Celebrate, Food, Movies

What a Difference 300 Miles Makes

66 Comments

On Saturday, we were supposed to get together with Shannon and Mike to celebrate birthdays—mine and Clif’s—at Stonewall Kitchen in York, Maine. But you know what they say about the best-laid plans. A nor’easter—in September!—roared up the Eastern Seaboard. It slammed the coast, as nor’easters always do, and Shannon and Mike, who live in the Boston area 300 miles to the south, quite sensibly canceled. A good thing, too. Winds reached 60 miles per hour; poles and wires were knocked down, along with an occasional tree. And, unsurprisingly, there was flooding.

But in central Maine, where we live, we barely got a sprinkle. (In fact, we would have liked more rain.) We decided that even though we couldn’t celebrate with Mike and Shannon, which was disappointing, we could do a little something on our own on Saturday.

So off we went to Wei-Li Restaurant in Auburn, about a half hour from where we live, and well out of the Nor’easter’s path. Wei-Li is one of the best—if not the best— Chinese restaurants in the area, and it is our number one choice for special occasions. Somehow, the food tasted better than usual, and while we were sorry not to get together with Mike and Shannon, we certainly enjoyed our meal.

Sunday was Clif’s actual birthday, his 75th, and naturally, we had to do a little something on that day, too. To start with, I cooked Clif a Sunday-morning brunch,

In the afternoon, we went to the cinema to see a re-release of the 2019 Avengers: Endgame. (It is the sequel to Avengers: Infinity War.)

Endgame, featuring the superhero team the Avengers, is surprisingly deep for a Marvel Comics movie and as relevant as ever. In brief: The powerful Thanos (Josh Brolin), an Eternal, decides the universe is out of balance, and to fix this, with the help of the Infinity Stones, he wipes out half the population of every habitable planet, including, of course, Earth, the focus of the movie.

In Infinity War, Thanos achieved his goal, and in Endgame, there is worldwide mourning on Earth as family members grieve the disappearance of loved ones who instantly vanished. Endgame explores the grief in a moving, unrushed way, and the movie is long on feelings and short on battle scenes, which is just fine with me.

As I watched Endgame, it occurred to me that this movie is a rebuke to people who long for an apocalypse, a good cleansing of humanity. In real life, there are more of these people than you might think, both on the far right and the far left. Some of them are very rich indeed and in positions of great power. I suppose when such people yearn for this great cleansing of humanity, they imagine their families and loved ones will be spared. It won’t be their mothers, daughters, sons, and fathers who will be crushed and hurt. Oh, no. They will be safe in underground bunkers or on faraway islands or in space. Because they are the deserving chosen ones, they will be spared.

Endgame makes it perfectly clear what havoc this kind of thinking—hubris really— wreaks. It is up to the Avengers, among them Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk, to try to reverse Thanos’s damage.

Alas, in real life, we are short of Avengers, and the people opposing the proponents of various apocalypses seem outmatched and outspent. We can only hope that those who love this planet and want a more humane outcome will prevail.

After such a deep, dark movie, you might think our spirits would have been too low for more celebration. But you would be wrong.

Not ready to call it a day, we went to Margaritas in Augusta for drinks and snacks and had a good time discussing the movie.

Here is the birthday boy. I know I might be biased, but I think Clif still looks pretty darn cute at 75.

Happy birthday, Clif!

Addendum: We plan to get together with Shannon and Mike on Saturday, October 3. Fingers crossed there are no bad storms to skunk our plans.

 

66 thoughts on “What a Difference 300 Miles Makes”

  1. Yep, he’s a great model of 75 years old! Cool that you celebrated anyway. So will probably have a make up with Shannon and Mike, so lots of celebrating! Turning 75 calls for it, I’m thinking.😊

  3. Happy Birthday Cliff! And well done to both of you for celebrating with a plan’B’.

  6. Any day that ends in margaritas is a good one in my book. Especially with a cute drinking partner.
    😉
    Going to take your Chinese restaurant recommendation next time we’re in Auburn.
    👍

  13. Happy 75th Birthday to Clif! It’s wonderful how you both turned a storm cancellation into a full weekend of fun, from Chinese food at Wei-Li Restaurant to drinks at Margaritas in Augusta. As Rivergirl mentioned in the comments, any day that ends with margaritas and good company is a winner in my book. Fingers crossed for clear skies on October 3rd!

