Small World and a Movie

 

The great thing about life:  we never know from one minute to the next where our journey is going to take us. 

My Monday began with sore knees, aggravated the day before by walking through way too much crusty, deep snow as seen above in the photo of Bridie.

I'm learning the hard way, and begrudgingly so, that our bodies turn into major wusses as we get older and that we pay higher and higher prices for engaging what used to be normal activity.  

No pain, no gain:  guess I must be gaining big time. 

Plus, I'll continue to follow the simple two word mantra offered to me a couple of years ago by my doctor friend:  keep moving.

And, so I did throughout the day, taking dogs for walks, filling bird feeders, grooming Foster and tending to general chores. 

Two "sitting" events, however, gave Monday, Dec. 13 a distinctive flavor for me.  

First came the blog post yesterday where I featured Southern Idaho author Scott Hancock's piece about local and famed photographer Ross Hall and his son Dann. 

Little did I know that the gesture would elicit a "full circle, small world" event, which is always fun.  

Later in the day, Helen sent me an email, which she had received from Scott who had, in turn, received an email from a gentleman named Kenny Watts. 

Turns out Kenny, who also lives in Southern Idaho, knows Scott. 

Well, Kenny used to live on a farm that bordered my folks' "Upper Place."  

In his email to Scott, he remembered working for my stepfather Harold Tibbs, probably driving tractor and, for sure, bucking bales. 

Well, the details of that email turned into another wonderful journey of yesteryear, remembering Kenny and his sister Peggy, who just happens to live a couple of miles away here in Selle. 

I think it's maybe been 40-50 years since I last saw Kenny, who graduated two years behind me in the Sandpoint High Class of 1967, went on to college at the University of Idaho and worked a career at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls. 

Right about the time I was receiving emails from Helen and Scott, Bill and I were making spur-of-the- moment plans for going to a movie.  

Haven't done that in a couple of years!

He's been reading about and watching segments on the movie Belfast, and mentioning that he wanted to view it whenever possible. 

Turns out when he came home from town Sunday, he saw it listed on the marquee for Sandpoint Cinemas formerly known as Bonner Mall Cinemas. 

So, we talked about the idea briefly and soon were on our way to town.  

I see from this morning's 2022 Golden Globes nominations that Belfast is one of the leaders among nominated movies.

It's hardly a travelogue of Northern Ireland, as we might expect with Irish movies. Instead, almost all the action occurs in a small, close-knit and seemingly safe neighborhood of Belfast.

I did recognize a couple of places shown in the beginning like the spectacular Titanic Museum, from a brief visit Annie and I made to Belfast a few years ago on a really rainy day.  

As the movie action begins, the neighborhood is safe until the conflicts and turmoils of the late 1960s, regarding Catholics and Protestants begins to unfold with violence and bombings. 

The story, shot in black and white is a loosely autobiographical narrative depicting the writer's childhood and the dilemma of whether the family should stay or leave the neighborhood. 

There are some beautiful moments in the movie, especially with visual effects and photography. 

The little boy at the center of the story is adorable and amazing as an actor.  The kid was a natural for his role as Buddy. 

Surprisingly, young Jude Hill was not nominated for a Golden Globe, like his movie mother, father and grandfather.  

Bill and I watched the movie with three other people, sitting in seats far away from us, so it was definitely a safe decision. 

And, our impromptu plan turned out to be a nice distraction from the humdrum of December weather and December "to do's." 

  Yup, sore knee misery in the morning and great satisfaction in the evening with a couple of unexpected but delightful happenings along the day's journey. 

Love it. 

Happy Tuesday.