Mid Winter Movies

Let’s take a quick, mid winter trip to the movies.  Here’s my next offering:

11.     Lincoln

22.     Lincoln

33.   Lincoln

44.    Lincoln

55.    Lincoln

This one is a treasure, but admittedly, I’m hooked on good historical movies (even though most of them would make a true historian cringe).  Don’t bring your fact checker to these, just enjoy the great story they tell.  Although for this one, the history is pretty spot on.  Day-Lewis is remarkable, he actually becomes Lincoln...mannerisms, speech patterns, even his gait is just so accurate. The scene of Lincoln walking out of the White House at movie end is wrenching beyond description.  You just want to scream at him to stop, please stop!

I’m in one of my life phases where the Civil War is a favorite topic.  An outgrowth of that is a newly found interest in our 16^th President.  For years, I have avoided the Civil War (and Lincoln) simply because there are more books on the shelves about them than there are about Jesus. With life so short, why even start to read them?  To do the subject justice, I would have to spend my entire life reading nothing else. 

But thanks to a friend of mine who is a Civil War fanatic (every year, he and his wife vacation at a Civil War battlefield or historical sight – he has even done the “ghost” tour at Gettysburg), I was shown a short cut path that provided me a thorough overview of the subject that sparked interest in offshoot topics that I could then explore if I desired.   One such road led to Lincoln. 

I finished “Team of Rivals” a short while ago, and the movie is based on just a part of this impressive writing.  In the book, William H. Seward (Lincoln’s Secty. of State) plays a vital role in his Presidency, and in the saving of the country.  Of course I knew that his home/museum was right next door in Auburn, NY. And in all these years, I never gave one thought to visiting there.  Well, that’s changed!  A spring visit is in order, and a quick ride down to the Aurora Inn for lunch will make the day.

If you have a good memory, you will note that another of my favorite movies is “Amistad” (2/22/12 blog), also a Spielberg product. His attention to detail is astonishing.  So, see both movies, for if you care about history, you will find they are connected more than you imagine, and they fit each other like a glove.  As sure as the day follows night, “Lincoln” follows “Amistad.”

Mark Twain Quote:

“It was no accident that planted Lincoln on a Kentucky farm, half way between the lakes and the Gulf. The association there had substance in it. Lincoln belonged just where he was put. If the Union was to be saved, it had to be a man of such an origin that should save it. No wintry New England Brahmin could have done it, or any torrid cotton planter, regarding the distant Yankee as a species of obnoxious foreigner. It needed a man of the border, where civil war meant the grapple of brother and brother and disunion a raw and gaping wound. It needed one who knew slavery not from books only, but as a living thing, knew the good that was mixed with its evil, and knew the evil not merely as it affected the negroes, but in its hardly less baneful influence upon the poor whites. It needed one who knew how human all the parties to the quarrel were, how much alike they were at bottom, who saw them all reflected in himself, and felt their dissensions like the tearing apart of his own soul. When the war came Georgia sent an army in gray and Massachusetts an army in blue, but Kentucky raised armies for both sides. And this man, sprung from Southern poor whites, born on a Kentucky farm and transplanted to an Illinois village, this man, in whose heart knowledge and charity had left no room for malice, was marked by Providence as the one to "bind up the Nation's wounds." “

The Old Mid Winter Blues

It usually happens around this time of year.  Just about half way from raking the last, stubborn leaves, to watching the grass renew spring’s promise, I’ve had it.  Too cold, too snowy, too much darkness, too confined, with cabin fever, I hit the wall.

I guess I particularly hate not being able to do something - anything, out of doors after 4:30pm.  And if that’s not bad enough, then there’s waking up in darkness every morning.  We humans really do need natural sunlight to stay sane.  How do Eskimos do it?

To save my sanity, I try to think of happier things, particularly things that I will soon be able to do, if I can just hang on for what I lie to myself will only be a few weeks.  One of my favorite tricks that helps me get thru is to begin contemplating my favorite special place, Cape Cod.  You may well say that you conjure up visions of your favorite place, the Outer Banks :) perhaps, to save your mind. Whatever it is, now is the time to start putting those thoughts and pictures in your life.  Like literally.  Like wallpaper on your computer, tablet, or phone screen.

