Posts

Posted on

Wicked – book review

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Wicked is Gregory Maguire’s back story of the life of the wicked witch of the west from OZ. Watching the movie in TV growing up, I was always scared of the green skinned wicked witch. She represented pure evil to me. I never stopped to think that she had a mother and a father. I never even gave much thought to the fact that her sister is killed at the beginning of the movie and that a valuable family heirloom was lost when Dorothy stole the ruby slippers. She had reason to be upset.

Gregory Maguire must have considered all those elements of the story that most of us just pass over. So he created an entire history for the wicked witch. He even gave her a name. I never realized that we never know the witch’s name in the movie. I have never read the book by Frank Baum but apparently he did not give her a name either. She just went by her title.

Maguire creates parents for her. She is a preacher’s child. I thought that was funny, having known a few preachers children in the past. They did always seem to be the evil ones. Of course they decide that her green skin is a curse upon the family.

The West Witch is the first born and the East Witch is her younger sister who also has a birth defect. The story of how they both overcome their physical limitations is a great character study in the beginning of the book. The briefest mention of her parent’s polyamary lifestyle was also interesting to me. Her actual biological father hood is held secret until near end of the story.

I found the story of her being college roommates with Glinda the good witch to be quite an interesting twist. The fact that they might have been good and close friends until she gave away the slippers had never occurred to me. I had just assumed them to be life long enemies.

The Wicked Witch’s life story seems to be one of failures and near misses. She seems to get very close to achieving her goals and then is thwarted in some way. Even her famous death scene in the movie is more of an accident than an assignation.

I loved how Maguire worked important elements of the original story into his story as well. For example you get to read how her sister was the one who enchanted the axe that turned the tree cuter into the tin woodsman. Possibly it was one of her dear college friends that built the scarecrow. And the lion was one she had helped rescue as a cub.

The wicked Witch is portrayed as an animal lover and a strong supporter of animal rights. The flying monkeys were her biological creation based on her study of life sciences in school. I almost cried when the Tin Woodsman killed her dog that she had sent to welcome Dorothy to the castle.

The troubled life of the Wicked Witch resonates with many people I am sure. Reading the story made me think of my own failings and near misses. There are a lot of religious question posed by the characters in the book as well. These resonate with me also.

I got the feeling that Maguire’s own religious beliefs changed as he was writing the book. Or maybe he was afraid to pose the questions early it in the work for fear of alienating the readers. There is a strong metaphysical tone that underlies all of the religious discussions. My favorite part was the creation theory that involved a Dragon dreaming OZ into existence. I assume Maguire was posing his own personal questions about the nature of life through the voices of the characters.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading the book. One drawback was the vocabulary. Maguire used a lot of words I am not familiar with and I had to infer the meaning from the context or be distracted from the story to look them up. Then there was his tendency to make up words. So sometimes I was faced with not knowing if it was a word I did not know if it was one he simply made up. I felt like I missed some of the intricate details of the story because I tended to just skip those parts after a while.

I think my favorite part of the story was the time when the Wicked Witch was involved in a rebel movement to help restore the rights to Animals. The thought of the Wicked Witch having a passionate love affair had never entered my mind before reading Wicked. But I was confused by the story of her child. I am not sure why Maguire chose to be so vague about the child. I felt more confused than mystified by the description.

Now, I have to read the original Baum version of OZ. I am sure that when I reread Wicked it will seem like a completely different book. I also thought it was funny that the next book I picked up to read began with a story of someone comparing his boss to the Wicked Witch of the West. I so wanted to yell at this fictional character to tell him that there may be much more to this person’s personality that you see.

Posted on

Stars

Stars

Last night as I walked the trash can out our long driveway, I was amazed at how bright the stars were. I had not seen such brightness in the stars since I was last at Harlan.

I walked very slowly back to the house enjoying the view of the sky. I saw both the big and little dippers. I have never been able to recognize any of the other constellations. I just enjoyed the brightness of the little points of light contrasted against the cold black sky.

Back in the yard in the dim light of the icicle lights still n our front porch, my dog Smash took on a sudden playful urge. I had tried to get him to play chase with me when I first got home in the afternoon, but he was not interested then. I almost walked on into the warmth of the house and ignore his playfulness.

