Shorter update this week. Prior to my last trip home, I’d developed a bit of a coping mechanism for dealing with Covid restrictions. I’d open my garage door, set out a folding lawn chair in my driveway, and work outdoors. Great way to get some Vitamin D and meet the neighbors.
This last week has been comparatively insular, since we’ve been blessed with a caustic blanket of smoke, courtesy of global warming and poor forest fire management. Thankfully we’re through the worst of it up here.
During the week I had the sister missionaries over – one of them needed a blessing of comfort and counsel, to help her deal with this latest set of conditions entirely inimical to conducting productive missionary business. Afterwards I treated them to a ride in Shadowfax, and we had a great time zooming around a local church parking lot. Pretty proud of myself for not hitting anything, given the density of obstructions and the lateness of the hour.
Friday it drizzled, and Saturday it poured, washing away the worst of the smog. That evening I had the sisters over for dinner and then went with them to a get-together in a park with several others, where we all played cards at a park bench under a roof. Last time I hung with this crowd I taught them Scum, and it’s a new favorite.
Sunday has been pretty quiet. Watched the 1998 animated Mulan film, and it is so good. Plenty of jokes I never got as a kid.
There’s a couple of presentations at work I’m enjoying preparing for, related to post-quantum cryptography. Very fascinating stuff. I’ll have to regale you all next time I’m in town.
To finish off this post, I’m rewatching bits of the edited Shawshank on Plex, and I got curious on a few parts the edited version skipped over. Turns out there’s this fantastic scene that the editors decided to leave out, and I have no idea why. I’ll quote it here.
121 EXT -- EXERCISE YARD -- SHAWSHANK -- DAY (1954) 121 Andy reads the letter to Red and the others: ANDY P.S. Tell Heywood I'm sorry I put a knife to his throat. No hard feelings. A long silence. Andy folds the letter, puts it away. Softly: RED He should'a died in here, goddamn it. 122 INT -- PRISON LIBRARY -- DAY (1954) 122 Andy is sorting books on the cart. He replaces a stack on the shelf -- and pauses, noticing a line of ants crawling up the wood. He glances up. The ants disappear over the top. He pulls a chair over and stands on it, peers cautiously over. ANDY Red! Red steps in with an armload of files. Andy gingerly reaches in, grabs a black feathered wing, and pulls out a dead crow. RED (softly) Is that Jake? 123 INT -- WOOD SHOP -- DAY (1954) 123 Red is making something at his bench, sanding and planing. RED (V.O.) It never would have occurred to us, if not for Andy. It was his idea. We all agreed it was the right thing to do... 124 EXT -- FIELDS -- DAY (1954) 124 Low hilly terrain all around. A HUNDRED CONS are at work in the fields. GUARDS patrol with carbines, keeping a sharp eye. We find Andy, Red, and the boys working with picks and shovels. They glance over to the pickup truck. Hadley's chewing the fat with Mert and Youngblood. A WHISTLE BLOWS. GUARD Water break! Five minutes! The work stops. Cons head for the pickup truck, where water is dispensed with dipper and pail. Red and the boys look to Andy. Andy nods. Now's the time. The group moves off through the confusion, using it as cover. They head up the slope of a nearby hill and quickly decide on a suitable spot. The guards haven't noticed. Jigger and Floyd start swinging picks into the soft earth, quickly ripping out a hole. Red reaches into his jacket and pulls out a beautiful wooden box, carefully stained and varnished. He shows it around to nods of approval. ANDY That's real pretty, Red. Nice work. HEYWOOD Shovel man in. Watch the dirt. 124 CONTINUED 124 Heywood jumps in and starts spading out the hole. 125 BY THE TRUCK 125 Youngblood glances up and sees the men on the slope. YOUNGBLOOD What the ****. HADLEY (follows his gaze) HEY.' YOU MEN UP THERE.' GET YOUR ***ES OFF THAT SLOPE! (works his rifle bolt) YOU HAPPY ***HOLES GONE DEAF? YOU GOT FIVE SECONDS 'FORE I SHOOT SOMEBODY! Suddenly, other cons start breaking away in groups, dozens of them heading toward the slope. The guards look around. HADLEY What am I, talkin' to myself? 126 ON THE SLOPE 126 Andy pulls a towel-wrapped bundle from his jacket and unfolds it. Jake. Andy lays him in the box, followed by Brook's letter. Red places the casket in the hole. A moment of silence. Andy gives Red with an encouraging nod. RED Lord. Brooks was a sinner. Jake was just a crow. Neither was much to look at. Both got institutionalized. See what you can do for 'em. Amen. Muttered "amens" all around. The boys shovel dirt onto the small grave and tamp it down.