Finding Dorothy

It’s a dreary, rainy afternoon here in Seoul. I’ve been happy to sit at my hotel window overlooking the mountain and tower, having a chance to finish a wonderful book, Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts.

I spent the morning with my new friend Vicky, the wife of one of Mack’s co-workers. Vicky grew up in a military household and her husband spent many years in the Air Force before retiring to work for Jacobs. So, she understands how things work. As federal contractors, we are given many privileges earned (to a much greater degree, to much more deserving folks) by our military men and women – like access to the BX and Commissary, on-base movies, library, restaurants, medical services, etc.

So, I spent yesterday getting signed up for all of that. Since this is my very first glimpse into military life, Vicky has been a huge help. She’s also a lot of fun.

I got my business taken care of before the rain set in and I have been happily reading all afternoon. I just finished the book and loved it.

As a life-long aficionado of The Wizard of Oz and a true lover of historical fiction, this book was a definite winner. Bouncing back and forth between the set of the filming of MGM’s Wizard of Oz in 1938 and the years of L. Frank Baum and Maud Gage Baum’s devoted marriage, we get a peek into the life that informed the story.

Elizabeth Letts, the best-selling author of non-fiction and historical fiction, did a masterful job of weaving the biographical information available about L. Frank and Maud into the story of the Wizard of Oz.

From my chair overlooking the foggy city of Seoul, South Korea, I was transported back to my childhood living room in Houston as a 10 year old kid, mesmerized as the Land of Oz turned from black-and-white to technicolor. A metaphor for this journey, I think.