But inspired by the stars, I zipped my coat and began chasing Smash around the yard. He was very playful. He would drop the stuffed sheep and pretend to look away. They just as I reached for it he would scoop it up and run off in a circle around me. We played until I could no longer catch my breath.

Later that evening as I was getting ready for bed, I decided to sit up and read a bit. Just as I picked up my book to read, Smash started barking and whining.

I went down to see if he wanted out. He has been staying in the garage on cold nights but he often wants out to go puppying. But instead he went back to the rear bedroom. I lay down on the bed and picked up the book. Smash began barking at me. So, I went back to petting him.

In a few minutes he began to get antsy again. He paced around the room and then put a paw up on the bed. I tried to get him to jump but he would back away. I finally scooped him up and placed him on the bed beside me. He settled right down as I continued petting him. He calmed right down and went to sleep.

I was beginning to drift off to sleep when I felt the bed move. I looked up and saw the cat crawl up o the foot of the bed. Soon I was snoozing between the dog and the cat. It was very peaceful just laying there enjoying the warmth of my furry friends. All my cares, worries and fears seemed to melt away in to their fur.

I lay there a while before Janice finally came to check on me. She laughed when she saw me snuggled up between the cat and the dog.

Posted on

Strawbridge family reunion

The Strawbridge side on my family rarely gets together. This year my Aunt Faye was visiting her children in South Alabama so she arranged for us to meet in south Mississippi. My parents combined this trip in to a tax paying run as well.

The unusual white Christmas lasted into Monday morning making it unsafe for my dad to back his car out of his garage. Sop we altered our schedule slightly and I picked them up at their house in my 4×4 GMC Suburban. I don;t use 4×4 often in that truck but it is sure nice to have it when I need it. Like towing the Jeep up to the campground in Harlan and picking up passengers in the snow.

We made the 300 mile trek to Pontotoc MS uneventfully. We arrived in time to pay the land taxes in Pontotoc but he court house was closed for Christmas Holiday. We stayed the night in my Grandfathers old farm house. My cousin Allen visited and invited me to go to the meeting at the Pontotoc Masonic lodge. It was interesting to note the differences between the Tennessee ritual and the Mississippi version. I enjoyed meeting the friendly brothers there.

Back at the house, Scott and Megan had arrived form Middle Tn but Megan was ill. She had really been looking forward to the trip sop wee did every thing we could to get her well enough to make the rest of the journey with us. But early the next morning she was still not feeling well, so they returned to Tennessee while we headed south to Hattiesburg.

We took a small detour to see the famous Masonic Lodge in Okalona, MS. This is one of the largest and most ornate lodges in Mississippi. We did not stop however, we just saw it from the street.

We made our way to the new highway 45 that cuts across the cotton fields there. Many of the old landmarks are still visible but just as many are gone. We could barely make out where my grandfathers shop had been in Gibson.

We stopped for breakfast in West Point. Eventually we intersected Interstate 59 and made the run to Hattiesburg. The GPS caused us to make one small detour in Ellisville falsely making us think we had arrived at our destination thirty minutes early.

We arrived at our hotel with no trouble. Faye was already there setting up the room. Our hotel rooms were not quite ready at the Baymount but we spent the time getting reacquainted. It had been at least three years since I had seen any of my relatives.

Soon our rooms were prepared and lunch arrived form a local BBQ place. Tory had brought her portfolio of art, Mom had her books and Tracy brought a model of the BSW bulldozer blade that had been the center of the family business for many years.

Tracy also brought his Roush racing Mustang and gave my uncle Clinton a fast ride up the interstate in the afternoon.

After a while all the stories were told and pictures were looked at. The clan slowly drifted off. Faye and Danny visited with Mom and Dad in their room while Janice, Will and I visited the local Zaxbys for a late night snack.

The next morning we had breakfast with Faye and her family. We left late in the morning and made our way back to Pontotoc. We stopped again in West Point where mom and dad decided to sample the4 catfish after seeing so many cat fish farms along the route.

