John and I found what for teenage boys was a gem among the weeds along the Old South Bend Highway. It stood out from the pop cans and disposable cups we’d already collected.
The box was 7 inches square and flat and still nearly pristine. Inside, we spied a Super 8 movie reel, the film intact.
In that age before DVD’s and certainly before internet video, the weeds had delivered to us a pornographic movie.
We’d come to that roadside for a project in our “World Problems” class during our final semester of high school. John and I had pitched comparing litter from city streets and country roads. Our teacher, Mr. Junger, said “yes.”
Of course we ached to view our treasure. We did in time, with the connivance of a never-to-be-named adult with a projector.
But we also savored compiling our litter inventory (“29 cans, 37 cups, one porn flick”), sure that Mr. Junger would express shock. Smartly, he betrayed nothing.
Cancer took John in 2015. Today’s tale restores him from the weeds of memory – for his birthday tomorrow.
Wow, what a profound video. Hard, hard, hard.
I agree. It’s raw — and powerful.