Mesmerizing

This evening I watched a little flick called, "The Station Agent."

Given its plot -- a drawf's best friend dies, so he moves to an abandoned railway station to live like a hermit -- it was, perhaps, not the movie I would have chosen for the first Christmas Eve on my own in many, many years. But I had a choice of that or a documentary about a Deaf family's debate over getting a Cochelear Implant for a young Deaf child. I liked the odds of being entertained by "The Station Agent" a little better.

It was a decent film and no doubt more amusing than a documentary about a family divided over a polarizing and culuturally potent social issue. It is full of people who don't speak to others very much -- those "silent people" out there in the world -- and one New York Cuban conversationalist. And did I mention it's about a dwarf? It depicts his experience as an outsider and social reject pretty well. Yikes!

So I got done with the film and when I turned off the DVD player, the TV swiched over to a show I had *joked* about watching on my Christmas Eve. It's Oregon Public Broadcasting's video of logs burning in a fireplace, overlayed by Christmas music. I laughed out loud when I saw it because I kinda thought maybe they didn't actually play this on TV anymore. But there it is!

Here's the interesting thing about OPB's version. If my memory serves me correctly, the fireplace depicted in this video is the one at Timberline Lodge. The gigantic, curlie-cued, sleigh runner-shaped andiorns are the same as those at the lodge.

I found myself staring at this station for a while. I couldn't tell you how long, really. A couple songs? I lost my thoughts in the roaring flames. Or rather, I remembered that a couple days hence, I will actually be staring into the stoney fireplace and feeling the roaring heat of a real fire on my legs.

I'm looking forward to my trip up to Lake Quinault next week. I so sincerely need a change of scenery. Your UCM needs to shake things up a bit.