Adamson Square

In the middle of Carrollton, Georgia lies Adamson Square, home of places like Pearl's Cafe and the bakery. Octagonal bricks, some stamped with "City of Carrollton", lie beneath park benches and flowerpots. Bird-filled trees tower over Gallery Row Coffee House's outdoor seating. Typical Southern town. We set up the camera.

Angela approaches Andrew, a 16-year-old making a film on the Counter-culture of Carrollton ("They start coming out at 5:00"), and the town began giving up its secrets. We walked over to the Zen store and perused statues and crystals and tarot cards before interviewing the on-site psychic, Joe. He explained the town's dichotomy. The University of West Georgia, filled with Bush stickers and trucks with Confederate flags, also had one of only three humanist psychology departments in the US. People from all over the world come to study here. Some come as atheists or wiccans or goddess-worshipers, many more leave that way.

We called Tom, an artist whose photographs we saw at the Corner Cafe. He meets us next door at Gallery Row & we talk about his art and his message. Outside, kids start to gather. A longhaired boy looks through yellow sunglasses at his friend, who carefully arranges his limbs into a nonchalant pose. We pick up our gear and wind between the businessman on his laptop and the four kids in black juggling a hackey sack. I stop and watch them a while, intrigued by the girl among them. Her white skin pops next to long black hair, black eyeliner, short black dress. The crocheted ball flies toward her, and she picks up her leg to kick it as if she had on jeans. The boys don't seem to care, and neither does she, so I move on.

Angela and Renee set up the camera and Photographer Tom began to tell us the story of his journey of looking for God. The son of a local psychologist, he'd never had much contact with God. Marriage to the granddaughter of a Methodist minister is changing that. "I used to be on the outside, not knowing where to look. Now I'm on the outside looking in." He's being drawn to God and to the church, and says he's better for it.

As he speaks, kids with skateboards and adults in conversation pass by and watch. One man comes with his German Shepherd, and stays. Mark has worked in film before, and is a Christian artist. We watch Max--distracted by the smell of hamburgers from the Irish Bred Pub--while Mark goes to the Corner Cafe to buy him an Aquafina. He sees Tom's photographs inside, and the two men chat awhile. We interview Mark about loss and joy and cardinals while the Goths and Emos congregate a few feet away. Through the headphones, I hear their guitars and laughter juxtaposed to Mark's stories and I think about what Mark says about happiness and joy.