  14. Happy belated birthday to Clif! It’s nice you two could celebrate, even if your kids weren’t able to join you. That nor’easter made news here too, it sounded quite frightening.

    I have not watched any of the Avengers films but can relate to your heartfelt wish: “We can only hope that those who love this planet and want a more humane outcome will prevail.”

    1. Thanks, Tanja. It was quite the storm. We hope to meet this coming Saturday. As for the movie…sometimes movies that are deemed escapist can explore issues that more serious movies don’t tackle.

  15. A very belated but warmly meant 75th! Hopefully the ‘best is yet to be’ . . . being way ahead on the mathematical side . . . I know 🙂 !

  19. Hopefully the next storm holds off till Sunday! Here in Providence the storm was intense but did not do much harm other than some street flooding, downed limbs, and a temporary loss of the internet. It did, we hope, break the drought.

  22. I love how you guys celebrate birthdays over more than one meal, one day. It all sounds perfect, even with the storm raging just over there on the coast. It’s too bad you couldn’t all be together, but there’s no rule you can’t do a birthday bash next weekend! And no, Cliff doesn’t look a day over 50 – I agree!

  23. The celebrations go on regardless! Happy birthday Clif (yes! He looks fabulous), Happy birthday Laurie! On on with the celebrations, into October!

  25. Seems like Clif had a great day, despite the best efforts of the weather to rain on his parade. And I thoroughly approve of your making him a special birthday brunch. Perhaps you could have a quick word with Mrs P…😊

      1. We share the cooking about 50/50, but both of us have lost the passion for it over the last year or two.

        We never cook for breakfast, and just make do with cereals. However, on a special day I wouldn’t object to being treated to a brunch!

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  27. An ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure, even when the saying’s applied to weather. It was wise for Shannon and Mike to decide to forgo the trip, and you clearly managed a fine celebration despite that. Of course, now you have to celebrate again when they can join you, so it’s a sort of strange win/win. And belated good wishes to Clif!

    Your movie isn’t at all something I’d enjoy, but I did come across something I thought I’d mention to you. I’ve been introduced to an all-female Japanese rock/metal band that has provided music for anime films. I’d never watched one bit of anime, but I was intrigued. An important note: “Band Maid” got their name and their costumes because one of the members worked in one of Tokyo’s so-called Maid Cafes. Who knew?

    1. Very wise for them to stay home as the weather was terrible and there was some flooding in their area. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that we have watched quite a few anomie films and shows. We have very eclectic tastes. Listened to one Band Maid’s songs. Liked the energy but probably won’t add them to my playlist. But thanks for bringing them to my attention.

      1. They’re not on my playlists either, but I’m fascinated by the emergence of female rock/metal in places as far flung as Mexico, Thailand, and Japan. At least their music is as far from AI as you can get!

  29. This was an interesting and well-written post, Laurie. I have similar thoughts as we see what is happening, and have to wonder how all those folks making plans to get rid of everyone they deem not acceptable plan to eat, or have access to any kind of services after they destroy the ones who perform those tasks. Nonetheless, I continue to carry on for now. Clif looks very debonair indeed. Your celebrations sound wonderful!

    1. Yes, indeed! And do they realize how much horror and pain there would be if we had a “good cleansing”? Oddly enough, this Marvel movie, Endgame, shows what a horrible tragedy it would be if half the populations suddenly vanished. Yes, we must all continue to carry on. In our own small ways, We have to work toward a better future for everyone and regulate those at the top who don’t care at all about the people the bottom.

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