Hello, Parking Karma

Every once in a while, the gods of parking smile upon me. In the last couple of days, they must've been in an extra-good mood. Let us count the miracles:

1) Lori and I went to host an outdoor milonga in Rittenhouse Square in Philadephia. A very crowded, central spot in Philadelphia. No place to park. Ever. And even if You find one, the meters are expensive and You have to come back and refuel them every 2 hours.

But we just drove into the square, and there it was: A parking spot right by the square. It seemed unlikely. But it was real. We parked, got out, discovered that in this particular spot, we'd only need to pay for the coming 2:07 hours (though it only accepted payment for two hours at a time). Miracle #1.

2) We only paid for 2 hours, and after the milonga really got going, we forgot to go back and pay for the last 7 minutes. In Philadelphia, I've learned, this is a sure way of getting a ticket. But we didn't. Miracle #2.

3) We went for dinner after the milonga, at a nice restaurant on South Street. South Street is another very busy area, and the notion of looking for parking there is total craziness. We drove around just to feel like we did our duty before getting into a parking lot, and all of a sudden, right in the middle of the (truly packed) street, there it was: A parking spot just for us, half a block from the restaurant. Miracl #3.

3.5) We later went to get ice cream. Couldn't find parking space, which made us realize we could just buy the ice cream (while I wait in the car) and eat on while driving home. Was better this way anyway. I'll put it in the miracle list. Why not? Miracle #3.5.

4) We went to Princeton (New Jersey) today for a tango crash course. After the course, we looked for a place to eat (it's about 1.5 hours from home, and we were too hungry to wait). I voted for Indian food. Lori rarely disagrees to such a notion. We drove downtown to the main street. Not a lot of parking, but not too tight. We saw a spot we liked, and pulled in. After getting out of the car, we asked a passing family where we might find an Indian restaurant. The man pointed up the street, the woman down the street, and the kids just ignored us. Then the grown-ups apologized and said that they're not really sure, and walked off. We consulted the oracle (Lori's iPhone), and it informed us that there's indeed an Indian restaurant in town, and the address was... right across the street from where we parked. Miracle #4.

The world is smiling at us right now. I will try to remember to smile back.