Like a cricket ball in the head

Ok. Here’s a thing. It's a kind of secret thing, but not for much longer. Secrets are not best kept on a website that has had over 1500 visits in the last few weeks. Here it is, you see, one of my favorite films is the 1939 adaptation of the L Frank Baum book 'The Wizard of Oz'. Even better is the book which I recently read to my 7 year old daughter. Towards the end of the book, after meeting the big angry green fake remote control wizard (you remember, right?) Dorothy and her band of imaginary and maybe-not-really-believable friends head homeward bound to Kansas. On their way they meet a wall over which they climb to find themselves in a miniature city made entirely of china. Here’s what happens.

They walked carefully through the china country. The little animals and all the people scampered out of their way, fearing the strangers would break them, and after an hour or so the travellers reached the other side of the country and came to another china wall.

It was not so high as the first, however, and by standing upon the Lion’s back they all managed to scramble to the top. Then the Lion gathered his legs under him and jumped on the wall; but just as he jumped, he upset a china church with his tail and smashed it all to pieces.

“That was too bad,” said Dorothy, “but really I think we were lucky in not doing these little people more harm than breaking a cow’s leg and a church. They are all so brittle!”

“They are, indeed,” said the Scarecrow, “and I am thankful I am made of straw and cannot be easily damaged. There are worse things in the world than being a Scarecrow.”

Can you see it? I did. It hit me in the face like the cricket ball my games teacher at school threw at my head for talking during a cricket lesson. Bloodied and humbled I heeded the warning. There are indeed worse things in the world that being a scarecrow. Being a brittle church may be one of them.

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