The
weather has finally taken a turn for the better here in the northeast! But let
me first go back to when it was cold and dreary.
We
stayed in New York this weekend because we are headed up to Sharon on Wednesday
for Grandparents Day at school on Thursday and Friday. The weather was awful –
cold and rainy, so we had a quiet Sabbath. We spent part of the day reading the
new book by Letty Cottin Pogrebin, which I wrote about a few days ago. We did
not get very far because nearly every paragraph resulted in some discussion.
This will undoubtedly continue to provide Sabbath reading and discussion for a
number of weeks to come.
We
then saw two movies. The first was “Stories We Tell,” about the complicated life
of an aspiring actress, the mother of the filmmaker, Sarah Polley. It took me a
while to realize that the film was going back and forth between actual film
footage and newly created scenes using an actress to portray the main
character. Because this was confusing, and because, to be honest, I found this
family to be far more annoying than sympathetic, I cannot really say I enjoyed
this film, although I am sure it will continue to win critics’ praises.
The
second movie we saw was “What Maisie Knew.” The acting was incredible, particularly
the little girl who played Maisie, Onata Aprile. This is a gut-wrenching story
of a marital breakup. Barry and I spent a fair amount of time over a lovely
dinner at Noi Due (we had to do something fun after sitting through this film)
trying to figure out which of the two parents was the more despicable. I have
to say it is a difficult call, as both were just so self-centered and
mean-spirited. You can see from the strength of my words here that it was a
well-acted but painful film to watch.
So
we agreed that the winner of our 3-entry film festival over the last few days
was Frances Ha!
Today,
with the beautiful weather, and needing a break from all the psychological drama,
we headed off to the New York Botanical Gardens. We spent most of our time in
the new exhibit, presented by Pfizer, “Wild Medicine: Healing Plants Around the
World.” The creativity of these folks simply does not cease to amaze. And I
have to say that the people who choose to spend their time there are an
amazingly friendly bunch – we had a couple of enthusiastic discussions with
some of the other visitors. I know many of you who have been following my blog
listened to me drone on and on last year about the Monet exhibit, and at the
risk of sounding like a broken record, if you missed that one, at least try to
catch this one, which will be going until September 8th. We did not
even see the entire exhibit, in particular, we are saving the children’s area
for when our grandchildren are here later in the summer. Today we did an
overview, so it will be fun to return and spend a bit more time listening to
the recordings that go along with the exhibit.
Tomorrow
is a busy day. I have a routine appointment with my internist in the morning,
and then the first session of my two courses in the afternoon. I will check in
when I can. Meanwhile, have a wonderful week – summer is finally on the way!
Love,
Rebecca
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