Merry Christmas from the Land of Odd: Part Two

(My mom found the lion and lion tamer picture!!)

And I stand corrected...it was not a mop head for a mane but an old tangled wig!
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I was walking with my friend around Halloween time when we saw a little girl skipping happily about wearing a beautiful princess gown complete with a tiara and plastic glass slippers. She was having the time of her life! This little cutie had given her whole self to this precious moment. There is no better sight than a child glowing with joy!

My friend says, “Oh, I remember that – being a little princess. Don’t you?” And I said, “Hahaha. No. I DO remember dressing up as Stan Laurel and a fly.” “What?!” she asks. “The only time I wore a princess dress I was a good witch. And the time I was a princess I was an elf.” “What are you talking about?!”

I’m not entirely sure how it started or even why it started. Just that it did…and there was no stopping it. 

First, to really understand the significance of this, you have to understand where my family is from. We grew up in a small town in northern Minnesota. The town’s claim to fame is that Judy Garland, “Dorothy” on The Wizard of Oz, was born there and lived there until she was three. There is a parade every year, a whole week dedicated to Judy Garland and Dorothy -- "Dorothy Days", a Judy Garland museum which includes the actual house she spent the first three years of her life in. There is a yellow brick road in the center of town with corn stalks and a huge 30 foot mural of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Lion, Toto and the Emerald City. The munchkins who were still alive, though I’m not certain if they still are now, would visit Grand Rapids every summer for the parade and festival. So, you see, "Dorothy" and The Wizard of Oz is a BIG deal to anyone who has lived in this town for a minute or two. I don’t particularly love Judy Garland or the movie but the characters hold sentimental meaning to me – they are my childhood.

A few years ago we started making jokes about dressing up as the cast of The Wizard of Oz. For Halloween? For a joke? I can’t remember. The important part is that we did. My sister was going to college in Oklahoma, where many of our relatives live. We had thought that we missed our window of costume making and picture taking during the summer when she was visiting but an unexpected trip up north got us working -- warp speed. We only had a few weeks to get everything together. My mom worked furiously into the nights yet again.

The clincher of all this was that we did NOT tell my sister. I mean, really, who would have the means, time or motivation to whip up six costumes for no apparent reason? She was driving up from Oklahoma with my aunt and my cousin. So, OF COURSE, we made them costumes too! Eight costumes in weeks?? We must be crazy! Kristin, my aunt and cousin were scheduled to arrive in Grand Rapids at 1am. So what did we do? We got in costume and prepared to surprise them in the dark porch, OF COURSE. 


We had just finished the costumes THAT night and stayed in the porch for at least 30 minutes waiting for them -- in Minnesota, in the unheated porch, in October. When we saw their headlights pulling into the driveway I could not stop laughing. I was going to lose it before we could even surprise them! My auntie came to the porch door first, then I think she got a little freaked out by the dark shadows and my quiet giggling noises because she backed out slowly and ran back to find my sister. Finally, Kristin came to the porch and I struggled to say my lines through my laughter: “Click your heels together three times and say ‘There’s no place like home.’”

She stops cold in the doorway and says, “Nuh-uh...” My sister knew immediately what we were up to, and my aunt and cousin were understandably confused.

In the dim light and shadows cast from neighbors’ porch lights my plastic crown and wand are visible as well as the outlines of Jason, Mom, Dad and Alex. We turned on the lights and the three of them stood there in disbelief. I can’t imagine what must have been going through their minds – just traveled all day and night to arrive at a house full of crazies??  It’s not every day that the Good Witch welcomes you into her home with the lion, scarecrow, tin man and a flying monkey!

The next morning we shared breakfast and chatted a bit then rushed around the house getting into costume. My aunt was a good sport as we had cast her as "The Wicked Witch of the West." My cousin happily agreed to be a munchkin. So after we were all dressed and set we drove to our photoshoot location and had a ball. We reenacted some scenes and did a big group photo and some other sibling and couple shots. It was hilarious! I think there were a few hikers who had come to also enjoy the trail we had chosen as our backdrop. I wonder what they were thinking…

We showed a few people then made some Christmas cards.

I dyed my hair for the part and added sleeves to my strapless prom dress. Jason stuffed his clothes full of hay and grass. We glitter-glued red sparkles onto some jelly shoes for Kristin. I sprayed Alex’s hair blue, which was AWESOME! Mom found a sparkly, silver shirt for Dad’s costume – which obviously was a woman’s shirt and belonged to a lady who apparently LOVED her some perfume! Mom’s previous experience in creating a lion costume came in handy. I really thought she would go for the feety pajamas over a sweatshirt/pants but...it does tend to be a challenge to find adult feeties these days.

My princess dress...FINALLY...as the "Good Witch"

The cards got around town and pretty much everyone we ran into was either talking about it or asking if they could see it. Local celebrities…

From scarecrow…

To Scarecrow…

And lion…

To Cowardly Lion…

Mom’s craftiness, imagination and ambition have brought us to and through some amazing times!

We thought it was pretty fun and not too much work so why not go for another year? There were a few ideas tossed around but eventually we settled on The Lord of the Rings. As with the first year, we kept this card’s theme secret. Because it was winter we booked a local studio to do the photo. What a let-down! The photographer didn’t even know who we were so he was no help with making sure we looked well in our roles. But the pictures turned out alright so we were pretty happy!

These costumes were the most detailed and difficult, in my opinion. Mom hand beaded my crown, carefully cut out the top of Dad’s staff, and stitched up feet and toes for the Hobbits. This is the first time in my LIFE I got to actually be a  princess. For my sister…it was the SECOND time in her life she got to dress up as a man!

This year our friends knew we were up to something and were eagerly expecting these surprise cards. Some women from the church couldn’t even wait for my mom to deposit them into their church mailbox – they approached her and pleaded for theirs. Then the ripped them open immediately and squealed “I LOVE IT!!”

For the third year, again ideas were floating around for quite some time, but we decided on something simpler and less work. I don’t know about you, but I grew up watching TV Land with I Dream of Genie and Gilligan’s Island. I remember waking up early to grab a bowl of cereal and enjoy a hysterical episode with Gilligan and Skipper It was an easy choice and so much fun! Most of our costumes were purchased at Goodwill or recycled from our closets. We borrowed a friend’s boat and dock to take the pic.

Alex is wearing Kristin’s old jeans. Kristin has a lovely cocktail dress and pearls. It was a really fun picture to take. And again people could hardly contain themselves as the cards were finally passed around and sent! Throughout the year when I visit family or friends I often am asked to spill the beans about the theme of the upcoming card.  

Last year there were few times when the whole family was in the same town let alone the same country so an elaborate theme and fancy costumes were out of the question. We settled on something simple, easy, cute and fun that I LOVED to do. It was almost like a regular card but of course it had our own Boyd Family spin.

That is the story of our little Land of Odd. It’s silly and weird and some people might think that we’re crazy but when we are old and gray we can sit around and laugh about it all until we pee our Depends!  


And I’ve come to realize that life is about these crazy little things more than the “big” things. Life is about the memories we share and loving of others – more than worrying about making it to the next tax bracket or that perfect family portrait. So to really enjoy this blessing, this gift, of the life we have been given (I’m not talking about our circumstances but the true raw gift of the very breath we take and the fact that we LIVE) we have to be willing to participate in these little things. 


We have to be willing to jump right in, paint our faces, whether you are dressed up as a princess or a male comedian, sing and dance, give into the moment of memory making…because when we do we find we are really having the time of our lives. Like that little girl skipping around in her princess dress. We have to surrender, to allow these moments to swim in our hearts if we are really going to live.