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| Hey Grampa! No Snow Out here! |
My wife and I had a vigorous debate
when it came time to retire from the military in 2005. We’d spent a total of
ten years during my military career living in and around Washington, D.C. so it
more than anything else felt like home, lots of good friends. I, in what turned out to be the
prevailing opinion (you see I do occasionally win) wanted to return to New
England. I liked living in Northern Virginia but I refused to have my life
dictated by traffic which is a way of life there. The other thing that really bothered
me was the region’s complete ineptitude whenever more than an inch of snow
fell. Snow fell every year and yet it always seemed to surprise the local government
which was woefully unprepared.
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| The Predicted Storm Snow Totals - Bad Time to BE in D.C. |
Growing up in New England you expect the
streets to be plowed and business to continue during anything less than a major
blizzard. The incompetence of the region always galled me. It’s not as if it was
Georgia where it rarely snows, snow fell every year I lived there, and even
two inches was considered an emergency. I’m thinking on that now because a huge
snow is barreling down on the Washington area. I’m sure the area’s panic
buttons are wearing out. I’m so glad to live in New England where we’re only
supposed to get around 14 inches over Saturday night. We should be back to
normal by late Sunday afternoon. For those unfortunates living around DC, it
could be days. Decision validated!
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| Granddaughter had a Play Date |
Movies again last night (huge surprise,
I know) and I was completely enthralled by Brooklyn. Not my usual fare but a
truly great film because of its simplicity. A coming of age story for a young
Irish girl who emigrates to Brooklyn in the early 1950s because of the lack of opportunity
back home. She falls in with the local Irish community, starts to realize her potential
and falls for a local guy. She’s pulled back to Ireland by a family tragedy and
faces the pull of home conflicting with her new found independence.
There’s none of the melodrama usually forcibly
inserted into a movie love story. There’s an understated elegance to the simple
life and heartfelt emotions on the screen. Life doesn’t have to be complicated to
be entertaining. I now understand the Oscar nomination for Saoirse Ronan who
plays the young girl, she is so good. Her understated strength shines through a
pair of penetrating eyes. This is definitely a chick flick but one even a
hardened action freak such as myself was helpless to resist.
Some more Californian perfection:
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