Take From Me My Lace

It was time to close the door on the holiday season, at least for me.

I'm fine with decking the halls and all that fa-la-la-la-la up to a point and then I just want real life to resume.

Step one was visiting the parental units on the northern neck for lunch and gifting.

One highlight was the time spent on the dock on this winter afternoon, the tide rolling in and the sun fighting with the clouds for dominance.

Sure, my legs got a little cold, but it was worth it for the brisk air and sunlight sparkling on the river.

Back home, it was time for the Christmas tree to become mulch (first I drop it off the balcony) and my apartment to be returned to rights.

A little night music would have been nice, but I settled for a good old fashioned night at the pizza parlor.

Mary Angela's won out for no good reason.

I rarely go there, it's a Richmond staple, I was in the mood for pizza after some really nice meals lately.

All or none of the above.

The chosen pizza was New York style, white sauce, sausage and spinach, the chosen beverage root beer drunk from the bottle.

But it almost shot out of my nose when I realized what music was playing.

"Flashdance." As in, what a feeling.

How had I not seen this coming?

For my partner in pizza, that moment came when the Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night" came on.

You know the one.

Gonna rock it up, roll it up, do it all, have a ball
Saturday night, Saturday night

Of course, he's also said he's looking for a girl who likes the Bay City Rollers and the Ramones and I told him good luck with that.

The music continued in the tragically geriatric mode with bands like Supertramp and R.E.O. Speedwagon until I wanted to bang my head on the scarred table.

Please make it stop.

But then a true chestnut came on, the Stevie Nicks/Don Henley duet "Leather and Lace," the kind of song long forgotten by most people alive in the '80s.

People like me, for instance.

If ever there was a moment when that song should have come on, though, it was as I sat in a booth at Mary Angela's slurping pizza and slugging root beer.

You in the moonlight
With your sleepy eyes
Could you ever love a man like me?

That said, I feel like I just paid my classic rock dues for the year.

Now can I do it all, have a ball in 2013?

Let's get this year started before I explode.