The Two By Four of Life

Philadelphia

I've been back to the US for exactly one week. My biorhythms are still iffy, so I'm getting alot done from 2 to 5am. And I've developed a pretty significant bronchial infection. Nevertheless, I left New York ahead of the expected snowfall last Thursday and stayed in Philadelphia overnight on my way to a board meeting in Washington, DC.

The meetings began Friday noon, and while DC had rain, there was snowfall impeding road travel until midmorning when i set out for Wilmington to catch the train the rest of the way. My trusty black Jeep Cherokee plowed through the three inches of snow that coated the smaller roads during the hour trip, 4 wheel drive on during the trip. I love the jeep for just that reason-- always feel safe in it when weather is dicey. As a matter of fact, having that steel frame wrapped around me probably saved my life in an broadside hit a couple of years ago. And it's ten years old, so I never worry about dings, that's for sure.

I parked in the 24 hour secure lot across from the Wilmington train station, a two floor parking garage that would keep the car out of the snow.

The retreat in DC,for a graduate school of theology, is something I normally look forward to because it is a chance for the board members to learn more about each other, the institution, and generally a chance to have an in depth look at an area that will enrich our roles as board members. Nevertheless, these meetings are intense, complex and always interesting.

On Sunday afternoon, another board member and I returned via Amtrak. The 1:25 train was packed, SRO even. I bid him goodbye at Wilmington and dragged my bag and briefcase across the street, looking forward to getting to my home and building a fire.

The parking garage was quiet, as expected on a Sunday afternoon. I rolled my bag to the back of the first floor, near one of the exits, pulling my key out of my pocket. Stall 26 was empty. I walked around the entire first floor, just to be sure I hadn't had a severe slip of memory. No jeep.

I knocked on the door of the garage office where two, youngish African Americans were standing in the glass enclosed space waiting for customers who need to pay their parking fee before exiting next to the office. Duane walked the lot with me this time. "Do you think that's glass over there at Stall 26?", I asked as we walked toward the back of the building.
"No, ma'am. That's probably some rock salt that spilled when we spread it just outside the exit over there."

Five minutes later, there was still no car. I walked back over to Stall 26 to check the very empty space again. Indeed, there was green tinted broken glass sprayed between Stall 26 and 27.

Could this be happening? Had someone stolen my ten year old jeep from a 24 hour secured parking lot with video cameras and two people at all times on the premises?

"Do you have a history of car thefts in this garage?", I asked Duane (amazingly ) calmly.
"No." He walked ahead of me, and added: "But we just took this garage over two weeks ago, so I guess we wouldn't know too much about that."

I called the police.

They had found the jeep at 4:14am in another part of Wilmington. It had been in an accident and subsequently been towed to a local garage.

I called the board member who, by that time had arrived in Philadelphia and was ready to go home, twenty minutes north of Penn Station--and 30 minutes north of my location in Wilmington.

He came down and picked me up, took me home. Very kind. I was far from a meltdown, in fact, I was mad. But its a great time to have company!

So, I'm a car short, still jetlagged. But, just for the record, I truly feel 5000 miles from Egypt now.

The two by four of life has sent me a wake up call.

I get the message.

M.C.