I've never been a big fan of The Wizard of Oz. I recognize that it was a landmark film and that it's considered a classic, but I've never found the story compelling. Last night, Steve, Kelly and I took Mom to see Wicked in Hartford. For those of you who haven't heard of it (and if I know, you probably already do), the musical is a re-imagining of that earlier story from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West. We bought the tickets as a birthday present, and we all had a great time (kind of like giving ourselves a present too, Homer style). The show was terrific, with a clever story, good songs and an incredibly talented cast (especially the two leads). If you haven't seen it, I recommend it very highly. I'm starting the book today, so I'll let you know what I think of that soon.

This is Napatree Point at Watch Hill. A friend of mine recently introduced me to it, and now it's one of my (and Jazzy's) favorite places. It's a two-mile long barrier beach that doesn't have any houses on it. Apparently, the hurricane of 1938 destroyed the 36 houses that were once there. Now the only structure is the remains of Fort Mansfield towards the end of the peninsula. Jazzy and I found the fort, but we were stuck on the top and couldn't find a way down that looked safe. We also found a number of abandoned boats, which I thought was odd but interesting. Perhaps they went on a three-hour tour that went awry - no sign of the MaryAnn or Ginger though.

Another Halloween has come and gone, and it still doesn't feel like the same holiday that I remember. I only had two trick-or-treaters, and they looked old enough to drive to my neighborhood, which I thought might be a Halloween hot spot because it's safe and there isn't much traffic. But a lot of the snow birds have left already so I guess there weren't enough lights on to entice those few brave souls that venture into the wild in search of candy. When I was a kid, the streets were swarming with hungry costumed children (it doesn't make sense to eat much dinner when you know you'll have a pillowcase full of candy in a few hours). As I mentioned in an old post, Steve and I dressed as members of KISS for a couple of years. My Mom did a great job on the costumes, and back then we had a ridiculous amount of hair so we could really pull off the look.