I love snow days. I think snow is nature's way of telling us to just chill -- to relax, slow down, take note. But we don't listen very well. We insist on doing things "our way", trying to bend nature -- and everything else -- to our will. Sometimes this determination to conquer the physical world works to our advantage -- we create civilizations. We create buildings with heating and air conditioning systems. We create Snuggies (or Slankets, depending on your preference), microwaveable popcorn, instant hot chocolate and NetFlix to help us pass our snowbound evenings in a cocoon of synthetic lethargy.
Sometimes our determination to conquer the physical world works to our disadvantage -- although right now I'm too lethargic to really think of why it's a disadvantage to be warm and cozy and full of instant hot chocolate.
Wait! I just thought of why -- because when one is warm and cozy and full of instant hot chocolate, one is not apt to be at "the top of one's game". One is more apt to gain a few pounds, take a few too many naps, and wear the same clothes for days on end without showering. Which sounds a bit like depression. Or winter.
Speaking of depression, I've actually been in pretty good spirits lately, in spite of very precarious finances and recently watching the movie The Road (based on the book by Cormac McCarthy), which is one of the bleakest movies I've ever seen. It really is a well-crafted film -- the acting is superb. Watching it made me certain of one thing -- I have no desire to live through an apocalypse of any kind. Now, I don't believe this is a "spoiler", because it's brought up quite early in the film, but essentially in McCarthy's post-apocalyptic world, many people resort to cannibalism to stay alive. Onion and I have often joked that, if I was an animal, I would be prey. I do not have the "hunter" instinct (except, perhaps, when it comes to finding a bargain, or something cool in a dumpster or alley -- which I suppose could prove to be a beneficial skill when surviving an apocalypse). I have no doubt that in such a world as depicted in The Road, I would be at least a few days' meals for a pack of hungry of cannibals.
Since it's been a few months since I last posted, I feel the need to end on something more positive than the thought of being made into a stew.
So, here, watch this trailer from The Fantastic Mr. Fox -- I watched this movie (for probably the fourth or fifth time) immediately after watching The Road. It makes me immensely happy, and glad to be living in a world where I can snuggle up with my instant hot chocolate and microwaveable popcorn and watch Wes Anderson films.
