RiverRun Film Festival

Winston-Salem and our local North Carolina School for the Arts host a growing-in-stature regional film festival called RiverRun.  This was the first year (of 5) where i've been able to attend any of the screenings, and i was impressed.

First, the festival marked the first time, in my 7+ years here in Winston-Salem, that i've stepped foot on the NCSA campus.  It's very nice, and quite the hidden gem in the community. 

Over the 3 days, ending yesterday, i caught a few full-length features and documentaries, two collections of short films, and a Saturday-morning block of animated cartoons for the whole family.  I wanted to see more, but got blasted with a bad headache on Saturday afternoon.  Plus, the weather has been gorgeous around here, so you don't really want to spend too much time in a theater.

If i knew how to make a bulleted list, i would do so right here, to list the movies i saw, not including the shorts.

1.  Ten Canoes - tall tales from Australian aboriginal tribe called the Yolngu

2.  The Rape of Europa - documentary about the Nazis', primarily Hitler and Goering, plunder of European art, and the effort, in part from the US military, to recapture and restore the treasures.  While ancillary to the main topic, i was also intrigued to go learn more about the Siege of Leningrad and the battles for Montecassino.  This won the audience prize for best documentary at the festival, though i voted for this next one...

3. In the Shadow of the Moon - documentary about America's race to the moon, featuring extensive interviews with the Apollo astronauts, and never-before-seen footage of the moon voyages.

4. Son of Man - a nearly faithful retelling of the Gospel story, though set in modern-day Africa.  This was my favorite "narrative" film.

5. The Trials of Darryl Hunt - documentary about a notorious Winston-Salem case that saw a young black man accused, convicted, and jailed for nearly 2 decades for a brutal rape/murder of a young white woman, a copy editor for the local newspaper, back in 1984.  This powerful film tracks the legal and community efforts to free Mr. Hunt, who was ultimately exonerated of the crime.  This should be required viewing locally.  It premieres on HBO this Thursday.

P.S.  On Friday night, Julie & i attended a "Creative Chaos" party for the festival, complete with funky neon-colored hats, glow stick necklaces, and Cirque de Soleil type entertainment.  We didn't know a soul there (well, except for that one guy out of nowhere that Julie gave a big hug to), and so wondered how much fun it would be.  But we soon fell into conversation with the Thompsons.  He is in publishing in NY, specializing in finance and business books, and shuttles back and forth to Winston.  She is the marketing director for the NCSA.  We ended up chatting for more than an hour, and had a great time.

My Mommy-less Weekend with a Virus-y Toddler

Last weekend, Julie flew to Kansas to attend her cousin's wedding.  So i got to be Mr. Mom for 3 days, starting that Friday morning.  Piece of cake.  No problem.  A rotavirus had other ideas.

There was absolutely no sign of David being sick that morning.  But soon after i got home from taking the older kids to school, David threw up.  I didn't think much of it.  I mean, that's what little children do.  Of course, i was thinking more of a little baby - they puke all the time - and should probably have been a bit more alarmed.  Instead, i just cleaned up the kitchen floor, changed his shirt (i started to type "onesie" but couldn't leave it that way), and went on with the day. 

Julie had left me a short page of instructions, and one tip said to make sure David gets at least 3 cups of milk daily.  OK, let's get that started, since he's thirsty.  One bottle of milk coming up.  And did it ever come up!  All over our big leather recliner, while David took his mid-day nap.  Down in the cracks and creases.  Nice.  It's on now.  Me against whatever bug has invaded my little guy's body.

I should mention, i suppose, if it's not too selfish, that i was suffering from a severe sinus headache myself.  A sick kid and a sick sole-parent is not a good combination.  It was a wonder to me, though, to note how the headache seemed to disappear whenever duty called.  (Speaking of which, David also kicked in with frequent bursts of diarreah.  We've got it coming out of both ends, and i'm not sure which treasure smelled the worst.)  And then the headache would suddenly reappear as soon as it was over and i could (theoretically) relax.

By the time Julie checked in from the Atlanta airport, David had thrown up 3 or 4 times, and had dripped diarreah across the kitchen floor.  When i gave the report, she didn't believe me, thought i was messing with her.  Combined with her missing two flights out of Atlanta, and the specter of flying into a big thunderstorm in Wichita, i thought maybe she'd see the signs and come home.  Selfishly, of course.

The kids soon came home from school (but not before David puked in the car seat while we were in the car pickup line), and Caroline proved to be a tremendous help.  She held David a good while, giving me a much-needed rest.  He slept a lot, and couldn't / wouldn't eat much, and so he grew lethargic.  We made sure he didn't get dehydrated, an effort confirmed by his frequent wet tears, with lots of gatorade.

On Saturday, there was fortunately no vomiting, but we did have a rise in fever.  So i gave David a dose of children's Motrin, and that helped.  His diet was still mostly gatorade, a cracker here and there.  Mostly, Caroline & i felt like we were just hanging on, trying to make it through the 2nd of 3 days.  But things were looking up, especially once my headache broke Saturday night.

