Wakanda Forever!!

Greetings from Domelandia,

A couple of weeks ago, the Viking, the Strawberry Blond daughter, and I went to Pueblo to see the movie "Black Panther."  We'd read great reviews and were hoping the movie was a big success.  As of today, the movie has grossed one BILLION dollars.

It was FANTASTIC.  We loved the beautiful and exotic costumes.  The strong characters were amazing and the writing was creative.  It was easy to get swept away by the story.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, suspending reality for those 135 minutes in the movie house, being in Wakanda, cheering for Good King T'Challa, his amazing sister and his people. 

Caution:  Spoiler alert--if you plan to see the movie, skip the next 2 paragraphs.

The turning point in the movie came when T'Challa's kingship is challenged by Erik Killmonger, aka the Bad Guy.  They started fighting and ended up struggling dangerously close to a cliff edge and a waterfall.  The two clashed closer and closer to the edge...the suspense was building...

Suddenly from the seat behind us, came the voice of a little boy.  "No! NO!"  Then King T'Challa got swept over the waterfall!  From the little boy sitting behind us, "NO! NO!"  And he started crying.  His Mom tried to quiet him.  It was all I could do to keep from turning around and saying, "It's OK, honey.  The King will be OK."  I didn't turn around then because I didn't want his Mom to think he was disturbing us.  My thoughts were about his innocence and the purity of his spirit.

The movie ended well.  As the house lights came up, I turned around and said to the Mom, "You have such a nice boy.  I hope he's OK."

His Mom said, "I know he was kind of loud.  It's his 8th birthday today.  He just got his cochlear implants and this is what he wanted to do for his birthday, to see 'Black Panther.'  This is the first movie he has been able to hear.  He hasn't learned how to whisper yet."

We chatted for a few moments, and then turned to go.  The little boy asked, "What did that lady say, Mom?" His Mom replied, "She said 'Happy Birthday.'"

There were only white people in the audience (think Pueblo, Colorado).  The boy was color blind (everyone there was, I think).  This was the classic story of the Hero's Journey, the battle of Good against Evil.  You cheer for the heroes no matter where they're from or the color of their skin.  You cheer for a better world.

The theater full of white folks and that little boy make me feel hopeful.

Dogs

Greetings from Domelandia,

We gathered with some good friends a few months ago to celebrate Cindy's birthday. 

Somehow (I'm still not sure how this happened) we got to talking (and talking and talking) about dogs.  At some point we were looking at one another, thinking, SOMEONE PLEASE CHANGE THE SUBJECT (!!)  but it never happened.  Later the host said, "And we weren't even smoking anything!"  The next day I emailed everyone and apologized that the conversation had gone to the dogs.  Now the subject of dogs in general has become an inside joke that we'll carry with us going forward. 

Good friends are hard to find.  And we forgive each other for totally weird conversations apropos of nothing meaningful.  (Kind of like this post).