The Great and Powerful Oz

I have seen "The Wizard of Oz" at least 20 times in my life. I saw "The Wiz". I have seen "Wicked" on stage.

And now, I've seen "Oz: The Great and Powerful". They did a really good job. The Wonderful World of Color and Disney's Castle were in black and white. They kept the movie black and white until Oz landed in Oz.

It struck me as funny that at first the black and white seemed so drab. Then I started noticing little things - like shadows playing in the background, how much more ominous the clouds looked. I got used to this, and when the color burst onto the screen, it was too much. It looked fake, it irritated my eyes.

I'm sure that certainly wasn't the effect they were going for. I'm sure they wanted the color to dazzle and invoke awe.

I've noticed photographs are like that too. When I was shooting photos of my daughter for the cover of my book "Out on a Limb of the Family Tree", they were in color. And they are beautiful.

But the black and white are more dramatic. They invoke an older time, which of course is what I was going for.

I was happy to see the local theatre brimming with business. Both movies (the other was "Jack the Giant Slayer") were family friendly. And not only that, I don't imagine there's many people in the country that weren't raised on the fairy tale of "Jack and the Beanstalk" and the movie "The Wizard of Oz".

Parents with little children, adolescents, young teens on dates, young adults, middle aged folks, and the geriatric crowd were there. And everyone was having a good time.

But back to Oz. I wonder if L. Frank Baum had any notion when he wrote the first book that he was onto something. Probably not.

But then again, I believe most authors write thinking they are on to something.
 
And we are, really. There are tales to tell, stories to rehash, 'you ain't gonna believe' stuff that we can't wait to share.

Story telling has been going on since we've been here.

Can you imagine the ones we'll hear in Heaven?

Bird Song

Several years ago I went rushing out of the house to get to my car to go to work. It was about 7:30 in the morning. But by the time I got to my car, I was frozen in place.

We live in the woods, and at that time it was mostly our house and no one else.

It was in the fall of the year, the  morning was cool.

Suddenly, there was a bird singing in a tree, then another joined it. Within a few seconds, hundreds of birds began to sing.

I have  never heard anything like it. I was in surround sound bird song, a symphony straight from the good Lord.

I flung my head out and my arms up and absorbed it as intensely as I could. Tears filled my eyes. I not only heard the music, I felt it.

Believe it or not, I never saw a single bird. They were all high up in the trees, I guess.

The singing lasted a minute or two, and then gradually the numbers lessened until there was no more singing, just the usual twitter here and there.

I suppose it was a group migrating for the winter.

I wish I could have seen them. 

But then again, maybe not.

There is no way they could have lived up in looks compared to the way they sounded.

A symphony from God or a prayer to Him.

It sure sounded like praise to me.

One Woman's Trash is Another Woman's Treasure

Many years ago  my first job was with the public health department. Back in those days, besides dodging dinosaurs, we worked with VISTA volunteers.

I became friends with one(a volunteer, not a dinosaur).Her name was Jenny, and her parents were first generation over from Czechoslovakia. But she had never lived anywhere except the wide open spaces of Texas.

Needless to say, living here in the North Georgia Mountains was a huge change for her. She froze half to death when fall arrived, and she was plumb pitiful when winter got here.

I was with her the first time she saw snow. What a treat that was! We both ran outside (in a very professional  manner, of course) and stood in the parking lot. Her face was turned to the sky, her hands were held out as though receiving a blessing, and her smile was as wide as those Texas spaces she missed.

After some time, she confided in me that the mountains I loved were smothering her. "Everywhere I turn, all I can see are mountains. There is no space, my vision is stopped no matter which way I turn."

Huh. I had been to Texas once, and saw all that space she missed. It seemed void, vacant, lonely, empty. How could she miss that and feel uncomfortable within the confines of my majestic, protective mountains?

But as I have aged a little bit (shut up), I have seen how different we creatures can be from one another. One person loves dogs, another would rather die than touch a  dog.

One person loves chintz and organza, another steel and glass.

One loves the water, the other fears it.

The one common denominator we all have is the empty hole in ourselves that can only be filled by God. Many search other places for it, and many deny its existence.

But it's there, my friend, it's there.

I think the longing we feel sometimes is for the Home we are missing. The Home we were meant for, but messed up.

Thank God we've been given a second chance.

What a Day This Has Been....So Far!

You know, you plan a day. Right? I mean, is that so bad? Sheesh.

First off, I went to bed not feeling well...like I had a low fever, runny nose, throat sorta sore - not really sick, but not all that great either. And I still feel that way today.

And I'm worried sick about my child. Yes, I know she's twenty-two, so what? Her throat is swollen almost shut, there is white nastiness on  her tonsils. And these symptoms flared up WHILE she was on antibiotics! She is exhausted all the time.

