"There's No Place Like..."

Last night we had quite the thunderstorm. The light show started about an hour ahead of the rain. Nathan, my one-year-old, woke up saying, "Ma Ma!" and wanted to look out the window. He must take after his daddy - he was fascinated. "Dight! Ooooh!" I brought him to bed with me, and we tried to settle in.

I have to admit that although I'll bravely drive out with Lee to watch a storm come in or reassure my children that everything is fine, inside I'm a little girl hiding under my covers! I'm really not a fan. I agree with the Psalmist, "I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm."

As the thunder rolled louder, I began wondering when my fear of storms and tornadoes started. Could it be from the movie "The Wizard of Oz" where poor Dorothy loses her entire home and gets transported into another land?

I decided that I would comfort my children when they watched it by explaining that houses really can't fly over the rainbow.

Although, in actuality, I think they can get close...

(If you really want to know the rabbit trail my mind went on, I'll continue.)

Then I realized that Dorothy all along said, "I want to go home!" And at the end, she had to tap her ruby slippers and say, "There's no place like home."

But in reality, where was her home? It was in Oz! It landed on the witch, Dorothy, remember? Why didn't a Lollipop Kid say, "Oh, the way to your home is... well, just turn around and look at it."

Perhaps they needed a catchy slogan for the end, and it doesn't sound as nice to say, "There's no place like the place back where my family is..." or "There's no place like my farm with my Aunt and Uncle and the hired help..."

Either way, this train of thought led me away from the storms and into a peaceful sleep. So I guess I can be thankful for "The Wizard of Oz" after all.