It’s that time of year in Oregon’s Willamette Valley when it’s mostly rainy and dreary. Will we get snow? Some years we do, some we don’t, but when we do it usually isn’t much and it almost never sticks for long. I usually don’t mind the rain, of course, being a writer and a reader, but usually by March I’m ready to see more blue sky. My hunch is that feeling will come even sooner this year, considering how trying 2020 was. But then, every place you live has its pros and cons.
As grim as the pandemic has been this winter, and it’s been plenty grim, the vaccines are rolling out, though, so life feels like it’s getting better. While it will take quite a while to vaccinate the entire world, the most vulnerable, and most likely to be hospitalized, should get vaccinated much faster, which means both the death toll and the strain on our hospitals should start to lessen more more rapidly, I should think. We shall see.
My immediate family is all in good health. For me personally? Just working away, on two books at the same time, actually. Not something I usually like to do, but it just worked out that way. Kids are approaching the halfway mark of the school year, and we’re all hoping that by Fall 2021 that face-to-face classes will be the norm again.
Hoping. I find myself using that word a lot lately. While it rained all day on Christmas for us, the sun came out in earnest the next day, which seemed symbolic.
A Bit of Whimsy: A Very Rosie Christmas
Here’s Rosie at 7.5 months, looking adorable as usual. Of course, her cuteness hides the fact that she’s often known around these parts as THE TERRIBLE RED BEASTY, for her propensity to steal socks, chew up shoes, and destroy tree ornaments.
Scott Recommends
Uncle Frank. This Amazon Studios production is just the sort of movie that makes me so optimistic about the future of filmmaking, despite the fairly grim future I foresee for movie theaters in particular. It’s doubtful this poignant drama about a gay man from South Carolina, and his relationship with his family as he returns from New York City in 1973, would have seen much time in a theater—especially now, but probably not ten years ago either. And yet, it’s one of the best films I’ve seen this year. Great writing, great acting, highly recommended.
Sunset Express by Robert Crais. Another great entry in the Elvis Cole series, a Los Angeles-based private investigator with a wry wit. What I admire about Crais, just as I admire about writers like Robert B. Parker and John D. MacDonald, is how easy it all goes down. I don’t mean the story, which in this case involves an extremely rich restaurateur accused of murdering his wife, a police detective accused of tampering with evidence, and a powerful celebrity attorney, but the writing itself. The voice is strong and bold and grabs you from page one. It’s always a pleasant few hours I spend with Cole and his assorted friends and associates.
M*A*S*H. This has been one of my go-to shows during the pandemic lately, something I can watch for thirty minutes while folding laundry or just a short escape before bed, and I’m amazed at how well it still holds up more than thirty years after the final episode aired (1983). Sadly, it might have something to do with how evergreen the subject matter is (war). Lasting eleven seasons (and eight years longer than the Korean War in which it was set), it has just the right balance of pathos and humor. I could do without the laugh track, of course, but that’s my one small nit. The whole series is available on Hulu.