Perfect Summer Evening

Last night I picked up a friend and Offspring #2 and went to  St. Paul.  We stopped at Como Lake to rent a paddle boat.  With three passengers, I was the lucky one who got to sit facing backwards and relax while the other two did all the work.  Well, that was ever so lovely. I felt like a queen.  The lake was very calm and a little green.  I dropped my water bottle in the lake and needless to say, I gave it a good scrubbing with soap and water this morning.  We saw 11 painted turtles sunning themselves.  We saw an Eastern kingbird, red winged blackbirds, goldfinches, a great egret and a great blue heron.  At one point, we stopped by a dead tree.  A great blue heron was up in the tree.  We were so close we could see it had it's mouth open and the throat was bobbling up and down like an opera singer. Below the dead tree was a great egret. As we drifted closer, the great egret decided to fly off.  As it took off, the egret casually turned it's head to right and snapped up a 2 inch fish.  That was cool to see. After our cruise, we had dinner at Black Bear Crossing which is inside the Como Pavilion.  I love the Pavilion.  It's right on the lake and with huge columns forming the perimeter.  I can imagine my grandparents coming to this same building.  After dinner we saw Rosetown's production of the Wizard of Oz.  We came to see Uncle Henry who was played by my nephew.  He was also a munchkin and a hot air balloon.  He actually had to pick up the Wizard of Oz (a full grown and not very small man) and wrestle him across the stage as he said good by to all the Oz residents.  This production was very creative.  Lots of kids were on stage.  Dorothy had a little brother in this version who was added to handle Toto during most of the scenes.  Toto was a real dog and he did very well.  I enjoyed watching the crows torment the scarecrow.  Kids dressed in black portrayed the crows with definitely urban attitudes.  The tornado was also impressive.  Dorothy was inside her small house (a cardboard box with a window cut out).  She had her face out of one window and she turned around and around as if in a twister.  Her brother and Toto looked out the other window.  They saw a cow go by (stuffed animal). They saw a tractor go by (toy tractor) and they saw a white pick up truck go by (like in the movie Twister - also a toy).  Glinda didn't appear in a big bubble like she did in the movie but she did carry a bubble wand and she spread bubbles all over the stage.  To show the snow on the poppies, Glinda came by with a leaf blower and blew white flakes of something off pie plates on the heads of some of the children. This production stayed true to the movie and they even included a section cut out of the film classic -the Jitterbug.  A Jitterbug comes and makes Dorothy and her crew dance and dance until they are exhausted.  The jitterbug calls the flying monkeys to come and take the tired, defenseless Dorothy away to the castle.  The Wicked Witch of the West doesn't come in a ball of smoke but a handful of confetti instead.  I love the Wizard of Oz - one of my favorite movies.  And sitting outside next to a lake on a summer evening made this production especially enjoyable.