Daniel Babka

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Reflections A Winter’s Dream I dreamt with pristine clarity as if I were a skater whose every movement possessed a romantic grace and natural precision, tracing circles on a pond in the still of winter. I sent a boat across that same stretch of water when I was a boy. It left a perfect wake as it moved toward the cattails on the bank. The vision was as exhilarating as the first blush of love. I wanted to tell you how good it felt, what a sense of completeness there was. And that I would willingly give up days to have nights like this with you in Monterrey. In Between Love and Recovery I was looking out the window at a blue on blue evening sky filled with clouds, the kind a French Impressionist would have drawn, in between love and recovery. It’s after you’ve come to know what the sounds are between the notes, when you cross over to being in love with a woman, how she smells, the way she pushes her hair back, what makes her smile. You're looking forward to a life together, she suddenly bolts, and you find yourself barely able to hang on. Eventually the flood plains recede and the rice fields under the causeway turn dry. You understand love doesn’t fit in boxes. It has its’ own rhythm, it carries change. The woman you were in love with becomes more memory than hurt or the want of what might have been. A friend asked me, “If you met her again, how would you greet her?" I used to say, with tears. Now, I’m not so sure.” In 2012: The Intouchables, a great story, funny and original, that generated a $7 million dollar box office in the U.S. and $365 million dollars worldwide. In 2013: Before Midnight, 42, 12 Years a Slave, All Is Lost, Her, Fruitvale Station, 2 Guns. In 2014: The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, The Drop, St. Vincent, The Age Of Everything, The Hundred Foot Journey, Blue Eyes, The Butler. In 2015: Eye in the Sky, Spotlight, Room, Grandma, Concussion, Trumbo, Steve Jobs. In 2016: Race, The Nice Guys.
Some Favorite Quotes: "We all will make mistakes. The key is to recognize and admit them, to learn from them, and to take off the rear-view mirrors, drive on and avoid making them again." (General David Petraeus) “Following orders, I discovered, is not what I’m about.” (Brian Wilson, Vietnam Vet & Peace Activist who sat down on the train tracks along with two other veterans to try to stop a U.S. government munitions train sending weapons to Central America during the time of the Contra wars and lost both of his legs.) “Don’t ask for guarantees. And don’t look to be saved by any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were heading for shore.” (Ray Bradbury, Author) “A writer’s job is to tell the truth.” (Andy Rooney’s last regular 60 Minutes broadcast on October 2nd, 2011)
© Daniel Babka

Reflections