Taking a Break

 

      I need to take a break from everything going on in my life. So, after today’s post, you probably won’t hear from me until after the first of October sometime. Yesterday’s news was the distraction I needed right now, so it’s question and answer time.

What was the first PG-rated movie I saw at the theatre? “The Sting” in 1973. My sister Pat wanted to see it for her 14th birthday, and I naturally wanted to tag along. So, Dad took both of us coz I was too young, and at that time, people seemed to care who was going to PG movies. I love that movie! It’s one of those stories where the first time you see it will always be the best. Just like “The Sixth Sense.”

What was the movie that changed my life? “The Electric Horseman” from 1979. I had just gotten back to Madison to sign up for spring classes at the UW. My other three roommates went to see “The Big Chill”, but I’d already seen it, so I stayed at the house. Flipping through channels on cable, I came across “The Electric Horseman”. I really kinda hated it. Just like “The Horse Whisperer”, I felt like no one was really looking out for the horse’s future.  

But why did it change my life? Sonny Steele felt compelled to set Rising Star free, and by the end of the movie, I was compelled to drop out of college. I was only two semesters away from graduating, but I had no idea what I was doing. Maybe I thought if I left school, I would be free to run wild on the Western plains. Right this second, this thought just hit me – eight months later, I moved to Colorado on a whim, not running wild, but still out West and still doing my own thing.

What is one of my top five all-time favorite movies? “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” from 1969. That should need no explanation; it just is one of the best movies ever, up near “The Princess Bride” and “Goonies”.

What is my favorite movie set in Africa? “Out of Africa,” of course. And once again, there is no need for an explanation. Even though I hate watching romance movies, with Meryl Streep describing Kenya in her remarkable accent and the scenes of the African plains from the plane, I could watch this movie over and over again.  

And it should require no explanation what all these movies have in common. Run free, Sundance Kid.

(I took the picture above when I was in Kenya in 2019. It was taken at the Karen Blixen house with the Ngong hills in the background.)