Color Connection...by Gina Waite

I love looking at this picture of my sweet little girl.  This lovely setting can be found in Mink Creek, Idaho where my Mom spent a great deal of time as a young girl.  The beautiful green fields and yellow flowers refresh my vision and purpose to find the beauty and joy in life!  Believe me, I’m trying to take my baby sister Mary’s advice to fully enjoy the “snow" but I can only live in the monochromatic world of winter for a couple of months before I truly miss the colorful world we live in.  My longing for color reminds me of watching, “The Wizard of Oz” for the first time!

Having been brought up with color television, I wasn't used to the grayed out imagery of Dorothy and Toto.  At first glance, I wasn't sure I would like the film due to the lack of color...that being said, the movie was a suggestion from my Mother and as “Specialist of the Silver Screen,” I was not about to argue with her selection!  As the movie started, the dull colors of the movie struck a discord with the energy and tone of Dorothy’s voice and passion for life!  All she wanted was to seek and find a place without trouble...some place that encompassed beauty and joy...perhaps, "somewhere over the rainbow!" 

You remember it don’t you… the time when first you witnessed little Dorothy (after the unexpected lift off and re-entry of her drab Kansas-styled home) opening the front door to her home only to expose the beautiful, Technicolor world beyond her grey house!  The Munchkin Land flowers, bigger than the munchkins themselves, and the plethora of color was truly a joyful and tantalizing treat for my eyes!  The transformation from colorless Kansas to multicolored Munchkin Land was an unexpected experience of joy for all to be enjoyed...especially Dorothy! 

C.S. Lewis once said that “No soul that seriously and consistently seeks joy will ever miss it…for those who seek shall find!”  Now I’m not sure the director of the "Wizard of Oz" intended for a parallel of life to be drawn from the imagery...but in this sometime lackluster and grayed-out world, from a source totally unexpected, we can seek out and find the color and joy of life!  

At least that’s how I’m  feeling on this gray January day…..Now if someone could please explain to me how those Munchkins grew flowers so well…I’ll be over the rainbow with joy!