When the seals come ashore
A little bit of nothing to do, a trace of too many pages read in too short a period of time. I decided to spend the evening under the spell of a legend. After all, this is the time of year when seals come ashore.
Back in 1994 (a lifetime ago, for some around here), a small film was released, called The Secret Of Roan Inish. It took me until now to actually sit down and watch, but the wonderful thing about legends is that they don’t come with a best before stamp.
Cinema requires a degree of subterfuge to work properly. Selkies are more a Scottish belief than Irish, but the director chose to place us on one of those small islands that were abandoned in this century, when economics caught up with practicality. A peninsula can serve as an island, when none is available. There are even trained seals and gulls available, if you shop around. And as for the skin of a mythical seal woman – well, that’s why man created latex, in his own image.
The soundtrack is one that would sit well on my CD rack, with a balanced mix of original compositions and traditional airs. All in all, I give this one both thumbs up.
Spent a few more hours standing in hardware stores, wanting inspiration on what mitre saw I should purchase. I’ve touched, compared, read reviews, asked questions. The problem is sticker shock. What I want vs what I can afford. Or put another way, realistic economics. If we decide to redo all the floors and add lots of trim, the justification is easy. On the other hand, how many tools can a barely handy man justify?
