It was like being in a dream

I am generally not fond of any Sunday that starts by the alarm waking me at 5:10 a.m. and goes on to find me actually working. Outside. On another blistering hot day. The event was on the football field at a high school.

I learned something today I had sort of been aware of but hadn't fully appreciated before. The field was Astroturf. If it is a cloudless, 97-degree day, the temperature on the field is actually about 107. The college intern at the next table over started tanking pretty early on. Her coworker asked me if I had water. I did. I also brought her a chair and an ice pack to hold on her pulse points. I had been drinking large amounts of water from the time I got up, so my body was doing better, but only marginally.

The event ended an hour early due to, well, heat exhaustion. I can't unpack my car yet. Maybe later when it's much, much cooler.

The effects of the heat, the early morning, and a late bedtime caught up with me late in the afternoon. I stretched out on the couch and fell into a fitful sleep.

I awoke about an hour later, hazy, confused, and drenched in sweat. I distinctly heard giggling. Helium-induced, hallucinogenic giggling. Familiar voices. A lovely voice. Why was I sweating like this? Why couldn't I wake up?



It took a while, but eventually I realized that the TV was on and TNT was once again airing The Wizard of Oz. Glinda is my favorite. I love her. She speaks vaguely helpful phrases that leave Dorothy puzzling over what to do next, believing she's had advice, but without actually having received any advice at all. Glinda would be a great therapist. Her ambiguity is so charming. She knows the answers, but her wisdom requires her to provide nudges along the yellow brick road, but no clear directions.

Where should I go?
"Start at the beginning!"

"Don't give the slippers to her. She wouldn't want them so badly if they weren't very powerful."

"Click your heels together three times..."
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because you wouldn't have believed me. You had to find out for yourself!"

Glinda rocks the pink dress.

I could write an entire month of blog posts on the topic of The Wizard of Oz. My husband and I quote it daily and liberally. We are currently shopping for a new front door. My husband saw one that has a little hatch door in the upper half, decorated with small ornamental iron work. Every time we go to Home Depot, he stands on one side of the display, flips the door open, and says..."Who rang that bell?!?!"

I have at least 100 Wizard of Oz related items in my home. That might be a conservative estimate. Hehe. It's like that.