Spatter

The Streak Continues

Yesterday I saw the fourth good movie in as many visits.  This time: The Kite Runner .  Thumbs up...even after having read the book.

2 For 2

I seem to recall that last winter my movie selections were less than stellar. I'm doing a lot better this season.  So far, I'm batting 2 for 2.  This time the movie was The Great Debaters, the story of the Wiley College debate team in the 1930s.

While it does have the flavor of the many "underdog team wins big" movies that have come before it, this one is different in the sense that (1) it's a debate team vs a basketball team, (2) it's very well done, and (3) it has a powerful historical context.  I was moved to tears a couple of times from feeling both inspired and appalled.  You'll be moved too, I think. 

Charlie Wilson's War

The other day I was in the mood for a movie and some popcorn.  Several  movies have been released lately that I want to see, but on this day, we opted to go see "Charlie Wilson's War"  starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.  I really enjoyed it. It tells its story ( a true one) very cleverly and the story it's telling is one worth thinking about: how the world really is a big cobweb of interactions....complicated and complex and counterintuitive.   

It brings to mind some spatter of mine: "spiders have webs, but not just they...and more than flies get caught."

There's No Place Like Home

Some 72 hours after my feet hit the soil of Blackberry Ridge, I'm finally feeling like I've caught up with myself.  Laundry, mowing, bills, email, photos, and of course, my blog have been tended to.  It's a good feeling to have it done...and it's a good feeling to be back in my own place. I wouldn't have missed my trip, but there really is no place like home.

This affirmation brings to mind "The Wizard of Oz". 

It's one of my favorite movies.  I enjoy it for its fun, its music, and the abundance of the movie stuff I pay attention to like costumes, sets, & what extras are doing when they're in the background of a scene.  But it's more than the sum of these parts.  It's a favorite of mine - of so many people - because it has spiritual themes that we all inherently understand and relate to. It is 20th century mythology.

Here are a few of those themes that I carry with me:

• each of us is a hero on a hero's journey of transformation - it doesn't matter who we are or where we come from...we're all on it
• there's no place like home -  home...whatever its form...is the sacred place where we feel secure.
  
• pay no attention to the man behind the curtain - he's human
• you have the power within you - no person or institution needs to give it to you
• wisdom, benevolence, and courage are virtues
• scary and/or nasty people...like witches...are not invincible - good does triumph over evil
• it's good to have friends to share your journey

I wouldn't be surprised if there are more than these.  If any come to mind, please feel free to post it in a comment.

In Country, Not Country

I've thought that my assimilation to being a country girl was going along nicely. Wearing blue jeans? Check. Not worrying about what I look like (at least too much)? Check. Communing with nature? Check. Saying hi to passers-by?  Check.  Why, I've even perfected the finger wave from the steering wheel. You see people always say hi around here...even when they're driving. I've had no problem with any of these. After all, I've never been a fashion plate, and I've always been friendly - even in the city.  Not much of a stretch. That is until today.

Today was a reminder that perhaps I'll always be "in country, not country."

Woods Gap Road is the route into town and along the way there's the most serene pasture with a stream and cows grazing.  Over time, I've come to recognize some of the cows...and watch what they're up to each time I go by.  Today, I was driving by and saw a truck with trailer,  and people herding some of the cows into it. I'm not certain, but I think they were heading them to slaughter. For a country girl, this would be just another fact of life.  For me, there was sadness and a sense of loss. 

Like so many who haven't been raised in the country, I tend to make Disney or Beatrix Potter characters of all creatures...well, maybe not the snakes and insects. Anyway, it becomes personal.  I even do this with the little hummers and finches that can't be distinguished one from the other. I may not know who I'm looking at, but in a collective sort of way, they've become a family with imagined lives.

And speaking of families...our deer family seem to have gone away somewhere.  It was as if one day they just decided to take off. I know they go up on the parkway come hunting season - really - they know there's no shooting up there.  But it's a bit early for that.  I miss seeing them.