family life

On yacht rock, Watergate and the charms of car chases

JOY journal

“Follow the money.” Deep Throat

“Are you a moviehead now?” our younger daughter asked.

I’d been texting a list of things we’ve been watching — many of them requiring English subtitles but with All the President’s Men and the occasional Jason Bourne flick thrown in to give my husband a break.

( I may have also informed her in astonishing detail that Clueless — a modernization of Jane Austen’s Emma — was chosen for preservation by the Library of Congress this week because of its unparalleled aesthetic capture. I learned this on the actual news.)

“Yacht rock is so 2025,” I texted back. I could practically hear her LOL across the many miles between us.

She knows.

It’s unusually cold and very snowy. I’m in the annual throws of winter obsession — a foray into almost anything. It’s needed to keep my mind from slowing to the speed of molasses.

Last winter, it was yacht rock. I discovered a TV channel dedicated to the sunny genre quite by accident and spent many hours quilting and blissing out in a patch of sunlight that fell on the couch. I was happy. The dog was happy. We were all happy.

My trusty cell phone was by my side though. The channel kept posting fun facts about the musicians and I couldn’t help doing multiple deep dives about previously unknown-to-me bands like Ambrosia. The lead singer and his wife met in college if you wanted to know.

This winter has been deep and dark enough to require a multi-pronged approach. It has been a mix of crafting, photographing light with my cell phone, making soup and movies. (Some Valentine primitives, a sunrise and a super-good cabbage and sausage stew are all pictured.)

On the movie side, I’ve seen more in the last month than I’d probably seen in the last decade. It’s the library’s fault. Their DVD collection is extensive and well curated. Streaming? Nah.

We just finished the A’s — mostly sticking to ones that won Academy Awards. We’re now in the B’s. Hence the reason we watched Bourne Identity — a first viewing for both of us — last night.

I’d forgotten my tweenaged penchant for globe-trotting spy thrillers. And, what American doesn’t love a good car chase? Surely that’s something on which even Congress can agree.

Ahh. So many movies, so little left of winter. This could take years.

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How about you, dear readers? How do you cope with winter?

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After a long career writing for local newspapers — and, on rare occasions, for publications such as The Washington Post — Nora is enjoying a second wind as an innkeeper. She still blogs and does writing projects of special interest. She lives in Appalachia with her husband and a dog named Finn, who is beside himself with joy when the family's daughters have college breaks.

11 thoughts on “On yacht rock, Watergate and the charms of car chases”

  2. Great post! I love your selection of winter coping activities. Here in Colorado, we have had an exceptionally mild winter, much to the consternation of ski resort operators. So my winter activities have ended up looking a whole lot like my spring and fall activities. Now I am just whiling away the hours waiting for spring training baseball to commence.

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  4. By writing, of course! And making soup. Last night my husband and I watched a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Lady Vanishes” on the Kanopy streaming service, which we get from our public library for free. Lots of choices and no commercials! And did I say “free”?

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  5. I do some of the same things, Nora. Movies, writing, crafts, and cooking – lots of soups, chili, and stew! I do need to spend some time in the basement (“Lower level”) on our workout equipment so all that cooking, eating, and couch-potatoing don’t take their toll. 😉

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