A View From My Pre-Christmas Eve Afternoon Walk

I took a walk this afternoon because it is such a beautiful Christmas Eve day. As I write this everyone is scrambling about the house to get ready for mass. Mass starts at 4 pm. The church is 10 minutes away. But we leave the house at 2:45 in order to get street parking (easier for getting out afterward) and seats toward the back. So we’ll be in our seats nearly an hour before services begin. The crowds and parking situation are the two things that twist the anxiety dials i my brain. So I took this walk to enjoy the weather and calm myself before heading into that den of aggressive drivers and parking spot stalkers, also known as church.

I just finished reading Mel Brooks fantastic memoir, All About Me and I am reminded of the scene in The History of the World, Part I when Moses is bringing the commandments down from Mount Sinai. If the movie had been made in the 21st century, Brooks might have had the 7th commandment read: “Thou shalt not steal–unless it is a parking spot at church on Christmas Eve. Then all bets are off.”