Originally posted on December 15, 2014, by cruisingrunner
Back at home when I was a busy working mom, I rarely watched movies. It just seemed that when I racked and stacked everything I needed to do and everything I wanted to do, movies would fall off my priority list. I really do love watching a good movie, but the problem is that so many movies aren’t good. And I just couldn’t see wasting time on that.
Then I quit my job and went cruising and now I have all kinds of free time to watch all the movies I want, right? If one turns out to be a dud, no big deal, I’ve got plenty of time for another, right? Well, that doesn’t seem to be the way it’s turned out.
I’m not complaining. It’s a choice. It’s always a choice how we prioritize our time. I’m just saying that I was somewhat surprised to find that my time out here is every bit as valuable to me as my time was when I was a busy working mom, and I still seem to have things I need to do and things I want to do that cause movies to fall off my priority list. Life is simpler in that a lot of extra stuff is cut out, which makes it easier and more enjoyable, in a way, but it also makes it busier in another way. I make bread and yogurt, I teach my kids, I study weather, I write, and I cook (almost) every single day. Those are things I never did at home. Whenever the guys sit down to watch a movie, the voice it my head still rattles off the 15 things I should probably be doing instead of that.
But last night I caved and now I have movie regret. We watched “All is Lost,” with Robert Redford as a single-handed sailor who (presumably) survives some pretty severe issues at sea. Oh my god, what a piece of crap! Even my youngest son, Brenden, at one point tentatively said, “This movie isn’t that good.” Spot on, Brenden! The only good part of the movie was the very first scene, where he wakes up and finds that his boat is full of water due to hitting a floating container. This is real. Although very rare, this has happened. And his reaction, initially dazed but then 100% action, seemed real too. For about 2 seconds I was sucked into his plight with him, living it with him. But after that, I was lost. You’re going to leave your boat and walk out onto the container without somehow lashing yourself to the boat? Really!? The sea anchor deploys and works to pull the container off of your boat but then you can easily just pull it in by hand? Really!? It’s been a while since I’ve “walked out of a movie” but this one I just couldn’t stay connected with. That’s why above I say he “(presumably) survives” because I don’t know if he did or not, and I don’t care. I watched probably an hour of the movie, and I can never get that hour back.
We are socked in by a low pressure system that’s bringing strong winds and a lot of rain. Perhaps that’s why I caved and watched a movie. A rainy day just screams popcorn and a movie right? Well, next time, to me, it will scream, bake some bread or read a book.
-D.
Gresham Family Exodus 