Doctors say it's strep, no it's  not, it's the mono recurring, no it's not, it's tonsillitis,  no it's not. Last time this doctor said it was strep and mono, but when I got the paperwork it said influenza.This time he said the cultures from two weeks ago had no pathogens. But then wrote on the paper tonsillitis! And recurring. What??? She's had tonsillitis once in her life.

Boy, I love doctors.

And these are the people who want to do surgery on my child!  Stand back. I have a gun!

So, I've waited too long to eat breakfast this morning. As I start into the kitchen, I hear the lovely noise that means our dog is having a big old seizure. In the middle of the living room rug, no less. I try to get the coverlet under her bottom, but she has already let loose her bladder.

Our living room now looks like we are having a sock hop this evening. rug is pulled back drying, chairs, tables, etc. are up against the wall.

Filter had to be changed on the well water, so of course, we had no water for a while. Right in the middle of laundry day.

I decided to make bar-be-cue chicken today. Went to the freezer. We don't have any chicken.

And, hey! It's supposed to snow again tonight.

So, get here early!

 You don't want a little snow to interfere with the sock hop, do you?

Don't Give Me Any Bull, But Give Me A Bulldog Anytime

I love bulldogs.

I don't even care what kind of bulldog.

When I was a toddler, and on into childhood, we had a Boxer Bulldog named Jinx. I have thought a lot about her in the last little while because of the book I am currently writing. She was fawn with a black  mask. My mother tells me when I was very small, they could let me play in the yard without watching me too closely, because Jinx babysat. If she thought I was getting too close to the street, she'd grab the back of my diaper and pull me back into the yard.

Up into my adult life, I thought Jinx was a boy. We were talking about Jinx at the super table one night, and I called Jinx a he. My daddy looked at me like I was crazy and informed me Jinx had been a girl. He shook his head at me, hardly believing I didn't know.

Well, I didn't.

Our neighbor, two doors down, had a male Boxer (for sure). I think his name was Winston. My parents used to love to tell the story of me slipping off from the watch care of one grandfather and going to the grocery store down the street, owned by my other grandfather. This of course, scared grandfather number one and made him angry. As he was marching me back to his house, holding me firmly by the hand, Winston trotted up to us and took my grandfather's hand in his mouth. I was crying, he was being stern, and I think the  Boxer just decided to be on the safe side he would supervise the whole thing. He didn't like the way my grandfather was handling me, but on the other hand, he knew him and didn't want to react too harshly. The dog wouldn't let go until my grandfather got us back to the house.

My daddy had Pit bulldogs off and on all his life. Most of them were gentle, intelligent animals. Only one in my memory became too territorial and Daddy had to get rid of  him because we lived in a rather congested area and he became fearful the dog was going to bite someone who came too close to the house.

I  have pictures of my daddy at different ages when he was a kid, and he's always  hanging on to some white Pit.

I have a picture taken sometime in the early 1900's or late 1800's. I don't know the people's names, but I know they belong to my daddy's side of the family. There's a white Pit in the picture.

The last car my daddy owned was one of those "land yachts" of a Cadillac. I was visiting them one day and parked behind his car. I noticed his white Pit, (notice a trend here?) Snowman (my brother's named the poor dog when they were little) was asleep, with his head snuggled up to the rear tire of Daddy's car.

Just as I started to get out of my car, Daddy came out the door and motioned me back in my car, saying he had to run to town. He got in the Caddy, cranked it up and his tail lights came on.

I freaked out, seeing what was about to happen, as the dog had never moved. I screamed, blew my horn frantically, but it happened anyway.

Daddy ran over Snowman's head. As Daddy rolled over the dog's head, he realized what had happened, stopped the car, and leaped out, white as a sheet.

I got out of my car, crying hysterically.

Snowman got up, shook his head, growled at my daddy and stalked off. Pouting over the incident, he would have nothing to do with  my daddy for over a week. But the dog finally forgave him.

Right after my  husband and I got married, we purchased a female Boxer, named Samantha. Of course we called her Sam. She was sharp, sweet and 'my dog' for sure. A few years later, Husband rescued a male Boxer from the dump, who was nearly starved to death. We named him Buster. He was dumb as a box of rocks, but lovable. Sam was the boss from the start. Buster died from cancer at age eleven, but Sam lived on till she was almost fifteen years old.

I remember when we brought our newborn daughter home, Sam became guard and nursemaid. She wouldn't let Buster near the baby for weeks. He stayed cowed behind a chair almost the whole time, trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

One day Sam came out of the woods with a wallet in her mouth and dropped it at Husband's feet. We called the owner and he came and got his wallet, fascinated that Sam had done the right thing, when a lot of people would not have.

