Lions and Tigers and Bears........OH MY!

As we hit Kansas City for a three day weekend, the discussion seems to turn around the weather in western Missouri and the eastern part of Kansas. Lately, they have had their share of heavy duty thunderstorms and a few severe tornadoes. The most recent caused quite a bit of damage in the area. There is always a reference among the crew to Dorothy and Toto flying by as their home was in the farmland of Kansas.

And so off to OZ we go with some background on the story....

Did you know ---- that original name of the wiz was Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmanuel Ambroise Diggs? He shortened his it to OZ and as the author of the page I found this on said, "Would you want your initials to be OZPINHEAD?" There are several more great notes about the story and what it was supposedly about as well as tidbits on the movie itself on this page. And if you are a dog lover, here is a page dedicated to Toto as well.

We are close enough that there has to be a museum there somewhere commemorating this storybook favorite right? Actually, there are several.....here are a few that I found..... Wamego, KS, Chesterton, IN (you can email Auntie Em too!), Topeka, KS (Kansas State Historical Society), Liberal, KS, and the home of the author, Chittenango, NY. Knowing the area somewhat this all made sense to me.... It was cute and certainly played off the theme.....

But it all came to a head when I came across "OZTOBERFEST"..... that's when I turned and ran back up the yellow brick road!