be careful what you ask for... (happy solstice)

the past couple of years, i've been celebrating the winter solstice. the days leading up to it are a time of reflection, and being a former pack rat (a hoarder my brother would say), i make it a point to get rid of things that are no longer serving me. i see it as a cleansing ritual in preparation for the blessings that lie ahead in the coming year. this is not beside the point.

last night i finished work around 2am, after helping demolish a makeshift ice rink in the theater where i work. it was an all-around impressive display of smashing, shoveling, and dumping, and by the time i left i was looking forward to a hot shower to wash away the lingering traces of glycol.

i walked up the staircase of the parking garage, unlocked my car, and opened the door to find things oddly askew. it wasn't anything specific, and i momentarily dismissed my feeling as fatigue. opening the console, however, i found my sense of unease rewarded.

my iPod and tape adapter were missing, and after double-checking my backpack, i looked once more at the interior of my vehicle - the glove box was open, small bits of paper were spread about, and the compact discs i keep in the door packet were gone. i thought back to the second half of the second show, and the car alarm we heard in the background over our headsets. it sounded familiar, like an eight year old echo from New Jersey.

once upon a time, i was more naughty than nice, and i remember working an interminable run of the Nutcracker for a ballet company based in New Brunswick. the details are not important, but last night i had a flash of that dreary November. it was the coldest winter i ever saw, with overcast days giving way to rain and the aftershock of towers falling.

(i paid no heed, too busy watching the sugar plum fairy to be distracted.)

this morning i took stock of what was missing: two iPods, one blank composition pad, one broken discman, an unknown quantity of scratched cds, and two "green" shopping bags - neither of which were green. left in the car, inexplicably, were a two week-old pair of Ray-Bans as well as the ignition key.

i wondered briefly if the the thief had overlooked it or simply chosen not to steal the vehicle. it doesn't really matter, but something inside tells me it was more likely the latter. even in my naughtiness, i maintained that fundamental sense of compassion that makes us all human, and i know that the thief was merely trying to keep warm in his own freezing Floridian winter. the lesson for me is twofold:

1) karma, although not instant, is gonna get you.

2) happy solstice, be careful what you ask for.