This will have to be short...no pun intended. I have a meeting with Mini Munchkins. No, not in the Emerald City, but in Lawrence, Kansas. This time of the year, school visits shift to summer camp visits. So, today, I will be spending time with kids ages four to six who meet for "Mini Munchkin Camp" daily through the summer. This week their theme is Summer Extravaganza! Why was I invited for something with that exciting title? Maybe they want to teach the little ones about hyperbole or how to deal with disappointment.

Sometimes folks will wonder how I can do a weather presentation for such a young group. "How can you hold their attention?" these people ask. Well, first of all, as the father of four, I know a lot about not having anyone listen to me. Secondly, when it comes to short attention spans, I do work around news reporters who jump from story to story in the blink of an eye. Seriously, if you rolled a ball of yarn into the middle of the newsroom or jingled your car keys, several of those present would immediately drop what they were doing and pounce.

For the ages represented by the Mini Munchkins, I usually talk briefly about weather maps, show a little video of stormy stuff and then read a book called Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. By the time I do that, they are sick and tired of me. And, that's just the teachers and staff.

Well, I'd better get ready to go. I wanted to make an appropriately Munchkinesque, yet Extravaganza-like, entrance so I asked News Chopper 9 fly boy Johnny Rowlands to drop me, in a small farm house, right outside the summer camp facility. He declined. Darn him and his blasted common sense! I guess I could dip our 90 pound Golden Retriever in shoe polish and tell the kids the years haven't been kind to Toto. Oh, well, maybe wearing my little blue-checked jumper and putting my hair in pony-tails will be good enough. Now, I just have to Mapquest "Yellow-Brick Road" and I'll be on my way.