March 1, 2017 DECEMBER 1963 OH, WHAT A NIGHT

Ran 40 miles over February vacation. CRAZY--I know-- it was sort of a relief to go back to work-- just to give my legs a rest. I'm not used to running EVERY day--so they were screaming for a break. Back to the old routine though--the whole rigamarole--it is what it is--bills to pay yada yada yada.  So today I didn't get out for a run until about 5:30--I not only had to WORRY about stranger danger but something even scarier--COYOTES. They are getting really bold these days-- actually wandering down the middle of the road like a cowboy in an old western. Some of them are REALLY big too--the size of a horse--OR-- maybe that's just my vision going. I really can't see a damn thing anymore--especially--at dusk WHEN it's really foggy out. I can't tell the difference between a telephone pole and a person either.  I think I just ran by a good friend and DIDN'T recognize her. She must really think I have issues. How pathetic. This aging thing......I'm pretty sure I used to be all that--back in the day. Speaking of back in the day, I just finished up Wally Lamb's new book I'll Take You There where the main character, Felix Funicello, is taken back to his childhood by ghosts of the past at the Garde Theater in New London.

Not sure if you read Lamb's Wishin and a Hopin a few years ago, but if you did then you are in for a treat as Felix is now an adult of 60 who happens to be a film scholar. He lives in Norwich but comes to New London every week to use the Garde Theater for his Monday night movie club. One evening while he is setting up his film, Felix is visited by the ghost of Lois Weber, a motion picture director from the silent film era. Lois has old films of Felix's childhood  and offers to let Felix revisit his past because he is "redeemable".  Lois even allows Felix to actually  enter the films to relive his past on the big screen too. This reflection back to the past allows Felix to learn more about his two sisters, Simone and Frances, as well as understand his mother in new ways as a family secret is finally exposed. This is definitely a blast back to the past as Felix takes us back to Norwich, McKinley Avenue, the Midtown Theater, Mr. Bigs and the Miss Rheingold beauty contest sponsored by a Brooklyn-based beer company. Throughout his travels, Felix reevaluates feminine ideals of the past and examines how they collide with the realities that women face today and  in every generation. This is a light read for the Wally Lamb fan. I actually read it in a day or two. Although it's not the usual Lamb fare,  it was a fun read and it was interesting to read about Felix and his family again. It's about 250 pages or a 3 mile run that will have you reminiscing about the good ole days.