Nothing beats being able to combine two good things and turning them into one great thing.  Chocolate and peanut butter, Crown Apple and ginger ale, or Steve Martin and Martin Short are fine examples.  For me, that means cool, autumn evenings and watching classic movies.  Since movie theaters are still mostly closed due to the pandemic (or just starting to reopen at limited capacity) and drive-ins are all but extinct (but making a comeback in some areas), the next best thing is to “do it yourself”.

What better way to spend a fall Friday or Saturday night than to sit outside in your favorite lawn chair or on a blanket and watch a film on a big screen in your own backyard?  In this COVID-19 environment, it’s becoming the hot new trend – and it’s not only easy, but surprisingly affordable.

Screens can be anything from a blank wall to a hung sheet or fancy inflatable screen.  Small, powerful projection systems continue to be introduced on the market for cheaper and cheaper prices (with great picture quality and resolution, even halfway across the yard).  Bluetooth enabled wi-fi speakers can be placed almost anywhere (especially if they are wireless), and the sound quality continues to improve.  In fact, you can peruse Amazon and find quality components in all three areas (inflatable screen, projector, and outdoor speaker) to create your own system for less than $500 (for the whole set).  Add-in a home computer with streaming services or a DVD player and “viola!” – instant backyard theater.

Want to binge watch your favorite TV show outdoors?  No problem.  Themed Halloween “creature double-feature”?  Great idea – and sure, you can do that.  Want to know where your teen kids are on a weekend night?  Fire up an outdoor movie and watch them all come flocking to the coolest house in the neighborhood.  Add a table at the back of your improvised theater with drinks and snacks, and you won’t find a better experience anywhere.  You can have the whole crew over (and still social distance) for a night of great outdoor entertainment.

We recently surprised my mother (on her birthday) with a backyard set-up, and all of her friends and family joined us for a screening of the 1960 movie “Strangers When We Meet”.  We munched popcorn and boxed candy, drank sodas, and watched as Kirk Douglas, Kim Novak, Walter Matthau, and Ernie Kovacs told their story on a giant fourteen-foot inflatable screen.  We even added in those old 1960’s drive-in intermission reels (streamed directly from YouTube) to add to the “retro” flavor of the night.  It was magical.

So, if the isolation of the pandemic has you feeling boxed in and cooped up, maybe an outdoor movie in your own backyard is just the prescription to cure the COVID-19 blues.  Give it a try!