The day she died I got home from work and noticed she was lying half under Husband's car. She never did that, and I found it odd. She looked so sweet from a distance, her cobby head resting between her paws. But as I got closer, I realized she had died.

The next dog we were blessed with was a Bull Mastiff. At a 127 pounds, she was a giant of a dog and her heart was about as big. She was the smartest dog I've ever had, and I do believe if God had "loosened her jaw" she could have carried on quite a conversation. Belle was a good girl. She terrified people, even if she was asleep on the porch. I have several funny stories of grown men practically weeping at the sight of her.

Then, for a brief five months, we had a giant Boxer named Sampson. He weighed in at 95 pounds, which is huge for a Boxer. He was absolutely stunning. He'd never been socialized or house trained and he was already seven years old. But he took to all that like a duck takes to water. He was a real clown, and kept us laughing. He loved to hear Clay Aiken sing "Solitaire" in the car. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP: After the long note that Clay sings in the middle of the song, Sampson would press the re-wind button and listen to it again. I have witnesses to this, people.

Sampson was stolen from our front yard, being left alone less than five minutes.

Probably by Clay Aiken.

Next came Molly. She was an American Bulldog. Half white face, half black face (except the black side gradually whitened with age). She was white with black spots, sort of Dalmatian like. She weighed about 110 pounds, was low slung and broad, and loved the cats.But she hated dogs.

When Molly passed away last year, I fully planned on another Bull Mastiff. But I was caught off guard by Husband who found a free nine month old American Bulldog named Bonnie. For the first three months she drove me crazy. She was almost a feral dog, having known nothing but a ten by ten pen with an aggressive brother.

After those few months of agony, she has settled. She weighs around 85 pounds and is still growing.

Who knows what will be in our future? I want a Dogue de Bordeaux but they cost. A lot.

If you don't care for dogs, you are now in a zombie like trance, never to be resuscitated.

But if you are like me, I hope you have a smile on your face.

Clowns to the Left of Me

One of the most magical characters to me as a child was a clown.

When I was three and I went to the circus with Bob and Meg, I saw the clowns from a distance and could not wait to be spotted by them.

Bob started crying (I guess he wasn't looking forward to it as much I was), but the clown came over anyway and talked. I think he gave us some bubblegum.

To be honest, the only clowns on my own radar were:

 Clarabell the Clown from The Howdy Doody Show, and I don't really remember this firsthand, only from people talking. I was just a smidgen too young. But to my horror, I found out Clarabell was Captain Kangaroo in drag.

Go figure.

Of course, Bozo the Clown was, and I guess is, still famous.

And don't forget Ronald McDonald. Or maybe you should...

And you should really forget Pennywise the Clown from the horror novel, "It" by Stephen King.

Emmett Kelly has been named the most famous of all clowns. He was "Weary Willie" the sad clown who tried to sweep up the spot lights after the Ringling Brother's acts were over. There is a whole market of stuff featuring his sad face, from figurines to coffee mugs. His daughter is/was a pharmacist in Ball Ground, Ga.

Ringling Brother's also had Blinko.

There was Lou Jacob who was an American Circus Clown and is believed to have invented the clown car gag.

Did you know Slim Pickens was a rodeo clown before he became a film actor?

Remember Chuckles the clown on "The Mary  Tyler Moore Show"? In the most watched show of their history, he was trampled to death.

Flunkie the clown from the David Letterman Show read junk mail on the show.

Mr. Noodle on "Sesame Street".

Loonette the Clown on "The Big Comfy Couch"

Buttons, played by Jimmy Stewart in the movie "The Greatest Show on Earth."

When I googled famous clowns, I got names like Abbott & Costello, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Keystone Cops, Laurel & Hardy, Pinky Lee, Martin & Lewis, the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, Lucille Ball, Paul Rubens (Pee-Wee Herman), and the guy who plays Mr. Bean.

The one name that really stuck out for me was Red Skelton. Man, I loved him! Clem Kadiddlehopper, The Mean Widdle Kid, Freddie the Freeloader, and more were showcased every week on my television. And Mr. Skelton would get so tickled at his own jokes, he would break down in laughter before he could tell the whole story.

He was also an artist who painted different clown images, sometimes making famous people the clown in the painting.

Whether you like 'em or hate 'em, clowns are for some strange reason, an integral part of our society.

Well, I'm tired of clowning around for now.

As Red Skelton would say, "Good night and God bless."

Movie Moments

There are movies that I have seen throughout my life that have had "moments". Moments where I have been touched, stunned, angered, awed, amused or saddened beyond what a movie should be able to do.

