Terri-Lee periodically reminds me that I’m not in Kansas anymore. This usually comes after I admit to doing something stupid without realizing that it may not have been a good idea. You would think that eventually the message would sink in, but it doesn’t.
I never understood why Dorothy wouldn’t want to stay in Oz. Sure, it was dangerous- there were wicked witches, flying monkeys, megalomaniac wizards, and at any given moment a house could mysteriously fall from the sky and smoosh you. But it was so beautiful there. Kansas had all its shades of gray, but Oz was in Technicolor. And, with the exception of what- three people, everyone she met was so friendly. If Dorothy was homesick she could just conjure up her aunt’s face in the Witch’s crystal ball and have a kind of alternate-reality bridging form of Skype. Besides, Kansas had its own problems, too. There were pigs that would eat you if you fell in their pen, nasty neighbors that wanted to kill your dog, and tornado-initiated concussions.
Maybe she needed to go back to Kansas because the rules and dangers were more familiar (or maybe she missed eating corn?). If so, Dorothy is more practical and more boring than I am. There’s a Shel Silverstein poem called “Alice” that I have loved since I was about 8 years old. It goes:
She drank from a bottle called DRINK ME
And up she grew so tall,
She ate from a plate called TASTE ME
And down she shrank so small.
And so she changed, while other folks
Never tried nothin’ at all.
Johannesburg can be dangerous- that’s why we have electric fences, security gates, bars on doors and windows. It’s why we put bags and purses in the trunk of the car rather than on the seat next to us, why we don’t go out alone at night, why Michael was so angry and worried that he drove to the restaurant where Terri and I were having dinner when he couldn’t reach us on our phones to find out if we made it safely there. It can be overwhelming at first. After adjusting to the additional security precautions it’s wonderful. The people are generous and friendly, the country is beautiful and there are so many new things to see and do.
I am so, so glad that I came to live in Oz. As of August 8th I've been here a year- I still have another two to look forward to.
