That Didn't Take Long

Traffic today was the worst I've seen. I was heading over to the 11:30 a.m. Mass, which is about 2.5 kilometers from my house. After sitting in traffic for 45 minutes, I decided to turn around as Fr. Al was saying the Mass. (He did not arrive until noon.) The return trip home took 50 minutes and I thought for sure that I would get clipped by someone because of their freelance style of driving. I planned all week to go to the Mecca Mall after Mass to collect an alarm clock radio, a thermometer, and a few other odds and ends. I gave up my plans because of the harrowing traffic experience.

I was very pleased I could walk to the evening Mass so I wouldn't have to face the traffic again. On my walk, I stood at a crosswalk in between two parked cars - maybe six inches out into the road. People here walk non-chalantly and never seem to fear the drivers. Well, this woman was probably traveling 45 mph in what would be a 25 mph zone, and she popped me one. I'm amazed that her car did not hit the other two cars because she was so close to them. Her mirror slammed into my arm - between the elbow and wrist. Since the mirror had give, I hardly felt a thing, but I think her mirror slammed against her window and broke it. She was going so fast and thank God I recoiled. She slowed down considerably afterwards and she seemed fine.

As I was walking home after Mass, what seemed to be a huge fire was sending flames about 8 feet high. It was in a vacant lot where there were downed pine trees and trash. I imagine a throw-away cigarette butt ignited the flame. Two men from their nearby houses came out with buckets of water to douse the flames. The fire was relatively close to one man's house. Smoke was everywhere. Everyone else who saw the fire didn't seemed bothered by it. They went on with their conversations.

At the Masses this weekend, I coaxed the choirs to face the people. Though some resisted, the sounds coming from the choir were acoustically much better. The choirs received a lot of praise for their efforts. It was a phenomenal event and the congregations were pleased. The ministry of song helps inspire the worship so much.

At the close of day, I decided to have something culturally familiar - club soda. When I pulled the  tab on the can's lid, I was surprised to see the flip top much like we had for soda in the 1970's. My initial memories was getting cut by those things. It made me laugh because I had forgotten those tabs existed.

Oh, yes. I made some pancakes this morning. They came out quite well, but all the maple syrup is in Vermont. It would have gone well on those pancakes.