Did you ever have something in your hand that just screamed Memory? Sometimes called deja vu, the feeling of having been doing this before. I like to think it is usually a good thing, but there are many who suffer after being in stressful situations. Oh, that is the Dark Side, and what I was feeling meant light and carefree, and whipped up a happy time of my youth.
A roundabout story so here goes…..
The other day, while walking through TARGET, I came upon a display of Disney movies on DVD. FOLLOW ME BOYS starring Fred MacMurray and a very youthful Kurt Russell. I picked it up and read the cover. Says it came out in 1966. Taken back to the summer day at the Fenray Theatre when I first saw the show.
I would have been age 10. I think I was with my cousin Marie, but maybe my friend Irene. We might have walked downtown, or one of our moms might have dropped us off. It was hot outside, and nice and cool in the air-conditioning. The movie house was the first place I ever remember air conditioning. When our church built a new building, and it had cool air, I thought we really were moving closer to heaven.
Oh, dear, what am I talking about that for?
Today, it is freezing outside, with 2 inches of new snow on the ground. See what memory does?
I fell in love that day. Not only with Kurt Russell, who is still quite a fine specimen of a male of our species, but with how much one person could make such a difference to so many others they come in contact with.
I cannot recall if it is based on an actual life, but the movie is about the fellow who founded the Boy Scouts. One lonesome guy marries a lonely lady in a small town. They learn they cannot procreate babies of their own, but that doesn’t stop them from helping all the little folks around them.
At the end, all these Boy Scouts are marching along like soldiers in recognition for the years of love and labor by the old couple.
All this jostled about in my head in a very few minutes. And I wanted to own that DVD. Alas, I have put myself on a tied shut, knotted down, zipped closed wallet when it comes to impulse purchases. I would have to save from the allowance for two weeks to get this little gem.
Save up, I did. I did not stop for a sandwich on the way home from church. I skipped Italian Creme cake at the coffee shop. Not once in two weeks did I walk into the Thrift Store. There are boxes of yarn behind the couch for future crochet projects. Husband says “it is not a bargain if you don’t need it”.
There is plenty and more in the budget for the necessities, but c’mon—to own a movie is to live quite a life of consumerism. Why not just rent, eh?
But Friday, I had enough. I looked into my moneybag, and there it is. This morning, I went to TARGET and almost skipped down the aisle. What’s this? The DISNEY movie display is moved. I go around the corner…..ah, there they are. And a gaping hole with a little yellow tag under it saying FOLLOW ME BOYS. The shelf was empty. More disappointment than a former 10 year old girl should have to bear.
I found a clerk. A very busy clerk. Such a young clerk.
He did get over to me after helping two other customers. I looked up at him and asked if he had gone to school with my son Lucas. Umm, yeah, except he was a year ahead of me.
So what do you need, ma’am?
That DVD, pointing to the little yellow sign, are there any back in the storeroom? He whips out a little electronic scanner/counter and reads the bar code on the tag. No, but there will be a truck coming on Monday evening.
What can I say about feeling letdown?
So, this afternoon, I worked 3 pages of Algebra problems and put my Paper Proposal up on the HCC WebCT. Then this evening, I did as planned. I wanted to watch a movie. I got all comfy on the corner of the couch with the crochet, picked up the remote and began skimming channels. If nothing caught my interest, I would put in a videotape from the cabinet.
Lo and behold, I came upon a movie I would never have watched in other circumstances. SNOW DOGS starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., and James Coburn (whose hands are showing signs of arthritis), and Lt. U’Hura—well, at least the actress who played her—Nichelle Nichols. That was a very good movie, and I put 3 rows onto the baby blanket..
Then I came over to the computer and found FOLLOW ME BOYS on Half.com for a much less price, so that even with shipping, my wallet won’t be hurting too much. I would like to do my shopping here in town, but there is only so much driving across town in winter weather, and sharing a car, I want to worry about.
And I figure that I have waited all this time, I can wait a couple more weeks.
~~love and Huggs, Diane