We Should Have Walked

Last Saturday, my family enjoyed our first Olney Days Fireworks under the cool night above Olney Manor Park. Even before arriving, we already strategized our leaving; we parked in the front lot of our church Oakdale Emory United Methodist Church and walked over to the baseball field. We thought we were being clever, positioning ourselves for a speedy exit. My Catholic neighbor asked, "Are we allowed to do this?" I answered, "Sure. If anyone gives you trouble, just say you are meeting your friends, who are members, here."

After witnessing the dazzling light show, we left the park and returned to our car to leave... and so did what seemed to be several hundred other people (perhaps an exaggeration -- I'm not skilled in estimating crowd sizes). Of course the mass exodus meant that our exit was not speedy as planned. The wait to get out of the parking lot was longer than the show itself. At least I could continue socializing and spotting people in the dark among idling cars. I surprised a friend I had not see in years when I stuck my head out of my car and yelled, "T-- ? Is that you?")

As we finally pulled out onto Georgia Avenue, I told my husband, "Perhaps we should have parked at P-- and J--'s house behind Roots and walked over. We would have gotten home sooner." The next morning in church, I asked P-- and J-- if they had walked over to see the previous night's fireworks and sure enough, they had. I think they walked to church that morning too.