November the Fifth

Yesterday was November the Fifth, which in Canada doesn't mean much but in England is a day for fireworks, potatoes cooked in embers so that they are burnt on the outside and inedible inside, and of course the extrememly medieval practice of committing the effigy of a man to the flames of a bonfire. Burning Guy Fawkes-who was really just the fall guy for the mastermind of the gun powder plot, Robert Catesby - may have fallen out of favour in our more politically correct times (when I tried explaining what to me was a fun childhood tradition to my children, I found myself reeling from my own explanations), but Guy himself, largely due to the graphic novel and movie V for Vendetta, has made something of a comeback as the face of protest.

As interesting as this all is (and in the wake of the current Occupy protests, there are some interesting parallels) it's not what this blog is about today.

This weekend, my parents visited, and since it was such a glorious day on Saturday I had the bright idea to have a November 5th bonfire. Dad bought some fireworks, the kids and Andrew dragged wood, and I sat around sipping wine. The usual division of labour on the farm. It was a cold enough night once the sun went down, we had a brief interlude of rounding up sheep (never a dull moment), and then we settled in around the fire and managed to make it through to dark when the fireworks lit up the night.

We did not burn a guy. But we did cook potatoes in the embers to go with dinner. And they were excellent.

Alike

This post is part of Capital Mom's Monday Moments series. It also follows along quite nicely from my posts about Harry Potter.

In late spring, we had a Harry Potter themed dinner, rustling up recipes from the countless websites dedicated to this kind of thing. While Erik and I were out cutting stalks of rhubarb to make a lovely rhubarb apple crumble, he said to me, Mom, you're just like Mrs. Weasley.

I have to be honest, my first thought wasn't all that charitable. I mean look at the way Molly dresses! But Erik expanded on his statement: how we live in an old rambling house and there are always good smells in the kitchen and lots of food to eat. He mad especial mention of the pies (Erik really likes pies). And somehow in his 11 year old mind, he equated the homemade pies I make for him, the cobblers and crisps and the sausages and mashed potatoes, lasagne and roast chickens with the comfortable hominess of Molly Weasely, mother to (among others) Ron and Ginny and Fred and George.

I saw it for the compliment it was. And since then I've reflected on and off about how, actually, being like Molly is a good thing.

She's protective of her family, but not overbearing. She puts her foot down, but lets them go and do what needs to be done. She keeps her children on their toes and holds them accountable (We tried to shut him in a pyramid but Mum spotted us - Fred and George) without holding them back.

Molly doles out love and discipline and caution and support in good measure. Her children think she worries too much but they also respect her, and want to stay on her good side. She in turn respects each of her children and their friends and appreciates their individual gifts. Even when Fred and George drop out of school to start a joke shop, Molly gives them grief and then, having done so, stands behind them.

And when it matters most, she is not afraid to stand up for those she loves. Witness the cheering that went on in the theatres during Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 when Molly stares down Bellatrix...she is a force to be reckoned with at that moment.

So am I like Molly Weasley? To be honest, I hope so.

This Owl Just In...The Harry Potter Posts (#3: And Onward)

Today
The one thing Erik missed out on is the whole Harry experience. Because he came to the books over a three week period, there was none of the anticipation, the lining up at midnight at Chapters for a new release (and, yes, for the record I'd have taken him), the building excitement over a new movie. He just read and watched and read and watched...

Until now.

The final Harry Potter release today. If this is news to you, you might want to get out more. It's huge. It's a phenomenon. It has gripped an entire generation, more than one actually. And finally, Erik gets it. He is excited. He is anxious. He has re-read the books. He has watched all the movies. He has seen the preview for Deathly Hallows so often he can quote it. He is ready for the final movie.

And I'm glad I finally get to share that with him.

Lessons from Lord Of The Rings

We are re-watching Lord of the Rings with the kids on Friday nights. They are long movies so it takes us about six weeks of Friday nights to watch the whole thing. I've seen them many times - they are among my favourite movies.

But there are a few things I am really enjoying.

The wisdom of Gandalf, for example. When Frodo says he wishes the ring had never come to him, that he wishes this had never happened, Gandalf replies:

So do all who live to see such times. But that is not ours to decide. All you can do is decide what to do with the time that is given you.

