? - Oh, yeah.
I was hoping you'd say that.
- It's amazing how malleable this is. - Yeah, it is.
When the leather is wet you can really...
- It's like butter. - Yeah.
It's amazing. And then it hardens up, and, I mean, it stays right there.
A good whack with the mallet. Crack it down. Whack. Bang.
I went to South Dakota. I worked at a grain elevator
for this guy named Wayne. He was a really good guy.
So I took the Colorado River
all the way down through the Grand Canyon and did rapids,
which is by far one of the scariest things I've ever done.
And I took the Colorado down into Mexico, Golfo, where I got stuck.
Salvation Mountain. The Slabs.
What's the "N" stand for?
North.
Alaska?
Son, what the hell are you running from?
You know, I can ask you the same question!
Except I already know the answer!
You do, do you?
I do, Mr. Franz! You got to get back out in the world!
Get out of that Ionely house, that little workshop of yours.
Get back out on the road! Really!
You're going to live a long time, Ron!
You should make a radical change in your lifestyle!
I mean, the core of man's spirit comes from new experiences.
And there you are, stubborn old man, sitting on your butt.
- Sitting on my butt? - Yeah.
I'll show you sitting on my butt!
"Stubborn old man."
I'll show you!
Come on, then! Come on.
Sitting on my butt? Yeah.
Come on, old man. Come climbing.
Sitting on my butt.
Come on. Keep going!
You're doing great!
- Keep going. Keep going, Ron! - Yeah!
Can anybody see this? God, are you watching this right now?
Yeah.
- You all right? - You little pinhead!
I'm gonna miss you when you go.
I'll miss you, too, Ron. But you're wrong if you think
that the joy of life comes principally from human relationships.
God's placed it all around us. It's in everything.
It's in anything we can experience.
People just need to change the way they look at those things.
Yeah, I'm gonna take stock of that.
No, I am.
I am.
But I wanted to tell you something.
From the bits and pieces I put together,
you know, from what you told me about your family, your mother and your dad.
And I know you've got your problems with the church, too.
But there's some kind of bigger thing we can all appreciate,
and it sounds like you don't mind calling it God.
But when you forgive,
you love.
And when you love,
God's light shines on you.
- Holy shit. - I told you about that language.
I told you so!
Where are the fucking animals now? I'm hungry!
I'm fucking hungry! I'm fucking hungry!
"For a moment she rediscovered the purpose of her life.
"She was here on earth to grasp the meaning of its wild enchantment,
"and to call each thing by its right name."
"By its right name."
What is this? What is this one?
This is Viburnum edule. Viburnum edule.
Hedysarum alpinum.
Hedysarum alpinum is wild potato root. Wild potato root.
Epilobium angustifolium. Fireweed.
Fuck it all. Fuck it all!
Hi.
What are you doing up? It's 3:30 in the morning.
I heard you get off the couch about a half hour ago.
Had a funny feeling you might not be here for our breakfast.
I'm gonna drive you 100 miles to someplace where you can catch a train,
a plane or hitch a ride and not get stuck out in this desert.
I'd take you all the way to Alaska if I didn't have an 8:00 mass.
- Ron, you don't have to do that. - I want to do it.
Get you started on this thing of yours.
- On my great... - I know.
On your great Alaskan adventure.
Here. Here's a machete.
Collapsible fishing pole, a few other odds and ends I stuck in there for you.
- Ron... - Just take it.
I'll get dressed and meet you in the truck.
Well, my friend.
Yep.
I had an idea.
You know, my mother was an only child
and so was my father,
and I was their only child,
so when I'm gone, I'm the end of the line.
My family will be finished.
What do you say you let me adopt you?
I can be, say, your grandfather.
Ron,
could we talk about this when I get back from Alaska?
Would that be okay?
Yeah, yeah. We can do that. Yeah.
All right, Ron.
Thank you.
What did his voice sound like now?
What would he tell about now?
...nine, ten.
I realized that the words to my thoughts were of less and less meaning.
Chris was writing his story,
and it had to be Chris who would tell it.
"To call each thing by its right name.
"By its right name."
What if I were smiling
and running into your arms?
Would you see then
what I see now?