SoCS: Drive In Movies

When David and I dated in the 70s, our friend Caroline took us to the drive in movies so we could be “alone” in the back seat. We weren’t really alone, because Caroline was in the front seat, but she watched the movie, and we might have watched a little of the movie. Neither one of us drove yet. David was 15, and I was 16 and hadn’t gotten the confidence to get my license yet.

At the Drive In, (why do I capitalize that?) you pulled up to a pole with the metal speaker attached, then you put the speaker in the window and rolled the window up (with a handle) to hold the speaker in place. I saw a lot of movies at the Drive In. It was cheaper than going to the regular indoor movie. Maybe it was hot and buggy in the summer, but I don’t remember that. Sometimes we’d sit on the hood of the car, and sometimes we play on the playground in front of the big screen after the little kids went to bed in their parents’ cars. But it seems like there weren’t a lot family movies at the Drive In by the time I was a teenager. Things could get pretty wild at the Drive In once I was in my twenties. There was a lot of running back and forth between cars.

By the time I was in my late teens, I worked for a movie theatre chain so got in free. By that time David had moved back to Connecticut. Things were very different, less innocent. Not going to go into detail about that. Where’s that thing I saw on FB….

… and those over 60 might just forget.

It would probably be best to stop there as far as my personal adventures at the Drive In Movies. Oooh, but once they had an all night marathon of all the old Planet of the Apes movies. That was cool. it was probably one of the last times I went to the Drive In. I’ve heard they have been revived during the pandemic. It’s a good idea to have options and be able to take kids who could play and fall asleep in the back seat and maybe mom and dad would make out in the front seat. I wonder if my parents did that. Probably not so much since I was a night owl.

I remember going to see The Bird Man of Alcatraz at a Drive In as a kid with my parents in the front seat. It was a memorable movie. That must’ve been at a drive in on a military base in the 60s. Come to think of it, my older sister met her husband at a drive in. He was in the Marine Corps and worked at night as a projectionist at the base drive in movies. But that’s another story.

The Bird Man of Alcatraz was based on the true story of Robert Stroud (played by Burt Lancaster), a prisoner who befriended and studied birds to the point that he became and expert. I hope you can hear all of the video. Some audio has been stopping in the middle.

~~~

Today’s prompt was: “drive.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

For move SoCS posts and rules, visit out wonderful host, Linda Hill at:

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS June 12, 2021 | (lindaghill.com)

Harriet

Today’s prompt is “flyer/ad.”  We are to look at the latest flyer or ad we got in the mail of which I get plenty, but we drove to the mountains yesterday and all the mail is at home. No mailbox here, so no junk mail! Yay! Another option Linda gave us was an on-line ad. Hmmm. That will work, because I want to write about a movie I watched after seeing the trailer on line, probably on YouTube.  The trailer for Harriet, intrigued me. It’s the story of Harriet Tubman and how she got to rescue so many slaves through the underground railroad.

The movie had me on the edge of my seat with the escape scenes. Would they make it? Or would they get caught and be beat to death?  It had me in tears, too. The kind of tears that are like happy tears, but also being MOVED profoundly and some sad tears.  I learned so much more about Harriet Tubman than I ever imagined beyond the little I got from history class.

She was a real life hero with a supernatural ability to see visions or warnings from God. That’s how the movie portrayed her gift of “spells” from brain damage when she had her skull “cracked” as a slave.  Her spirituality awed me. I want to watch the movie again and take notes.  Knowing more of her story, the trailer now gives me chills.  Her courage took her into the realms of what was once thought impossible. I think she had an army of angels watching her, guiding her.

Go see this powerful movie!

…

For more streams of consciousness, visit Linda G. Hill at

https://lindaghill.com/2019/11/22/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-23-19/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

Getting Ready

I was going to write: I am so ready for retirement. But I’m not entirely ready for that leap of faith. And I’m not really going to retire.

I’m getting ready to spend more time being a writer and an artist, and helping my husband with his work at the mission and farming. So many things I want to do. And I’d still like to work at my current job part time, if possible.

Hey, Anything is possible!

I like getting ready. I like the anticipation. Like when my high school girlfriends and I were getting ready for our reunion a few years ago.

And when I got ready for my soulmate to find me.

I didn’t know it was going to be my high school sweetheart. I did know I needed to make room for my partner, by forgiving my X,  and imagining the best possible partner for me, instead of being cynical. So I stopped trying to be cynical and pretending I didn’t want a partner. I watched hopeful, romantic movies like Under the Tuscan Sun.

“Unthinkably good things can happen, even late in the game.”  I love that line!

I imagined a partner who loves dogs working in the garage with all his guy stuff. That’s how I  got ready.

Now I’m getting ready to spend more time writing and doing art by doing more writing and art. Yes, I whine about there not being enough time, but I do it. I  think and act in the direction I want to move in. Even if I don”t get as much sleep as I’d like.

I’m not quite ready financially to make that leap of faith, but I know that getting ready helps make things happen.

I married my high school sweetheart didn’t I?

What are you getting ready for?

Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday post prompt for today was “ready.”

If you’d like to join in the fun, visit:

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS August 1/15

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

Opposites Attract, But Similarities Sustain

Opposites do attract. We’re often drawn to partners or friends who have qualities we lack. This can be a good thing, up to a point. If there are too may opposites, there’s going to be trouble.

When we were dating (for the second time) my husband confessed, “I’m allergic to fun.” I thought he was kidding. He works hard and is hard on himself. I can understand this, but my desire for myself is to have more fun. We had lots of fun when we dated, getting to know each other again; the butterflies and excitement of falling in love tends to make us giddy and overlook things.

Fortunately, we also asked a lot of questions to find out if there were any deal breakers. To find out if there was  enough common ground.

But back to the opposites. He says he is not artistic. And he’s not when it comes to free flowing things, improvisation, dance, playful art. I am more artistic. He is more precise. I tend to be scattered. He is more focused. (I’ve come to believe that’s mostly a guy thing.) He is great with numbers, me not so much.

I love to sing. My husband stopped singing in his late teens after being ridiculed. When we found each other again, he didn’t sing at all. But he’s been working on this for a couple years, and now sings in our church choir with me. He knows how I love to sing and wants to be with me enough to overcome his fear of singing. He’s also overcoming his fear of swimming in deep water due to a close call a long time ago.  I love to swim. He was a fire fighter and pilot, so he’s not at all afraid of heights like I am. I get motion sickness at the drop of a hat. But when he gets a chance to fly a plane again, I’ll be there with him, right after I take my Dramamine.

I used to be addicted to TV and movies. My husband doesn’t watch TV and rarely goes to movies. But he did like Interstellar which we saw together. It’s a good thing I took my daughter with me to see Wild. And there’s no way he’ll want to go see Into the Woods. But that’s okay.

Even though opposites attract, similarities are necessary for a happy, long lasting relationship.

My husband and I both love dogs. We  like to grow things in dirt and eat healthy. While we both partied plenty in our younger days, we’re now conservative in our lifestyles, though not our beliefs. We are responsible, frugal and conscientious. We believe in giving back to the community. We search for meaning in spirituality. We’re both Christians, but we’re open minded enough to respect the beliefs of others. We respect each others differences. We listen to each other. We both like garlic.

These are important similarities. Without them, it wouldn’t work.

And it’s working quite well.

 

This week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday Post was the word: “opposite.” If you’d like to join in the fun, visit:

http://lindaghill.com/2015/01/09/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-january-1015/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!