“I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” — Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall), Apocalypse Now It seems that everything is apocalyptic these days. Certainly, politics are out of control, with our vast chasms of differences between political parties and even among liberals and conservatives. It’s easy to envision an immigrant apocalypse, […]
Category Archives: Movies
“Descend, bold traveller, into the crater of the jökull of Snæfell, which the shadow of Scartaris touches (lit: tastes) before the Kalends of July, and you will attain the centre of the earth. I did it. Arne Saknussemm” ~ From Jules Verne’s Journey To The Center of the Earth One of my favorite movies as […]
Only some flickering light from the campfire, the stars above and the glow of his Camel cigarette lit the dark. His voice, dusky and low, reached across a silent crowd of rapt campers and counselors as he spun his story. Tart, as he was called, was a fixture at Camp Longhorn — had, in fact, […]
On the road again Goin’ places that I’ve never been Seein’ things that I may never see again And I can’t wait to get on the road again On the road again … ~ “On the Road Again” by Willie Nelson We pulled into the familiar place, road weary and hungry, to be greeted by […]
“We cannot step outside life’s songs. This music made us; it is our nature.” ~ David Haskell quoted by Maria Popova In the opening scene of the movie, “Taps,” Gregory Hines, deep in the silence of night in a prison cell, hears drops of water on metal. The rhythmic plops make a beat that ultimately moves […]
“…Manys en manys de time, deze long nights en deze rainy spells, dat I sets down dar in my house over ag’in de chimbley-jam – I sets der en I dozes, en it seem lak dat ole Brer Rabbit, he’ll stick he head in de crack er de do’ en see my eye periently shot, […]
“Bwahahaha, I vant to bite your neck!” he exclaimed as he leaned over the pretty young girl mesmerized by his crazy eyes. Scrunched down in the theater seat, I had to hide my eyes behind my hands, so I missed the next part except for the wretched scream — but my imagination filled in the […]
“Chomp, chomp,” woke me up in the middle of the night. “Chomp, chomp,” it went on, “Scrabble, scrabble. Chomp, chomp.” It was coming from my dormitory closet. My roommate was gone, and the sound made me apprehensive. “Rats?” I wondered. “Scrabble, scrabble. Chomp, chomp.” I turned on the desk light and slowly approached the closet. […]
First there was the high-pitched whine, increasing in intensity. The woman looked through the swirling dust storm frantically. Suddenly, bursting out of the dark, giant pincers….Them! It was my favorite movie as a kid, and one I shared with my son when he was old enough. Even compared to the special effects available twenty years […]
“The important thing is to touch the earth and stand in the wind, to know that you are part of the whole- not superimposed, like asphalt.”
Gaydell Collier, Leaning Into The Wind
Reese Witherspoon is great in “Wild”, the story of Cheryl Strayed hiking the Pacific Coast Trail and I enjoyed it immensely. Something was missing from the movie, however, and it took me a while to find it. I never sensed the joy, the discovery, of being in the wild.
While never undertaking anything as difficult as hiking the PCT, I’ve done my share of camping and hiking, mostly in the West. What stands out most about my trips, though, is not the incredible views or the pain and hardships, but the sensory overload that comes from being out in nature.
