Page Turning

I’ve been disappointed in myself over the past few months. When we first moved to Worcester a few years ago I got into a very productive early morning routine where I would get up and spend a half hour in the pool at the local Y. When we moved across the street I started a lot of projects where I convinced myself I was getting enough of a workout to replace the early morning gyrations. I still did my morning exercises and stationary bike ride but got away from the Y. Since a lot of those projects involved some repetitive and heavy lifting I probably had just cause. I’m disappointed that I let general lethargy insinuate itself between and after those projects were finished. It seemed there was always some small ache or age related discomfort that let me put it off. I say age related because I would always tell myself that I was in pretty good shape for someone a couple years into their seventh decade but these are all excuses. One of my favorite sayings from Army days is, “The maximum effective range of an excuse is zero meters.”

I’m writing about this because this morning I finally turned the page on the sloth that’s creeped into my sedentary life. I went out of my way last night to prepare the gym bag that’s been waiting patiently since it was last utilized. I set the alarm for the obligatory half hour earlier than usual and then found myself waking up each hour after midnight to insure I didn’t miss it (an Army related character flaw). The swimming was a lot more painful than it should have been as I only completed about three quarters of what I used to do in the same time but I consider it a start. For me an exercise program has to include a routine that I can settle into and this was the first step.

I went decidedly out of my comfort zone yesterday at the movie theater with Call Me by Your Name. This is a coming of age story involving a homosexual relationship between a young man and the slightly older assistant to his professor father. I enjoyed the movie because it accurately captures the pain, anguish, and heartbreak of that first great love. Young Timothee Chalamet certainly earns all the accolades he’s been receiving for his portrayal of the young man. Shot in gorgeous Northern Italy as the professor’s family summers there and nothing extraordinary happens but that is really the pull because the behind the scenes this young man is experiencing the heart rending depth of that first plunge. I was wondering at the parenting on display as they let the boy smoke, drink, and generally do whatever he wants to include sending him away on a vacation with his older lover. I was then chastised by what for me was the defining scene in the film. Michael Stuhlbarg as the professor in a soliloquy explains to his heartbroken son how happy he is for him. He relates how people sometime forego or fail to cherish a deep relationship because it happens too early in life and that experience shouldn’t be trivialized. True love is so rare that it has to be embraced despite any noise associated with it. That hit fairly close to home for me and I suspect most people if they are truly honest with themselves. Finally I have a question – Is Michael Stuhlbarg in every movie currently being made?