Saturday, December 20, 2003
Peace, all.
No music of the day selection today. The alligators are a snappin' and I'm trying to stay above the fray. Five funerals in five days here. Midnight Mass choir practice gets bumped. Evening Prayer gets deep-sixed. Church decoration goes head-to-head with children's choir practice. Usually, it's enough for me to ask God to keep my parishioners alive through the holidays, but the renovating neighboring parish sent us three of their funerals. I know I have pull in high places, but my influence is nearly nil outside my own parish. I wish those other liturgists would learn the method.
The good side of all the schedule switching is that I have Sunday night home with my family. Maybe we'll decorate the tree. Ten years ago I would have been horrified at the thought of early celebration, but I don't even mind the Christmas music now.
I tell you truthfully: I'm getting a terrible itch to see a hockey game. Not one of those beer commercial-laced Gary Thorne-fests on ESPN2, but a real live hockey game with all the trimmings. Last year, at least I had an eighty minute drive to Topeka to see the Scarecrows, but they moved to St Louis or something in the off-season.
Those New Yorkers: they have three teams in their metro area. And here I sit in the largest American SMSA without a pro hockey team on any level at all. Not really very fair, if you ask me. May we please have the Devils back? They were once ours, you know.
