Out of Africa

I watch the movie “Out of Africa” every year. I watch alone, curled on the sofa, wrapped in a light blanket. The real world vanishes as the opening scene fills my TV screen. I feel like I have entered slow motion as I nibble freshly popped popcorn and sip my cup of peppermint tea.

The scene of Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) in her cozy, lamplit parlor telling a spur of the moment story to Denys (Robert Redford) sweeps me away every time. And then, there’s the scene where Denys surprises Karen as she sits beside a crackling campfire, outside at dusk. He surprises her by playing the dreamy Mozart clarinet concerto on his little record player that he’s somehow brought along on their Safari.