Movies

Two movies can make me stop in my tracks and watch them through to the end - Apollo 13 and The Wizard of Oz. The latter is on right now...

When I was growing up, The Wizard of Oz was shown once a year and it was a major event. Kids kept their eyes peeled when reading the TV Guide for its listing and passed the word around in school to any who had missed the notification. Often, we gathered in groups to watch the film - large bowls of popcorn and glasses of soda littering some poor parent's living room. We would sing along with the songs, argue over who was the best traveling companion for Dorothy (I was a Scarecrow proponent, myself) and boo enthusiastically with every showing of poor Margaret Hamilton, as the Wicked Witch of the West.

Television was still something of a big deal back then. Other shows that made one appearance a year were It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Year Without a Santa Claus, The Little Drummer Boy, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. This was long before videotapes or DVD's, so each showing was something special. Today, I have them all on DVD, but, oddly, I don't watch them. I wait until they show up on television, pop some popcorn, grab the dogs and transport myself back 40 years for an evening...

Here's hoping you are having a good time tonight, too.