No trilogy showing for Mechtild....
Boo hoo hoo. I can't use my lovely ticket to see the trilogy in the Cities today.
I bought it a while back as an early Christmas present to myself. I bought it in spite of the fact that I vowed never to go to a trilogy showing down in the Cities again (the crowd last year was so rowdy I just couldn't get into the films the way that I like). But this year, today, they are showing the EE's of FOTR and TTT. The EE's! The only times I've seen the EE's on the big screen was just before ROTK came out, and that was five years ago. I even booked a cheap hotel room to stay at afterwards (I'm too old anymore for three-hour drives late at night).
But the weather is against me. It's been snowstorming since Friday, on and off, with the storm expected to taper off today, but it has tapered too late. It's not snowing now, but it's a windy -5 Fahrenheit out there (-20 Celsius). Yesterday I cancelled the hotel reservation in the Cities, so as not to lose the money if I couldn't make it, but kept my eye on the weather and highway reports, just in case. I would need to leave here by 6:45am even in good weather to make it to the theatre when the doors open. Driving in snow, I'd need to leave much earlier. (It's about 165 miles to the theatre.)
I got up this morning at 4:00 to check out the reports but they were inconclusive. The highways between us and the Cities sounded drivable, if slowly because of scattered and blowing snow, but up here in Duluth our residential street was still unplowed, and the driveway full of drifted snow. Could I shovel it out fast enough to leave in time to make FOTR? Would I be able to get down the street if I did? And what about the rest of my family? I'd be leaving them without the means to get around until tomorrow, because I'd have the "snow car" (it has all-wheel drive).
So, sadly, I decided not to go.
Here's a picture of my lovely ticket:
Well, maybe next year. I think I'm going to write to the theatre and suggest they offer the trilogy at a different time of year, since weather is often an issue in winter. Also, it seems to me they'd do better box office if they didn't show the films during a vacation. People tend to go away for the holidays. Until last year I was always gone when they showed it, which has been around during Christmas and New Year's Eve. What about during the time of the Baggins birthday, Sept. 22, I'll suggest. Then they could draw from all the students at the universities, of which there are many in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Of if they don't care about showing it when school is in session, what about during the summer? It's worth a try. How I would love to see the EE's!
Thanks for listening to my sob story, dear readers.
ETA: Can you believe it? The skies are clearing here, and they even plowed our road. My family could have used the "non-snow car" after all. "Why don't you drive down and still see ROTK?" my daughter asked. It's tempting, but because the performances are completely sold out, I suspect I'd end up sitting in the corner of the front row. "It's a crap shoot," my husband said in his philosophical Minnesota manner. He meant the weather, not life in general. :)
~ Mechtild