Grace in Small Things – 306

• That my sweetie is indulgent of my compulsion to leave early for important events. You know, I have to allow extra time for those unforeseeable things such as being pulled over for a random search at the border, or a flat tire, or getting stuck behind a fender-bender in the tunnel.
• Seeing the Fox Theater for the first time. WOW. Double wow.  The outside looked like this (below) and the inside was indescribably ornate. We just crept along from one end of a hall, room or foyer to the next with mouths agape as we gazed up at the walls and ceilings.
• Garrison Keillor live. Enough said.

• Not that I’m glad Sylvain got sick last year preventing us from using our tickets to see Leonard Cohen, but it was kind of cool getting to cash in our credit with the theatre now…at a time when we otherwise never could have afforded such a show.
• Being downtown with Sylvain tonight after Canada won gold in men’s hockey, and the way the whole crowd spontaneously burst out singing O Canada together.

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I learned WAY more than one thing last night and today.

Yesterday I learned what a picture palace is and then experienced one up close.  I learned about Oriental Style, and that the Fox’s decor is a combination of Hindu, Chinese and Persian art and architecture.

I learned the term “Coney Island” and that it means a chili dog with onions, cheese and mustard on it. I learned that Detroit is known for restaurants that specialize in gyros and Coney Island dogs.

I found out that under very special circumstances, Sylvain will actually sing. GK got the audience singing the Faygo pop song, which not only prompted Mr. “I never sing” to sing, but almost choked him up, too.

Tonight I learned all about the impromptu street parades that take place all over Canada whenever the men’s Olympic hockey team wins the gold medal. The rules go kind of like this:

1. Dress from head to toe in everything Canadian you own. In a pinch, anything red will do.
2. Extra points if you have already painted a red maple leaf on your face earlier in the day.
3. Gather up all the Canadian flags in your household.
4. Drive downtown honking your horn the whole way.
5. It is mandatory for everyone but the driver to hang out the windows and stand up through the sun roof waving said flags.
6. If you don’t have a flag, wave a hockey jersey. If you happen to own a jersey with the name and number of the player who scored the winning goal, all the better.
7. When you get downtown, you can join one of two parades–the pedestrian or vehicular.
8. If you are in the auto parade, just drive slowly around a four block grid honking like mad.
9. If you are on foot, it’s your job to jump up and down, holler a lot, drum on the hoods of the cars in the parade, high five or slap hands with everyone you pass, hug perfect strangers, including the cops, wave flags or jerseys.
10. If you are young and especially hardy, strip to the waist and run through the streets twirling your shirt above your head, even though there is still snow on the ground.
11. Oh, and be nice to everyone–even to the Americans who are now quietly slinking back toward the border.

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