Taxidermy Meets Thelma & Louise
"The Lodge": Book Club Unplugged
Recently my book club took our annual retreat in what happened to be the ultimate man cave in the middle of nowhere Minnesota. 50 acres. One large building. 9 private bedrooms each with a private bath. 10 lazy boy chairs. 19 taxidermy, including 5 bears. 1 massive gun safe. 1 large table with thousands of shells encased in it. 0 couches. 0 lamps. 0 extra blankets. Too many packs of “Deer” (not venison) to count. You can’t make this stuff up people. Only in Minnesota. “The Lodge”.
Apparently, I didn’t look that closely at the listing because when I first arrived, I was taken aback. Everywhere I looked there was something that screamed ‘“Man! Hunter! Meat!’ Even the WiFi password gave off this vibe: “Iloveguns!”. At this point I would’ve expected nothing less.
“The Lodge” was a different sort of setting for a girl’s weekend, but all in all, it turned out to be a great place to hang. We each enjoyed having our own private space to retreat to when we wanted. The large open-concept room was the perfect setting for our yoga mats. The massive table accommodated our meals and game night. Even the lazy boy chairs were a nice way to unwind while watching movies. Despite the overtly “hunter” feel of the cabin and acknowledging that it was the perfect setting for a great headline: Seven Women Murdered At The Lodge While Discussing 1630s Feminism, we were genuinely pleased with the place.
Our weekend was full of lively conversation, movie watching, game playing, a long walk in the woods, and of course, lots and lots of snacks. On Saturday morning, the seven of us gathered around to discuss our book of the month: The Winthrop Woman, a historical fiction journey of one woman making her life in the New World. I listened as my friends shared their insights and discussed what it would’ve been like to be a woman at that time. Ultimately, we felt that not that much has changed.
The highlight of the weekend turned out to be our camaraderie in watching one of the best films of the 90’s: Thelma & Louise. My 15-year-old self only remembered parts of the movie; the sexual assault, hunky Brad Pitt, and of course (spoiler alert) the epic scene of the 1966 Ford Thunderbird going over the Grand Canyon. It was a movie about women’s empowerment. It was a feminist movie way before the MeToo movement. It was a movie about taking matters into your own hands, standing up for yourself, and so much more.
But watching it this time around, it hit me. More than women’s empowerment, more than fighting ‘the man’, this movie is about friendship. Two women, with vastly different personalities, coming together in life to manage it’s ups and downs, each accepting the other one despite their flaws, and each protecting the other. Thelma and Louise are the epitome of a true “ride or die.”
Sitting in “The Lodge”, each of us in our lazy boy chair, chomping on our popcorn, surrounded by dead animals, watching this incredible film about female friendship, someone whispered, “I bet this is the first and last time this movie will ever be watched here.” We all laughed, feeling satisfied to impart the soul of our female imprint on the place.
IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS 📆
Something I Read: The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton (see above). A lengthy historical fiction novel that didn’t draw me in until about page 75, but after that I was all hand’s on deck. It turned out to be a “I can’t wait to get home to read my book,” kind of book. All said, as a woman in the 21st century, not much has changed.
Something I Heard: One of my favorite songs…
Something I Saw: Four weeks ago when flying home from California, the plane was 90% full and I was in the loathed middle seat, toward the back, near the stinky bathrooms. So I did what any sane person would do,(especially one who does not like flying, but weirdly enough finds being able to look outside the window comforting and less claustrophobic); upgrade.
My main reason to upgrade was for the window seat. But when I boarded and sat down, alas, somehow between picking my seat and sitting down, the ‘window’ disappeared. Sometimes life goes this way.
Fast forward two weeks and I am flying home from Las Vegas and what do I get, not one, but two windows. Sometimes life goes this way.
