Late Night Reverie

I saw this movie, THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL, many moons ago and this song came back to me tonight.  Whether you are religious or not, this song is beautiful.  An old Baptist hymn I believe.  The movie is poetic and moving.  One to see.
The late, great Texan, Horton Foote, award winning playwright and legendary screenwriter, wrote this movie. TENDER MERCIES and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD were two of his most famous works.  He even suggested Robert Duvall play Boo Radley in the movie.  They would work together many more times as Horton thought Duvall a great actor.  Geraldine Page won Best Actress at the Academy Awards for Trip To Bountiful.  Isn't it funny how some things never leave you?

Not to give too much away about the film, I titled the picture on my header, I'm Runnin' Away - never associated it with the film till this post.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Harper Lee's magnum opus, turns fifty today. I have fond memories of my young son and I, taking turns reading chapters to each other every evening one summer. We loved it, like legions before us. I have a theory about why she never wrote another tome. When you write a novel, you put most everything you have seen, heard, smelled, experienced into that first novel. While some writers like Joyce Carol Oates are prolific, for others, that's all she wrote; one has to live and experience more: she may have said all she wanted.
Nevertheless, Mockingbirds play a large part in American culture. Early in American history, Mockingbirds were once popular and kept as pets. President T. Jefferson had one named Dick. The American lullaby, Hush little baby don't say a word, mamma's gonna buy you a mockingbird... was part of the Mockingbird craze. Called the American Nightingale, Mimus polyglottos prefers to nest in maple, sweet gum and sycamore trees. As an observation, the birds are out after midnight practicing their songs. I can tell the city mockers from the farm ones. The city ones make police car and emergency vehicle calls. I think they are my favorite bird, today anyway. Postscript ~ Harper Lee's sister was on the CBS Sunday Morning show, and said the aforementioned reason I postulated, was correct.