Your Own Adventures

“Hey!” my neighbor’s young son shouted as I raced by his house this morning.

I turned and saw that he was pointing at his chest, proudly displaying his Spiderman costume, which came complete with rippling muscles.

“Spiderman!” he declared, making sure I had gotten the point.

“You look great!” I shouted. “Happy Halloween!”

I ran down to the corner just in time to see the back end of the 8:20 bus to Manhattan driving down Shore Road.

This was actually the second bus I missed this morning, as I had raced down to the same corner a few minutes earlier in a losing effort to catch the 8:15 bus.

I had thought catching the 8:20 would be a breeze, but then I realized I had left my lunch back on the kitchen table and I scurried back to my apartment to get it.

Missing two buses in one morning is some kind of an achievement, I supposed, but if I had gotten the earlier one, I would’ve gone to work without my lunch—turkey sausages, green peppers and kasha—and more importantly, I wouldn't have had that delightful encounter with the miniature superhero.

I did manage to finally catch the 8:25 bus and get to work on time.

I hope I make better connections tomorrow, when I am scheduled to take off for Los Angeles for a 10-day visit with my aunt and uncle. The fact that I’m flying on All Saints Day, a holy day of obligation, makes me a little queasier than usual.

This is something of an impromptu trip, as I had some leftover vacation days. I toyed with the idea of doing a “stay-cation” so I could take care of several long overdue chores around the house and with my career.

But then I recalled that I’ve done stay-cations before, starting off with all these tremendous plans only to see my to-do list turn into a to-didn’t list in record time.

In addition, I had Chinese food for dinner tonight and one of my fortunes said “it’s up to you to create your own adventures today!”

You can’t argue with that.

I’m just about all packed; I’ve got the car service coming to pick me up tomorrow morning. I stopped by Trinity Church on Wednesday to attend mass, receive Communion, and get another one of Father Mark’s fabulous pre-trip blessings.

This wonderful man put his hand on my hairless head and asked God to protect me and to bring me back to Trinity safely. I walked out of that church with tears in my eyes.

Right now I can hear the older kids on the block raising all kinds of merry hell. I don’t like to dress up, but I do enjoy Halloween as a spectator. People can be so incredibly creative and the kids—like my buddy this morning—look adorable.

As usual, I’ll have limited computer access for a while, but I will do my best to check out everybody’s blogs.

Now get out there and create your own adventures.