Musing on Mystery
As one who only shops out of necessity--not as as past time or bargain-hunting adventure, I have never participated in the Black Friday madness, whether it begins early in the morning on the day after Thanksgiving, midnight of Thanksgiving evening, or even all day long on that holiday as was the much-discussed practice this year. The closest I get is marveling at the long line of cars waiting to the toll road at the outlet mall we pass on the way home from Thanksgiving dinner. We try to estimate the length of the backup that is now accompanied by the flashing lights of police and security vehicles. One year we figured it was at least two miles long. And I breathe a sigh of relief that we are simply passing by in the other direction. So, the day after Thanksgiving is a sort of liminal space for me, poised at it is at the change of seasons that is Advent. I am, as is usually the case on this day, in Chicago. And since the leaves have long since left the trees, I can gaze out