Watching: The Holdovers

I don't watch a lot of TV or movies on TV. I turn the thing on maybe two or three times during a month, some months not at all. (Reading and listening to books and podcasts are my main entertainment.) And I stopped going to movies in person during the shutdown, of course. But I've actually seen FOUR movies in theaters so far this year! In order, Oppenheimer, Barbie, Stop Making Sense, and, last night, The Holdovers. Hooray for the movies!

The Holdovers was SO GOOD! I went in with few expectations and no reviews under my belt. I did see a trailer at one of my other movies, and I was expecting maybe a Breakfast Club type movie, with a cool mixed bag of misfits that would bond in the face of adversity. I guess it had that, but it was so much more!

Do go see it! I went to bed thinking about it, and I was still under its spell when I woke up. 

Minor spoilers below, perhaps, but not major.

The period setting is totally spot on. Imagine my surprise to realize that the main kid is exactly my age - a high school junior in 1970. I guessed the year early on by the hair on the high school boys. There are many lovely details, and I was taken with the music. Only a little was composed just for the movie, most were low-key sounds appropriate to the time, holiday, folk, rock, blues, jazz. Recognizing snippets kept me smiling through the whole thing. New England and Boston were also spot on, including a glimpse of a picture of the Kennedys on a kitchen wall. Clothes, interiors, language, all seemed perfect. Vietnam looms, though also true to form, it (mostly) doesn't loom too large for these largely privileged and sheltered people. 

The movie only slowly moves to a crescendo, getting better throughout. As the focus narrows to just three very diverse people, their characters, troubles and motivations sucked me in. None of these peoples have life circumstances remotely like my own, but I cared deeply for them. I watched how they began to care for each other, and I was rooting for them to be better than they were. I was wearing a mask in the theater, and so my tears and dripping nose were largely invisible. There will clearly be acting awards, for any of the three principals. We spent a moment afterwards imagining which scene would be played for each in nominations.

After the biggest crisis occurs near the end, there is a brief coda where you get a glimpse of the possible futures for these deeply human creatures I grew to care about so much. Imagining how that will go is part of what has kept me wrapped up in it. I would also like to see the whole movie again, maybe when it becomes available for streaming. The pacing at the beginning is slow, and I would like to hone in on how telling details are slowly revealed as the layers of the story are built.

Love to hear what others think!

Quick Trip to Bliss

Just some of the boats at the festival

I was sitting in my recliner, minding my own business, when I got an email from a photography group I subscribe to. They were offering a half day photo field trip entitled "Majestic Tall Ships". 

OK! Boats and photography? Sign me up!

The trip was the last Saturday in October, at the annual Chestertown Downrigging Festival on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I know about this festival, but I had never been. There are a couple of tall ships based in Chestertown, and for the festival more ships come to join them for an end of season party (it turns out they are most gregarious). I almost went to the festival last year - via my own true love, the Pride of Baltimore II - but the timing didn't work for me. 

A detail from the fancy replica Swedish ship, Kalmar Nichol

Chestertown is an old town on a long river that winds many miles through the flat Eastern Shore peninsula from the Chesapeake Bay just north of the Bay Bridge. I've sailed up the Chester River in my boat, anchored and spent the night, but not made it quite as far as Chestertown. I did drive to the town once, on a winter weekend. I wandered the cobblestone streets, admired the old buildings with rippled glass, and spent quite a bit of time in a used book store with an extensive maritime collection, and ate a crab cake with a beer. But that was years ago and I hadn't been back.

Once I signed up for the photo workshop, I contemplated logistics. Chestertown is about two hours away, if traffic on the Bay Bridge is reasonable. This is a very big "if". The workshop started early in the morning, and I would want to start early enough to enjoy a buffer to the start time. So I decided to check out the options to go the night before and stay in Chestertown.

I was sad to check out lodging options and discover that the few options not sold out were very expensive. Big city expensive. Except for one motel, absurdly cheap and by far the closest location to the waterfront. I'm a penny pincher but not a completely stupid, so I read reviews. Generally, they said "clean enough but really run down". I went with the cheapo option.  And, because I would be on my feet all day (I signed up for a boat ride in the afternoon after the workshop) I thought I would look at staying the two nights. I really wasn't sure what my stamina would be like. I might want a crab cake and a beer after my day on my feet, and driving home in the dark might not be great. El Cheapo was so cheap I could sign up for two nights for less than one in any other option.

