Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival
I ended up not going to this festival, with some unexpected (and unpleasant) consequences. My flight was for 10 August, which of course was the day the new terror plot was uncovered in London. The prospect of 4 hour waits at the airport, and who knows what coming back on Sunday, was enough to get me to cancel. Luckily I can use the flight for the FAIF International Film Festival in October. (And I was not charged for the hotel or car rental.) Alex did go, however, with his wife Mary. He reported back Saturday afternoon after the screening. A great crowd, he said, very responsive. But small.
By that point, however, I was completely uninterested in the film or the festival, because the unexpected consequence had occurred the night before: my cat, Buster, who had never been out of the house before, somehow got out. And I didn't realize it until 5:00am Saturday morning. I was pretty frantic, walking the neighborhood looking for him. Adding to my frenzy was the knowledge that I had taken his collar off the day before! I often did this on weekends just because he seems more comfortable without it, and since I was around, what could possibly happen? Then I realized I needed to get organized. So I went home, made some flyers with the best photo of Buster I could find, and headed out. By that time, Phil Geller (Executive Producer of "Two Harbors" - just to keep this blog totally focussed on the film's festival experiences) showed up to help me search and put up flyers. We searched the neighborhood in ever widening radii until about noon, when I sent Phil home. I printed up a bunch more flyers and got a little more systematic, travelling the neighborhood by bike. I continued until it got dark, with no sign of Buster. I tried to stay on the porch Saturday night as late as I could, in case he came home. He didn't.
The next day, Sunday, was much the same. Except now there were intermittent strong storms and heavy rain. Where could he be in such weather? He must be freaking out, I thought. Or possibly it was a grand adventure for him, and only I was freaking out. By now I was joined in the search by Jana Kramer (Production Manager on "Two Harbors" - the point of this blog. Remember?) We got our first break Sunday afternoon when some people about five blocks north of my house said they had seen Buster under a car Saturday evening at 8:00pm. A break, perhaps, but that was 20 hours before. Does this mean he's heading north? Or that he was already farther north and was now heading home? At least he was still on my street. Maybe he knew his street? But of course he couldn't have recognized anything because he had never seen any of it before, not even my house; not from the outside, at least. So how could he possibly find it? Anyway, this became our new ground zero, and we spread out from there. I met a woman and her daughters and their friends nearby. The woman jumped into action and assigned each child a street or alley, which we then walked down for six blocks. When we reconnoitered back at her house 40 minutes later, nothing. No one had seen any sign of Buster. I was getting increasingly pessimistic, despite Jana's constant assurances that he would turn up. I was not convinced. Jana went home and I continued until about nine, getting a report of one more possible sighting from the day before, about 2 blocks from the first sighting.
Sunday night I couldn't sleep so I went out on the porch every half hour or so calling Buster's name. I must have dozed off because at 4:00am Monday morning I woke with a start when I heard a faint scratching at the front door. I flew down the stairs and unlucked the door, not even letting myself hope. But as I opened the door, in walked Buster, casual as could be. Not a scratch on his body, not a hair out of place. Not even slightly damp. I hugged him so hard I think he was about ready to run away again. Luckily he didn't. He was plenty hungry although not famished. Maybe someone had fed him? Maybe someone had been taking care of him? I'll never know. But late Monday I got a phone call from someone who had seen Buster on the same corner where he had first been spotted Saturday evening. And what should we do with him? We're holding him on our porch. What?! So clearly, Buster has a double who lives in that neighborhood; we had focussed our search there on bad intel. Two calls I got later made more sense: he had been positively ID'd on a corner two blocks from my house Saturday morning, either lounging on the front lawn, or trying to get someone to let him in their house. Which seems more in character for Buster. He apparently never got far from home, and maybe spent Sunday on someone's porch. Needless to say, I put his collar on him the moment he walked in, and it will never come off
again. Not that it matters. He will NEVER get out of the house again, as god is my witness. And even if he's not.
