Deep Thoughts by Mary

I’m glad we live in a neighborhood with underground utility lines. And I don’t know why that makes me happy, but it does.

I don’t understand and have never understood those fake backgrounds for professional or school portraits. You know, the ones with the bridge over the stream or the fall foliage. I mean, do they think someone is going to look at that and think, “Oh. My precious MacKenzie is standing there in a grassy meadow with the sun setting behind her back”? C’mon. They look so fake. Thank you very much, but I’ll choose a solid blue background every time.

OK. In 2009, who needs to have a real, live human being give them turn-by-turn directions? Have you heard of a thing called the Internet? I mean, we have all sorts of mapping websites and GPS systems. Just give me a street address and I’m good to go. Yes, I know these things are not always reliable, so if you find yourself lost on your way to my house, THEN you can call. But, seriously, make a good faith effort first.

I have been a bit reflective this week as I’ve remembered Patrick Swayze’s role as Orry Main in North and South. Of course, I loved Dirty Dancing, but this is the role I most fondly associate with Patrick Swayze. This mini-series was a fixture of my high school experience in the mid-80s. My dad won our very first VCR (the enormous dinosaur that it was) in a sales contest at work. The first thing I ever recorded was North and South. Then, I proceeded to watch it over and over and over. Orry, George, Madeline, Brett, Ashton, Virgilia, Billy … oh, how I loved the saga! (If you’ve known me forever, you know that I’ve always loved historical fiction set around the Civil War. Gone With the Wind is my all-time favorite movie.) Farewell, Patrick and Orry. You will be remembered and missed.