Lightning bugs! I turned off my TV over the weekend, and went out in the backyard and watched lightning bugs on Friday night. Or, depending where you are in the country, fireflies. For my friend Rosemary – depending where you are in the U.S., they’re either fireflies or lightning bugs. And, some places are too hot. We didn’t see lightning bugs when I lived in Florida and Arizona. It was the most delightful distraction I’ve had lately.
Honestly? Turning off the TV was the best thing I did this week. I can only take so much of the news before I start to get upset. I know we had this conversation last week. It’s still the best thing I’ve done.
And, I read. I have a Thursday deadline for Library Journal, so I read three books over the weekend. One was excellent, one good, and one was tolerable. I’m always looking for that next excellent book.
What about you? Were you looking for distractions this past week?
No distractions other than food and shopping for more food. And we went for a couple of walks in the neighborhood thanks to the beautiful weather.
Yes, more reading of late. Also, we watched a few movies. OFFICIAL SECRETS (on Showtime) was OK but nothing exciting. A true story about a woman (Katharine Gun, played by Keira Knightley) who works for GCHQ and comes across a note from the CIA proving the U.S. is trying to "fix" the upcoming UN vote on the Iraq war in 2003 by lying about Weapons of Mass Destruction. Good acting, but…meh. It was no THE PAPER or ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN.
Spike Lee's new movie (Netflix) DA 5 BLOODS has four former soldiers (Delroy Lindo – who is electrifying, Clarke Peters, Isiah Whitfied Jr. and Norm Lewis) return to Vietnam to find the remains of their former commander (and friend), as well as a crate of CIA gold they discovered and buried. It's long (2 1/2 hours) but definitely worth watching.
The third was THE VAST OF NIGHT (Prime), a very low budget first feature that plays as if it were an episode of a Twilight Zone-type black & white show, about possible UFO sightings in a small town in New Mexico in the '50s. It was short (90 minutes) and fun.
Don't you hate it, Jeff, when a movie is just meh? I feel as if I've wasted 2 hours of my life.
Well this just tickled me pink! I know how much you love lightning bugs and am happy you had this magical moment.
xxoo
Kaye
I do, Kaye. And, I watched them last night as well. Our weather right now is perfect for lightning bugs!
I haven’t seen any lightning bugs yet this year but have been watching the butterflies, birds and bumble bees. I trimmed the bushes in the back yard and weeded this weekend. I have to wait for the town to pick up the brush before I can do the front yard. We discovered a nice outdoor farm market two towns over. It’s set up in a big lot with plenty of room for social distancing so that’ll be our a Saturday morning trip from now on.
Oh, a nice farm market. That sounds so good, Sandy.
Hi Lesa, and thanks for the explanation! Those bugs sound amazing – as you know, we don't have anything like that here, but I imagine we're too cold rather than too hot.
I do still watch the TV but NEVER the news or any current affairs programmes – I watch almost everything on catch up apps or via the recorder. Tonight, however, we ended up seeing some programme about Monaco. It was all about the annual Yacht Fair, when the mega rich rock up to spend literally hundreds of millions of euros on these 'floating palaces.' My husband found it interesting, but I thought it was utterly repellent – all that money just to show off to other people. Also the very rich give rise to an entourage of sycophantic networkers – 'facilitators' who find them apartments, schools, and the much prized residence permits – and the whole thing runs on endless parties where everyone has to pretend they are highly amused by every word that drops from the richest person's lips. URGH. There are only 8,000 native Monagesque people in the principality, everyone else is there to avoid paying tax. What pointless lives.
After that i watched Friday Night Dinner, which is very funny and cheered me up no end – it is a sitcom about a non-practising Jewish family in North London, whose two adult sons come home every week for the traditional Friday night meal. The parents are played by Tamsin Greig and Paul Ritter. It is very low key and low budget, and just really funny.
I finished reading and reviewing The Last Hillwalker, which was excellent, and now I have started a Rebecca Tope mystery – A Cotswold Killing – which is OK but has too many annoying bits to encourage me to read the rest of this very long series. Have you read any of hers? I think this book, which was written in 2004, shows what a mistake it is to refer to technology – things move on so fast that the main character's approach to computer and phone use seems so anachronistic now.
It's been very damp and humid here, so I've done some long walks in the foggy countryside, where the only 'people' I've met are cows with their calves and sheep with their lambs.
Non-essential stores have opened in England today, but not up here – our First Minister is taking things more slowly. I don't really need anything myself, and I would never bother queuing to get into Primark or Zara, but I also get a bit annoyed with all the smug people on twitter criticising all the people who did go along – the queues were all well organised, people were well behaved, and they looked like they were having a happy day out – if that is what it takes for them, then why not? People can be so patronising sometimes!
It's 11pm here so I'd better stop now,
Rosemary
Rosemary, No matter which side of the Covid-19 we're on here, pro-mask or "pro-freedom", people can be patronizing. It's sad. My mother's best friend, an 84 year old woman, offered masks to a woman and child one day early on, and the woman slammed a drugstore door in her face and swore at her. Here in this country, between our politics, Covid-19, and then protests, it's brought out the worst in people. I'm quite happy staying home when I'm not working.
I have not read a Rebecca Tope novel, and, now, I'm unlikely to read one. (smile)