So, apparently, last Thursday night, my car insisted on being parked in front of some guy's driveway. As a result, it got a three-day vacation in a special resort lot, aka DC tow lot. But, I did learn a few things:
1 - When you're parallel parking and think you should have hit the curb, you probably should have.
2 - D.C. suddenly gets all Christian on Easter weekend and closes up their tow lots.
3 - Sometimes menial, even annoying tasks end up being absolutely joyous. Tonight, I was cleaning the proliferation of waxy chalk numbers and letters on my car's windshield when a neighborhood guy walked by and said, "Lucky you have something like that to do tonight." It struck me as odd, but then I started to think about it. There I was, cleaning the windshield, somewhat begrudging the fact that I was out there undoing my marks of shame all by myself without anyone to help me or keep me company. But, this guy was just taking in the beautiful evening, enjoying a conversation with his buddy, and in the process showed me that there was joy to be found in that task. And, with each of the remaining letters and numbers I erased, I tried to soak in the rhythm of the task, the feel of the warm spring night, and the neighborhood sounds... conversations, buses, bikes, dogs. That task could have been a punishment, but instead, it was a rewarding experience in which I felt I was really "living".
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