St. Pope Gregory the Great’s feast day was last Friday and he came through in spades for me. That weekend, I had to go home for Peter’s wedding. Speaking of weddings, we should take a moment to send Gurney our happy wishes too. But just a small moment, we don’t want her head getting too big. Now back to me. At 6:45 that morning I decided to go to the local Church for Confession, Mass and the Rosary, just because St. Gregory is so great. And then I went to work.
After work, I came home to change clothes. I needed to be home at 6:00 for a rehearsal dinner and apparently jeans were a no no. I had left work early enough to make it in at 5, and I figured I would have time to stop home and change there, but some little voice in my head said I should change now and simply have somewhat wrinkled clothes just in case I should get held up in traffic. At the time I noticed how odd that thought was. I knew there were going to be some pretty single girls around, and I did not want to be wearing wrinkled clothes. I’m also the type of person where if I plan on being home at 5, then I’m going to be home at 5. So the idea that I should make a contingency plan by dressing ahead of time was a rather rare action for me.
On the way home traffic was great, and I was probably due to set a record. Rather than being home at 5:00, I was looking to be home between 4:30 and 4:45. But then I saw a sign. It said that Exit 101 was blocked. That seemed odd to me because I was at Exit 149 and putting a sign up 50 miles ahead of time seemed a bit overly alertive. A mile later I hit the traffic jam. It was at a dead stop, but fortunately I was in the left lane and I was able to do a u-turn through the grass. I had never done that before, and was curious how my rear-wheel drive car would handle it. No problem at all, and soon enough I was looking for an exit to get off at and try the side roads. The exit I found was the one everyone was taking. I needed gas which was a problem due to the massive amounts of cars. But I wasn’t about to start taking side roads with so little fuel left. The exit was for a decent sized town so I figured there should be another gas station somewhere, but I was having little luck. I drove up and down a ton of side streets looking for a place to fill up. Finally, just as I had decided to go back to the gas station with the massive pile up I found a small station off in the distance that had just a few pumps. I filled up, took a tinkle, and was back on the road.
My GPS has a detour button, which I had not noticed before. Pressing it, I found it put me on a new side street that looked right. After a few miles on this street, my GPS decided it was time to try getting back on the highway. At this point I could see the massive line of cars that had also taken this side street and were also trying to get back on the highway. They too were at a stop. So I needed to u-turn again. But there was a problem. I was on a little two-lane country road with large ditches on either side of the street. Doing a u-turn was impossible. I had no option but to continue driving towards the line of cars and take my place. But then, just as I approached my place in line, there was a driveway to my left that let me drive in and back out of to do a u-turn. This was the only driveway in sight. Hitting detour once again, my GPS took me to a second side street. And again after awhile it tried to get me back on the original side street. And again I found myself approaching a long line of cars. And again just as I was coming to a stop, the only driveway in sight was on my right and I was able to do a u-turn once again.
This time I didn’t hit detour again. I just used the map feature and decided to make my own route. My own route took me through roads that were so curvy and hilly that I got myself carsick driving them. But I made my way back to the highway and had no other problems. By the time I got back on the highway I didn’t even know what state I was in, but I found I was about a mile from Ohio. I checked my GPS and it said my estimated time of arrival was 5:58. And sure enough I pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot promptly at 6:00!
Adding to this story was the fact that I had a GPS to use. The only reason I had it was because of my upcoming road trip. Awhile back I broke the charger, and it wasn’t until maybe a week or two ago that I replaced it. But had I not been going on this road trip I wouldn’t have bothered because I wasn’t planning on going anywhere else that would have required it. Without the GPS I never would have gotten there on time, and the only reason I am going on the road trip is because of a friend I met 6 years ago while I was an undergrad who I just so happen to still talk to, who moved 3 hours North and made a friend, and that friend is going on the road trip with me. "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" is a wonderful book.
After work, I came home to change clothes. I needed to be home at 6:00 for a rehearsal dinner and apparently jeans were a no no. I had left work early enough to make it in at 5, and I figured I would have time to stop home and change there, but some little voice in my head said I should change now and simply have somewhat wrinkled clothes just in case I should get held up in traffic. At the time I noticed how odd that thought was. I knew there were going to be some pretty single girls around, and I did not want to be wearing wrinkled clothes. I’m also the type of person where if I plan on being home at 5, then I’m going to be home at 5. So the idea that I should make a contingency plan by dressing ahead of time was a rather rare action for me.
On the way home traffic was great, and I was probably due to set a record. Rather than being home at 5:00, I was looking to be home between 4:30 and 4:45. But then I saw a sign. It said that Exit 101 was blocked. That seemed odd to me because I was at Exit 149 and putting a sign up 50 miles ahead of time seemed a bit overly alertive. A mile later I hit the traffic jam. It was at a dead stop, but fortunately I was in the left lane and I was able to do a u-turn through the grass. I had never done that before, and was curious how my rear-wheel drive car would handle it. No problem at all, and soon enough I was looking for an exit to get off at and try the side roads. The exit I found was the one everyone was taking. I needed gas which was a problem due to the massive amounts of cars. But I wasn’t about to start taking side roads with so little fuel left. The exit was for a decent sized town so I figured there should be another gas station somewhere, but I was having little luck. I drove up and down a ton of side streets looking for a place to fill up. Finally, just as I had decided to go back to the gas station with the massive pile up I found a small station off in the distance that had just a few pumps. I filled up, took a tinkle, and was back on the road.
My GPS has a detour button, which I had not noticed before. Pressing it, I found it put me on a new side street that looked right. After a few miles on this street, my GPS decided it was time to try getting back on the highway. At this point I could see the massive line of cars that had also taken this side street and were also trying to get back on the highway. They too were at a stop. So I needed to u-turn again. But there was a problem. I was on a little two-lane country road with large ditches on either side of the street. Doing a u-turn was impossible. I had no option but to continue driving towards the line of cars and take my place. But then, just as I approached my place in line, there was a driveway to my left that let me drive in and back out of to do a u-turn. This was the only driveway in sight. Hitting detour once again, my GPS took me to a second side street. And again after awhile it tried to get me back on the original side street. And again I found myself approaching a long line of cars. And again just as I was coming to a stop, the only driveway in sight was on my right and I was able to do a u-turn once again.
This time I didn’t hit detour again. I just used the map feature and decided to make my own route. My own route took me through roads that were so curvy and hilly that I got myself carsick driving them. But I made my way back to the highway and had no other problems. By the time I got back on the highway I didn’t even know what state I was in, but I found I was about a mile from Ohio. I checked my GPS and it said my estimated time of arrival was 5:58. And sure enough I pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot promptly at 6:00!
Adding to this story was the fact that I had a GPS to use. The only reason I had it was because of my upcoming road trip. Awhile back I broke the charger, and it wasn’t until maybe a week or two ago that I replaced it. But had I not been going on this road trip I wouldn’t have bothered because I wasn’t planning on going anywhere else that would have required it. Without the GPS I never would have gotten there on time, and the only reason I am going on the road trip is because of a friend I met 6 years ago while I was an undergrad who I just so happen to still talk to, who moved 3 hours North and made a friend, and that friend is going on the road trip with me. "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" is a wonderful book.
And that's the story of my own little Friday afternoon miracle. St. Gregory the Great, pray for us!
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