Rough
Patches
“Accept
each part of the journey as it comes. Let each stretch of your path
be what it needs to be.”
Melody
Beattie (Journey to the Heart)
On
Monday's and Friday's, I travel 15 miles east on Interstate 20 to the
Bama Flea and Antiques Mall to manage my booth. For the next three
months the state is rebuilding three bridges along my route, both
east and west lanes. A mile or so of the interstate is closed. For
me, and I'm sure for many people who live in the eastern sections of
the county, there's no way to get there without going under those
bridges. I hold my breath every time. Chunks of concrete rain down
and red mobile braces hold up the rusty spans. Before construction,
some sections were so rough, people blew out tires on them. Portions
of Alabama, especially our bankrupt county, would fit nicely into the
developing world. I'm dead serious.
Sometimes
life looks a lot like that stretch of interstate. The going is rough.
You have to slow down to a crawl, or detour and take an alternate
route. Occasionally, you have to plot a different course all
together. Sometimes it's boring or lonely; we're tempted to fall
asleep or pick up a hitch-hiker. Not a smart idea. But rough going is
not a good reason to stop—at least not for long. Sometimes we have
to take a break, get a cup of coffee, settle our nerves, but then we
need to get back on the path and continue our journey.
I
remember a particular road in Guatemala where we were warned bandits
operated. The road angled along the side of a mountain, a shear drop
on one side and lots of curves. The bandits would roll a rock or a
tree trunk into the road to stop tour buses, then rob the riders.
There was no turning around on that road and most of it had long
since lost its paving. Rough doesn't even begin to describe it. But
we journeyed on, albeit slowly and nervously—we weren't robbed. We
lived to tell this story. Such is life. Keep to the path, be patient
with the rough patches, knowing the way will smooth out eventually.
All things change with time and distance.
I'll
make my little odyssey to the Bama Flea today as usual. I'm thinking
about getting myself a flack jacket and hard hat to wear when I run
under those bridges, y'all. I'll pretend I'm on safari.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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