Will you be watching the Oscars next weekend? Whenever award season comes around, it’s a reminder of how few movies I’ve seen in theatres. I guess I’ve got a week to catch up.
What were your top picks of this year’s nominees? I’ve got Amy (the documentary about Amy Winehouse) in my queue at home and hope to have at least watched all the Best Picture nominees: one still has to go to a theatre to watch Brooklyn, The Revenant, or The Big Short, but The Martian, Bridge of Spies, and Spotlight can all be watched at home (legally) as of tomorrow.
“The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” Harper Lee passed away today. With a story as relevant today as ever, she no doubt has played a significant part of so many of our lives, and in guiding so many of our individual consciences.
In 2002, she wrote to a school who had selected To Kill A Mockingbird for a week-long reading event: “It is a great honor for To Kill a Mockingbird to be chosen as the first book for ‘Flagler Reads Together.’ I hope that the event becomes an annual one and that the book so chosen will bring together people of all backgrounds to share their experiences of life. When this happens, cultural barriers begin to come down and people discover that they are not so far apart after all.”
I’m sorry to say, that same school banned a production of the play as recently as 2010 for its language.
“Good reading to everybody!,” she finished her letter, eight years earlier. Thank you, Ms. Lee. Rest in peace.
The trees are filled with flowers right now! It feels early, but looking back over our recent years in California, the timing is fairly consistent. We visited a grove of Almond trees the other night just before the rain started to fall. Can you imagine them in the sun? If you’re in the area, I’m happy to report that the Capay Valley Almond Blossom Festival is happening on Sunday, the 28th, and should be timed perfectly.
I can never help but post some (gratuitous) family photos after we take the kids to see the trees. Playing peek-a-boo, running through the long rows, listening to bees—it’s all wonderful, but my favorite part is their smiles. I can’t promise there won’t be more this year. Some favorites…
