Witches

When I grow up I still want to be a witch. My niece is currently obsessed with being a princess but as far back as I can remember - when I was in prep aged 6 - I wanted to be a witch just like Meg. Maybe it was because Meg and Mog was one of the first books I could read by myself or it could have been the fascination with the whole flying broomstick thing. Or it could be that I liked her gold buckled black shoes. I saw a woman wear a pair the other day and I thought of Meg. I also remember I use to walk around with a broom or a rake between my legs when asked to sweep the floor or rake the leaves in the yard. I have also done this more than once when I was small. I would concentrate really hard and hold my broom perfectly horizontal (hard to do when you're a kid) then sit on it when I felt that I had summoned all the power around me, to make my broom fly, sit on my broom and fall flat on my ass. And that my friends, is the power of make believe. Either that or I was just really retarded.

At school, I remember my best friend Anthea always wanted to play housekeeping. I would say to her right - you live next door and I'll be the witch. She'll always end up being some princess. Our houses were really the slopes where they grew bushes (very Hobbit-like) and I had a hearth of dirt and made a border out of rocks and make-believe big pot where I'll spend the entire play time or lunch time gathering sticks, stones and leaves and dumping it on the fire place . Perhaps as an adult, that's why I like making soup in a big pot. You throw all your ingredients to make a potion that makes people feel better.

The Witches by Roald Dahl made witches look mean. I didn't like that book because of that very fact. How can witches be mean? The witch in Snow White was really the Queen so she didn't count. Also, RD's witches didn't fly on broomsticks.

When I came home from school, Bewitched use to be on. I always used to like watching the opening sequence when she was on her broomstick. I'm not really sure about the twitching of the nose thing because I preferred the Mary Poppins way of tidying up things. Also, Mary Poppins, I always thought would have made an excellent witch even with a flying umbrella. Mary Poppins also wore nice shoes.

I didn't think about becoming a witch again until I watched Kiki's Delivery Service. Not only was she a witch but she lived in a little outhouse at a bakery. The scene where her talking cat, Jiji, points to a mug with a black cat on it cracked me up so much I watched it about five or six times and "Kiki mite mite" became my email address.
Do I need to mention Harry Potter and his line of broomsticks? Wizards do not fly on broomsticks. End of discussion. Having said that, the Nimbus 2001 would really make a great gift. And I still want a house with a fireplace and a chimney so I can put a big black pot in it. That's what all witches have.