I know grown men who were traumatized as little kids by seeing the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz. Decades later I still cry when I hear Judy Garland sing 'Over the Rainbow', which I cannot imagine anyone else in the entire universe attempting to do. I am a sap. And with a 2-day driving trip that was SO not smart I still managed to budget an off-road jaunt to a little Kansas museum filled with Ozesque memorabilia. I think I am still trying to atone for having attended the 1970 MGM Studios sale and not paid $5 for some used period dress. For my $6 admission fee (with AAA card), I wandered, I gawked, I roared in silent mental outrage at the tchotchke markups, I bought, I left. 
It was worth it. I couldn't not have gone. It was silly and I loved it.
Driving nearly a thousand miles in two days was not terribly bright. However I arrived at Susan and Klaus's beautiful home in Roswell, Georgia (it's a gracious Atlanta suburb) with 45 minutes (rather than the 3-4 hours originally hoped) in which to shower and stagger into their car for a BRILLIANT Wynton Marsalis concert at the Atlanta Symphony Hall. I do not have a fine-tuned lust for jazz. I don't listen to it for the most part. I was jaw-dropping stunned in sheer delight. What a birthday treat and as well to reunite with my beloved friends!
I'll write more later on where we met 15 years ago, musings on why some resonances continue while others sigh and wander off.... and say thanks to you who sent birthday emails and calls and real cards waiting for me in Berkeley, to which I can only respond monosyllabically for the present moment. Yes. Thank you again.
