The Country Mouse and the City Mouse

You can't get much further apart than True Value hardware and a David Fincher film.

When I go to the country, like I did for the past couple of days, it's like being in a different world.

For instance. they have edibles such as Triscuits, meat and tomatoes at the hardware store so you can pick up a bag of concrete and get salad fixings for dinner at the same register.

In the country, you can take an outside shower and have a view of towering trees over your head while you do it. Or watch clouds sail across the night sky intermittently revealing stars and planets and then covering them back up again.

If you're really lucky, you might look across the property at 2 a.m. to see a band of horses who've wandered down from the pasture they usually occupy to mill about near a neighbor's fence.

But once back in the city, it's all about the business of life: answering e-mails, pitching an editor, going to an appointment.

And tonight, it meant going to Movieland to see a movie taken from a blockbuster book I've yet to read but was sent as a gift by my favorite ex-cop.

Walking in to the theater next to a guy also by himself, I was tempted to joke that obviously he couldn't get a date, either. Instead, I held my tongue and stood in line in front of him watching a girl using dental floss while standing in line next to her boyfriend.

I've got nothing against flossing - I do it myself daily- but is the ticket line at a theater really the place for it?

By the time I got my ticket for "Gone Girl," the theater was probably three quarters full so I must have chosen a popular movie (a rarity for me). Unlike the masses, though, the only Fincher films I've ever seen were "Fight Club" and "Seven."

Since I haven't yet read the book, I was going into the film blind and was soon enmeshed in the story of a marriage that seems to start off fine and devolves into something kind of awful before they even reach the magic five year marker. And then things really go south.

Like a good Hitchcock movie with the requisite icy blond, "Gone Girl" provided more suspense than I'm comfortable with. Very thought-provoking, it also made a strong case for the difficulty in really knowing someone, even someone you love.

When the movie ended after the briefest two hours and 25 minutes, a guy behind me shared his first reaction loudly, saying, "That's it, I'm staying single the rest of my life."

Scaredy cat. My first reaction is that I need to read that book the ex-cop sent me so I can delve even more deeply into this twisted, modern take on love and marriage.

Late night horse visitors aside, I'm thinking that the perfect place to do that would be out in the country.

Raise the Flag

Memorial Day to-do list.

Accept an invitation to the country for a day of doing nothing.

Take a walk through the woods and down to the stream, enjoying the coolness of the shade the further in we go.

Set the day's tone with screened porch music blasting serious soul: first Pandora set to Marvin Gay and then, six hours later, updated to Luther Vandross. R & B is meant for a hot afternoon.

Begin the holiday celebration with a bottle of Laurent Perrier Brut and a toast to more Memorial days. Follow with hours of music discussion, research and wonderment. The band America was formed in London? Get the hell out!

Eat like you're an American: burgers grilled over charcoal with fries cooked outside. Even the one who says he's not a ketchup person dips these fries in it. Maybe it's how well they pair with the Russian River Valley Pinot Noir we're drinking.

Set up a croquet court, toss the coin and play two games of a lawn sport I haven't played since junior high. While I won both coin tosses, I lost both games. Don't tell my father, but I am no better now than I was then.

Retire to the porch to wait out the remaining daylight in anticipation of the massive firefly display that begins just after dusk this time of year.

Watch for hours as hundreds of fireflies sparkle and dance mid-air brightly against the backdrop of a row of darkened trees that encircle the property. I have never seen so many concentrated in one place at one time. It's like nature's fireworks sans noise.

Take advantage of the '80s R & B playing with occasional slow dancing before returning to the cocoons of the chairs.

Indulge in the unique pleasures of an old favorite experienced in a new way. Musical evening closer: Neil Finn's lush brand new album, "Dizzy Heights." Pop psychedelia grandeur and goodnight.

Nailed this holiday.