We arrived slightly after lunch and I paid the Pontotoc land taxes. I pay these in person every year now after a John Grishom like episode a few years ago where a computer record got changed indicating that we had not paid the taxes and someone else was trying to claim our land. Luckily Mom had all the right receipts to prove the computer wrong.

Again the long trip back to Tennessee was uneventful. The big Suburban made the rip easily and comfortably for all five passengers. I even spent a couple of hour in the very back seat while Dad drove and found it very comfortable just like the front seats.

Posted on

ZJ Dana 35 rear

Today I sold the rear axle form the ZJ parts car I have had for a while . I bought this burned out ZJ just to get the rear brakes to put on Scuffy.

Many parts have already been scavenged off it and there is not much left. I have been planning to haul the rest to the scrap yard and with steel prices up now may be the time to take it.

However, last week I got a call from someone needing a rear axle. I asked for their axle in return so that I would have a way to load it on the trailer when I haul it off.

As I was getting ready to load their old axle, I wiped off the tag and noticed that the ratio was different form the one I had just delivered.

I left it with them any way. I showed them places to buy the right gears.

I also had to help them pull the backing plates off the axle for the brakes. They seemed surprised that someone had pulled the axles out just to remove the backing plates. They did not seem familiar with how to pull the c clips so I helped them install the backing plates on the axle I sold them.

To pull the axles, you have to remove the center pin form the diff. On the ZJ Dana 35 this involves removing a 6mm 12 point screw. He did not have the right tool so we hammered on a cheap 6mm six point that got enough bit to pull the screw. With the screw out, simply slide the pin out. Be careful not to spin the carrier as the spider gears will fall out of place.

With the center pin out, the axle shaft can be slid in enough to drop off the C clip. The the axle simply slides out. To reinstall the axle, you have to lift up a bit on the shaft to get it to pass through the bearing. Then slide it in and slip on the clip. Then pull back to seat the clip in the spider gear. Reinstall the pin and the screw to put it all back together.

Posted on

White Christmas in Tennessee

Driving in Snow

Christmas morning we woke up to 4 inches of fresh snow. White Christmases are rare in Tennessee. So when we heard the prediction of snow, we expected maybe a dusting. We were quite surprised by 4 inches and more still falling when were set out to for our family gathering at my Mother’s house across the county.

On a normal “snow day” in Tennessee, everything shuts down. Schools are closed, businesses close and most folks stay home. So, normally, driving around in my Jeep, I have the roads to myself. At least that is what I expected when I headed out our long driveway.

I was really shocked at the number of tracks in the fresh snow. I was even more surprised by the number of vehicles out driving in the snow. And not just Jeeps and 4×4 trucks but mini vans and Lexus cars as well. The worst part of the drive was the other cars who seemed to have no idea where the center line was under the snow and tended to use my lane and theirs too as they slid toward me. Those little bumps in the snow in the middle of the road are caused by reflectors folks. It is a good guideline as to where your side ends and my side begins even if you can’t see the stripes.

We managed to make the trip that normally takes 20 minutes in just under an hour. The country scenery was beautiful.

As we ate and opened presents, the snow continued to softly fall. By the time we left there were a good seven inches accumulated. My two grown boys built a snow fort and had a snowball fight.

Back home, we played with the sled on some of hills in the front yard and even made a few runs down one of our steep Jeep trails. The Jeeps enjoyed slinging snow much the same as mud.

The next morning, the snow had crusted over with some ice. This made the sled run even faster down the hills. Some of the snow had melted off the roads. In fact most of the main roads were clear even though our driveway was still covered in snow. We made several runs down the hill on the sled.

On Monday, we were scheduled to travel to Mississippi for a family reunion. The Suburban was still covered in snow and I damaged a windshield wiper scraping snow and ice off the glass.

Dad’s driveway was still covered with ice making it hazardous to back his car out of the garage so we changed our plans and picked them up in the Suburban. The 4×4 does not get much use in the big truck but it sure made driving on the snow much safer feeling.

There was one long patch of ice on the road leading to their house but the Geolander tires and 4×4 made it feel fine as we drove across. We made it up the hill to their house and even up their steep driveway as easily as we had in the Jeep.

We saw traces of snow as far south as Pontotoc, Ms, where we stopped for the night.