One thing I do is head to the local fish restaurant and order up their fresh lobster roll.  It’s not the same as getting one at Chapin’s on Cape Cod, but it looks like a lobster roll, it smells like one, and it tastes like one. Though far removed from the sea and seemingly out of place, it is one – a real lobster roll.  And it sets me on the road to the Cape, as sure as can be.  Pass the mayo please.

A "Syracuse" lobster roll

There will soon be another post on the Cape, one that will definitely put me in a better Cape Cod state of mind.  And not long after that, I know that the sight of the Bourne bridge will be just over the horizon.  Or for you, the Emerald Isle bridge :) lies just around the bend.  Soon, we’ll be saved, and made whole again. 

Mark Twain Quote:  “Of course, no man is entirely in his right mind at any time.”

But Wait ... There's More

So I get this email, and it basically says, hey, you didn’t say anything about what time you crawl into the sleeping bag or what’s your temperature tolerance.  As if I thought that anyone, on their most boring day, gave a flippin’  to that part of the routine!  So, in the interest of full disclosure, or something like that……

First of all, I’m happy to say that I don’t have a “bed time.”  Depending on the activities of the day, and/or evening, Beddy White’s Party could start anywhere from 9:30ish to 11:30 ish.  Ya know, movies, sporting events, dining, shopping, what’s on the tele - anything could … and does, influence the flicking of the switch. 

The one thing that does not, will not, could not, ever happen is for me to have a strict, unwavering, immoveable, standard, set, cast in stone, hardened in concrete…ok, you get the idea…..time for bed.  I’ve heard of people who religiously head for bed (to hence make a bed head…get it? It’s late. It's the wine talking) the second the clock chimes 9, or 9:30, or whatever.  Egads, why structure your life like that?  You’re not a train, for the crissake.

As to the other, I do remember reading some things about sleep being more restful at “lower” temperatures.  I’ve heard that 55 degrees works best. Terry Ettinger, a local and famous horticulture expert, sleeps at 55 degrees, if I remember correctly. He looks cold. Just sayin.’  Now, many years ago, I married a gal who was raised in an igloo, so I quickly abandoned my 70 degree bliss (that’s how I remember it anyway) for the ways of Nanook. 

But seeing as I do believe ice forms on one’s nose about 55 degrees, 55 is never going to happen.  That said, believe it or not, if the temperature goes north of 64, I find it too hot and have a rough time sleeping.  So friends, you can put me down for 60-62 degrees of night time comfort.  Frosty in the morning though, so up goes the thermostat, immediately.  All the way to 64.  O happy day.

There, any more “habits” need revealing? 

Mark Twain Quote:  “Go to bed early, get up early – this is wise.  … A lark is really the best thing to get up with.  .. and if you get up with the right kind of a lark, and work at him right, you can easily train him to get up at half-past nine, every time – it is no trick at all.”

Beddy White's Party

Children amaze and amuse us in so many ways.  They can do things we can only envy from afar.  One such talent is their magnificent ability to fall asleep, instantly, anywhere, midst any occasion.  I have seen them drift away in a car seat, on a couch, on a table, in a high chair, on a shoulder, on a lap, on the floor (sounds like a take off on “Green Eggs and Ham”), and, of all places, a Pack ‘N Play, a crib, or even a bed - go figure that. 

And their sleep is so … deep.  The final 15 minutes of the 1812 Overture could be playing 10ft. from their little ears and they would not stir a limb, or scrunch a face.  Little do they know that they will soon outgrow this blessed gift and not possess the ability again until they are well into life.  But that’s another story.

So, what has this to do with a blog post.  Well, I got to thinking, as I am wont to do at times, about all the funny little daily “habits” we humans engage in.  It is my belief that if we could shadow someone for a full 24 hour day, we would see them doing things that would curl our toes.  The behavior patterns witnessed we would call everything from crazy to bizarre to odd to weird to just plain silly. And yet for the person being observed, what they do is all perfectly normal and chock full of common sense.  Because, of course, everything  “we” do fits us to a “T.”  Thank you very much.

Take sleep, for instance. Once our little childhood is behind us and we are “big people,” we acquire certain fiercely followed routines that accompany our night’s slumber.  How on earth did we get them?  Where did they come from? Why do we do what we do?  And do you ever wonder if other people do this too, or are you the only one?

