In the olden days, this was the month to raise money back in the home district, take a junket, or just go to the beach. Some things do not change. I wish I was at the beach, though confess that the view of the pastures is pretty cool now that the hydrangea has been cut back to permit a direct line of sight.

It was the restored vista that brought back memories. There was a film years ago that mesmerized me as a boy. We were conditioned to expect the worst of a massive nuclear exchange- you know, “Duck and Cover!” and all that.

Google helped me out, since I get the nukes mixed up with the climate these days. Same story, different trigger words.

On the Beach was a film made 1959, when I was eight. I saw it on TV, so it must have been around the time of the Missile Crisis when it made it to the small screen. Mom and Dad must have been out having cocktails and smoking Chesterfields or I would not have been allowed to stay up. The film was produced and directed by Stanley Kramer and starred Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, and Anthony Perkins. It was a cool cast, and Dad still looked a little like Greg Peck. The story was based on Nevil Shute’s 1957 novel of the same name, depicting the aftermath of a nuclear war, just like they told us at school.

Unlike the novel, no one was assigned blame for starting the war; the film hints that the threat of annihilation may have arisen from an accident or misjudgment. Like that was something that was unlikely with humans in the loop.

Anyway, there has been some amazing stuff that happened in Beach Week. Check it out. Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here!

Copyright 2019 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com