So I was walking along the Parkway this morning on my way to the Reading Terminal Market when a fellow wearing a Ron Paul cap asked:

“Do you know the way to the dinosaur place?”

I assumed he meant the natural history building, but I couldn’t even remember the name of Philadelphia’s natural history museum; haven’t been there in over ten years. But I knew it was somewhere along the Parkway, near the Franklin Institute.

“See that building straight ahead?” I asked him. “That’s the Franklin Institute. The dinosaur place is near there on the left.” And he thanked me and was on his way.

When I had the chance to look it up later, it turned out I was pretty close and he should have had no trouble finding it. Oh, and it’s called the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Later, on my way back from the market, I came upon a woman standing at a curb waiting for the light to change. Before I could warn her, a car came barreling down the street, its left wheels strategically aimed at the water puddle directly in front of her, and she was drenched from head to foot. I had miscalculated too as the splash caught me just below the knees. It was a bigger puddle than I had expected.

She jumped back, but not far enough, as a second car rolled along and gave her a another helping of street water.

“They’ll always find a way to get you,” I said.

That they do. Say what you will about Philly drivers, when it comes to water puddles, they seldom miss.