Thank you Lord, for a warm bed to sleep on, thank you for the food we are about to eat, thank you for a roof over our heads on cold nights such as this, thank you for companionship in hard times like these, Amen. — The Book of Eli

It’s going to be bitterly cold across most of the country over the next few days.  We are fortunate to have a warm home and the means to keep it.  Life isn’t easy, but we’re not scraping.  Did we earn everything we have?  You betcha.  But we have to remember to be thankful for our lives, and to remember our duty to help those who have not been as fortunate.  Most of all, we have to be thankful that we are together.  It hasn’t always been that way, and I can never let myself forget how miserable I am when I’m not with my family*.

Yes, it could be a lot worse, and I am very thankful that things are as good as they are.

*Not that they don’t make me absolutely crazy.  But I’d rather be crazy than alone.

Crazy Cora:  You know, if we’re lost, you can tell me.
Matthew Quigley: We’re lost.
Crazy Cora:  I can take bad news. Just tell me straight.
Matthew Quigley:  I don’t know where the hell we are.
Crazy Cora:  No sense takin’ time to make it sound better than it is.
Matthew Quigley:  I reckon we’re goin’ in circles.
Crazy Cora:  Wire things up and I’ll see right through. So, just tell me honestly. Are we lost?
Matthew Quigley:  Nope. I know exactly where we are.
Crazy Cora:  That’s good, ’cause, frankly, I was gettin’ a little worried.

One of the roles you take on when you enter a relationship is to be the rock that the other can lean on when they need strength.  It’s a role that you will play often, and it’s a role that you will need your partner to play for you just as often.  When something really bad happens, you need to be strong so that they can fall apart if they want to, then you can take your turn in the fetal position.

Nick Charles:  Oh, it’s all right, Joe. It’s all right. It’s my dog. And, uh, my wife.
Nora Charles:  Well you might have mentioned me first on the billing.

— The Thin Man

I’m not really a dog person.  I had dogs growing up, but I was always closer to my cat.  Cats fit my personality better – Let me talk to you when we both want to be talked to, and otherwise, leave me alone.  The problem is this:  I seem to be every dog’s favorite human being.  Shadow decided that I was his human soon after he came to our home, and Moonshine has carried on since Shadow died.  Where I go, he goes.  What I do, he wants to help.  What I eat, he wants to share.

And darn it, the fool has grown on me.  It’s gotten to the point that I don’t mind so much when he lays across my legs while I’m reading, or the early morning lick across the forehead that tells me it’s time to get up and make breakfast.  I know that both Moonie and Blue will always stand guard while we sleep, and I’ve never seen a human companion be so gentle with the kids as I do the dogs.

I love Irish Woman with all my heart, and she is going to be my companion ’til death do us part.  But the company of the dogs is almost as good.

I may not be a dog person, but I’m learning.

Sometimes it would stop raining long enough for the stars to come out… and then it was nice. It was like just before the sun goes to bed down on the bayou. There was always a million sparkles on the water… like that mountain lake. It was so clear, Jenny, it looked like there were two skies one on top of the other. And then in the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn’t tell where heaven stopped and the earth began. It’s so beautiful.  — Forrest Gump

Even at the worst of times, I’ve been able to look up and see how beautiful the world can be.  When I was in Russia, it was the height of their economic and social problems, but I will always remember how beautiful the forest north of Saint Petersburg was after it snowed.  I have very few good memories of my professional and personal life in Arizona, but in the Chiricahua’s I found a peaceful place to sit and read and listen.  The globe is scattered with such places, and at one time or another, they were what gave me hope.

Sometimes, you have to stop and look around for you to find the beauty, because it’s usually drowned out by the grayness and difficulty of life.  The longer you wait, the harder it will be to find, and the worse the world will look to you.  Step back, seek out that small bit of wonder in a world of chaos and pain, and you will find your way.  Lose it, and you risk being overwhelmed.

Well, the new year has begun, and it’s time to start a new project around here.  I need some daily mental exercise.

I’ve picked out 365 quotes from movies that I’ve seen.  I’m going to put up one of them each day, then add in my own blurb about what that quote either means to me or makes me think. For those who’ve been here a while, it’ll be similar to my “30 Days of….” project in 2012.

I’ve tried to stay away from things that are just plain worn out by popular culture, which means that movies like CaddyShack and Animal House aren’t included.  I also didn’t bring in Monty Python movies, for the same reason.  I haven’t been entirely successful in that, but if I do use something that’s a cliché, I’ll try to have a new perspective on it in my comment.

So, I hope you enjoy the next year of movie quotes and my bloviations.  Of course, comments and opinions are always welcome on each post.