Remarkably Bright Creatures

As we all know, yesterday was a tough day of remembrance.

The news was understandably focused on all aspects of the 9-11 terrorist attack.

I spent the morning watching the reading of the names at Ground Zero, recognizing some, and amazed how, over the years, those readers have shifted from parents, spouses and siblings to children and now to grandchildren. God bless them all.

Understandably, given the event in question, a malaise hung over me. As the Irish like to say, tá brón orm which literally means the “sadness is on me” 

I distracted myself with my Casa Claire chores. Shoveling shit, humping wheelbarrows, topping off troughs and prepping meals for Claire and Honey provided some respite.

Lisa and I spoke with our daughter, in Atlanta, and also my youngest brother John, in Riverdale, just catching up with family and neighborhood gossip. Traded texts with my favorite extraterrestrials, Everett and Michelle, who understand the residual impact of this day on Lisa and I – you can’t take the City out of the people.

I spent some time out front in the Jack the Spruce Grotto, cleaning out the two cat houses and testing their heating pads to make sure they were ready for winter.

I was able to run a new power cord with a splitter to handle both cat houses. Then I soaked both houses with liquid catnip, to lure Smokey and whatever other feral that wants refuge into the boxes before they actually need to go in, before I need to power up the heating pads.

It’s one of those things I do in the fall, along with cleaning my gutters, which I’ll turn to once I am confident the leaves have dropped sufficiently to make it worthwhile to teeter on the ladder.

Then I turned on Netflix and found this most delightful film starring Sally Field, called Remarkably Bright Creatures. I was thrilled to find that the film is based on a bestselling novel by Shelby Van Pelt. All the best stories are!

Sally Field plays an older widow, Tova Sullivan, who works night shifts at an Aquarium somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. We learn much of the story through Tova’s interactions with one of the main attractions of the aquarium, Marcellus, an intelligent giant Pacific octopus, who serves as an unlikely companion to the widow. Marcellus narrates the story and plays a major role in its resolution. 

The plot converges around Tova’s interactions with a newcomer to town, Cameron Cassmore, played by Lewis Pullman, a young, failed musician who has lost his mother and is now searching for the father he has never met. Cameron temporarily takes over Tova’s cleaning duties when she sprains her ankle. There are subplots with developing love stories, including a wonderful performance by Colm Meany, and the introduction of other humorous smalltown tropes and friends, as Marcellus guides both Tova and Cameron through grief, transformative growth, and ultimately an emotionally satisfying connection.

When I first saw the title, I assumed it referred to Marcellus, the wise octopus, and his kind.

As it turns out, it’s Marcellus’ observation concerning humanity.

And it was exactly what I needed to draw a line under the understandable malaise.

I only hope that someday someone will have a comparable experience after reading or watching a film version of my novels.

After all, Claire may have only half the number of legs as Marcellus, but she is twice as wise.

That is why we tell stories, a writer’s offering of emotional antidotes to the trials and tribulations of living in a tough world.

Well, today is Saturday, so more chores around Casa Claire, so I better get moving.

You fine, five readers go take care of your errands, and then put your feet up and read something that will push all of the right emotional buttons.

But most of all, make today a great one.