Another Ash Wednesday is here, and only another 40 days to Easter (at least in the West -- the Eastern Christian Churches are another matter.) Mrs. Geek turned to me last night right before bed and said "So, are you going to get the schmootz tomorrow?" For an oh-so-very Irish Catholic, she sometimes has a very surprising tendency to flirt with Yiddish.
After a little checking late last night, I did indeed opt to go to Ash Wednesday services today. The Parish where we are registered had a 6:30am service. The Church in question is run by the Dominicans, and early morning services are part of the Rule. For them, a 6:30am is no big deal.
Getting there also turned out to be no big deal. Since the alarm at the Geek household goes off at 5:30am anyway, it was a relatively simple matter to get up, make myself presentable, hear Mrs. Geek say "you're insane" when I told her what I was doing, and heading out the door. Traffic was light. Parking was even easy... unlike the last time I made this trek for the 8:10am service and had to block someone else in the parking lot.
Being the fitfully poor Catholic that I am, I haven't been back to this Church many times since I got married there last June. I'm still a little surprised how walking into the Church takes me back to that day. I almost expect to see friends and family suddenly appear from around a corner and the wedding rehearsal is about to start again.
But anyway, I got the schmootz. I still have it on my forehead. No one has really asked about it... but I haven't left my cubicle much today. Then again, many of my co-workers are from India and China. Explaining to the whole significance might be more trouble than it's worth.
said drgeek
on 2005-02-09 at 4:41 p.m.
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