But Sunday we were back to the puking.  David would alternate between lethargy and bursts of energy and sunshine.  Meanwhile, we all waited for mom to fly home.  She said she would try to catch an earlier flight, but didn't.  And then they were long-delayed in Atlanta again, waiting for storms to clear here in the Triad (we actually all gathered in the basement in the late afternoon, after a nearby tornado warning).  And then Leah's luggage didn't arrive, and they had to wait for the next flight for it.  And then they had to stop for gas, and got lost in Greensboro.  By the time they got here, everyone was already in bed, and David was little better than he had been all weekend.

The final tally for our 3-day ordeal was somewhere around 30 diapers, one full packet of wipes, 3 crib bedspreads, 5 kid t-shirts, a dozen or so kitchen towels, a tube of diaper rash ointment, and a full roll of paper towels.

My dad asked me later what i'd learned.  I told him i didn't have the mental energy during it all to come up with any grand themes.  It wasn't a pure object lesson in being the stay-at-home-parent, because the kids aren't normally taken with a rotavirus.  But i did think about the plight of the single-parent, because there were plenty of moments where i just wanted somebody, anybody to come help me.

P.S.  As i touched on, Caroline was a great help.  I was enormously impressed with her.

More on Mike Huckabee

I'm mystified why Mike Huckabee isn't getting more press in his quest for the 2008 presidential nomination.  For anyone interested in learning more, he's set up a series of videos on Youtube outlining his views.  Pretty much standard fare for a conservative Republican, but if you think like me, you should find plenty to like.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=explorehuckabee

I also liked his series of 4 videos about his decade as governor of Arkansas.  This first one, linked below, covers the interesting story of his on-again, off-again inauguration day.  You can find the other links from this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FazJu0vYs6g

The Bike Trail to Damascus

Due to two trips that Caroline had bracketing the Spring Break weekends (one to Sea Camp for school, and another to visit Harding University), we couldn't get away to the beach or anywhere like that this year.  So, instead, we took a day trip up to Damascus, Virginia, near where that state borders both Tennessee & North Carolina, for a family adventure on the Virginia Creeper Trail.

The VCT is a bike trail, built on a former railbed for a train called the Virginia Creeper.  If you do the route we did, the trail is 17 miles long, mostly downhill.  We used the outfitter in the link above, and they hooked us up with 3 adult bikes, one of which pulled a baby buggy for David, and another which had a tag-a-long attached for Jackson.  Emily brought her own bike.  They haul you up the mountain in an aging van, along quite a winding road for more than a half-hour.

The key word in that description above is "mostly".  While the first few miles of the trail have a nice downhill grade - almost too steep, imo - the last 3 miles are flat.  So, for the first half of the trek, i'd say Emily had the most fun, and David the least.  David didn't know what to think about riding in that buggy with the wind whipping in his face.  Plus, he needed his nap.  He did settle in by the end, though.

But by the 2nd half of the trail, i'd say Jackson had the most fun, and Emily the least.  Jackson said it was the most fun thing he's ever done, "more fun than the Gamecube".  Which is saying quite a lot, if you know his gaming habits of late.  For Emily, i kept warning her to take it easy and not pedal unless she had to, but she was enjoying it too much and got worn out. 

But i didn't know this part about Emily until later.  Caroline (pulling David) and i (pulling Jackson) pulled out ahead of Julie and Emily with about 5 miles to go.  We just figured that they were close behind, because no one had really gotten far away from the pack the whole time.  Jackson & i stopped a couple of times, as much to rest as to wait up for the stragglers.  Since we were by then close to the finish, we went on to the outfitters and turned in our bikes, and waited for Julie & Emily.  When they didn't show up for a few minutes, i decided to load into the Suburban, and drive back along the trail to look for them.  Sure enough, we found them walking their bikes, Emily in miserable tears and clutching her side.  I carried her & her bike to the car, while Julie finished the trail.  I think, though, once the agony wore off, that Emily actually had net-good memories of the adventure.

I'd recommend this day-trip to folks in the area.  It's a beautiful, and mostly relaxing, ride along a mountain stream.  It can get a bit crowded, and you have to watch out for careening teenagers.  And you may want to be cautious if you have a 9-year-old princess like we do.  Based on this experience, i'd say 10 for girls, and age 9 for boys, before letting them go on their own. 

The tag-a-long was great for Jackson.  Once he got the hang of it, he had a blast.  I think it really built his confidence for balancing on a bike.  He pedaled a lot, even though he didn't have to at all.  It's more work for dad, though, as it was tough to balance (maybe we didn't have the thing tightly secured).  And you can't go slow with it, like you can a regular one-person bike.  So we either had to careen downward ourselves, pedal hard on the flatlands, or stop altogether.  It wore me out.

P.S.  Another funny line from Jackson... When Julie pushed out ahead of the crew one time, Jackson marveled, "how does she go so fast?  She's just a mom!"