$300

we got a late start, leaving millersville around five pm. traffic presented itself to us as an obstacle and we had to find a new route to compensate for the haywire. we stopped at a rest stop along the turnpike for pizza and some conversation about u2 and wine in europe. when we got back on the road, i glanced at my watch and realized it was already 6:57, just three minutes until showtime, and our destination was still a significant distance away.

brock and i were on our way to philadelphia, to the theater of living arts on south street to see over the rhine play. after ticketmaster had its way with us, we ended up spending $23 each, and certainly neither one of us was all that interested in missing the show due to tardiness. but we were in my car which hasn't learned to evade the laws of physics, so we just had to pass cars when we could and realize we'd get there when we got there, and not a minute sooner.

once before, a year or two ago, i had been nominated to serve as navigator for a trip to a concert with folks from a friend's church, since i was the only one who had ever been to that part of philly before. they even paid for my ticket as a way of saying thanks. on that occasion, we ended up missing the exit by a long shot, ensuring us a fashionably late arrival at the venue.

in retrospect, i really should have examined a map and paid attention to exit numbers this time around, but when we saw the sign that said something about the upcoming exit being the last one before jersey, we realized i had done the same thing all over again, and that we were on the wrong side of town. the guy at the tollbooth assured me that my woes were few and that 95 would take me right where i needed to go.

sure enough, following toll booth guy's directions, i found center city without a problem and soon we were passing lombard and hanging a louie on south street, in search of parking. every light seemed to be turning red, just like they always do when you have somewhere to be.

brock spotted a vacant spot on the right, so i slowed down, put on the turn signal, and he jumped out to guide me in. the taxi driver was getting impatient with me as i backed up, undoubtedly whispering things under his breath like go back to lancaster, country boy. aside from helping him work on the virtue of patience with my many ups and backs, and the light bump on the front of the jeep in the spot behind me, all went well. we examined the sign above my car, the sign mounted on the green metal pole with holes in it. the sign told me i could park there for two hours, 9am to 9pm. i scrounged up a few quarters, just to get us past 9, and we were on our way down the street, weaving in and out of the people with less impending schedules, people content to just mill about, smoking cigarettes and talking on cell phones. we jogged and walked and ran, whichever felt right at each moment, depending on the density of people in our path and the speed at which taxis approached on the side streets, and that sort of thing.

as it turns out, the show didn't start until 8pm, so we were right on time, despite our worst fears. the opening act was a young lady with a pretty great voice, but it seemed awfully odd that it was just her up there, singing, wearing a dress and playing an electric guitar. the audience showed her a remarkable degree of respect, even when she told us about the parking ticket she had received the night prior in new york city. i leaned over and whispered to brock that not many openers could get away with talk breaks like this, but i wanted to be quiet because no one else in the place was talking.

wouldn't you know it, but the girl next to me on the left was someone i had been acquainted with a couple years ago at millersville when i'd been a part of the campus intervarsity chapter. we chatted briefly about her going to grad school and living in philly and about me almost being done with college and then she got offered a seat up front so we said goodbye, nice seeing you to each other. to brock's right was a woman with someone i took to be her daughter. the daughter had an italia warm-up jacket on, so i asked her about it and she told me about her trip there in june and july, and i told her about my trip in may. and then we were done talking, so that was that.

over the rhine is simply amazing. sure, they ooze artsy-fartsyness, almost to the point of needing to step out for fresh air, but as far as musical talent goes, they have it down. all the same, we marveled that people this strange could get by in society with real people who don't get to sing about fireflies every night for a living.

linford and karen are married, and though they have a band behind them, they are the meat and potatoes of over the rhine. linford plays the keys while karen sings and looks good. i guess she has to look good to make up for linford's dorkhood. most of the time he is just over there in his own world, swaying to and fro behind that keyboard, glancing up every now and then and occasionally flashing a smile. when he stood during one song to play the bass, i almost called the awkward police to report the offense. it was really pretty uncomfortable to watch.

the drummer was amazing. one wouldn't know how amazing he is until they have tried keeping rhythm to slow music and then you realize it takes one heck of a drummer to make it happen. i know nothing about what it takes to make a good bassist, but i'm sure their bassist was top notch as well.

on the way back to the car we discussed how great the show was and how it was worth every penny of that $23 we had dropped on it. when the car came into view, we discovered a white paper pinned beneath the windshield wiper on the passenger side of the car. upon closer inspection, i learned i had violated a law saying that only handicapped persons could park when i did. i turned my gaze to the sign i had inspected earlier, the sign mounted on the green metal pole with holes in it, the sign that said i could park there for two hours, 9am to 9pm. my eyes then shifted slightly upward, and at that point i noticed another sign, a blue one with a wheel chair and a warning saying that parking here would cost me $300. and so it did.

parking in front of a driveway, double parking, or parking on a sidewalk (all seemingly pretty comparable offenses as far as I'm concerned), would have only cost me $35.

as we headed out of philly, i tried to admire chinatown, the skyscrapers, the illumined cathedrals and the clock towers, and i had the windows down so that the cool night air could pour in and the warm tones of over the rhine could spill out into the streets of the city that cares so deeply for their handicapped citizens.