I just watched Forrest Gump…for the fifty-second time…at least!   Isn’t that just the best movie?  Every time I watch it, I see something I didn’t notice before.  I think, maybe the reason I like it so much is that so much of the things that ‘happened’ during the movie, I remember really happening.  And, even though Forrest is there only through ‘movie magic’, we somehow feel as if he could have been there.

 I had a smiley face  T-shirt!  I remember Watergate, even if I didn’t understand it at the time.  I remember when Nixon resigned and gave the Peace signs as he entered the plane.  I remember Viet Nam, and hippies, and when marijuana became a big thing.  I remember Kennedy and his assassination,  I remember when we first started hearing about AIDS, and the hysteria that followed.  I remember when Reagan was shot.

So, maybe the reason I like it so much is that it reminds me of my ‘formative years’.  That, and I always like the way he and his son sat on the riverbank together.  And, you know, you just KNOW, that boy is going to have a great life.

Another movie I can watch over and over is Shawshank Redemption.  Such amazing performances.  I love the way good finally triumphs over evil…even though it took many years.  I like to imagine those two guys growing old together by the sea in Mexico.

One of the funniest movies ever is The Princess Bride.  Well, maybe not so much funny as it is clever.  You have to watch it several times to even get all the jokes.  Wonderful writing.

And, naturally, those tried and true ‘girly’ movies…Pretty Woman, Dirty Dancing, and Fried Green Tomatoes, and Ghost and Steel Magnolia’s are always running on some station somewhere.  And  Under the Tuscan Sun…great!  I have to stop and watch anytime I flip past them on the TV.

And, I can’t leave out Somewhere in Time…perfect!  And, the music!  Oh, it’s such a beautiful, beautiful movie.  And so romantic.  Along those lines…Chocolat…not too well known, but such a beautiful picture and story.

I do not like movies that are full of stress and nonstop excitement and heart stopping action.  I guess I have enough stress in my life already.  When I go to a movie, I want to laugh or at least smile.  I don’t mind a serious subject or a movie that is sad.  But, I really like to have that ‘uplifted’ feeling when I leave the theater.  One of the movies that fits into this category for me is Awakenings with Robin Williams portraying doctor, Oliver Sachs, who discovers the drug L-dopa and ‘awakens’ patients who have been in catatonic states for decades.  Based on the memoirs of Sachs, it is sad and touching and sweet, and heart warming.  It also plays somewhere on TV every month or so.   Shawshank fits here, as well as, Schindler’s List, which everyone should have to watch, and Rain Man, which gave us all a lesson in compassion and acceptance.  One more…Cast Away!

I recently watched a movie, a few years old, but new to me.  I knew it would be a little bit terrifying, just from the reviews I read.  But, it so intrigued me, I watched it anyway.  I had the TV controls in my hand and could fast forward if necessary.  The movie was Seven Pounds,  starring Will Smith.  What a movie!  I had to watch it twice to get it all straight in my mind.  But, so powerful.  No, I could not watch about 5 minutes of it…but just imagining it is close enough.  I love a movie that plays over and over in my mind.  The more it is pondered, the more is gleaned from it.

Little Miss Sunshine was a movie that is hard to forget.  First of all, the language is atrocious…very bad.  Second, this is the most dysfunctional family ever…including their extended family.  But, through their journey to the little girl’s beauty pageant…we learn to see much deeper into each character and begin to understand them.  Excellent movie…great lessons…a little kooky…awful language.  As Good As It Gets…tops, too!

Of course, I suffered through all the Star Wars movies, and the extended versions.  I know all about Luke, and Leia, and Han, and Chewbacca and Lando, and Jabba, and the stormtroopers, and the droids, and R2-D2, and C3PO, and…Yoda.  And, I could give you about 20 or so more names, but I’ll spare you.  All my boys loved The      Lord of the Rings movies, and watched them again and again.  Me, not so much…too dark.  The best of all the ‘other worldly’ movies…E.T….the best for all the reasons a movie can be called great!  Somehow the Harry Potter stuff escaped us…and that’s fine with me.  Those vampire kids, too…never saw them…never want to.

 I thought I wanted to see The Help, but I read the book, and I’m afraid the movie may not match up.  You know when you read a book, you put a face to your characters, you build the town they live in and you create a face and life for the friend and acquaintances.  They are alive as you read the book, with features just as the author dictates.  But, if you see a movie after you have read the book…it very rarely looks like you saw it in your mind.  So instead of seeing the characters for the first time, it is actually for the second time and they may be nothing like you built them.  My niece, Tara, said that is what bothered her a lot in the movie.  We both have a deep affinity for reading.

