“If life is just a highway, then the soul is just a car”*

Another quiet weekend passes by. I went to an estate sale where I picked up a few books, including They Were Expendable, which jumped out from a lower shelf in a packed basement. This is a book which has been out of print for some time, so I was thrilled to find it. My guardian angel was working with me then!

On Sunday we all went to church where the sermon was on 2 Timothy 1:8-14.

But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.^[a]13 Follow the pattern of the sound^[b] words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

1:12-14

We then headed to our house to eat the shepherd’s pie the OM had made ahead of time. The temperature had reached 40 degrees so the wee twins got to run around outside and drive the Raptor around the cul de sac.

Lottie thought about driving, but then was a little too timid to do so. She also balked at rolling down the hill. She is of an age where she does not abandon herself so willingly to such activity. She reminds me a little of myself in that way.

The wee boy has no such restraint. He relishes getting so dizzy he falls down. Anyway, they had fun and it was good to breath the cold, fresh air.

I downloaded the TNT app on our Amazon Fire Stick and so now I am able to watch Supernatural (2005-2020) to my heart’s content. You remember Dean and Sam, “Two brothers [who] follow their father’s footsteps as hunters, fighting evil supernatural beings of many kinds, including monsters, demons and gods that roam the earth.” It is pretty crazy, I admit, but Dean is dreamy and demons are real. They mostly live in Washington.

In other news, this is very cool:

Another good reason to visit the National Cowboy Museum before May 1 when the Santa Fe Trail 200th anniversary exhibit closes. We are starting to plan our trip for early April! (#Hashtag The Cowboy)

February starts tomorrow–spring is in sight. But don’t miss February looking forward to warmer temperatures! And guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

*“If life is just a highway, then the soul is just a car / and objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are.”–Meatloaf, RIP

This and that

Paddington Bear first appeared on October 13, 1958 and has been featured in more than twenty books written by Michael Bond.

Our pater, who was fond of bears and anything English, was a fan of Paddington.

Today is also the birthday of Leon Leonwood Bean (October 13, 1872 – February 5, 1967) the American inventor, author, outdoor enthusiast, and founder of the company L.L. Bean. I vividly remember visiting the L.L. Bean store in Freeport, Maine in 1964. I got a new pair of Blucher Moccassins, which I absolutely loved and wore all summer.

When I wore them to school, however, the original Mean Girl said, “Nice brown tie-up shoes, Katie,” and that was the last time I wore those shoes. As usual, I was ahead of my time, but in the third grade I couldn’t handle being so en avance sur la mode.

I got another pair in high school, when they were all the rage.

I went to college carrying one of these

and equipped with my first pair of L.L. Bean “duck boots,” which I wore happily through my four years in New England and on and on.  (I still have them.) This was before the ‘preppie” look became all the rage. Again, en avance sur la mode.  I do still think that nothing beats those boots or the “duck shoes” as rainwear for feet. (Maybe these.)

Well, my family was ahead of its time in regards to catalog shopping as well. My mother embraced this form of shopping in the 1960s, starting with the L.L. Bean catalog

and moving on to Carroll Reed and the Tog Shop. We loved looking at the catalogs together. We hardly ever bought anything, but when we did, it was pretty exciting.

Now I do all my shopping online, but that’s another story.

And just a reminder that Supernatural (Season 12) starts tonight.

Not that I am that huge a fan or anything, but I do love Dean Winchester, who says things like, “We know a little about a lot of things; just enough to make us dangerous.” I can relate.

“One more murder may be one too many.”*

 

Every year at this time I wrack my brain for a good movie recommendation for Halloween. I usually come up with something, but what is there new to suggest? As I have said many times, I am no fan of horror and I do not like gratuitous violence and bloodshed. So what does that leave?

How about some good old-fashioned Sherlock Holmes?

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) with Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson is hard to beat.

Holmes and Watson investigate the legend of a supernatural hound, a beast that may be stalking a young heir on the fog-shrouded moor that makes up his estate. Yes, fog-shrouded moors are a good choice for Halloween, don’t you think?

I seem to remember that The Scarlet Claw (1944) is also pretty scary.

When a gentlewoman is found dead with her throat torn out (!),  the villagers blame a supernatural monster, but Sherlock Holmes, who gets drawn into the case from nearby Quebec, suspects a human murderer.

Of course, there’s always Jane Marple–and by that I mean Margaret Rutherford.

There are four of these movies, but Murder Most Foul (1964)–when Miss Marple joins a theatrical company after a blackmailer is murdered, and then several members of the troupe are also dispatched by a mysterious killer–is my favorite.

But come to think of it, Murder She Said (1961), Murder at the Gallop (1963) and Murder Ahoy (1964) are all wonderful and hilarious! One could have a wonderful night of binge-watching all four.

I have not seen it in a long time, but M (1931) with Peter Lorre, Fritz Lang’s haunting, German-language crime drama, in which the Berlin police are hunting a whistling killer of children, is a great film.

The criminal underworld is after the killer as well, since the police manhunt has put a damper on their activities. And Lorre as the creepy killer is almost sympathetic in the famous confession speech where he describes with anguish his horrible compulsion. And who does creepy better than the Germans?

Another movie I have not seen for a long time, but liked when I first saw it, is From Hell (2001). Johnny Depp stars as an opium- and absinthe-addled Scotland Yard man assigned to the Jack the Ripper case, Robbie Coltrane is his stalwart partner and Ian Holm is the creepy royal surgeon who offers his advice. I’m sure I recall gratuitous violence and bloodshed, but nothing’s perfect. And it is scary.

Well, these are just suggestions.

I may binge watch Supernatural…remember Garth from season seven?

Happy Halloween!

*Miss Marple in Murder She Said (1961)

Note to self

Mark your calendar! New episodes of Arrested Development are scheduled to appear on Netflix.com on May 26!

I have to admit that I love this show and that Jessica Walter as Lucille Bluth is my role model. The whole cast is great. (Click on the picture to enlarge it and see the gif.)

Anyway, it is good to have something new on the horizon, because most of “my shows”–such as they are–are running down to the end of the season. What will I do without my boys, Dean and Sam?

The Winchester boys sharing a pensive moment.

Yes, I am indeed a big nerd. (You may have thought I was a hipster because I love Arrested Development, but not so!) I even have succumbed to watching the heretofore slandered (by me) Dancing With the Stars this season! I have been on team Kellie and Derek from day #1.

I have no shame.

My brother and his wife eschew television, and indeed have never owned one in all their married life. They are not time-wasters like me and my family, and I applaud them for their strength of character (really I do). Nevertheless, I must say, after a hard Monday at the salt mines, there is something soothing and mindless about watching DWTS. It is an alarmingly wholesome show, despite the fact everyone is half-naked. Explain that one to me! I realize that this is the downfall of civilization as we know it, and, much as I regret this and would like to turn to my Emerson and read in the evening, I just can’t.

So the summer approacheth. This is when I traditionally get my money’s worth of Netflix. What will you be watching?