Slippen' and a Slidin'

OMG! I thought last week's late winter visit was a bitch. But this one blew in off the lake (Wind gusts over 35mph). It brought rain, freezing rain and drizzle and topped it off with wet snow. I guess all it needed was a giant cherry.

My friend and I braved the wet rain to attend the monthly free film for Milwaukee Film members at the Oriental Theater. She braved it, and she was driving. Arriving at the theater, the sidewalks were a mire of slippery slush. After the film, we were greeted by a couple inches of accumulated wet snow.

What complicates this lake-effect weather is the hard surfaces are not cold enough to support snow. Therefore layer on the direct surface of the roads and sidewalks is slush, and the accumulation on the top is wet snow. The result is a slippery surface akin to walking on tiny ball bearings.

Another good week painting.

Reaching Out

16 x 20 Pastel

Songbird

16 x 20 Pastel

My Classic Movie Of This Week: Ben Hur

My memory of this film is mostly about the amazing chariot race scenes.

This film opens with a reenactment of the three kings arriving n Bethlehem to see the child Jesus. The character of Jesus will be seen numerous times, but we never see his face and rarely does he speak. Jesus's rise to prominence and his eventual crucifixion are depicted as it eventually leads to the conclusion of the deeply powerful journey we experience with Judah Ben Hur (Charlton Heston).

In the beginning, he is a powerful rich prince of Judea. Judea has been conquered, as much of the world had, by the Romans.

He greets his boyhood friend Messala (Steven Boyd), who has returned as the commander of the occupying military. His failure to turn traitor and aid Messala in rooting out rebels in Judea finds our hero as a rowing slave on a Roman battleship and his mother and sister in prison.

Years later, Judah returns to Jeudea with anger and vengeance on his mind. While is somewhat successful in his defeat of Messala, his vengeance is not complete until he reunites with his mother and sister.

The conclusion of the journey is when his hardened heart is replaced with hope and forgiveness due to the influence of the teachings of Jesus.

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