Today, I spent the afternoon reading on the patio. It was actually hotter outside than it was inside our home, but on a summer day without rain, I can’t bear being inside. So during the hottest part of the day, I stretched out on two patio chairs and alternately drowsed and read Bee Wilson’s excellent Consider the Fork, a brisk look at how cooking implements have changed through the ages and have thus changed the way we live.
The ice in my iced tea melted down to nothing. The humming birds went from the bee balm, now in bloom, to the feeders. In the woods, crows called, and branches snapped. A grasshopper landed on my foot.
While I was drowsing on the patio, my husband, Clif, and our daughter Dee were at the Maine International Film Festival (MIFF) in Waterville. They have full passes and will be seeing four movies today, which means they started at noon and will return some time around midnight. On such a movie marathon day, someone has to stay with the dog, and that someone is me. I like movies, but not four in a row. Clif and Dee are the true movie buffs. Compared with them, I am a piker who likes no more than two movies in a row, and truth be told, one at a time would be just fine.
The film festival runs until next Sunday, and I’ll get a partial pass, which will allow me to see ten films. During the week, there are “only” three movie slots per day, and this suits the dog’s schedule better than four movie slots. Because of MIFF, I probably won’t be blogging much next week.
Today, before it got really hot, I made a batch of gingersnaps for us to take to the festival next week. We always pack a cooler full of food and drinks to take to MIFF. Better for the budget, and, gingersnaps notwithstanding, better for the waistline. (We also bring fruit and healthy sandwiches.)
However many movies a person sees—10, 20, or, yes, even 30—the Maine International Film Festival is quite an event, one that really perks up Waterville during the summer. There are people on the street, and they talk and argue about the movies they’ve seen. Directors and actors come and give talks about their films.
Coinciding with the film festival, the Colby College Museum of Art will be having a grand opening of its new addition, the Alfond-Lunder Family Pavilion.
Readers, if you live within driving distance of Waterville, there are lots of reasons to go there this week.
Notes From the Hinterland 
Have a great time at MIFF this week!
Love Waterville and still hope to get to the Lebanese restaurant sometime! I attended the MIFF years ago–early 2000s when I was visiting my grandmother in Belgrade Lakes. I remember seeing a haunting documentary about the rise and fall of California’s Salton Sea.
Laura, although I didn’t see the film about the Salton Sea, I do remember seeing it offered. Waterville, my fair city, is a great place, and MIFF and RR Square are going strong. They bring a real vibrancy to the area. Hope sometime when little Theo is older that you can go to MIFF again.
Thanks, Kate! I was actually thinking about you when I wrote this post. I know what a movie buff you are, and it seemed to me that if you lived in the area, you might be joining Clif and Dee for 3 or 4 movies a day 😉
It would be so much fun to enjoy the 10 pack with you! 3 or 4 films a day would be too overwhelming for me, no matter how wonderful! Could never sit still that long! Saw ‘Stories We Tell’ this past weekend. Unforgettable, amazing film!
Kate, I’m good for two movies a day. Three is really stretching it. And four… So far, it’s been a great film festival, and there’s one movie we saw that’s opening in Philadelphia soon. It’s called “Fruitvale Station.” It’s been getting a lot of buzz, so you might already know about it. It’s my guess that this will be an Oscar contender and deservedly so. If you get chance, then do see it. I’ve heard that “Stories We Tell” is excellent. I’ll see it when it comes out on DVD.