I came up with my top ten. You  may disagree. You may have not seen some of these movies. That's okay. If you want to do it differently, you certainly may. On YOUR blog.

Okay,  here we go:

1. My favorite movie of all time is "To Kill A Mocking Bird". The most powerful moment for me is at the end of one scene where Atticus has done all he can defending his case. The courtroom has emptied, except for the balcony and Atticus, who is putting all his papers in his briefcase.

The balcony is full of the black townspeople, and both of Atticus's children, Jem and Scout.

Atticus never raises his head as he starts out of the courtroom. But in twos or threes or one by one, the people in the balcony start to stand. Scout is on  her knees, watching her daddy through the railing. A dignified gentleman, who is standing by her, looks at her and says, "Miz Scout, stand up." She looks confused, but does as he asks. Then he says, "Your father is passing."

Gives me chill bumps right now.

2. "Gone With The Wind": Prissy has just disclosed that in spite of popular belief, she is not an ob/gyn. She gets slapped for her truthfulness because Ashley's wife (the last man with that name, it got changed to a girl name, somehow), Melanie, is in labor and not doing well at all.

Scarlett goes in search of the doctor. The camera pans out, and we are suddenly exposed to wounded, dying, and dead soldiers as far as the eye can see. There seems to be no end to them. The flag, tattered and worn, is waving in the forefront.

It made war real to me, for the first time in my  life.

3. "Hook": Peter is all grown up and doesn't remember that he is really Peter Pan. He has developed a fear of flying, but is going to take a plane ride to England for Wendy's big birthday to-do. He is at his office and everyone is comforting him and telling him everything will be all right. Peter (played by Robin Williams) steps into the elevator and someone tells him not to worry, he wont' go till it's his time to go. Peter, deadpan, says, "But what if it's the pilot's time to go?" and the elevator doors close.

But my favorite "moment" part of this movie is once again a panning out of the camera. Peter's kids are kidnapped by Hook and he goes back to Never Never Land to save them. He is an out of shape, middle aged guy. And what he sees before him is an endless supply of pirates and ships. It instantly reveals to the viewer the hopelessness Peter is feeling.

4. "Out of Africa": my moment here (and I'll have to take another) is when Redford washes Streep's hair. Whew!

5. And speaking of Robert Redford:  "The Sting": The moment comes at the end. Well, you think it's the end, when everyone is lying there in pools of blood, deadern a doornail. But then the real end occurs. Very, very cool.

6. "Steel Magnolias": When all the ladies are leaving the graveyard after burying Shelby. And M'Lynne, Shelby's mama, played by Sally Fields (who, by the way, is one of the greatest actress of our time and for some reason nobody acknowledges this!), goes nuts. She begins to weep and wail and in the theatre you could hear everyone weeping right along with her. I may have sobbed out loud. And when she ends her rant with she just wants to  hit someone so they might feel as badly as she, Ouiser is offered up for the usage, and suddenly, one is laughing as hard as one is crying. Great moment.

7. "E. T.": The death scene. Not a dry eye in the house.

8. "The Princess Bride": The wedding is about to take place. The cathedral is stately, huge, impressive. The Princess and the Prince look like small dolls as the camera pans in. The Bishop stands before them, dressed in his red and gold robes, the great hat-thingy on his head making him look seven feet tall. You can hear a pin drop in this serious moment. The Bishop (played by Peter Cook) looks at them solemnly and then says, "Mawwidge: Twue love " who knows what else he says. I was laughing so hard at this I couldn't hear more.

9. "The Nativity": This rather dark and serious telling of the Christmas Story is very moving and realistic. There are many moments in it, but the "moment" for me is when Joseph and Mary are traveling to Bethlehem and they are both exhausted. Joseph has kept Mary on the donkey and he has walked. When they settle for the night, Mary sees his poor feet. Regardless of her exhausted state and her large, pregnant self, she gets water and begins to wash Joseph's feet.

What struck was the depth of symbolism. Her servant's heart, her kindness and love...I think she taught her son, The Son, well.  I cried.  I do believe the Father was well pleased with this movie. I know it wasn't biblical, but man, it was biblical.

10. "The Wizard of Oz": Okay, I admit there isn't a moment in this movie, the movie itself was the moment for me, every year. When I was a child, the movie came on one Sunday night a year, and it was as exciting for me as any holiday. The movie mesmerized me, terrified me, held me spellbound every time. And when I was older and saw the  movie turn from dull black and white into brilliant color, when Dorothy opened the door to Oz, why, I could have been delightfully knocked over with a feather.

It was the perfect cherry on top.

That's my ten. What are yours?