The Boring Things

Anyone who believes in global warming should really go on one of our family vacations because we tend to pick the record-breaking cold weeks--like last week. And yet we still managed to have a good time during our beach/hiking/pool/outdoor activity oriented vacation, even though we kept hearing things like "Nice day--for October," or "Welcome, fall."

But what are you going to do when it's 62 degrees on July 2, gray, and drizzly--and you're on vacation? You go see a movie. And so instead of slathering on sun block and heading outdoors, Henry, Jonathan, and I (Katie had not joined us yet) headed off to see Pixar's Up!, which I had already seen; Henry and Jonathan were seeing it for the first time.

I'm always hesitant to say too much about a movie here because I don't want to spoil the story for someone who hasn't seen it yet. It is one of the most charming films I've ever seen, and I cried both times I watched it. The movie tells the story of the adventures of Carl Frederickson, the most unlikely hero of a children's movie you could ever imagine. While we get a brief recap of Carl's life, Carl is a senior citizen at the beginning of the movie. He misses his wife Ellie, the love of his life and best friend, who has recently died. And to make matters worse, he is about to lose the house he has shared with Ellie during their entire marriage, and he's being forced into living at the Shady Oaks Retirement Home.

Carl feels like he and Ellie have missed out. They were unable to have children, and their dream of visiting Paradise Falls in South America never worked out. But in a desperate escape, Carl, a balloon salesman at the zoo, attaches balloons to his house and floats off for the adventure of his life.

At the risk of spoiling the movie for those who haven't seen it yet, I'll stop there. But the thing I love the most about this movie is Carl's interactions with a young boy named Russell, who accidentally ends up as Carl's companion on the adventure. We learn Russell has a deep yearning for his dad, who really isn't around much. In a poignant moment, Russell tells Carl about an experience he shared with his dad when they went out for ice cream. The two of them sat on the curb eating ice cream and counting cars--red ones and blue ones. It was a game to see who could count the most. Young Russell reflects on this time and tells Carl that while this may not sound very exciting, "it's the boring things I think I remember the most."

I love that thought--coming especially from the mouth of a child. And as the movie continues, Carl learns that this is a truth that Ellie had come to realize as well. She understood that adventure is in the things that we experience every day. In the end, it's the small things that matter to us. And I think of my own "boring things." Playing Old Maid with my own family when we were on vacation during a cold, rainy stretch and laughing hysterically at my little sister's antics. Walking into my grandma's house on a cold winter day after school to find warm, buttery cinnamon toast waiting. Competing with my siblings to get the ice cream off the ice cream maker blades after my dad finished making ice cream. Sitting on the steps with my cousins to eat a meal at my grandma's house because there wasn't room for us all at the table and sharing the sofa bed with my sister and at least one other cousin when we went to bed (things were always a little cramped at Grandma's house).

It was the perfect movie for a family that was a little disappointed in the weather to see--to be reminded that the real adventures don't just happen on the beach or in the woods or at the swimming pool; they can happen wherever we are if we're with the people we love.