Closer

I gather from the feedback I'm getting that everyone thinks I'm freaking out over the scope of this project. And I am. But I don't mean to be all sturm und drang. It's not all heavy. There's already been plenty of joy, fun, and beauty along the way.

Take this photo, for example. Chris and I were at The Cracker Barrel in Mebane, NC. We hadn't really eaten (Power Bars don't count) in nearly twenty-four hours, this despite the fact that we'd done a full-day shoot, all-night drive, and even a short run. So we were huuuung-ry! And when I saw that bacon -- those thick, glorious strips of swine -- well, I had to grab the camera.

Breakfast was, by the way, outstanding. I had two eggs over-easy, sausage and hash brown caserole (mmmmm, cheese!). Chris had (get this!) two eggs over-easy, three strips of bacon, and three pancakes.

Sure, I was wound like a top. But we sure enjoyed that breakfast. And we had an absolutely amazing afternoon afterwards (excepting, perhaps, when Cracker Barrel became the but of jokes -- "Southern Fast Food," I think she called it -- around the dinner table).

An unexpected byproduct of this project is the tie spent with my brother. We've been best friends our entire lives, with the usual ups and downs. But as he anticipates the August arrival of his second child, and I continue to be consumed with my career, and my singer/songwriter aspirations, we spend less time together. So the long drives and long talks have been nice.

At the end of our long day at The Human Kindness Foundation, Chris and I snapped a few photos with Bo in his office. After we said our goodbyes, and were turning for the door, Bo opened his arms wide and pulled both of us into his chest. I thought it was pretty cool that, on just the second day of shooting "Mr. Rogers & Me," we had already been brought closer together.