Pope leaves 46,000 happy (and sunburned!) Catholics

Since I haven't seen anyone else mention this yet....

In the wake of Pope Benedict's public Mass at the Washington National's Stadium yesterday, well, let's just say it's as obvious as the ruddy, sunburnt glow on your face whether or not you were in attendance (at least for fair-skinned individuals like me).

In fact, the Pope brought with him the temperate Mediterranean climate and clear skies, which chased away the rain showers and general dreariness that had been pervading DC up until the day before his arrival.

While it wasn't particularly hot, everyone had to be in the stadium by 8:30 am, and the Mass didn't end until almost 12:30 pm. Luckily there were plenty of volunteers handing out water. Most folks managed to improvise make-shift hats. But you had to sympathize with the numerous vested clergy as well as the seminarians in their black clericals. Plus the aluminum flooring they placed on the field served as very efficient double-sided quick-tan setup.

And of course, Pope Benedict had more layers than probably anyone else in the stadium, but he was in the shade most of the time. Actually, by the time he was ready to leave a brisk breeze was blowing. How convenient.

If you want to see how my skin fared, it's looking like you'll have that chance tomorrow in the late morning on CNN, presuming my plans for an appearance on that network work out. So stay tuned, I'll have an update soon!