Somersaulting on the Yellow Brick Road

Why did the Scarecrow win the Nobel prize?

He was outstanding in his field.

And, for the record, that field was NOT gymnastics. 

And, THIS Scarecrow cannot do a somersault onto the stage.  Which is what the director wants her to do.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I used to be quite gifted at somersaults.  Forwards. Backwards. Sidewards.  Any direction!  In fact, I was a stinkin' somersault prodigy!

But that was decades ago.  

And the stage is about as soft as a slab of concrete.  If I do a somersault on that stage I really will have brain damage.

I’m sure I could do it if I trained hard enough.  And if the stage was covered with a feather bed.  And a stand-by ambulance was  parked outside the theater.

Tiffany, of course, thinks this somersault will be a slam-dunk for me.  She reminds me that I jump roped on a pogo stick in Gypsy a few years back.   

 
But I wasn’t wearing a Scarecrow hat!

The thing is, I have to find a nimble, gymnasticky way to get from the corn field to the stage, which doesn’t involve crippling my neck in front of a live audience.

I really don't want to upstage Dorothy, but I have no choice.

I’ll have to do my back handspring.