WOW! Do I ever  have exciting work-related news to tell, but I can’t tell just yet. Not until the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed. Not ’til the cows have come home and the barn door is closed   But it won’t be long. No, it won’t be long… Oh, but if it doesn’t transpire!

Let’s not think about that. It’s almost a sealed deal, and when it is I shall let you know…

In the meantime, I’ll tell you about my exciting adventures at work yesterday. My “Friday Film Festival” film discussion group started! Yes, it did, it really, really did. The film I kicked off with is a French Canadian film that translates as Strangers in Good Company. There’s no real “star” in the cast, or at least if there is I didn’t recognize her, but whoever these women were they were wonderful.

The basic plot is this, eight women (average age 71) are riding in a bus in the Canadian countryside. The bus breaks down and the women are stranded, miles away from anything resembling civilization. They find an abandoned house they use as a shelter, and make-shift a temporary home for themselves. In the course of the next few days they must find food in order to survive. It’s then they learn what strengths they each have, and how they complement each other.

While they’re marooned they share things about their lives they may never have otherwise. They talk about their joys and sorrows, their fears and the sources of their individual strengths. They laugh and cry, they dance and sing, and overall they bond into a strong unit. By the time they’re rescued there’s a reluctance to leave, because they know what they shared during those few days was something deeper than they’d experienced in a very long time.

So, in short, the film was lovely.  It reminded me of The Enchanted April, as well as Ladies in Lavender. To complete the experience, and welcome my new film group, I bought a nice assortment of cheeses and crackers, wonderful chocolate chip cookies and the coffee was fresh and plentiful. The only problem was, no one came… Okay, ONE person came, and she enjoyed the film, but I felt a bit silly sitting there, just the two of us, in a room set up for at least a dozen.

When the film was over she asked me, “What was the name of that movie, again?” I told her, then said, “Maybe more will come next month.” The ONE person laughed lightly, put on her jacket and walked out the door. Not in mean way, but more in a way that said, “Well, that would be nice, but…..”

Ah, alas and alack. I can only hope that I build it, they will come. Eventually.