The one on the left is my girl, the Pride
The one on the right is the Lynx

I headed out Friday night in the late afternoon, with camera equipment, some snack foods, and a sleeping bag liner and my own pillow. Oh, and a door stop in case I didn't like the lock on the door. I came into Chestertown just a few minutes after sundown, along the waterfront, and the silhouettes of masts and rigging teasing the delights in store for me the next day. The GPS took me to the motel, which was good because there was no sign visible from the road. I had to be buzzed into the office, where a perfectly pleasant young man checked me in and handed me my key. My room was just down from the office in a well-lit location, and I checked out the room. Remembering my "avoid bedbugs" advice I didn't bring in my stuff at first, but reviewed the situation. I pulled up the sheets and looked at the mattress - it looked new, as did the bed linens and pillows. The tiny bathroom had cheerful colorful tile the same vintage and pattern as mine at home and showed its age. But it and the towels were acceptably clean. There was a standard motel heating and cooling unit in the wall under the window, and I got it going. The door had a solid deadbolt that went into a metal frame on the door. I decided that compared to car camping in a state park, (I actually had one spotted as backup) this motel with new sheets was luxury, and it would be fine for the night.

I headed into town to check out the rendezvous for the morning, and to see what could be seen. Things were jumping! Traffic and pedestrians crowds everywhere. After getting orientated, I headed back to the motel. Despite its location across a parking lot from a large liquor store, it was quiet and I felt safe. It was late enough I went to bed with a book and then had a fine night's sleep. The one thing really wrong with the room was, though it had a microwave and little refrigerator, there was no way to make coffee. I had brought instant coffee with me, (part of my travel kit) but there was no cup to hold water in the microwave! I ended up driving a half mile to a McDonalds, maybe the first time in a decade I've been to one. But I do still like a sausage mcmuffin.

My girl
(There was actually very little wind, so the sails are for show)

I made the rendezvous with no problem. The early start meant good free parking. There were about a half dozen photographers there with the instructor, easily identified by their big cameras and backpacks full of lenses and other equipment. (I have a single all in camera because I decided a few years ago I was done with the schlep. It's still a very good camera, with many bells and whistles for adjustments that I am still learning how to use. But it's comparatively light and small.)

We had a fabulous, unseasonably warm, bright and cloudless day. There was a forest of masts from the tall ships. There were also many smaller classic craft, both sailboats and classic motor boats, some of which reminded me of the boats that were common on Bellport Bay in my youth. The big boats were available for deck tours, with crew providing answers to questions. Mid morning, the boats all went out for sails, and we got pictures of them underway from shore. In the afternoon, our workshop was done but most of us stayed and took afternoon sails. It was so fun to all head down the river and back up in company. Many of the smaller craft came with us. I was aboard a smaller schooner that is the official tall ship of the state of New Jersey, the AJ Meerwald. I was purely deck cargo, shifting out of the way of the crew working the ship, and gazing all around. And taking lots and lots of pictures!

The big one is the Kalmar Nichol.
She is a replica of a ship that came to Delaware Bay
in the early 1600s.

I figure I've actually spent cumulatively about six weeks aboard Pride of Baltimore II. I have a gazillion photos of her, all taken from aboard. I enjoy staring up the mast and with my camera capturing patterns and rhythm from the sails and rigging. But it was so fun to see the Pride from another ship, and to be able to get the whole ship in a single photo!

When we got back to the dock in the evening, I was done. It had been very hot, in the 80s, and I was fatigued in every muscle in my body. I strolled slowly into town, and fulfilled my quest for ice cream, which I ate while sauntering back to the car. I went back to El Cheapo Motel, and I took the world's quickest shower, checked out, and drove home in the dark. It was worth the extra night's charge just to have that shower. I was thrilled to get back home with the Cult de Sac party still underway, so I had a chance to chat with some neighbors and drink a beer before tumbling into bed. 

I did absolutely nothing the following day. I was wiped. But it was fabulous and worth it.

Why Don't Americans Have Electric Kettles?

My new drinks station

I've been trying to change some old habits that don't serve me well. In a coaching process I've been following,  they talk about using new habits with a "bigger better offer" to replace the old habits you want to quit. 

For years, I've known I have a late night eating habit. As I've been tuned into my body more I've found it's not always sweets I want, but real food. That is, real food with a comforting vibe. As I've made a point of buying only good bread and always having it sliced and on hand in the freezer, I've found myself having a thick slice or two of toast and butter and cheese or jam, right before bed. I doubt there is much health benefit in turning aside from chocolate and towards toast, but it's easier to convince myself I am truly hungry and I need something when the "something" is at least slightly closer to healthy than chocolate.

