By John Clise
Sometimes life gets to be like a traffic jam. Rushing as quickly as possible to get somewhere that we just won’t get there on time no matter what. We can see the destination but the road in front of us is clogged with other people’s wants, work obligations, strangers just blocking the road and so on and such. And sometimes there’s just one jerk who loves to impede the roadway for no reason. And sometimes you get a break from a friend who helps keep you on track with kind words about you or your work or your talents.
Those are the blessings I really count. They seem to come in the nick of time or at just the right time to clear the head and wipe off the dry erase board so things can start over with more clarity and less stress.
Sometimes we get to a place and we have no idea how we got there and we get back the same way. We just get there and back somehow. Maybe it’s more the ride and what we learn in that trip than how we got there or how we got back.
I took a long drive in the country recently, and had to drive through four creeks without bridges before I got to a deep blue river so deep and so wide I couldn’t get across. You see, it also had no bridge, but there was a beautiful Civil War era home sitting near the water’s edge .
I would have thought I was back in time but there was a 1930s era metal walking bridge there to walk across the river.
I just sat there for a while and watched the water contemplating the beauty in front of me.
On the drive I saw turkeys, deer, cows of all sorts, horses, lambs, hawks, flowers from houses long gone, heard frogs, saw a murder of crows, a squirrel, the most beautiful pine trees, two very large sheep dogs tending to their sheep in a field, a much older lady putting laundry on a clothes line, an old barn that had fallen over, many old barns, two old churches, an old church/school building from before the turn of the 20th century that was either falling down or being renovated slowly, and a great peace in my soul.
I also saw a horse with a donkey following close behind on the side of the road. I slowed down and stopped. I spoke to the horse. He shook his head up and down at me and went on. I was able to snap a quick picture of the donkey before he head on down the road after the horse.
I returned home with a clear head, and newly found resolve to persevere.
Clise's Cornucopia 