Somewhere in Time Movie Review

Somewhere is Time is one of my all time favorite romantic movies.  It is hard to believe, but it was released over 35 years ago.  To this day, I can hear Elise (Jane Seymour) calling out through time to "Richard" in my mind.  The agony and desperation in her voice is heart-wrenching. 

Scenes from this movie were long ago impressed on my mind and they haunt me to this day.  The exquisite and beautiful Jane Seymour reaching out in time to the young and handsome Christopher Reeve is an unforgettable image of timeless love.

In case you haven't already seen the movie, allow me to introduce you.  If you have seen it, I recommend watching it again.  The beauty of a romance that erases the walls of time is just as poignant and gripping today as it was 37 years ago.  Perhaps even more so.

Synopsis of the Movie Somewhere in Time

The opening scenes of the movie take place at an after play party on May 19, 1972.  Richard Collier, a young play-writer, is celebrating the success of his play with friends when an elderly woman approaches him.  She gently places a beautiful pocket watch in his hand and softly says "come back to me".  Then she turns and leaves the building.  Since Richard has never seen her before, he is somewhat mystified by her gift and words.  

 Somewhere in Time (Collector's Edition)Eight years later, Richard is a writing a new play, or at least trying to write one.  It is not coming together easily for him.  Even listening to his favorite soothing music, Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini", is not helping.  Out of sheer frustration he decides to take a trip, to get away from the monotony of the routine of his life in Chicago.  He simply starts driving with no apparent destination when he spots the Grand Hotel in Mackinac Island, Michigan.   For some inexplicable reason, he is drawn to the hotel and signs in to stay one night.  The elderly bellboy, Arthur, thinks he recognizes Richard, but a lot of people have come to the Grand Hotel since 1910 when he first arrived there with his father.

When Richard goes to dinner, there is a 40 min wait, so he starts exploring.  He discovers a picture of Elise McKenna in the hotel's Hall of History and is captivated by her beauty.  He wants to know more about her.  He goes to the local library to research Elise McKenna and found she was a great box office draw in the early 1900's.  She was born nearly 100 years earlier in 1885.  When he finds a photo of her in her later years, he realizes she is the woman who gave him the watch at the party back in 1972.  Now, he must know more!

He located the home of the biography writer to get more information on Elise.  The writer had a collection of McKenna's personal items, including a dress from her last play and a book she was particularly fond of on time travel.  He found out that Elise had died the same night she had given him the watch.  

Somewhere In Time (1998 Re-recording)
You can hear the beautiful redition of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini , along with John Barry's score here. Purchase if desired.As he continues to explore Elise's belongings, he is drawn to a music box designed as a replica of the Grand Hotel.  When he opens the lid, he is surprised and further intrigued to hear it plays "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini".

Later, when he is back at the hotel, he searches for the hotel registers from 1912 and finds his signature in the register confirming what he already suspected.  He was a guest at the Grand Hotel in 1912.

He immediately went into action.  He bought a suit from around 1912, cut his hair to match the style of the early 1900's, purchased 1912 money, and returned to the Grand Hotel.  He removed everything that was current day from his sight and made a recording to help "hypnotize" himself to travel back to June 29, 1912.  He laid on the bed, played the tape and started the process of traveling back in time.  Back to 1912.  

Back to the Grand Hotel of 1912  where she preformed, and back to her.

He closed his eyes and woke up in the past, 1912, but in the wrong hotel room.  As soon as he escaped that room, he went in search of Elise.  He found her walking by the lake and approached her.
Her first words to him were "is it you?"  He answered, "yes".

   

One of my personal favorite scenes in the movie is when Elise is having her photo taken after her final performance at the Grand Hotel.  Richard enters the room and right as she looks at him, the photographer captures that expression of love on her face.  That photo is the picture that is hanging in the Grand Hotel's Hall of History. 

Somewhere in Time Movie Trailer

Add Somewhere In Time to Your Romantic Movie Collection Today!

Learn more about the man and his journey back to love!

 Somewhere in Time - Watch Now on Amazon.com Somewhere in Time DVD
(Collector's Edition) Somewhere in Time (Blu-ray + Digital HD with UltraViolet) by Universal Studios

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Somewhere in Time Movie Review Written by:

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Review of Tips to Photograph Florida Birds

Black Skimmer

Discovering Florida Birds

This past year I have really gotten interested in photographing birds, so it is only natural that when we were planning a trip to Florida I also planned on discovering a new variety of birds to photograph.  I started out by purchasing a good bird book on Florida birds and spent some time reading and studying the different types before our trip.  I found that many of the birds common to my area of the mid-west also resided in Florida.  Many birds that I commonly see in my own backyard such as the: Cardinal,  Robin, Goldfinch, Starling, Robin and several different woodpeckers also call Florida home. Florida, however, also has a wide range of birds that I never see in the mid-west and it was this set of birds that I was interested in photographing.  I started my exploration by going to a pier near where the inlet joins the ocean.  On the first day I saw a lot of Rock Pigeons and several Brown Pelicans.  I was just leaving the pier when the colorful bird in the photo above flew in and landed on the beach.  I thought he was very unusual looking with his distinct black and white coloring and the bright orange at the base of his bill and orange legs.  With his distinct colorings he was easy to identify in the bird book.  My book states that he is 18 inches and has up to a 3 1/2 foot winspan.  We were in Florida a month and this was the only time I saw this bird.  I feel fortunate to have been able to get a good photograph.

