Falling Slowly

I’ve always liked mail. It’s something that seems to have run in my family. One of my dad’s first questions when he’d come home each day was “Any mail?” My sister and I would wait for the mail man to come and dart outside to grab envelopes filled with letters, magazines, catalogs, and bills. But as a child, who cares about those?

These days, one of the things that makes me smile most in my mailbox is a bright red envelope. “Hooray” I silently exclaim, as I clutch my Netflix envelope and head up to my apartment.

I get three movies at a time, and sometimes, I tend to hold them hostage. Timing means I can’t always get around to watching a movie. Sometimes I move through the TV shows faster. Even though they have more content, it’s much easier to watch 45 minutes here and there than sit down for a two hour movie.

When that happens, and I finally find time to watch a movie, I vow to watch it and drop in in the mail first thing the next morning. That’s what I did last night as I settled in to watch “Once,” which has patiently say next to my TV for weeks.

I didn’t return it this morning. Because I just have to watch it again. And more importantly, I have to download the soundtrack tonight. It’s a good movie with great music, and if it doesn’t win the Oscar for best song on Sunday, well then there is something (else) wrong with the world.

This weekend, I liked Juno. But what set Once apart for me was this. It stayed with me. That’s how I’ve always marked a good movie, or song, or piece of art. It stays with you. It almost haunts you, lingering in your thoughts. Something about these characters and the situations just feels right. Today, the music is still with me. And so is that red envelope.