I haven't done a Honey of the Week in ages, but I found one this evening!
I watched the 1999 (I think) movie "The Straight Story" this evening. It's the story of Alvin Straight, and his trip to visit his ailing brother - 240 miles away, riding the distance on a lawn mower towing a home-made trailer.
The movie is almost two hours, and it's slow moving (just like Alvin, who is in his early 70s, has bad hips, walks with two canes, and can't see well enough to drive a car), but it's wonderful, worth every minute of the two hours. If you have a chance to rent it, I highly recommend it.
It's all true, the whole story. The only thing they changed was, for some unknown reason, the timing of the trip. Alvin actually set out in something like June, arriving in August, but in the movie he sets out in September, arriving late October. Folks from that area who saw the movie caught that discrepancy, because of the bicycle racers Alvin meets on the way - that race takes place in July.
Anyway, Alvin's first mower didn't get far, so he bought a newer (only 30 years old) John Deere to restart the trip. The John Deere salesman's part is only a few minutes long, but it was long enough for me to develop a crush on him. That part was played by Everett McGill:
I think part of the attraction might be that he reminds me a lot of my father's sister Irene's husband Chick (Charles). Uncle Chick was a strong, tall, silent, farmer and in my preteen years I had a terrible crush on him. He died when a bulldozer fell on him (really). I guess even the bulldozer had a literal crush on him.
.
1 comment:
I watched that movie years ago. I agree that it is worth every second.
Z
Post a Comment