I missed it by just one day.
Hard to believe, but yesterday was the 83rd anniversary of the release of The Wizard of Oz, the most-seen film in movie history. Admit it, having watched the flick multiple times yourself as a child and/or parent, you know the plot quite well. After knocking off the Wicked Witch of the West and befriending Oz, Dorothy decides that she wants to return home and be with her beloved Auntie Em and Uncle Henry in Kansas. Unfortunately, Oz inadvertently leaves Dorothy behind when his hot-aired balloon departs without her. Following the advice of Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, Dorothy repeats “There’s no place like home” while clicking her fashionable ruby heels together, and poof, just like that, she wakes up back in Kansas as though she never left.
So why am I fixating right now on the topic of home? Because the meaning and dimensions of home have taken on much more significance during this @!#$% pandemic, which is still raging after 20 months. For example, for many, home has become their remote place of work, with office chats around the water cooler a thing of the past. For others, home has become a protective bubble, a place to isolate and insulate oneself so as to minimize any potential contact with the coronavirus. And for those yearning to travel – put partner Carol and me in that category – home is where we’ve been temporarily consigned until satisfying our wanderlust can safely be resumed.
But please don’t take any of this the wrong way, as I think Dorothy nailed it when she said there is no place like home. For Carol and me, that means Bainbridge Island, a 35-minute ferry ride from downtown Seattle. Knowing how I can sometimes sound like an unpaid volunteer for the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce, this time I will let the featured image – depicting a recent sunset just steps from our back deck overlooking Eagle Harbor near the ferry terminal – do all the talking. Carol and I have always felt that if we have to hunker down in a pandemic, there isn’t a better place to be than Bainbridge Island – and hopefully, that’s how you feel about your home too. If you’d like to see more images of Bainbridge Island, however, please click here – and do please stop by our gallery and say hi should you ever happen to be in our neck of the woods. In the meantime, as we extra-cautiously make our way through the latest surge of the pandemic, Carol and I sincerely hope that you and everyone in your world are staying healthy, safe, and strong.
Ciao for now,
Andrew (“Andy”) Bergh