“A pair of shoes can change your life. Just ask Cinderella.”

Last nigh carolers came to the house. The lighted courtyard and electric chanukiah in the window were a clue I might be receptive and what a joy it was. About two dozen singers roaming through the neighborhood. What a wonderful sense of pace this is- Multnomah Village. And how perfectly well suited this area is for us. Abi is leaving the tree alone. A half cord of wood is being delivered tomorrow and I am well situated for a wonderful holiday season with jim by my side and the smells of winter holidays wafting through the house. I may even make my own eggnog from scratch. The David Baldacci book was ok eh… I am much more interested in jumping into Sellevision next.

Last night I watched the Searchers. I am on a John Ford kick and one can easily forget what an amazing and subtle actor John Wayne was. Especially in his older years he was the blustery rooster cogburn or a green beret but as Tom Doniphon in The Man who shot Liberty Valance or Uncle Ethan in The Searchers, he is masterfully tough and goes throu the most amazing evolution as he reaches deep within himself to do the right thing and barely wants credit for it. Fords eye was impeccable and although his early sentimentality gets powerful, his movies are far more appreciated by a mature mind that the younger crowd. It’s always interesting to revisit something one loved or hated in one’s youth to find it totally transformed. I recall not understanding Vertigo at all or wondering why Rear Window was considered so good until I saw them with adult eyes/mind and understood obsession, voyeurism and all its intricacies. Growing older has it’s merits. Especially when the right knee isn’t aching.