2007-11-25 - 3:40 p.m.

I had a lovely surprising evening out in Winchester with George yesterday.

Winchester VA is a quaint old town that we enjoy strolling through. I enjoy a few of the lovely shops, such as the one featuring hand made gifts. There are a few nice restaurants as well. Yesterday I visited the library which was worth a trip for its lovely architecture. I was also happy to find a few jobs in the Classified sections of local papers which I will send my resume to.

The surprise was that we decided to go catch a movie. We intended on seeing American Gangster which we heard good things about. In a diversion from our plan, we stopped by at the home of one of George's co-workers who was happy to give us a tour of his old restored home and then joined us out for a while for a bite to eat. He was a nice fellow, himself a Dad of four kids. He reminded me of one of my brothers in temperament, and when George later asked what I thought of him I replied "he was exactly the personality I expect in your line of work: Exacting, careful, and meticulous balanced with a very laid back demeanor easy to get along with. " He was somewhat quirky;had been sorting a item of collection when we arrived. His adult son described him as "Spring Cleaning in the winter" when we ran into him outside having a smoke and we had asked if his Dad was home and available. We had just stopped by on a whim since we were walking in the neighborhood.

When giving the home tour, George's co-worker was somewhat apologetic at the state of his home as we arrived unexpectedly, and I joked "Your place at its worst is likely neater and more organized than mine at its best!"

It was nice to enjoy his company. I felt a bit like we pulled him out of his cave for the afternoon into the bright day.... and he enjoyed it too.

He seemed to me to be "nesting" in a sense, getting ready for a winter of hibernation with an organizing ritual. I think some people do that.

(Although that assessment clearly comes from observation of others and not personal experience... I guess I am more akin to a bird that would just fly south when winter comes....)

Back to the surprise and most delightful moment of the day:

After we arrived at the movie theater, I think in a place called the Apple Blossom Mall if I recall... we discovered that the intended movie was starting at 7:00 pm. We hoped for a 5:00 showing of SOMETHING that looked good.

There wasn't much in the little theater. There was a hand written sign for a movie called BELLA. We drove to another theater.... and for some reason I said more than a few times. "Let's go see Bella"

I heard nothing about the movie, and had no clue what it would be about. I just knew we should find out. My boyfriend who has that nice balance of practicality with the ability to just let go of reason sometimes and follow instinct, thankfully indulged my whim of an idea. I had said as we were at another theater in town checking out their selection. "Let's go back and go in and see what BElla is about... we can always leave if we don't want to see it."

When we inquired of the ticket boy, who could tell us nothing other than "It's an independent film and it won some award" that was enough for me to know I WANTED To see that film. I figured it was likely good.

Boy was that thought an understatement! To start off with, even the trailers for other independent films were captivating! A trailer for a story of a boy emigrating from Mexico to the U.S. to find his mother that if I am not mistaken is by the dirctor of El Norte was shown which I can't wait to see. After a few very inticing trailers for other independent films, Bella began.

Here's a link for those who don't have it in them to follow instinct and see a movie on a whim:

http://www.bellamoviesite.com/site/#/involved/

The awards this movie have received are well deserved.

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