Con’td from Rooster helps open path to miraculous day
Oh no! I forgot my ID. Second day in a row I pulled such a stupid stunt. And here I am, braving the snow and cold to drive from Conshohocken, PA, to the Veterans Administration building in Philadelphia.
You may not know how much hell I went through in entering this building a few short months ago. Had to “strip” off my belt, hold up my pants, and lower my dignity to get through the metal detector. (See Terrorists force VA to strip vet of dignity.) And that’s when I had my Veterans’ identification card with a mug shot beaming my most honest smile.
What’s going to happen when I try to pass by the two armed guards? They’re really going to welcome me with open arms, aren’t they? Whose fault is it that I don’t have an ID? My own. Not even a drivers’ license. No credit card, no ACME or Genuardi supermarket plastic ones either.
I knew the day was going too good to be true this Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010. Got my kid off for school with no problem, fed the outdoor animals with nary a hitch, and got onto the notoriously slow Schuylkill Expressway with no delays.
Why, even the latest predicted snow-fall was cooperating. Less than an inch was accumulating on the East Coast of the United States. It snowed off and on the night before, but we had just a slight coating. Ice on the car windshield and windows came off nicely, thank you very much.
And there I was, on I-76, linking Valley Forge with Philadelphia, with just the slightest trace of snow falling. Wait a minute. What’s going on here? I’m doing 55 miles per hour. There are no hold-ups, no delays, no “gaper” views of an accident or even a slow down as the morning sun rises momentarily “blinding” motorists with its brilliant glory.
I push the accelerator and am now cruising at 62 mph. Got a sweet Zen Buddhist flute CD playing and I am sitting, “knock . . . knock . . . knocking on heaven’s door . . .,” a stone’s-throw-away from Xanadu, from Nirvana.
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