I had a shiver run through me. Because it gets straight to the heart of the matter. Life is not always fair. Ask anyone who was in their early 20's during the World Wars. Ask the people of Pakistan. Ask the men and women and children who have spouses serving in Afghanistan. Ask those who don't have enough to eat.  Other people will always have more, be luckier, have less worries. And conversely, there will always be those who look enviously at you. But if you wait for life to be fair to really live it, then you run the risk of missing it altogether.

The friendship of Sam. He didn't want to go on a quest. He'd have been happy sitting by his fire in the shire with a pint and a bacon sandwich (actually, that sounds pretty good) but he made a promise to stick by Frodo, and he kept by it. Never wavering, never faltering, strong in the face of adversity, optimistic when Frodo was not. Sam was cheerful even when he was cold and tired and hungry, and was true to that friendship even when it seemed hopeless. And in the end, that friendship saved the world.

We could all do with a friend like Sam.

And on life in general. At one point Sam tells Frodo that he knows know why the great stories were so great. Full of danger and darkness, but in the end good triumphed because the people in the stories held to the notion that goodness was worth holding onto. They persevered and didn't turn back when they had the chance.

A reminder that we all need sometimes.

History Mystery: Steaming Along

I made what is widely considered my first true movie debut this week in 1928. The movie also featured the gal who would become my main squeeze - although we actually met in a short piece about six months earlier. My most famous role came in a classical piece made about 11 years later, and which is still popular to this day. I received my star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on Nov. 18th, 1978 - on the 50th anniversary of my movie career.

I have been in movies, books, and video games. I have been translated into countless languages, and used politically. The British navy unofficiallly bestowed my name on some of their WWII era minesweepers as a friendly nickname. Sometimes, my name is used pejoratively, which hurts my feelings, but at least in Australia they use my name to mean excellent. I like that.

Who Am I?

That's right, Leanne!

I am Mickey Mouse!!!  M-I-C K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Movie Night

Friday night is movie night around here and has been ever since Andrew and I first moved in together. Friday was about lying low after a week at work, about catching up, curling up on the couch, sipping wine and eating pizza and watching....whatever.

Then the kids came along and the routine varied a little in that we watched a short movie with them, and once they were in bed, watched something we wanted to see (that didn't involve animation).

What a delight a year or so ago to find that all three kids are now able to watch "real movies." With them, we now watch movies we've seen before but that we can still enjoy - George of the Jungle, The Three Musketeers, Narnia, Pirates of the Carribean, Star Wars. We've branched out to Indiana Jones and new movies such as Percy Jackson. Most of the time, we are quite happy to watch whatever they are interested in.

Because honestly, it's not about the movie. Friday nights for me are a chance to sit back surrounded by those I love best, and watch them. The way they interact together. The laughing and crying. The excitement and edge-of-their seat adrenaline rush. The marvel and wonder and happiness of Friday night. Warm and safe and together under one roof.

With popcorn.

Theme Song

My drive to work is 12 minutes along old fashioned, unpaved, country lanes. Surrounded by farm fields and forest, dirt paths and wildlife, tumbled stones and maple trees, I enjoy every moment of it, and since Andrew downloaded this song to my IPod for me, I enjoy it even more. I drive more slowly, just so I can hear it again.

In my mind I am not on my way to a corporate job dotting environmental "i"s and crossing innovative "t"s, but am off cross country with James Herriot and Siegfried Farnon.

I knew I should have been a vet.

Mamma Mia

I am unabashedly unapologetic for admitting that I saw and thoroughly enjoyed the movie version of Mamma Mia recently.

It made me laugh. It made me feel joyous and happy. It made me feel good. It made me want to move to a Greek Island and sing Abba songs on the beach.

I thought the critics missed the point when it came to the singing. I'm sure the director could have picked perfectly pitched actors for all the roles, but the beauty of the movie was that it didn't have to be perfect to be good. Life isn't like that. Life isn't always sung in tune.

And Mamma Mia was about life. About Kairos (to use one of my favourite ancient Greek concepts, referring to the qualitative nature of time as opposed to Chronos, the quantitative nature of time).

I loved it. And I'm still singing Abba songs a month later.

Full Disclosure: it could be said that I have a slight bias towards any movie with either Pierce Brosnan or Colin Firth in it, and this one had both, and if they could only have featured Harrison Ford as well, my day would truly have been complete.