Paddle to the Sea
Today is my two-year blogoversary! Where does the time go? So I suppose I’m feeling a little nostalgic and hope you’ll allow me a little diversion down memory lane. When I was in elementary school, unlike my own kids, we didn’t get regular movies during lunchtime. In fact, we didn’t have DVDs or even VCRs to show movies for those times we actually did get to see movies.
Movies were rather rare occurrences so they were a pretty big deal. When the teacher wheeled in a tall squeaky metal cart with a big reel projector on top, she also reached to the ceiling for the string and pulled down the white projector screen. The lights were dimmed. Then the countdown began as the reels click-clicked and whirred away. It was all very exciting.
Except we saw the same movies–a lot.
One of the movies we saw regularly (like at least once a year) was Paddle to the Sea. I loved that movie. It’s the story of a toy carved wood canoe and its journey by meltwater, creek and river to the sea. A few years ago I came across the book by Holling C. Holling in a library sale bin and promptly bought it for a bargain. (The copy I bought was an early printing, much dog-eared and worn.) I thoroughly enjoyed sharing the story with my son as it brought back my memories of the film.
So imagine my delight to stumble upon the actual link to the actual NFB film by Bill Mason a few days ago! I watched it again, all 20 some minutes of it. To me it’s a classic.
If you have some time, enjoy.
Or the actual link is http://www.nfb.ca/film/paddle_to_the_sea
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