The Man.

“Behind the Curtain”

It has been said that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. The question is can an "old dog" blog. We shall see.

Why Behind The Curtain? In the early sixties, my family was living in the new sandstone home at Shaffer Lake that my father had painstakingly built in his spare time. I remember watching on an old (actually it was new) black and white television set the movie, “The Wizard of Oz.” It frightened me. I wasn’t afraid of the wicked witch or the flying monkeys. I was afraid of the unknown behind the curtain. The voice was ominous, the noise was loud, and the fire was intense. And I had no idea what it was. At some level, each of us awake every morning with fear and trepidation about what lies behind the curtain of our lives. The unknown always brings trepidation, yet it can bring excitement. 

In the movie, it turns out that the great Oz was merely an old man behind a curtain. He had survived and ruled in the Land of Oz by remaining behind the curtain and keeping people at a distance. The distance was created by fear, which he accomplished by fire, noise, myths, and an amplification of his voice. 

            It was only after the small dog Toto charged forward and grabbed the curtain and pulled it aside that the man was revealed. Because the curtain was removed, both the old man and Dorothy were able to eventually leave Oz and return home.

So here is to all of the Totos of life who charge forward and remove the curtains which hide us and our fears. We are then exposed to others and more importantly to ourselves. Only then can we find our way home. There is no place like home.

  What is behind my curtain? We shall see.       JAS