OUT FOR A WALK

I was naughty on Sunday night. It was clearly a “school night” (as I still like to call it), meaning that I had to be at the offi ce by 8 a.m. the next morning.

But my nephews were all gung-ho about seeing the latest “Star Wars” movie at Broadway Theater in Medford, something that was actually my suggestion. However, I kind of thought we could go to the 7 p.m. showing so I could still get to bed at a reasonable hour.

Various Christmas-related activities made it virtually impossible for us all to make it to the early showing, and our only option was the one that started at 9:45 p.m. Knowing ahead of time that the movie is over two and a half hours long, I knew full well that I would not be getting out of theater until after midnight, well after my normal bedtime on a Sunday.

Still — just like Darth Vader — I couldn’t resist the temptation of the Dark Side of the Force. Or, more accurately, my younger relatives urging me to join them for “The Rise of Skywalker.” It was a direct appeal to my sense of nostalgia and desire to at least partially relive part of my childhood in a darkened theater.

So, after a fair amount of hemming and hawing, I jumped in the back seat of my nephew’s car just as he and my other nephew were about to take off. It kind of felt like I was boarding the Milennium Falcon just as it was about to make the jump to hyperspace, or something geeky like that.

The movie itself was definitely worth sacrificing some sleeping hours the night before a busy Monday morning. The action barely slowed down long enough for the characters to explain what was going on, but it definitely hit all of the marks for a Star Wars movie. There were space battles, ugly aliens and family drama galore, and even a Jedi mind trick.

After it was all over, and my phone confi rmed that it was now early morning of the next day, I picked up my wife from mother-in-law’s house and made my way back to Colby so I could at least get in bed by 1 a.m. That was accomplished, but it was not easy to fall asleep with visions of light saber duels dancing in my head. I’m not sure what time I actually drifted into the Land of Nod, but it was way too close to the time my alarm clock first went off.

“It’s just a couple days before Christmas,” I thought to myself as I repeatedly hit the snooze button on my smartphone. “I can get away with going in a little later than normal.” With no meetings or concerts to attend Monday night, I figured I could stay at the office an extra hour or so to make up for it. The day was a productive one, and I didn’t even need that much coffee, or the power of the force, to stay alert.

And then comes Christmas, with peace and a good night’s sleep.

KEVIN O’BRIEN

EDITOR