September Abstract: the Rainbow Pond

It was a home Penn State football Saturday, so my husband and I were up and out early to go grab some hoagies. Our local Boy Scouts sell hoagies for $8 apiece at the parking lot of a local school first thing in the morning on home game days. 

I asked for "two Italians!" The Boy Scout handed me my hoagies and said, "That'll be $8!" I replied: "Times TWO!" "Nope," he said; "$8 - the person in front of you paid it forward!" So thank you to the unknown friend, neighbor, or stranger who gifted us with our second hoagie! (This has never happened to me before.)

So I was feeling pretty good about things. About the Universe. About the World. About grace, and the nature of humankind, and how lovely it is when you experience first-hand the unexpected kindness of strangers.

My husband dropped me off by my favorite pond, and I'd dressed accordingly: long pants, long shirt, for the bugs are still frightful in the woods. If you stop for even a moment, they will eat you alive!

The ponds never dried up this past summer, and so there is still water in many of the larger vernal ponds from springtime. My favorite little pond was no exception, and its surface was ripe with colorful reflections.

I stood and listened to my tunes, and I took some photos, and this one is a favorite. It looks like a pond that has swallowed a rainbow! We are starting to get the first golds and reds in the trees here and there, and you can already see it on my pond. Oh, sweet autumn, best beloved, so many reasons for hope and glory.

In other news, a few months ago, I purchased the completely refurbished and restored version of The Wizard of Oz on Amazon for $5. It is a movie that I feared as a child. There was just too much going on and I hid behind the couch. I couldn't watch it. It made me anxious. The flying monkeys, the witch with the green face and mean laugh. The peril of the girl and her little dog. The tornado.

So I got it out and began watching it the other night while my husband was watching football, and I recognized the markers of fear I had experienced as a child. I still actually had to get up a couple of times. At half-time on his game, my husband came in, and we both watched the movie. We couldn't believe what an odd, strange film it was.

We got to the flying monkeys part (not my circus, not my monkeys!), and my husband didn't want to miss the ending, so we compromised: I went and watched football with him after half-time was over, and we'd save the ending of my movie for another day.

On this evening, we finally got to finish The Wizard of Oz. We went to the Emerald City. The Tin Woodman got his heart. The Scarecrow got his brain. The Cowardly Lion got his courage. Or maybe these were things they had all along. And finally, Toto and Dorothy (mistress of the Most Amazing Magical Sparkly Ruby Slippers - and yes, I've seen them in person at the Smithsonian!) got to go home.

What a strange movie, but these are pretty good words. Heart. Brain. Courage. HOME. So that's how we'll end this. And with this song, which you know, of course. It has to be Somewhere Over the Rainbow. There are many wonderful versions, and here are a few: first, by Judy Garland, who had to sing it in black and white, poor girl; second, by Israel Kamakawiwo; third, by Eva Cassidy. And finally, by Olivia Newton-John (a song used to great effect in the action movie Face Off). Never give up on your dreams! And always wear the fancy, sparkly, red shoes!

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true