Blog 2888 – 09.26.2023

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Chapter 9

Today’s chapter is entitled The Wonderful Emerald City of Oz. Some years ago when my son Jonathan, Jay, was still a young boy, he and I companied my wife Linda, his mother, on a week long business trip to the Emerald City, Seattle, Washington. While Linda was busy attending her meetings during the day, Jay and I explored the wonders of the Emerald City. Even without green glasses the city had a green tint. I think it was because it is perpetually cloudy there and Seattle gets so much rain that the grass and the leaves on the trees are a vibrant green.

We stayed in a high rise hotel downtown and one day he and I took a long walk. Equipped with a city sights map provided by the hotel we walked the twenty or so blocks due west to the Space Needle and along the way stopped at a small park where there was a life-sized bronze statue honoring the Native American Chief Seattle for whom the city was named.

Jay and I finally made it to the Space Needle and rode the elevator to the top. We walked around outside and marveled at the wind and misty rain that could only be felt on the wind-facing side. Making our way down we walked a couple of blocks and had lunch at MacDonalds, Jay’s boyhood favorite restaurant. I remember him remarking as a smaller boy on a road trip to see my folks in Chattanooga as we drove through Birmingham, Alabama: “Look, MacDonalds, they’re everywhere!”

After MacDonalds, we rode the monorail back to the hotel. The memory of that adventure with my son is one of my favorite memories. A year before their daughter Emma was born Jay and his wife Lauren vacationed in Seattle and saw the Space Needle, all the sights, venturing even into Canada as the three of us had so many years ago. Jay, Lauren, and their little angel Emma have all that and more in store. I hope they get to see the Emerald City together someday.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JNcvpJ3p4JCKDYWQj24gDcARWPrG00KL/view?usp=drivesdk

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Chapter 9