Out of Comfort Zone

For some time, I had been lapsed into a mode of reading and viewing only mysteries, or rather, British or Scandinavian mysteries. Uncomplainingly, Paul would watch with me, but quickly drift into a dreamland, instead of experiencing the entire story unfold on the screen. 

During our latest trip in New York, I went through a rebirth process of sorts, and found myself turning into a reasonably flexible viewer. My platter became as wide as a feline’s, too.

To recall, I have not found it particularly painful to take myself out of my comfort zone. But two elements are critical: mental preparation and determination to have a good time. The following are some movies/TV programs we enjoyed during and after our trip:

DURING THE TRIP August Osage County (2013)

Car of the Future (2008)
Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Draft Day (2014)

Grand Hotel Budapest (2014)
Her (2013)
Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2014)
Luther (2010) 
Noah (2014)
Pitch Perfect (2012)
Reykjavik Rotterdam (2008)
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011)

Simple Plan, A (1998) Under the Skin (2013)

We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004)  AFTER THE TRIP Captain Phillips (2013) Chef (2014)

Interstellar (2014)
The Lunchbox (2013)
Looper (2012) 
A Most Wanted Man (2014)  
My Brother is an Only Child (2007)

Ray (2004)
The Roosevelts: an Intimate History(2014)

Theory of Everything (2014)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012) 
 

A Mother Teresa Break: Rain Held for Jack O'Lantern Blaze

Paul and I went to 2014 Jack O'Lantern Blaze. The blaze site was left behind Shop Rite of Croton-on-Hudson. One could either park on the shopping center site or go through the arch entrance. The lot was full.

Never in our entire life did we see so many pumpkins, and so many creative ways to present pumpkins. Five thousand pumpkins were employed to be gravesides, building or wall decorations, flora and fauna, animals, etc. we especially liked the use of accompanying lighting, sound and other special effects, plus a whole spectrum of Jurassic park families, and Chinese dragon.

Little did we realize that we stayed there for more than two long hours until Paul's camera chip was almost full and our feet went frozen. But there were still more things to see.

All in all, we loved our experience, it was very rich visually and culturally. We now knew a lot about Croton's local history and colorful local characters. The event was well manned with tight security and friendly staff, fit for all ages, particularly in earlier time slots.

We had been worried about the weather ever since we booked the only available tickets for the night of 11/6/2014 alerted by our niece Wendy. But we were blessed with a Mother Teresa break: it rained all day Thursday 11/6 until 7 pm. The full moon even popped out to join us.