Gayford Caston, Main Shoe Repair Man, Durham, North Carolina from Jill Strauss on Vimeo.

Many thanks to Jill Strauss who produced this piece for “The Short Audio Documentary,” a course taught by John Biewen at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.

You can also check out Jill’s photo slideshow, here.

The end of Main Street in San Luis, Ariz., is a border crossing station that connects the city to San Luis Rio Colorado in Mexico.

Our second story in the series airs today on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday. It is about Main Street in San Luis, Arizona, which runs straight into the border with Mexico. Listen to it on NPR’s website.

E.T. in Dayton, WA

One of my favorite Main Street moments. I catch a glimpse of awesome E.T. sculpture on the porch right next to an intimidating sign advertising a strict shooting of visitors policy. After a few quick snaps, I see the blinds jostle. And then the door opens. I’m freaked.

Out comes a tall, lanky man. In a casual, friendly voice he says, “You like E.T.?” I reply, “Yeah. He’s great.” I tell him about the project and he says, “Wow. That is so cool. When can I hear everything on NPR?”

View down Main Street in Santa Cruz

While walking down Santa Cruz’s 3 block Main Street, I noticed a guy standing next to a pick up truck holding a fishing pole. I asked him, “What do you catch out there?”

He said, “Mostly Striped Bass. I’m out here to take my girlfriend’s kids fishing.”

Then he put his hand on my shoulder, looked me in the eye and said, “But if you had caught me 5 years ago, I would have been out here sidewalk fishing.”

Lena's rocks and gifts

I was taking pictures of the wetsuit and crystals hanging outside a store called “Inspirations” when an unsmiling woman came out and asked why I was photographing her store.  I told her about the project and she invited me in.

Inside "Inspirations"

Inside, there were two older men who said they were cheating at gin rummy and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made with Lena’s homemade jam. Inspirations also serviced as a make-shift hang out for the older men of the town.

Lena started talking about how people come to Myrtle Creek to prospect for gold. And the wetsuit outside wasn’t for surfing, but for protecting against the cold water while you’re out there panning.

She said that she and her husband had been out there about a year ago and found a huge soccer ball-sized, heavy rock. They thought they’d found gold and sent it in to have analyzed. Instead of gold, it ended up being some kind of gem no one had ever seen before. Since it was totally undiscovered, they got to name it. Their last name is Puls. So they named it Pulsite.

Pulsite

I’m not a prospector or gemologist myself, so I looked a little online to learn more about Pulsite. It seems like there is some debate as to the veracity of Lena’s discovery.

Cows on Main Street in Fortuna, CA

Today appears to the day of animals on Main Street. After seeing cows in Fortuna, a couple of horses greeted us in Trinidad.

Horses on Main Street in Trinidad, CA