I checked out March of the Penguins from the library last week. The week was crazy with turkey hunting and company, so finally we had a relatively free evening to schedule a pizza party and movie night. I took Grace to violin yesterday evening, picked up Little Ceasar's pizza and crazy bread and headed home. The blankets were laid on the floor, the movie was ready in the dvd player and plates and napkins were waiting to be piled high with pizza. Once settled in, Lee started to the movie. Now, I had heard conflicting opinions about March of the Penguins. One mother told me her kids cried through the entire movie. Another told me it was down right boring and a waste of time. A couple of moms said it was interesting, but no one said it was the best way to spend a Tuesday evening. Maybe it was the pizza in my growling stomach. Maybe it was the peacefulness of sitting and eating next to DH without anyone whining about the meal. Maybe it was the cuddle time with Lou under the faux fur blanket. Maybe it was......THAT IT WAS A FABULOUS MOVIE. I don't know, but I loved the movie. We all loved the movie. Yes there was death. Yes, there was starvation. Yes, there were predators. Yes, there were extreme conditions. Nature is beautiful. However, at the very same time nature is violent, ugly, devastating.
Being a hunting, chicken raising, country family, we encounter both sides of nature. On a warm spring morning we crank open the kitchen window and listen to a large array of birds singing "good morning" to us. We watch the bald eagles fly overhead. We hear the spring peepers calling loudly on warm spring evenings. We also thank God for the meat provided to us by the hunted deer. We thank God when our chickens make it to the six pound mark; butchering time is near. We watch as that beautiful eagle swoops down to grab its prey.
Back to the movie; I thought the cinematography was stunning. The details of the penguin mating season were unbelievable. How cool is it that the male and female penguins meet up on the same day, sometimes in the same hour at the same place year after year. Not for just the past 10 years, but for the past thousands of years. How beautiful is the courtship. How undeniably awesome are the sacrifices each in the pair make to ensure survival of their baby. I came away from the movie with renewed splendor in how awesome our God is and how perfectly He created all of nature.