Bird Book for Florida

Here is the book that I used to identify the birds I photographed in Florida.  It is laid out with sections on birds of various colors.  That made it easy to find a bird from my photo.  It also has a great index in the back to cross reference various birds.

Birds at the Beach

When taking a walk on the beach I was delighted to see a wide variety of birds.  When I had been to Florida in past years I had noticed the gulls and the little birds that ran in and out of the waves, but I had never really realized how many different varieties there were.

When I took the photographs and then went back to our condo to look them up in the bird book, I found there were several different types of gulls and the little birds could be sanderlings, terns, or perhaps even a Ruddy Turnstone.  I learned to pay attention to the size and shape of their bills, the color of their legs, their basic shapes and their colorings.  Even when I had all these characteristics figured out I learned within each specie there were different colorings for summer vs winter birds, breeding vs non breeding and male vs female birds. Identifing these birds was sure more complicated than it first appeared.
Below are two of the different gulls I photographed and identified.

Laughing Gull

Ring-billed Gull

The small little birds that seem to run in and out with the waves are always fascinating.  Here are a few I captured in photos.

Royal Tern

Sanderlings

Ruddy Turnstone

Birds by the Lakes

I also took several walks around nearby lakes and found some very interesting varieties of birds.  Some of these I had to work a bit harder at identifying.

This bird is a Little Blue Heron.  It is 24 inches and is a dark slate blue color.

This next bird is a Double-crested Cormorant.  I had a bit of trouble deciding on this bird, but after Looking at both of these photos I narrowed it down to a Double-crested Cormorant.

Birds of Florida Throw Pillow
by mbgphoto

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Reviews of Picture Books for Teaching Difficult Math and Science Concepts

Picture Books Clarify Science and Math Concepts 

Big, small, tall, fast, heavy, old -- what do these words mean? Maybe each person has a different idea about them. Author and artist Robert E. Wells wrote a series of books, The Wells of Knowledge Science Series, that illustrates these concepts. Although they seem to be about math, math is so tied to science that readers will learn a lot of science as they grapple with math concepts. Even though these are picture books designed for children, I confess I also learned a lot from them. 

What's Smaller Than  Pygmy Shrew?

What does the word "small" suggest to you? A marble? A bee? Robert Wells introduces his world of the small with a pygmy shrew, which is three inches long. He then challenges readers to think of what's smaller. He contrasts the shrew with an elephant, which in comparison makes the shrew look very small indeed. He then contrasts the shrew with the ladybug, which is smaller yet. 

Then he introduces the creatures that can only be seen under a microscope -- the ones you might find in a drop of water. He explains what cells are and then shows us the animals with only one cell -- the paramecia and amoebas which are both protozoa. Wells' imaginative drawings will bring them to life for you and younger readers. Before Wells is through, he has explained and drawn bacteria, molecules, atoms and their parts, and has challenged readers to guess how many atoms are in a pygmy shrew. There is a small glossary at the end to help children remember unfamiliar words. 

Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is?

In this book, Robert Wells explains to all ages the relative sizes of large from a blue whale all the way to the whole universe. The opening picture shows an elephant, horse, and lion standing on a pier watching the tail of a blue whale that is larger than all of them combined. Then he shows the same animals looking at a jar that contains 100 blue whales. He then puts two such jars on a platform with the animals between them. 

With the animals still standing on the bottom platform, Wells draws a stack of platforms ten high and then on the next page puts them on top of Mount Everest to show how small they are in comparison. By this time the animals are no longer visible. Wells goes on and on until he reaches the universe itself, having introduced numbers in the millions and billions along the way. Even adults will find this book, and others in this series fascinating.

What's Faster than a Speeding Cheetah? 

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This book explores speed from that of the ostrich and cheetah to the speed of light. I love the illustrations which show the race between some children, an ostrich, a cheetah, a swooping peregrine falcon, and a propeller plane. Soon the children, ostrich, and cheetah are in the plane with a frustrated falcon trying to catch up. The falcon then lands on the tail of a jet and passes them. 

