My father used to tell us a story about being in a tornado in Coffeyville, Kansas when he was a boy. His father was a mailman, and my dad told us that during the tornado, his father ran home "leaping over telephone poles." Having seen the Wizard of Oz in its first release, I mixed the movie images with my father's memories, and imagined my little grandfather leaping over the tops of upright telephone poles in the middle of Kansas. Hadn't cows and men in rowboats and a witch on a bike flown through the air in the movie? This was such a strong image that it wasn't until I was about 18 that I realized, "Hey, wait a minute...those poles he jumped were lying on the ground, blown over by the tornado."
A childhood belief about disasters
others believed things like this
- I used to believe that telephone poles grew out of the ground.— Jennifer (the blonde)
- I used to believe a mile was the distance between telephone poles.— Allegra
- For years and years I thought telephone poles grew.— Maureen
- When I was younger I belived that Kansas was in black and white because of the movie The Wizard of OZ!!!!— Becky
- I used to believe that when there was a tornado watch, you were supposed to sit down and watch the tornado.— Kay
- I used to believe that Kansas was really black and white because of the Wizard of Oz.— Valerie F.