Another Rule of the Road

Driving on some of the two lane highways in Georgia and Ohio reminded me of another of my Dad's rules - get out in front of everyone else.  He thought it was better to get out in front and see what's coming for yourself rather than have to guess what's going on with a car in front of you.  So as I was learning to drive I had to learn to pass other cars.
   I remember the anxiety I felt as we drove the curving Highway 90 between Morgan City and Lafayette.   When the sugar cane had already been cut or had not yet started to grow you could see around the curves and I gradually learned how to move my car into the other lane and quickly get around whoever I was passing.  However, when it was harvest season the tall sugar cane would block visibility at the very time that we would get caught behind the large trucks carrying the sugar cane from the fields.  I found that I could be much more patient than my dad.
   I didn't complain about the curving roads in Louisiana, however.  After being raised in Kansas, where every street seemed to be in a perfect square with the next and from the highway you could see all the way to the next town's water tower straight ahead, I was glad to have the meandering roads that refused to go straight to the next town.  I was in downright ecstasy at first after moving to New England.  I loved the adventure of turning on a street in Boston and not being able to take anything
for granted about where it might lead.
    When I was walking the Camino de Santiago I was also thinking about straight roads versus those that curve.  After the winding roads through the mountains where I started the way began to flatten out and on the Meseta you could see miles ahead towards where you thought you were going. I had looked forward to the flatness of the Meseta with only a few mesa's to climb.  Only when we arrived at what we thought was the end, we'd find there was still farther to go.  I longed again for the winding roads through the mountains that carried with them surprises and variety and a touch of mystery.
     I'm reading a book on retirement now that has suggested I write out my goals for retirement - my vision.  I guess my long range (straight road for miles) vision is to live a meaningful life staying active and engaged right to the end.  I know, however, that life is going to be more like the curving highway, full of twists and turns and surprises.  I think a more important goal for me to reflect on is how will I live the later years of my life.  How will I respond when illness or an accident brings me to a halt?  How will I manage when the landscape changes as friends and family die or move or relationships change?  How will I deal with the need to move from our home one day?  And most importantly, what will I do to nurture trust that God will be with me for the whole trip?
     In Terry Hershey's Sabbath Moment (http://www.terryhershey.com/digging-for-treasure/)  this week he included a quote:
I don’t really know where I’m going. The road is unfolding in wonderful, challenging, and unexpected ways. -Rabbi Alan Lurie
Sounds to me like a good way to travel and I hope the road will unfold for me in the same way.  As long as I have God traveling with me I think I'm ready to continue around every bend, whatever may come.  May God be with you in your travels also!