Readers then learn about the speed of sound and space travel as all the characters get into a rocket ship. Just as we see a meteoroid whizzing by, we learn that all of us have something that's even faster – something we can hold in our hands. The book concludes with is a chart comparing how long it would take at all the speeds from runner's feet to light to get from the earth to the moon.

These Books Are Great for Unit Studies in Home Schools

 What's Faster Than a Speeding Cheetah? (Robert E. Wells Science Series) How Do You Lift a Lion? (Wells of Knowledge Science Series) Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is? (Wells of Knowledge Science Series) Can You Count to a Googol? (Wells of Knowledge Science Series) What's Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew? (Wells of Knowledge Science Series)

The Wells Knowledge of Science Series is Ideal for Unit Studies

When I was homeschooling, I was always on the lookout for engaging books that targeted visual learners. These books fit into that category. Jason understood what he could see better than what he only read or heard. He was a hands-on kind of child. He also loved animals, and all three of these books have some animal characters.

 One of more of these books could fit into a unit study about light, sound, astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics or transportation. Instead of just reading a definition for a word like protozoa, a child will see a large illustration showing its relationship to other objects it is part of, as well as things that are part of it.

See all the books in  The Wells of Knowledge Science Series, which are recommended for ages 7-10. I believe they are good also for those over ten who want to understand these science concepts. The pictures are imaginative and fun and keep science from being dull. I suggest you get a physical edition rather than a Kindle edition because your children will want to pour over these books. I wish I'd had these for my own children, but they weren't written yet back then.

Find more of my reviews for picture books at Books to Remember.

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Clorox Disinfecting Wipes With Micro-Scrubbers

Perfect For Bathroom Cleaning

Bathroom sink image from Pixabay.com

Today, I would like to review the Clorox Disinfecting Wipes with micro-scrubbers for you wonderful readers. I absolutely love to use these handy wipes to clean my bathroom but they also work in other rooms in the house.

I have used the regular Clorox wipes for quite a few years and was delighted when I found the ones with the micro-scrubbers! One side has these little bumps in the fiber to better attack that nasty soap scum that develops on the sinks and shower. 

One thing that I have always loved about the Clorox disinfecting wipes is that these little cloths  kill 99.999% of bacteria that may be lurking on our counter tops and other surfaces in our homes. Cleaning with them can destroy cold and flu viruses and even staph, e. coli, Salmonella and Strep! 

They are so convenient to use, too. Just pull a cloth or wipe from the container and begin to clean. It is that easy. Once you have finished with the wipe just toss it in the trash. 

I also love that these wipes do not smell like clorox bleach but come in scents that are not so offensive. I particularly like the citrus blend. 

Clean and Disinfect

The wipes work well in the kitchen especially when something sticks on the stove-top or counter. Those little scrubber fibers help to loosen the dried on mess and clean the surface without leaving a scratch. I love that!

I keep a container in each of the bathrooms and in the kitchen at all times. I also have one stored with my cleaning supplies for when I am cleaning any of the other rooms that might have a surface that can be cleaned with the wipes.

In our home I find them very convenient to use when I need to do a spot clean or when I am deep cleaning a room. They work well on glass surfaces, toilet seats, enamel sinks, faucets and my stainless steel sink. I have not really found a surface that I can't clean with them. If you haven't tried the micro-fiber scrubber wipes; I can highly recommend them to you. I think you will be pleased with the results you get. 

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Reviewing Picture Frames for Photos of Grandchildren

Grandchildren are special blessings. And they grow so fast. As a long-distance Gramma, I am amazed at how quickly they grow between visits.  I have many photos of my grandchildren but those photos are all digital. There is nothing wrong with that at all. After all, it's fun to be able to change the desktop photo from favorite photo to the next favorite photo.  However, recently I've had a desire to have printed photographs in frames on display. I've started to narrow down the frame choices and I am sharing a couple of these wonderful picture frames with you.

Desktop Photograph Frame for Grandchildren

This desktop photograph frame has good reviews. It is simple yet unique.  It visually displays exactly how I feel about my grandbabies - a metallic word "Grandkids" followed by a heart. 

I like that this desktop frame isn't a typical frame with four sides. And that it has a base.  I think it is a perfect frame for the office. An interesting way to display photos on my desk or file cabinet.

wood and metal picture frame

Photograph and Frame Gift for Grandparent

A wonderful gift idea is a photograph of the baby in a "Best Gramma" frame. Or, even better, in a personalized frame. These wooden frames are handmade.  

This is the "natural wood" color choice, but there are several color options. You can also specify the name - "Grandma", "Gramma", "Nana" or something else. And note the personalized "love, Raven" on the bottom right corner. How much fun is that? Each grandchild can send their own framed photograph to grandparent. 

personalized handmade wood frame for grandma

During my next visit with the grandbabies, I am sure to take many photographs. That is a given. But this time I will print some and display them in frames. 

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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