Also for years, I've tried to develop a before-bedtime tea habit. I like many herbal teas, and I like the warm beverage, and I like the idea of tea before bed. But I haven't been able to make it stick. I tried a ritual of using a teapot (I have two) and pouring out a cup or two, but that actually seemed like a lot of work compared to grabbing something right from the fridge. I know I am tuned to visual cues, and sometimes it is just a matter of even remembering tea as an option for me. So, I moved my teas into a clear box that lived on the kitchen counter. Sadly, that soon became part of the background and never drove a new ritual. When I have remembered the option of "tea instead", it hasn't felt appealing and I've turned away and reached for the easy sweet or starch.

Well, what else motivates me? Anyone who knows me knows I love a good new gadget! I happened on a sentence somewhere (no remembrance where) that said, "why don't Americans have electric kettles?".  I immediately answered that for myself: because I don't have space for another appliance. But I was taken with the thought of how much easier and quicker an electric kettle is than boiling water in a saucepan on the stove (and then slopping it when pouring from the pan into a mug or teapot) or in a pyrex jug in the microwave, needing to negotiate the hotpad to handle and pour. And so I took another look at my kitchen.

I strive to keep my counters relatively clear in my small kitchen. The only appliances that live on the countertops are daily use: microwave, toaster/convection oven, coffee maker, seltzer maker. I store other appliances (instant pot, food processor, rice cooker) in a low cabinet that is at capacity. I don't have a blender specifically because I don't know where I can store it. I have a bin for onions and other non-refrigerated vegetables on the countertop - I would put them out of sight in the cabinet if I could figure out a spot. But I had this box of teas sitting out on the counter from my failed attempt at visual cuing! If I could reconfigure the food cabinets to find space for the tea below, I could then put an electric kettle in that same spot, next to the coffee maker. 

So in order to cultivate my tea habit, I totally cleaned out my major food cabinet. I don't have a pantry closet in my kitchen- food lives in the fridge or in this cabinet, or with the onions in a bin, or on shelves in the basement. I consider the basement to be for "extra" stuff - I stocked up early in the pandemic, and have kept duplicate soups and beans and grains down there, but not things I'm going to grab every day. I took all the cans, bottles, jars, and boxes out of the cabinet and reviewed mostly expiration dates. I am fairly casual on the dates - things don't go bad overnight, and I figure if I'm cooking well, it'll kill most things. I do some weeding of expired foods all the time, but it had been a while since I looked at everything. By the time I had chucked things more than a year past the expiration date and rationalized with what was in the basement, I had room for a tidy box of teas in the cabinet. 

Part of my pantry cabinet, with tea bottom right

By then, I had already ordered an electric kettle and it was due to arrive the next day. I decided to further create a sense of indulgence around tea by acquiring a new cup to be especially for what I hoped would become a nightly habit. So I took a trip to where the rich people live and went to Crate and Barrel!

When I lived in Chicago in the 1980s, Crate and Barrel was a way of life. I probably went there a couple of times a month. I eat on a Crate and Barrel dining room table, drink from my Crate and Barrel glasses, and sleep on my Crate and Barrel bed, every single day. I remember when Ikea arrived in this country, I explained it to some people as a cheaper mass-market version of Crate and Barrel. (When I wanted to take my girl with me to Crate and Barrel when she was in high school, I described it as an upscale Ikea.)  I still love their housewares, even though their furniture has gone completely over the top and out of reach. So if I wanted a special mug, C&B was my destination.

I spent a long time admiring absolutely everything in the store. I had just read a novel about rich people from the upper east side of NY, and the vision of a C&B house decorated for Christmas entranced me. White, white, white, with accents of rich red and gold, and very rare dark green bits. Lights and candles everywhere! But I managed to restrain myself, (I do not need and cannot store a completely new holiday dish service!) and I got only a couple of new little ornaments, a cute Christmas mug, and two new mugs for tea (they were only $4 and $5 each!). Also a couple of Christmas presents for my kids who are prime housewares ages.

So far, I'm 3-for-3 nights with my cup of tea. So far so good, after my investment of a couple of hours of cabinet cleaning and a couple of hours round trip to C&B. I love my electric kettle, with 90 seconds to ready to pour! I love my new, clean-lined C&B mugs! My favorite tea is lemon-ginger, but I have a couple of others as well to rotate through, and I look forward to exploring more varieties. Am I cutting back my late night nosh? Well, I'm not really focused on "tea instead" so much as "tea first". If I still want something afterwards, I'll go get it. But so far, I haven't wanted anything else.

What are your favorite teas? Let me know in the comments!

Fifteen Years

Not a day goes by without missing her.