I was making plans, typing that I didn't know "when I will get back to..." when the T9 function on my phone decided that the word I was trying to type was "my." I hit the next button, it showed "Oz," I hit next again, and it finally showed "Ny." I paused because I had just noticed the man playing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on a subway platform a couple days before.
On my merry way, more nervous about getting to the venue way far away the actual performance, I found the NJ Transit section of Penn Station and observed the system's rainbow-esque logo. It's painted on the trains and buses:
The next thing I noticed upon exiting the train was the bright yellow painted edge of the platform. The concrete there is textured, so that you are less likely to slip and fall onto the tracks. These are in train stations everywhere, I realize, but at that moment all I could think of was the yellow brick road.
As I sauntered down the station steps to ground level, a mural spotted me. There was a country house in a grassy field with a group of people standing around the porch waving at me. Why's there a Kansas painting in that NJ train station?
I danced like an Indian pop star then wrote and ate as I waited for the train back to Oz. I thought about how I used to watch "The Wizard of Oz" daily when I was a child. About how people come to bright urban places like NYC or LA or Paris or wherever to follow their dreams. They can get buffed, shined, and spirits refreshed and/or warned to surrender. About how in my Emerald City live several close friends who are green-obsessed including Kelly, plus Mr. and Ms. Green of Midori Jade apartment. People come here looking for their personal Magic Wizard, and leave when they achieve, get sick of the negatives, see the man behind the curtain, or want to settle down, having some interesting experiences along the way.
The train arrived as scheduled, at 12:42 am. Thanks for the magic wink, universe.
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