Somewhere Over The Rainbow... Ch. 02

Somewhere Over The Rainbow Is Already Here, Ch. 2

Wishing and wishing upon a star

Tired of mind control that doesn't work most times for most people, wishing and wishing upon a star? Don't fret because now science can create the perfect love formula to make your romantic dreams come true.

Of course, you all remember Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz playing Dorothy. (Boy, we can watch that movie a hundred times and never tire of watching it, kind of, not really, not at all. I am so sick of that movie and that song.) Of course, you all remember the song that made her famous, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E. Y. Harburg.

"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high. There's a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue. And the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true. Some day I'll wish upon a star, and wake up where the clouds are far behind me. Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops. That's where you'll find me."

Yeah, even little Dorothy back then in 1939 was wishing upon a star. (Only, you have to hope that her wish wasn't for Mickey Rooney when he played Andy Hardy. She was surrounded by munchkins.) Hey, look what all that wishing upon a star got her, a wonderful singing and movie career, loads of money, five failed marriages, alcohol and drug dependency, rehab and eventually death from her ruined health. Rest in peace Dorothy, I mean, Judy. "Follow the yellow brick road."

Do you remember Walt Disney's character Jiminy Cricket performed by Cliff Edwards? A city kid, Boston born and raised who thought the country was anywhere with trees, I was 11-years-old before I realized that crickets didn't talk. Hey, what did I know, it was the fifties? I remember when my father stepped on a cricket and I was certain that he killed Jiminy until I saw him on television that night. Boy, what a relief that was. Nonetheless, I still felt bad that one of Jiminy's relatives was squashed beneath my Dad's big foot.

Anyway, the Wonderful World of Disney was the last program that I was allowed to stay up and watch before my bedtime on Sunday nights. Jiminy was famous for getting us all to wish upon a star to make our dreams come true. Ned Washington was the one who wrote the lyrics.

"When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires will come to you. If your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme. When you wish upon a start, as dreamers do. Fate is kind. She brings to those who love the sweet fulfillment of their secret longing. Like a bolt out of the blue fate steps in and sees you through. When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true."

Now, everyone, Rose Royce, Jordin Sparks, Beyonce Knowles, and Jay-Z have their own version of the song, "Wishing On A Star."

"I'm wishing on a star to follow where you are. I'm wishing on a dream to follow what it means. And I'm wishing on the rainbows that I see. I'm wishing on the people who really dream. And I'm wishing on tomorrow rains never come. And I'm wishing on the other things we never done."

Wishing and wishing upon a star is nothing new and continues to give those who need it the hope to continue, the determination to persevere, and the ability to believe that miracles can and do happen. When I was a kid, I believed that wishing and wishing upon a star worked. Then, again, when I was a kid, I believed in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, good prevails over evil with the good guys wearing white hats and bad guys wearing black hats, and to trust those in authority because they have your best interest at heart.

"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned..."

I'd look up at the sky every night, pick a star, and make my wish. Even though I wished for the same things, closing my eyes tighter and concentrating harder to make my wishes reach the stars faster and ahead of all the other wishes from all the other kids, I never got my wishes, a Lionel train, a Flexi-flyer sled, a kiss from Marguerite, and my own room that I didn't have to share with my younger brother. Still, that didn't stop me from wishing and wishing upon a star the next night and the night after that.

After more than fifty freaking years of wishing and wishing upon a star, I still can't win the lottery. What the Hell? I don't know maybe it has to do with the design of my roof. Perhaps, if I had a flat roof instead of a slanted one, I'd get my wish. I'm surprised I haven't fallen off my roof. Maybe, it would work better if I had a tile roof instead of a slate roof. I don't know. And, now that I think of it and am on the subject of it, I wish I had all those coins that I threw in fountains over the years back in my pocket. I'd be a rich man today.

"Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight."

C'mon, be honest, how many of you still look up at the star filled sky and make your wish? Okay, I admit it. I still wish upon a star, only now I make more adult appropriate wishes. My first wish is to grant me more wishes, a million wishes. Hey, I'm no fool. How much good is one wish going to do me, anyway. Yeah, sure, after wasting some wishes on health, happiness, family, and friends, I start wishing for the good stuff, a blue Ferrari 612 Scaglietti with red leather seats, a huge home furnished and decorated on the ocean in southern California, Cameron Diaz in my bed naked, horny, and in love with me, and enough money that my great, great, great grandchildren will never have to work a day in their spoiled lives.

"Mother, how did great, great, great grandfather get all this money? Was it Middle Eastern oil, blood diamonds, serving the public as a thieving public servant or did he own a prescription drug company and gouge the poor for the medications that they needed to stay not only healthy but also alive?"

"He wished upon a star."

"Wow!"

To be continued...