Horses and Birds

I've decided that watching horses and birds in action is a wonderful thing to do. Two of my favorite migratory bird shows include Fly Away Home and Winged Migration. Living in Michigan also allows me glimpses of large eagles soaring in the sky or geese lazing on a frozen river. Just the other day, at a stoplight, I caught sight of a two eagles circling high above me. Watching them for a few seconds gave me an immense sense of peace. I guess this is what Wendell Berry was talking about in his poem "The Peace of Wild Things."

Horses, ah horses. I regret that I never learned to ride one, although I did go on two long horserides in the Rockies when I was in Canada several years ago. We traversed a river and went up mountain paths. More recently, I finally got round to watching that wonderful gem of a movie, Seabiscuit. Last year was my LOTR craze so the the horse movie kind of got eclipsed by Frodo and gang. Well, I am pleased to say Seabiscuit moved me. A horse that was too small, a jocket was too tall. The movie followed the book closely, and the book detailed the true story wonderfully. So all the great moments in the movie actually happened. It's beautifully-filmed, the acting was splendid, and my heart really went to Seabiscuit.

Inspirational movies can get cheesy, but this one was uplifting, aided by a great film score. It's no wonder it was nominated for Best Picture. If I'd watched this earlier, I think I wouldn't have minded if Return Of The King had lost to Seabiscuit! Yeah, I liked it that much!

Posted by Monoceros at April 28, 2004 11:55 AM