Wake

First came the smoke from the Great Dismal Swamp fire. If you asked Jack Lee (3) why it was on fire, he would respond, "Because it's dismal!"

There was an earthquake. That is all.

Irene (hurricane, for the less informed) came up the east coast on Friday and hung around through Saturday. We saw some of the strongest winds later in the day Saturday, and into Sunday morning. Power outages hit a state-wide record high, as Dominion reported 1.3 Million customers (about 2.5 million people). Where I was, we lost power around 1330 Saturday. I've heard others lost it later in the day, while some in the city never lost power. As the radio host Rick Rumble said, "This was a good dry run, now we know how to use our equipment should a bigger storm come."

We had two trees fall on our property, ironically only one was our tree. As I mentioned on Facebook, Heidi and Evan came to help me clean up part of the mess in anticipation for my dad's truck to be parked in the driveway. As it turns out, he can't get it all the way to the driveway. We had parked the 4-wheeler, along with other various furniture, in a small shed, which we thought was most likely to survive the storm. We now have a claims adjuster scheduled to review the damages done to the shed and its contents. The most frustrating part is that the tree down on the shed is blocking the access to the ravine where we will throw the other limbs and brush. So, until the adjuster comes, we have piles in the yard.

We were fortunate to not have any serious damage. We still have our house, with no leaks or broken windows, and an easy cleanup. News reports 40 dead from Irene, I /think/ 4 were in VA, maybe more? Most of the deaths were as a result of unsafe actions performed after the storm had passed.

I believe it will be a while before we have power restored at home. Current estimates by Dominion and Prince George Electric say 95% of customers will be restored by Friday Sept 2.

Big Fish

Big Fish (Albert Finney, Ewan McGregor, Billy Crudup, 2003) is an imaginative and quirky movie about the art of storytelling; and how “A son tries to learn more about his dying father by reliving stories and myths he told about his life.” (imdb.com) The main character (Ed Bloom) is portrayed in two aspects, one as the older father figure who is dying, the other as the young version of himself, living out the stories he has told his son for years. The relationship between the father and son (Will Bloom) is rough as time goes on, with Will eventually declaring his father to be conceited and constantly hold to the idea that his Ed is hiding the truth surrounding his birth. On a fateful night, the son and father separate and it is said they don’t speak for three years.

The art of the story is presented in this unique film with every memory the father retells. Most of these stories we would call ‘Tall Tales’ – to which Ed replies, “Well, it is hardly a short one...”

As the movie progresses, we see life from the eyes of young Ed Bloom. As a young boy he meets a witch who shows him how he would die, which gives him the courage to overcome obstacles one would otherwise never even attempt. He relies heavily on his faith in his destiny, judging everything around him as a truth to his future, and all worries he regards as fallacies. In his life, he meets and ensemble of strange and unique characters, each with an important role in his life story.

As Will continues to beg for truth from his dying father, who continues to hide it, he begins to investigate the stories personally. This leads him to a deeper understanding of his father and his own life. Ed claims (roughly), “We are both story tellers, we are alike in that way. I tell my stories out loud, and you write them down. But we both tell stories.”

As we near the end, Will realizes how important the relationship was between him and his father, and in the final act, we see him sacrificing his ideals and values for his father's final happiness and rest by telling the only story that had not been told: Ed's death.

I wish you could see the way McGregor displays this brilliance in his eyes of courage as he presses on. We see the way that imagination can make even dull situations a little brighter, and give hope where we see impossibility.

Defiance

I watched the movie Defiance (Daniel Craig, Liev Schriever, 2008)

IT takes place in Belorussia, during the Holocaust. The Bielski brothers, Jewish natives, form a fighting force over time due to the need to survive. Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig) states at one point, "We are hunted like animals, but we will not become animals. Our vengeance will be to live."

As they proceeded, they found and provided safety, shelter and food for many Jews. Many missions were performed to retrieve food and weapons from the German army. A camp was created and ultimately abandoned in a retreat to survive an invading attack. This is the part where I started thinking, "God, why does this part of history exist?" So many people were killed. The level of hatred was so unnatural.

This movie does what most every other WWII-related media does not: it resolves with a focus on the positive ending. The Jews survived. They helped save 1200 people. Two of the Bielskis moved to America and started a business. Both lived normal productive lives until they died naturally at an old age. Their efforts, their drive, was successful.

I pray that those personally affected by the Holocaust can find peace. Every moment lived pushing into the future is a healing step.

"Yeah we lost our way but found it.
Yeah we will live to see it out.
Oh hearts may break to make more room:
yeah, but love will find a way to bloom;
love will find a way to bloom;
love will find a way to bloom"

OMG This warranted a blog

Whoa there was an earthquake. In VA. The epicenter being somewhere like 40 miles north-west of Richmond. Everywhere on the east coast you could feel it. Well, as I call it, "selective sensation," since it was felt by everyone *cough*.

Building shook. People got scared. And nobody is dead. We think..

So what could have caused this phenomenon? Theories range from terrorists to global warming to an early 2012 Apocalypse . What ever happened to good old science saying there are no tectonic plates faults located on the east coast? Does this mean we'll start having volcanoes? Oh snap.

I didn't feel diddly. My house still stands. I still have internet and phone connections. And I also have freshly cut grass.