And that's the report on the screening of "Two Harbors" at the Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival.
By that point, however, I was completely uninterested in the film or the festival, because the unexpected consequence had occurred the night before: my cat, Buster, who had never been out of the house before, somehow got out. And I didn't realize it until 5:00am Saturday morning. I was pretty frantic, walking the neighborhood looking for him. Adding to my frenzy was the knowledge that I had taken his collar off the day before! I often did this on weekends just because he seems more comfortable without it, and since I was around, what could possibly happen? Then I realized I needed to get organized. So I went home, made some flyers with the best photo of Buster I could find, and headed out. By that time, Phil Geller (Executive Producer of "Two Harbors" - just to keep this blog totally focussed on the film's festival experiences) showed up to help me search and put up flyers. We searched the neighborhood in ever widening radii until about noon, when I sent Phil home. I printed up a bunch more flyers and got a little more systematic, travelling the neighborhood by bike. I continued until it got dark, with no sign of Buster. I tried to stay on the porch Saturday night as late as I could, in case he came home. He didn't.
The next day, Sunday, was much the same. Except now there were intermittent strong storms and heavy rain. Where could he be in such weather? He must be freaking out, I thought. Or possibly it was a grand adventure for him, and only I was freaking out. By now I was joined in the search by Jana Kramer (Production Manager on "Two Harbors" - the point of this blog. Remember?) We got our first break Sunday afternoon when some people about five blocks north of my house said they had seen Buster under a car Saturday evening at 8:00pm. A break, perhaps, but that was 20 hours before. Does this mean he's heading north? Or that he was already farther north and was now heading home? At least he was still on my street. Maybe he knew his street? But of course he couldn't have recognized anything because he had never seen any of it before, not even my house; not from the outside, at least. So how could he possibly find it? Anyway, this became our new ground zero, and we spread out from there. I met a woman and her daughters and their friends nearby. The woman jumped into action and assigned each child a street or alley, which we then walked down for six blocks. When we reconnoitered back at her house 40 minutes later, nothing. No one had seen any sign of Buster. I was getting increasingly pessimistic, despite Jana's constant assurances that he would turn up. I was not convinced. Jana went home and I continued until about nine, getting a report of one more possible sighting from the day before, about 2 blocks from the first sighting.
Sunday night I couldn't sleep so I went out on the porch every half hour or so calling Buster's name. I must have dozed off because at 4:00am Monday morning I woke with a start when I heard a faint scratching at the front door. I flew down the stairs and unlucked the door, not even letting myself hope. But as I opened the door, in walked Buster, casual as could be. Not a scratch on his body, not a hair out of place. Not even slightly damp. I hugged him so hard I think he was about ready to run away again. Luckily he didn't. He was plenty hungry although not famished. Maybe someone had fed him? Maybe someone had been taking care of him? I'll never know. But late Monday I got a phone call from someone who had seen Buster on the same corner where he had first been spotted Saturday evening. And what should we do with him? We're holding him on our porch. What?! So clearly, Buster has a double who lives in that neighborhood; we had focussed our search there on bad intel. Two calls I got later made more sense: he had been positively ID'd on a corner two blocks from my house Saturday morning, either lounging on the front lawn, or trying to get someone to let him in their house. Which seems more in character for Buster. He apparently never got far from home, and maybe spent Sunday on someone's porch. Needless to say, I put his collar on him the moment he walked in, and it will never come off
again. Not that it matters. He will NEVER get out of the house again, as god is my witness. And even if he's not.And that's the report on the screening of "Two Harbors" at the Napa Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival.
posted by james @ 10:49 AM
2 Comments:
Maybe Buster was trying to get to Two Harbors...
good one, ditt63! two harbors is about 200 miles north of minneapolis so i would have been very impressed if buster had made it. unfortunately, i didn't post any flyers in two harbors so no one would have recognized him.
Post a Comment
<< Home