In keeping with the precedent set down in my post titled “Two a Day” (June 2012), I now offer you some of my little bedtime habits.  I always sleep with the window open.  Even at 20 below, fresh air must find its way in thru a millimeter wide slot.  Warmer weather, then wider open the window goes.  Summertime?  Why, wide open the whole time, of course. A bedroom lacking fresh air is a stuffy bedroom.  A stuffy bedroom smells.  Just ask any kid.  And that’s that.

Window blinds, shades, curtains, etc. need not apply for work in my bedroom. I know people who completely seal up their bedroom at night….door shut, every window completely covered, leaving them to while away the night in absolute blackness.   OMG, how could anyone do that, I wonder in shocked disbelief?  Being a touch claustrophobic, I would feel like Injun Joe trapped in Tom’s cave.  And you know what happened to him.

Even though my sleep is restful and deep, I must sense that the wind, the stars, the rain, and the snow, are right outside.  I must know the lingering moon ever so slowly traverses my window.  I have to be connected to the world, even in my slumber.  And besides, every morning, my window bequeaths to me, free, nature’s alarm clock. What a start to the day!

  

Bedrooms must be of a nice, soothing color.  I think it’s been proven more times than the Pythagorean theorem that certain colors are “restful” and conducive to imparting the slumber mood to the weary would be snorer.  Yet, some people, I’m sure, think that a bright red wall would be just the accent needed for a well attired sleep chamber (think Coneheads).  Sure, for a matador, maybe. 

I have never seen the need for a television either.  Anything, and I mean anything, I have ever read or heard about good sleep habits screams – no television in the bedroom.  And yet I feel strangely open to the idea that I would like one.  But not yet.  For now, I read before lights out.  That sets me up for dreamland just fine.

As to the other stuff….what people wear to bed, what they put on their nightstand (I know someone who religiously places a full glass of water on their night stand every night, yet never takes a sip), how the room is decorated (think pictures, wall accents, lamps, furniture, etc.), well, we won’t go there, at least not in this post!

So, there you have it.  In addition to my shower rituals, you now have a glimpse into my bedroom. And thru this little blog, I can now share that with the world. Too much information for your senses?  Well, too bad.  I find what people do in their little world a fascinating topic, and ponder that part of our humanness often.  And this is an “Eclectic” Fence Post, is it not ... to write about anything that strikes my fancy.  Well, this struck. And, I assure you, it will strike again!

Just enjoy it, and you may want to think to yourself ….. do you have weird sleep habits?  What would other people think of your little rituals?  I’d bet you’d be surprised.  You’re not as normal as you think!

And on that note, have a great 2013….Happy New Year, whatever your little oddities are.

Mark Twain Quote: “Well enough for old folks to rise early, because they have done so many mean things all their lives they can’t sleep anyhow.”

So This Is Christmas

I didn’t do this last year, and I don’t know why.  Perhaps it was the newness of the blog, and my desire get meaningful posts out.  Or I could have just plain forgot it.  Funny I would do that, as Christmas is my favorite “time” of the year.

So, whatever your deal is at Christmas, I hope it is for you a season of peace, love, remembrance, and hope.  Just try and keep it going, will ya?

I love Christmas carols, so to pick just one would be tough.  My dad loved “Little Drummer Boy.”  My personal favorite, if I had to choose, would be the Syracuse Symphony playing of Calvin Custer’s “Holiday Medley,” which has a rousing finish featuring a unique interpretation of Little Drummer Boy. You’ll never hear another like it.  This is followed closely by another Custer original, the “Twelve Days of Christmas Medley.”  They’re favorites cause they squeeze lots of carols into one, easy listening place.

But for all of you, all over the globe, I’d just suggest you listen carefully to John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas.” Couldn’t think of a more perfect song for all the world to hear.   So, to readers from the UK, to Brazil, to the Far East, to the Europeans, to those folks who read this “way down under”  -  Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  () () ()

Mark Twain Quote:  “The approach of Christmas brings harassment and dreads to many excellent people.  They have to buy a cart-load of presents, and they never know what to buy to hit the various tastes; they put in three weeks of hard and anxious work, and when Christmas morning comes they are so dissatisfied with the result, and so disappointed that they want to sit down and cry.  Then they give thanks that Christmas comes but once a year.”