But the title of this post is also accurate because my
niece—affectionately known as the Peanut—watched The Wizard of Oz on DVD during
our stay; the first of what I hope will be many visits to the Emerald
City to come. Her mother, sister Deb, experienced some
trepidation over letting her view this American film classic, particularly due
to its high Wicked Witch-winged monkey content.
(Deb has a tendency to be a tad overprotective at times; she reminds me
of a woman in a Robert Klein routine who screeches at her son: “Don’t touch
that! You’ll get cancer!”) But her daughter insisted that the darker
elements in Oz would not bother her
(she kept repeating “I’m brave” in a mantra-like fashion whenever Margaret
Hamilton did her thing onscreen) and for the most part, she dug the movie up
until the final ten or fifteen minutes.
When I asked why she was so fidgety, sister Deb explained that she had
already seen the ending during a showing at her church. The Peanut did, however, watch Disney’s Peter Pan with rapt attention
and enjoyed the heck out of it. Her
mother, on the other hand, was not amused when I explained to her daughter just
why the crocodile was constantly following Captain Hook.
Other Peanut-related activities included taking her swimming
(she breathlessly informed her father via phone about how she jumped off the
side from the four-foot end and touched
the bottom!) and to the Mall of Georgia, where she was disappointed at the
lack of a play place (there may or may not have been one, we never got the
opportunity to see) but settled for a ride on a merry-go-round at the food
court. On the way home, Mom decided to
drive around Deb’s alma mater, Oglethorpe
University , and as Deb pointed out
to her daughter the various buildings I heard an audible sigh from the back
seat that seemed to say “Why did we get off the Interstate to see this? This is cutting into my play time!” Long treks are an anathema to my niece; we
took a trip to Athens to scope out
the house that her Aunt Kat will be moving into come mid-August and it was
difficult for her to shake off the “Are-we-there-yet?” syndrome.
To address Pam’s query, the only equine-related activity
during our stay involved feeding some leftover corn-on-the-cob to the
horses—Peanut was much more stoked about a tiny litter of kittens that was
dumped onto my sister by persons unknown.
Except for the sleeping arrangements, I enjoyed every minute of my
vacation—though the old adage of “It’s never long enough” certainly applies
here…plus, it’s difficult to shake off a night auditor’s sleep pattern in such
a brief span of time; I found myself rising early enough to catch Green Acres and Gunsmoke reruns on TVLand.
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