The wind began to switch - the house to pitch and suddenly the hinges started to unhitch. As auntie Em’ and uncle Henry sheltered in the storm cellar, the house, Dorothy and Toto, sucked up into the twisting maelstrom, were on the way to Oz. Seen from above the twister was rotating clockwise. It was Kansas. Seen from below, it went counter clockwise. It all depends on your point of view. From within, the pandemonium, where we are, it depended on which way you look; if you dare to look at all. What you think you see depends on your point of view. Perception can be illusory. Some would argue that all perception is an illusion. But what are we to do; we can’t easily escape our frame of reference, or hide our lying eyes. Seeking the novelty of altered states: children spin to dizziness, ingest, inject, and inhale: freaks do drugs; juicers get drunk, while gurus and proselytizers direct us to introspective unearthly ecstasy. In and out of body experiences break up the tedium of everyday consciousness. Transport me away from this time and space, from these circumstances. Tell me a story. Gaze into the crystal ball or the television, be absorbed by the silver screen, the x-box, the smart phone, or let’s just go do something different. Let’s all get Ab-normal; That’s entertainment.

Ok, ladies and gentlemen, this is Binghamton. Step right into an episode of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone. Suspend belief. Surrender to the void; enter another time, another space, and another dimension.

Sometimes you simply need to hold on to the railing, close your eyes and move forward through the overwhelming chaos, for the thrill of it, for the adrenaline rush.  After all, it’s just an illusion. Who knows where you’ll land. You can bet it won’t be Kansas.