Today I have to share something I saw in a film. A few scenes that completely moved me. It made my heart turn inside out, an amazing feeling that I feel so infrequently these days. That is my fault as I don't really take the time to indulge in such emotionally striking visual pleasures like I use to. OK:

1. An orangoutang looking so sad, near death, picked up by some local men in a recently cleared forest. It seems like maybe the orangoutang encountered some kind of an event that led to his current bad state. It is unclear if they are sympathetic, but two men shove the orang. into a duffle bag- he fits! I can't believe it. He looks smaller in the bag than when his arms and legs were loosey goosey all over. The next cut is to a scene where you recognize that you're seeing the inside of a dump truck, and they're driving on some terrible country road because the camera is real shakey. And then you notice the orang. in the duffle bag with just his head out, and he's barely conscious, eyes half closed, body limp and shaking with the terrible movement of the truck. His body is over rubble that was left in the back of the dump truck and it's just this for 3 minutes. You wonder if that's the last three minutes of his life.

2. A beautifully lit forest area. Ancient trees surrounding a man standing with a chain saw with what looks like snow, but isn't because there is nothing else that describes the tremendous beauty of gravity sometimes. what's falling in this entire scene is a million leaves, and each one flutters like eyelashes!

I had to do some research for a film festival we're having. Forest films to be exact. I look forward to about 3 of them, the rest are mind-numbing narration, or over zealous shots of nature in action. Sometimes what they capture is amazing, but a montage of dramatic events is just too much, and narration makes me feel like they think I'm stupid- they spell everything out. The films I'm most looking forward to are Green, Conflict Tiger, and Man of the Soil, but this all won't happen until Dec.

It's the weekend! I have a lot of things I'd like to work on, but I'll also need to be getting for my next trip for work. Not a community forestry (CF) this time, but an event with 40 kids who will be writing and talking about nature. It's basically like nature camp but for young adults. I'm really looking forward to it because I'll get a sense of what the take is on CF from a much younger demographic.