Day 21: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Task--Confession

I’m from Kansas[1]. I love being from Kansas, and I am constantly on the lookout for K-State and KU apparel, so I can connect with a fellow Kansan. If a person is wearing a Chiefs sweatshirt or a Royals scarf, I am going to find a reason to approach that person even though I know a grand total of nothing about either of those teams. I’m proud of Kansas, and I love my fellow Kansans.

The response of many new acquaintances when I announce my home state is pretty obvious[2]. There is one go-to movie referenced when anyone from the Sunflower state reveals her state of origin—The Wizard of Oz. There are two major questions asked of me (1.) Are you Dorothy? (2.) Where’s Toto? When I hear these questions, I manually flip a mental switch, so I don’t respond with too much sarcasm. I must usually at least make a comment about the lack of originality of the question before we move on.[3]

The response of many new acquaintances when I announce my home state is pretty obvious[2]. There is one go-to movie referenced when anyone from the Sunflower state reveals her state of origin— . at all . . . is “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole. You’d be surprised how often this song is mentioned as someone’s favorite. IZ’s ukulele-forward version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is also a popular addition to grocery store and mall soundtracks. If you haven’t noticed, listen for it—it won’t be long until you hear it. The love so many seem to share for this song makes my disdain for it seem so taboo and even shameful.

The irony of all of this is that in the happiest moment of my life so far, the birth of my son, the surgeon played IZ’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” over the loudspeaker TWICE. I couldn’t help but laugh—right there on the operating table. Even though it’s linked with such a joyous personal moment, I still have no love for the song, but I do have a love for the humor interwoven in this world because that song is forever ingrained in my memory with Beck’s birth. I guess every cloud does have its silver lining, and it’s not so hard to see its silver shimmer right over the rainbow.

Footnotes

[1] I’m also extremely proud I share hometowns with Dwight Eisenhower, but I’ll share more about that another time.

[2] I’d like to take this moment to apologize to the dad I met at play group who told me he was from Scranton, PA. When you told me where you were from, I immediately said, “The Office!” And your face said it all. It told me that I had just Wizard of Oz’ed you. That makes me a bit of a hypocrite for the rest of the paragraph and maybe the rest of the blog.

[3] As I think about it, I don’t think anyone has ever said, “I’ll get you, my pretty.” Or “Ding-dong the witch is dead.” I think I’d be more open to these, but it’s hard to tell.