I confess I don’t go to movie theaters much…just wait for them to come out on TV or whatever it is now that we play on our TV.  What movies have you committed to memory?  Which ones can you watch over and over?  Which ones made a real impact in your life or taught you a lesson?  I’m sure I’ve forgotten some really important movie, but perhaps you will jog my memory.  Love to hear your answers.

*****or-ange, noun…a color between red and yellow in the spectrum*****

Orange is just THE most glorious of colors, don’t you think?  It just brightens up anything it is next to and glows all on its own.  But, orange, she is a fickle girl…she can say ‘warm and cozy’ as well as ‘bright and fun’.  However she’s behaving when you see her…she’ll not be ignored.  You WILL notice her.

Isn’t fall the most wonderful time to celebrate ?  And, don’t ya think orange is the most perfect color to celebrate celebrating fall in?   Oh, just one more picture to share…the best use of orange I’ve seen to date!

 Happy Fall, Y’all !

That would be…three big boys and one little boy.  And, that would be Adam, Alex, Ian and Little Levi.

Ian was home for the weekend and quite a time was had by us all!  He managed to get much accomplished!  On Friday night, he and his sweet cousin Lori, and Pop all went out to dinner.  They all enjoyed the time together and catching up and reminiscing.

Then, on Sat, he did a little studying, a little visiting, and then our little family all ate together last night.  Of course, the main attraction was Little Levi!  We cooked out for our supper…the traditional Southern, get-together, without too much trouble…hamburgers on the grill!  Delicious!

Ian managed to get in some special ‘Levi time’ while he was here.  And last night, all 3 boys were having such fun together.  God blessed Alex with a better day and he was able to be up with the family last evening.  And, those 4 had a ball together.  Levi doesn’t stand a chance!  Check out these pictures…

                      “Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord.”Psalm 127:3…

                                                                                                      …that would be both big children and little ones!

Are you as happy to see Autumn as I am?  Seems as though summer went on forever!  And, it was so hot…scorching hot…unbearably hot!  I still like it better than winter.  But now, here in the deep South, the heat has lessened and the leaves have begun to ponder whether they will fall again this year.  It’s still pretty warm up in the day, but a little cool in the mornings and evenings.  I love it.

I like everything about fall.  Do you feel that way?  I like to wear a sweater occasionally, and I love the festivals and fairs, and the feeling of celebration in the air.  I have never been much of a Halloween fan.  The boys went trick or treating and we always handed out candy…but it’s never really been that big of a deal to most of the folks we know.

The fun part of it has always been OK, but I do not go in for all the dead things and gory pictures and accessories.  In my opinion, there’s too much violence in the world as it is…..why promote something that gives kids a chance to pretend they are involved.  Now, I know others view it differently, and that’s just fine by me.  Isn’t it a blessing that we live in a country where we have choices about the things we support or not?

By the way, this was not my intended topic for this post, but sometimes things just seems to write themselves.  Does that ever happen to you?  Please say it does, because I already feel a little bumfuddled!

Now THESE are the things I like about Fall!  Well, maybe not the ‘raking leaves’ one.  Who put that in there?  However, I can remember the fun of jumping into a great big pile of them, can’t you?

I love the colors of fall most of all, I think.  And, I wonder if that is because they are so ‘earthy’.  The reds and the browns, and the golds, and the greens, and especially the oranges….they meld together in the nicest way, I think.  There’s never any problem with them matching,  because they just naturally ‘go together’.  Our eyes are accustomed to seeing them next to one another.  I suspect our Heavenly Father planned it that way.

This sign is more of the same, but I particularly like the way the color fades out and the words do, too.  Creates a warm feeling.  And, that’s another great thing about Autumn.  I love to have a fire in the fireplace and sit close enough to warm one side…then turn around and warm the other.  Something that has always amused me is how when people everywhere walk up to a fire…the first thing they do is put out their hands to feel it.  I know they are warming their hands, but it’s just so common an occurance, that we all want our hands warmed first.  Or else, we are just wondering if that roaring, crackling, bright orange and red thing is REALLY hot!  And, if that’s it…I wouldn’t tell it!

“Then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and

spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and

oil.”

Deuteronomy 11:14 NIV

Have a beautiful fall weekend!