Well, just like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz this Dorothy was once again reminded that no matter how nice the land over the rainbow looks "there's just no place like home."

Instead of taking my dog with me I took my faithful computer and the two of us started over the rainbow to see my youngest daughter Lois and her family in Battle Creek, Michigan this month. After all if bluebirds can fly over the rainbow I figured I shouldn't have any trouble. Now my dogs (none of them are named Toto) gave me mournful looks as I left that afternoon. After all Dorothy of Oz took HER dog, why didn't I take them?

The weather was nice and HOT that early afternoon when I got to DIA to take a 2:30 plane. I felt like a house fell on me when I learned that my flight had been canceled. I was wishing for a way to get up in the air, maybe a pair of red glass slippers so I could click my heels together and get on over that rainbow, but I didn't have any magical shoes so I had to wait in DIA over four hours to fly on another airline. After I did a little complaining they agreed not to make me spend the night in the Detroit airport and reserved a room at Day's Inn.

So I wasn't forced to take a house over the rainbow, I took the plane. The flight wasn't near as scary as Dorothy's was, the scary part came later when I arrived in Detroit at 11:30 p.m. and got to stand until 1:00 a.m. trying to get the shuttle bus for Day's Inn. That driver was a lot like the Scarecrow, he didn't have a brain either. He drove off and left me three times.

As I stood in the middle of that street with shuttle buses going around me I felt like I was in a dark woods and I was invisible. I didn't have a cowardly Lion or a neat Tinman to help me on my journey like Dorothy had in Oz, but a nice Munchkin-type taxi-driver helped me with the telephone and that's when I first heard the wicked witch (I don't know which one she was, but she had a wicked tongue.) Just because I yelled at her on the telephone (a little bit) she didn't have to yell back in such a loud voice.

The Munchkin-type taxi driver tried to help me flag down the shuttle bus driver and when the guy without a brain DID finally stop he nearly got in a fight with the Munchkin because he was trying to help me. Finally we drove down the yellow brick road to Day's Inn and that's when I discovered that the wicked witch was even worse in person, she was really snappy.

When I got to my room in Day's Inn at 1:00 a.m. I fell asleep in the bed so fast you'd have thought I was on a bed of flowers that had been drugged. The next morning very early I was on a small plane to Kalamazoo. When I got there my poor daughter thought I was going back over the rainbow because the plane didn't land. For some reason the pilot didn't make the runway and he had to try it again. I'll tell you that daughter of mine looked as good to me as Dorothy's buddies, all rolled together. I sure was glad to see her, but I could have used a repair job like Dorothy and her friends got in the Emerald City.

Well, my visit turned out a lot nicer and quieter than Dorothy's visit to Oz did. I had a chance to get acquainted with my beautiful granddaughter (of course she's beautiful) and we followed a yellow brick road to see the sights. There were a lot of interesting Amish buggies driving along that road. I was amazed at the size of Lake Michigan, it looked so much like my beloved ocean I fell in love with it.

Now unlike the Tinman in the Wizard of Oz I don't rust when it rains, so I don't mind a few drops, but the weather turned cold and I was as unprepared for it as Dorothy was for her journey. I forgot to take a sweater. If some kind person had offered me a pair of magical shoes I'd have told her "I'd rather have a sweater."

The fourth of July brought a big celebration to Battle Creek, a carnival for my granddaughter and her friend, an airplane show, fireworks and big, huge balloons of all colors and shapes (including a snowman and a Noah's ark), but I was just like Dorothy, those balloons left without me. I didn't get to ride in any of those beautiful balloons. The price was high, $175 was too steep for me. So I had to wave good-bye to them. I still needed a sweater because it was the coldest 4th of July in the history of Michigan and I went back to the car to watch the fireworks. My daughter thought I was as much a sissy as the Cowardly Lion.

Lois and her family live in a house that would fit just fine in the Emerald City, a big three story home that once belonged to a fur dealer, who was also an artist.

The visit went fast and it was soon time for me to say good-bye to my beautiful kids and head to the airport. Everything went smooth until I got to Detroit. For a few minutes as I went running down the halls of that airport I was afraid that the wizard would have to appear in his balloon so I could hitch a ride home. I nearly missed my plane.

The land around DIA is as flat as Dorothy's Kansas, but I have to admit I sure was glad to see that prairie country. My dogs forgot to be mad at me because I didn't take them, they were mighty glad to see me and I was glad to see them.

So I have come to a wise conclusion, no matter how good the land over the rainbow is "There's no place like home, there's no place like home."